My Right Total Hip Replacement.

[oscarsmum]

Paignton,

Have you got your new programme to follow yet from the physio you saw last week? Maybe once you are following that there will be a quicker improvement. also is it possible to ask the advice of that PT to whether you could use a stationary bike or do more water exercises yourself inbetween your hydro visits. Do you have a local gym that you could get a GP referral to, as most seem to do reduced fees if you can get a referral to them, then you could work more yourself inbetween you physio visits? The therabands that you mentioned in an earlier post do work if you are patient and use them several times a day , its just such a slow and frustrating period when you are not progressing as fast as you want .
Hang i there
Kate xx

[Paignton]

Kate at hydro on Wednesday I was chatting to one of the other women there whilst we were waiting to go through and get changed. I was telling her how frustrated I am with not making any progress at Paignton physio. Next thing I know she is asking me to write down my full name, address and date of birth! She is only a secretary in the orthopaedic department at Torbay hospital! She herself is having physio there as well as hydro, and said that she will get my notes transferred over to Torbay to there physio dept. She has asked them there to refer me to one of two people whom she said are fantastic and will have me working in the gym on bikes etc in no time

She requested my notes from Paignton on Wednesday and I have just come off the phone to them asking if they had been transferred and she said YES. They went in the internal post yesterday and she said that they should recieve them today. So hopefully fingers and toes crossed it will not be long before I get an appointment :-)

[Rayray]

That is great news Paignton. I hadn't realised you weren't having physio at Torbay. Locally, for any major trauma, you have to attend the major hospital, not the smaller ones which makes sense.

I hope they see you fast and you get lots of help going forward.

Take care.

[SirenMoonBee]

Wow that was super lucky, talk about the right person at the right time! So pleased for you and hope it works out well for you huni xx

[oscarsmum]

Thats really good news, hope you progress much quicker now xx

[Paignton]

Well I have been to see my Pain Consultant today and as expected further nerve damage has been confirmed by him / From the Femoral nerve down the front of the leg and into the groin is now so much worse than this time last year. Also the burning sensation in my heel, top of foot and ankle is also nerve damage that has happened from the RTHR Also all under my foot from the heel to the toes is numb. He said I have no real feeling there either! He said that it is the S1 nerve that is damaged in the foot!

So firstly he is changing my MST to Oxycodone, and to leave out the Ibuprofen and Paracetomol as he is worried about the effects on my kidneys and liver I am to start on 20mg morning and evening as he said to stay on the slow release tablets. Also he confirmed my worst fears ever, ever in this world. He wants an MRI scan done of my back just to check that there is no slipped disc. Not for one minute does he think there is he said, but he just wants to be double sure, before going down any other avenues, as he said the only other thing really open to me is Spinal Nerve Stimulation, but he did say that I may not be an ideal person for it as not eveybody is suited to it. He told me to come home and google S1 nerve, my new meds and Spinal Nerve Stimulation, but nothing else at all.

So I shall ring the MRI appointments on Thursday and he said that I should get an appointment within two weeks.
__________________

[Rayray]

How are you doing Paignton? This nerve damage doesn't sound good. Have they suggested you see a neurologist or just stick with pain management?

I hope things aren't too bad. Have you progressed at all with the walking?

[Paignton]

Hi Rayray

Until I have had the MRI scan my pain consultant is not referring me to anybody else, until he knows for certain what is definetly going on, as he does not want to worry me further. I now have a date for the MRI which is Sunday 21st August. Day before we go to Center Parcs as well! So I have seen my GP and he has given me some Diazepam to take the morning of the scan.

As for my walking, because I still cannot put my foot fully to the floor, nor fully weight bear for me walking is still with two crutches. When I saw the new physio last week,he told me then and there that it was going to be a long job, and not a few weeks. He was appalled and gob-smacked that in nearly two years of having physio I had not been given one weight bearing exercise to do, so as he said it has done me no favours at all :-( I now have three weight bearing exercies to do, but one I am really struggling with due to the groin pain. i see him again next week and he did say if I had problems with any of them he would look at trying a different one. It also emerged that on the operated leg I cannot turn my foot inwards, nor can I bend it upwards. Think it would be easier to chop it off. lolol Seriously I am going to have to stick with it, and try to do everything that he throws at me.

[Paignton]

Well my new physio chappie is well and truly on the ball even though he is now making me have an MRI scan on my foot and ankle due to the problems that I am currently having with it:-( I had x-rays but they have shown nothing up. He seems to think that there is tissue/ligament damage with lots of swelling, but want to be 100% certain before injecting the foot whre it is inflamed. At least he is being thorough. He has also told me that it will be at least eighteen months before I will probably be able to turn around and actually say, you know what my pain today is actually a little bit easier than it has been?? That's like the end of next year, meaning I shall have been on crutches and in pain for three years! He has also told me that I shall never be pain free either. If only MA had done this THR in October 2009 :-(

Also I am back on the MST. Oxycodone and then trying Targinact as well gave me terrible side effects. My skin was bright red from head to foot and felt like it was on fire. OMG it was awful. I stopped taking them just over a week ago and had to wait until they were all out of my system before going back onto the MST, so started back on them on Saturday and building up gradually to the dosage I was on before I came off them. So my pain levels as of late have been high, and by having no pain killers at all it has shown us just how much pain I am still getting in the groin and when trying to walk heel to toe!

[Rayray]

I'm glad your physio knows what he is doing and hope he can progress things for you.