h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

hello there..sorry was just being nosey!! im 37 female and i also have osteo-arthritis in my left hip!!! and just like yourself i cant stand for long periods of time!!! im waiting for a hip operation at the moment..still managing to work, but had a lot of time off lately!!!:O)speak soon Ruby :O)

be as nosey as you like,lol I dont mind at all.
How long you had it?

sue

right...just back from work...had it i dont know....one doctor said i was born with it another said through an injury but the last sort of 3 years its just got worse...agony...i take painkiller all the time now...cant function without them!!!! so what about you???? and are you going to have surgery? just me being nosey??? ive heard some many different tales...some are good and others bad....???

Hi Ruby
I saw a specialist about 5 years ago who said it was just starting in my knees and that there was nothing he could do, He said come back in 10 years and you can have knee replacements.,,,I had already got it in my neck and my doctor just gave me pain killers and anti-inflams.
It was then another 2 years b4 it spread to my foot and only last year I got it in both hips, Most days I can keep it under control(with the pain killers) but the winter is the worse with all the cold. My heating bill is high then,lol,, Ive tried not taking pills in the day time(as they make me drowsy and I cant function)and just taking them at night so im relaxed and can then sleep,
Get about 4 hours solid sleep then Im awake again,lol Then out comes another pill for some more sleep,
I try to walk every day even if its only for 10 mins, (this i sbad day) but if I feel good I try walking for longer, Then there are the days I cant even get to the front door cus of the pain, those days Im full of painkillers that dont seem to want to work,lol
You know what they saw, Take each day as it comes and thats what I do,, My youngest daughter is getting married next month and Im trying to save myself for that,lol

sue

so youve got it all over...well that must be really painful..voltol was good but made me dizzy so i just take antiflam..ibuprofen every day...my pain greatly eases when i sit.... but the pain is like you everyday...somedays i can hardly move at all..but once the painkiller kicks in i manager to get about...and also they keep the swelling down:O)..anyway im going in soon for my op got my date..so hopefully all will go well. ive read alot about osteo....different diets and stuff.i also have a friend who has it in her spine....shes like an old woman walking about...and theres nothing they can do for her..sad that.....

Ruby
The swelling can be more blinking uncomfortable than the pain at time,lol
Still we have to make the most of the good days and hope the bad ones dont come so often.
Glad your getting your "op" you should hopefully feel a lot better afterwards and be more mobile than now,,, if you let me know b4 u go in I will say a prayer for you.
One day they may find a way to either cure it or stop it from spreading or getting orse. (live in hopes eh?),

sue

just a quick hello, to see how your doing? iam on the sick atthe moment....too much pain...anywayz i go in hospital on the 15 of this month for my op....so keep taking the pills!!!!! and yeah i agree with you, one day hopefully they will find a cure!!!!

hello ruby
Will pray for you when you go 4 ur op,,, Im still taking the pills
Hopefully you will come out a new woman
As 4 a cure,, well we still live in hope

sue

thanks sue.....well yeah we will both keep taking the pills for now...but even after the op theres alot i cant do for 12 weeks...no bending etc as i am younger and will need another hip in later life they are using a different type...its prone to dislocation!!! but hopefully if i do as i am told that wont happen, but yeah the surgeon said, i will wake up pain free...it just seems unreal at the moment to me.
like yourself im sure everything works round the pills...going out etc...cleaning the house...but hopefully i will have a full recovery, but unlike yourself you will have to keep taking the medication for life....that must be very despresing, also i have read alot on different diets when you have got OA. like...no red meats, no tomatoes, but to eat things like fish, green vegetable...ruby

Oh not having tomatoes is hard cus I <love. them, but yes ur right, had to give them up,,lol Lucky enough I dont eat much red meat, tend to stick to chicken and fish anyway,lol..

Taking the pills aint to bad, but the depression can be awful some days, specially when Im in great pain and cant even get out the front door,,,But I have to cope,lol cant do anything else can I,lol
Im glad your getting your op, youve had your A longer than I have and you must have had some really bad days with it,,

I was told I had 2 wait till I was 60,lol,, oh well only another 4 years to go,,

sue

well i went to see the surgeon last october, he didnt wanna do the surgery and he said hang on for as long as you can...i said NO i need this op its taken over my life...he sid it would be about a year to have it but its only been 9 months, so ive been really lucky..others have waited years...but if something can be done about it...then get it done...no point suffering..and yeah the depression is the worst. i was off work from december(just gone) went back in march but with being at home all the time..the depression comes...so i know how you feel..i remember catching a bus in to town and getting the next one home cos of the pain....thats no way to live is it? Operations n hospitals i HATE but i have to do this for my own sake!!! you should too....it will be worth it

