👯‍♀️ Hips and Knees part 7

MayBee I have acquired several indispensable items over the years, stored in my garden shed and a bedpan chair was one of them. I was lucky because for 6 weeks I had free help for eg bedpan emptying and other things I couldn't do because I was using crutches.

I found it easy to transfer from bed to chair and back again. I kept disposable wipes for my hands, but took them downstairs for disposal the next day.

I think the Red Cross will hire out items at very low cost.

I live on my own, and I used a Zimmer during the night to keep me safe once I felt safe to go to the loo.

I had everything sorted out before I was admitted. I am up to the loo x3 on a bad night.

Make sure the chair is wheelless, as some are.

Please don't cancel surgery because of your weak bladder.

surfsup

A long time since my last post but I’ve had partial (I think) knee replacement today. On NHS but at Spire 7 mins away from home. AFAIK all went well. Pretty dopey atm. I wet myself in bed due to spinal so now have big pad on but think I’ve leaked. Dying to wee but not been out of bed yet and think I’ll struggle to get on bedpan. So far so good and will keep you updated on my progress. When painkillers wear off the pain is pretty bad but everything under control at present. Physio hasn’t been to get me out of bed yet so bit apprehensive about that but would like to be able to use WC.

How are you doing? I have to decide in a few months whether to go for a TKR but one of the things putting me off is my weak bladder. I’m ok in the daytime but as soon as I’m lying down I seem to need the loo all the time.

I was lucky having had my knees replaced at an orthopaedic hospital so there was no A&E dept so less pressure on beds. My last knee was replaced in 2018 and I was in for 11 days. Even so I had a struggle at home as I live on my own and was still using crutches.

The attitude is if you can bend to 90 degrees, put two legs on the floor, goodbye. I think a lot of people struggle at home unnecessarily.

I need at least one THR but I know I couldn't cope here.

I can’t imagine having a THR as a day patient. It was bad enough having the operation on the Tuesday morning and coming home on the Wednesday afternoon and I’m very fit for my age.

When I trained we had patients on the ward who were well enough to help other patients and do the evening drinks round. I do think the pendulum has swung too far and we’ve lost the art of convalescence.

Nanatuesday I hope the shock wave therapy helps. Knowing that a relative has had an awful experience like your brothers makes deciding whether to have surgery so difficult.

charleygirl my godmother, who died aged 100 recently, had both hips and knees replaced about 30 years ago and was in hospital for two weeks each time. She was horrified that I came home after 3 nights after my hip replacements. I know that a THR is now available as a day case, but I wouldn’t want to be only in hospital for the day!

Redcar you are correct, a THR has always been classed as major surgery. It has been known to be done occasionally as a day case, which, to me, is ridiculous. I was around 100 years old when a patient was admitted for 2 weeks, then to a convalescent home for another 2 weeks. TKRs were in their infancy.

nanatuesday I’m sorry your brother has had such a bad experience with his hip replacement. It sounds awful but I hope he will improve with time. After both my hip replacements, my legs and feet were like telegraph poles and took months to go back to anything like normal. I was told that hip replacement was a major operation, like knees but I know knees are a more complex joint than hips.
Good luck with your operation and I hope you don’t have to wait too long for treatment.

Reading this thread with interest as I am currently on an NHS list for FKR left knee,

I had my first key hole clear out on left knee.18 years plus ago also 3 cortisone injections & 2 steroid cortisone on RK.

Only last year did I get in the waiting list & tbh it scares the life out of me !

Quite a major op more so than a hip replacement . Which co incidentally my younger brother (by 10years) had in March. Private hospital NHS list = he has had nothing but problems ever since . Went in as a perfectly healthy 62year old ,never smoked ,or drank, not even tea or coffee.,not over weight etc.

His *pelvis fractured during the process & he has nerve damage in his left leg now. HR was on right side . His feet are always cold & swollen .

None of this paints a good picture which isn't helping either * I am aware of the fact that HR is no where near as bad a FKR .

So fast forward , I am now experiencing almost as bad a problem with my right knee that has never been as bad as my left is now . I have just this week managed to get an X-ray & telephone chat with a physio who ordered the X-ray.

However , with my misgivings about the operation I am about to commence with a course of Shock Wave Therapy .

I am quite positive about this & aware that it is not a cure . I am at the stage where my quality of life is severely affected .

Hello Surfsup, congratulations on your new knee and glad to hear it’s done now and that it’s gone well. My sympathy because the same happened to me after surgery, years ago now but I was mortified. It happens. Once you can use the loo you will feel much better, tell someone you need some help.
Just rest now, and keep in touch.

A long time since my last post but I’ve had partial (I think) knee replacement today. On NHS but at Spire 7 mins away from home. AFAIK all went well. Pretty dopey atm. I wet myself in bed due to spinal so now have big pad on but think I’ve leaked. Dying to wee but not been out of bed yet and think I’ll struggle to get on bedpan. So far so good and will keep you updated on my progress. When painkillers wear off the pain is pretty bad but everything under control at present. Physio hasn’t been to get me out of bed yet so bit apprehensive about that but would like to be able to use WC.

