I have been back to my GP today, who has been fantastic the last few weeks. She is writing to Witt to try to have my next appointment in March brought forward, and is going to try and get some physio started and a pain management plan. For now she has put me on Fentanyl patches until she hears back from Witt and has also requested a steroid injection if he thinks thats necessary.
I am pretty sure this is just a temporary blip, but want to know why the joint has suddenly got so inflammed and don't want to just keep masking it with painkillers.
Only two more days to go at work though until a week off for Christmas so that will be a great help and hopefully a chance to relax.
Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope all the hippies have as pain free a time as possible.
Tuesday 22 December 2009
Friday 11 December 2009
Not so great!
Not had a great few days. Operated hip has been really sore and inflammed and has locked a few times. A trip to the GP resulted in her advising me to go back on crutches until everything settles down a bit, back on the diclofenac (with a stomach protector this time so hopefully that will be ok) paras, and dihydrocodeine for breakthrough pain.
I am pretty gutted at the thought of whats going on, and to why it has got so inflammed at seven months post-op, but am trying to tell myself its just a glitch in the recovery. I haven't done anything to aggravate it, and have cut down on everything except the necessary stuff over the last few weeks so am pretty sure I haven't overdone it.
If there is no improvement in the next couple of weeks the GP has agreed to send me to physio for deep heat and massage (hopefully by some gorgeous hunk ;) ) or contacting Mr Witt to see if he will see me sooner than March, although once xmas and the New Year is over I don't think I will get in much before March anyway.
I am pretty gutted at the thought of whats going on, and to why it has got so inflammed at seven months post-op, but am trying to tell myself its just a glitch in the recovery. I haven't done anything to aggravate it, and have cut down on everything except the necessary stuff over the last few weeks so am pretty sure I haven't overdone it.
If there is no improvement in the next couple of weeks the GP has agreed to send me to physio for deep heat and massage (hopefully by some gorgeous hunk ;) ) or contacting Mr Witt to see if he will see me sooner than March, although once xmas and the New Year is over I don't think I will get in much before March anyway.
Monday 7 December 2009
7 month update!
Sorry for the lack of updates but things have really slowed down on the recovery front, so there's not much to report.
I am now almost seven months post RPAO. Things are definitely better than before the surgery, but are by no means perfect. The joint is good and rarely causes any pain when walking.That's the good news. I can survive most days without taking any painkillers stronger than paracetamol, which is a big improvement on pre-op.
The not so good;
My hip flexor still causes loads of pain and by the end of a shift at work I find it difficult to drive, sit on high stools, get in/out of the car etc, sometimes even walking can get pretty sore.
I still have a constant dull aching in the back of the hip ( ischium, hamstring area) which gets worse if I walk more than about 30mins.
There is a small area in the front of my groin that still feels as if it gets 'caught' occasionally, especially when bending forward over 90 degrees,this also wakes me up on a night.
Leftie catches quite often, and lets me know it wants some attention too, but it doesn't cause the sort of giving way pain that was soooo painful constantly pre-op with the right one.
I still have a few ongoing stomach problems caused by taking NSAIDS so long pre-op, but hopefully they will settle down soon.
Am I better than I was pre-op? Yes, without a doubt, as I am able to function fairly well on a daily basis without being stuffed full of strong meds, and I am glad I had the surgery, but I am also a little disappointed that I am still in pain and am still limited in my activities.
I have tried working out/not exercising/ resting and doing/not doing physio but nothing really seems to help. The muscles are all pretty strong and I don't limp (unless I have been sitting a while) so I don't think its anything to do with weakness.
As a fellow hippy also commented the other day, I am craving being able to get back going for long country walks (or even daily shorter ones for now) but I am starting to wonder whether that will ever be the case.
I have my next post-op appointment in March, which will be 10 months, so will update after that.
In the meantime I hope everyone has a great Christmas, and all those who are presently recovering from more recent surgeries are as pain free as poss.
I am now almost seven months post RPAO. Things are definitely better than before the surgery, but are by no means perfect. The joint is good and rarely causes any pain when walking.That's the good news. I can survive most days without taking any painkillers stronger than paracetamol, which is a big improvement on pre-op.
The not so good;
My hip flexor still causes loads of pain and by the end of a shift at work I find it difficult to drive, sit on high stools, get in/out of the car etc, sometimes even walking can get pretty sore.
I still have a constant dull aching in the back of the hip ( ischium, hamstring area) which gets worse if I walk more than about 30mins.
There is a small area in the front of my groin that still feels as if it gets 'caught' occasionally, especially when bending forward over 90 degrees,this also wakes me up on a night.
Leftie catches quite often, and lets me know it wants some attention too, but it doesn't cause the sort of giving way pain that was soooo painful constantly pre-op with the right one.
I still have a few ongoing stomach problems caused by taking NSAIDS so long pre-op, but hopefully they will settle down soon.
Am I better than I was pre-op? Yes, without a doubt, as I am able to function fairly well on a daily basis without being stuffed full of strong meds, and I am glad I had the surgery, but I am also a little disappointed that I am still in pain and am still limited in my activities.
I have tried working out/not exercising/ resting and doing/not doing physio but nothing really seems to help. The muscles are all pretty strong and I don't limp (unless I have been sitting a while) so I don't think its anything to do with weakness.
As a fellow hippy also commented the other day, I am craving being able to get back going for long country walks (or even daily shorter ones for now) but I am starting to wonder whether that will ever be the case.
I have my next post-op appointment in March, which will be 10 months, so will update after that.
In the meantime I hope everyone has a great Christmas, and all those who are presently recovering from more recent surgeries are as pain free as poss.
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