My Dr wont let me have an op yet,,,,,,,,,,,
She said if I can hold on for a few more years then (as they told you) it would be better, only cus the replacements last just 10 years and the surgeons apparently dont like to redo them>>????
Any way, mine isnt to bad in the summer just copeable then,lol the winter is the worse,, Dreaad it after this month when my youngest gets married and Im alone,,, dread the winter coming,,, but I will cope,, HAVE TO KEEP TELLING MESLEF THAT,LOL

soz about caps, thats rushin,lol
go to go again now Ruby,, been nice having our chat,, see you later


sue xxx

yes if you have one fitted they use cement type stuff, hence when they then have to re-do it they have to chip out all the cement from your leg......hence thats why i am having a glue one so when i need another in my fifties they dont have the hassle of chipping it out.....but i may have the hassle of going back into theatre if it dislocates!!! surgeons eh!!!!!
speak soon Ruby

Ruby
But the idea of having it now and being able to move pain free has to outweigh the fear of dislocation im sure,,,, Will you have to learn to move in a special way so that u dont dislocate?
Think if I went on the waiting list Id be ready for an op in about 7 years time,lol specially with the way they work in Brum,lol

sue

7 years is a long time and with OA it gets worse.well after 12 weeks you can start to bend the new hip, as the muscle and other tissues start to re grow around the new hip, therefore holding it in place, the reason you cant do this for 12 weeks is, if you bend it will pop out, then its back to theatre to re glue it back in.hence you cant hoover, bend to the kitchen cupboards, have a special thingy mi bob fitted on your loo, chair measured(just bought a new high arm chair) bed measured, if too small they raise it up higher....but like i said after 12 weeks you can start to do some movements. and it gets better with time. so ive ben told!!!
but i think of you waiting for 7 years..thats a long time to be in pain...too long...but i understand why they are making you wait its your age....if you were my age, they would of done it by now im sure...they are just trying to spin it out. but hey its your leg, your life...why suffer when you can be pain free? and able tomove about properly again?

coping is one thing ive learnt to do.. To just take one day at a time and make the good days count,lol

Ive got a frame round the loo, blocks on one arm chair and now waiting for the bath to be converted into a walk in shower

It sounds like you've got a lot of resting to do after your op,,, Im sure you will and then there will be o stopping you

To be able to do all the things you wanted to (within reason of course),,,

sue

Thought it was time I caught up on how you are doing?

How did the op go?

Ive been thinking of you and praying that everything went smoothly for you.

sue

Thanks sue.I had my op on the 16th July, i came out of hospital on the 21st july.I hate hospitals and believe me it was not nice in there. So i told the nurse i wanted to go home, she said no not yet, but i said i really wanted to go home as i had no sleep in there.so they let me. Anyway the leg is doing well, its only about 6 inches my cut, and the staples have been taken out yesterday and it dont look too bad at all!!! anyway i am on the mend, thanks for your concern, still on painkillers at the moment...but hoping the outsome of all this is GOOD.managing to walk about a bit on my crutches(6 weeks on these they said) went shopping but still cant do a lot really.Got both my sons here at the min helping!!! so that is a real big help with the house.
So how have you been?? and i also think i missed the wedding!!! i will go and read your page when i get chance..Ruby

Thanks sue.I had my op on the 16th July, i came out of hospital on the 21st july.I hate hospitals and believe me it was not nice in there. So i told the nurse i wanted to go home, she said no not yet, but i said i really wanted to go home as i had no sleep in there.so they let me. Anyway the leg is doing well, its only about 6 inches my cut, and the staples have been taken out yesterday and it dont look too bad at all!!! anyway i am on the mend, thanks for your concern, still on painkillers at the moment...but hoping the outsome of all this is GOOD.managing to walk about a bit on my crutches(6 weeks on these they said) went shopping but still cant do a lot really.Got both my sons here at the min helping!!! so that is a real big help with the house.
So how have you been?? and i also think i missed the wedding!!! i will go and read your page when i get chance..Ruby

Hi Ruby,
No im not a newbie, its me (sue),, lost my other name due to me logging out by mistake and couldnt recall the details to get back, so opened a new account,

I hope you got chance to read about the wedding before I deleted it,,, I cant retrieve it either now with a new name

chat soon, Im not online much at the mo cus Ive got a bad back at the mo and sitting is painful

S