I can laugh ( but not too heartily) now Maizie but still wonder why I thought it was a good idea.
Will never underestimate how hard it can be to walk out on the sea on those wobbly walkways and clamber into different boats in the middle of the ocean. Have to accept at my age there are some things it’s sensible to avoid, and paragliding is one of them.
Glad you enjoyed your time in Croatia, it is a lovely place to visit.

silverlining, your story is amazing. I do hope you can find it a wee bit amusing now. What a tale to dine out on!

The access to the boat reminded me of a lovely small boat cruise in the Adriatic that we went on to celebrate my retirement, A holiday taken in term time!

The small boat docked at a different island every afternoon and there were often a few other boats there, moored in a line at right angles to the usually, tiny quayside. Up to 10 boats on occasion. So if your boat was late in you could only reach the quay via the gangplanks which stretched between many boats. Over the gangplank, across a boat, over the gangplank to the next, and so on. It wasn't too bad, but a bit wobbly, when the boats were all about the same height, but some were higher than others and crossing between them, from low to high and back again, felt very hazardous.

It was a lovely holiday, though. The Croation Islands were fabulous. And the food that came out of the cruise boat's tiny, tiny galley was unbelievable..

MaizieD you've done pretty well as well, your previous hard word paid off.

Oh my goodness silverlining, you sound absolutely amazing and lovely, and I feel such a wimp. "The positive thing is my hip held out" - I do admire someone who can find the grain of gold amongst all the dross. And your poor DH suffered as well, what a pair! Thank you so much for sharing, you really didn't have to, but I love you for it!

Did your consultant say it was okay to horse ride Maizie?

Strange question.

I didn't even mention it to him in the very few minutes in which I spoke to him, Charleygirl. There didn't seem to be any physical reason why I shouldn't be able to get back on a horse. I have a horsey acquaintance who has two artificial hips (which she had long before I had mine). She's an excellent rider and it hasn't stopped her.

I've been back in the saddle for a year now...

I have yet to mention how hard it was to get into the boat because we had to walk on the sea on one if those undulating wooden boardwalks, I have vertigo and had to be virtually carried by two men, being short I couldn’t get my leg over the first boat, was bundled in, then out to sea to get into another boat….. with 6 other people watching….nightmare.
The ride in the sky, up and alone was lovely but the life jacket rode up past my ears so my view was limited. Then the landing which you already know about, and our return to shore on two more boats and another horrible walk on top of the sea on the moving boardwalk…. Where my dh fell off between the boats head first.
Oh and the photos (20£) were awful.
Think that’s it.
But the positive thing is my hip held out. Hurrah. 🥳

It’s been good to be able to put this down, to clear my head of what was a traumatic experience.

Silverlining, I’m gobsmacked! I would never be that brave but I will get my big waterproof out and go walking. No handy shopping centres sadly but I am making a point of climbing the stairs several times a day.

OK silverlining, let’s try to forget the landing, tell us about when you were way up in the air, being bold and feisty, how did that feel? Bloomin’ marvellous, I bet!

Now I am 77 I know better

I was very foolish I know. I am not usually a brave person, and getting old, wanted to do something way out of my comfort zone. Just to see if I could.
Having seen the gentle way people were landed in the boats at the end of the process over repeated visits to the hotel, I was not expecting to be dropped from 6’ up, in a heap straight onto the boat. I was 76, being bold and feisty, feeling happy I had plucked up the courage, not thinking about the risks.
My last ever time of being crazy. 🤪

Charleygirl, it's just stiff if I sit around for too long, but that may be an age thing and when I look back to where I was 12 months ago, things have improved beyond measure, so perhaps I'm just expecting things to be like they were when you and I were young, Maggie (to quote the late, greatly lamented Terry Wogan .....)

I could hardly believe what I was reading. Paragliding and in a foreign country! God knows what would have happened if you had dislocated.

Times have definitely changed. When I was still working 25 years ago, joints were replaced to make people pain-free and do everyday tasks, and paragliding and horse riding were never any of the questions asked!!!. Did your consultant say it was okay to horse ride Maizie?

grammargran I am surprised you don't feel you have bonded with your hip, especially as it is around a year. At least you are pain-free.

Thanks everyone for various comments and, to be honest, you’re all telling me what, deep down, I know already: I’m just not moving enough. I think I’ve mentioned earlier in the thread that a couple of months ago, two of our daughters whisked us off to Marrakech, ostensibly as our ‘carers’ but, in effect, took no prisoners. I was racking up thousands of steps a day to no ill effect so I know I can do it - basically I’m lazy! MaizieD, you’re right, I’ve got ten years on you but this is no excuse, ‘use it or lose it’ must be my mantra from now on. However silverlining, paragliding is just one step too far ….

I must say, I would never even have attempted paragliding, silverlining. I think you were very brave...