23 September 2011
How Long Does the Pain Last?
I went back a week later, and he was up and walking around. But he was still housebound and depressed, and still on the pain pills.
After the third week, he told me he was having to be awakened in the night for the pain pills. I asked him if he had any common sense, and if so, why wasn't he using it? If, indeed, he was sleeping, how bad could the pain still be? He lengthened the time between doses of the pain pills.
At the end of the fourth week, he went back to his office.
He's 81. Ritz, tell your dad to have a little patience. I'm in no pain, doing everything, I could sleep in a tent if I wanted to (I don't, but I've been trekking through India), I practice yoga, and everyone's body heals at its own rate:-)
18 April 2011
Annual Update
Does it solve other problems? No. I still have the same issues with my back. But because they are not complicated, they are something I can live with.
If you want to talk to me about hip replacements, just comment and I will answer to the best of my ability. It has been fun hearing from people all over the world.
07 May 2010
Scoliosis
I'm now 3.5 years out and I don't even remember I have it most of the time. Of course I still keep in shape assiduously, which was the way I was before.
24 November 2008
Now I'm a Health Maven:-)
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23 September 2008
If You are Thinking of Having a Hip Replacement...
If you are thinking of having a replacement, read this blog all the way through. I've tried to be as truthful as I can about the experience, from the day before the operation to the present, nearly two years later. Only by going back to how I felt at the beginning of the process can I remember how much pain I was in when I tried to register myself into the hospital, and when I walked down the corridors for the pre-op tests. In retrospect, I waited too long.
I thought I could cure myself through diet and exercise. I couldn't. But now that I've had the surgery, I see there are some times when surgery is clearly the best choice.
30 July 2008
Summer Update
But this is the latest and greatest on the hip replacement, which will be two years old in November.
I can now balance on my left leg. This is a big deal. Couldn't do it before the replacement, and couldn't do it for a long time after, because I also have a scoliosis that tilts me to the left. In fact, that's what probably threw the hip out in the first place. And then I have no arch on my left foot -- also a problem.
So now I recommend Pilates as a complement to yoga. Pilates has given me an even greater and more subtle sense of alignment, and how small muscles in strange places help you stand and walk. But if you are going to take Pilates, don't go to the gym or take a mat class. To get anything out of it, you have to use the Reformer, a wierd piece of equipment with an even stranger name. But the Reformer gives you the feedback you need to truly strengthen the correct muscles.
I probably should have known all of this before I trashed my hip!
06 June 2008
Francine Left THA Meets Francine Left THA
Her recovery was remarkable, she said. And she told me she had read my blog, but that it was no longer available. So it reminded me to update it so Google would take another look at it.
I went to the Bronx High School of Science, and this weekend I'm walking all over Manhattan with my customary sprightly gait. No problems.