Loosened hip, torn tendon, now a broken leg
Neil thought everyone may like to have an update on how I am going lately.
After progressing well with physio and hydrotherapy, I was starting to get around fairly easy with crutches, but still with a bit of pain. I had a follow-up appointment with the hospital who did some more x-rays.These showed that my hip socket had loosened a bit more, so some shift between when I was first diagnosed with the loosened prosthesis. My knee x-rays showed that they were still in decent condition, so not to worry about them for a while yet. I was told to wait as long as I can to get the hip redone.
So things were going along ok, and I must have overdone a physio session when the thigh muscle in my right leg became extremely sore, to the point where it was very hard to put weight through my leg. In having this, I was now putting weight through my left leg. This continued for about 5 days. The thigh muscle seemed to improve, but now my left knee was extremely painful and swollen.
I had to take the rest of the week off work, and the pain in the knee which I thought would improve did not, so off to the specialist I went today. I have a lovely Rheumatologist, Dr Stephen Hall. He is very efficient and is a professor in his field and very highly regarded. He told me that he suspects I have a small insufficiency fracture of the medial tibial plateau – in other words a fractured bone or broken leg (which I think sounds a bit extreme). Anyway, he suggested I have a bone scan to confirm this as a normal x-ray would not show it up. I have had a couple of bone scans before. The bit I don’t like about them is they have to inject a radioactive liquid into my veins. But because I have crap veins and they can’t use my port-a-cath implant, it is usually very painful, so not a procedure I care to indulge in if I can help it. So I am going to wait a week, take more pain medication and see where I am at then. If it is still bad, then I will have the scan done.
If the scan shows up that there is a fracture, there is not a lot I can do about it. He said it can take up to 8 weeks to heal, but I could have some sort of injection into the area to help it heal faster, so may look at that. The good news is that I am allowed to still walk around on crutches, as much as I can tolerate the pain, so I am not stuck in getting around the house. Until the pain subsides a lot, I will not be going back to work yet.
So that’s where I am at, not a great deal better than last time I wrote, but at least my hips are not giving me much pain at the moment and my right knee is fairly good too.
Naomi out :)
Chrissy
Hey Naomi .. I haven’t commented on your previous posts before this one but have been following your progress with interest as I too have had knee replacements due to an arthritis condition. I must say I feel your Rheumatologist sounds like he’s hit the button on the head in that from your description of your pain etc you may have a small insufficiency fracture of the medial tibial plateau. I see it may be similar to a ‘stress fracture’ of some sort with my knowledge. Happy to hear you are nursing it along though with using your crutches. I also need to resort to aids occasionally such as a walking stick or crutches when I’m having problems.
I’ve had my replacements in for going on 8 years now and am trying to baby them along hoping they won’t need to be replaced for a few more years yet. It’s so hard to find an orthopaedic surgeon who will do such an operation on anyone under the age of 65yrs old I found. I finally found one (Dr David Young) after many years of searching, one that understood I couldn’t possibly sit in a wheelchair waiting to turn 65. I am still dancing when I can and am often a little sore the next day and take it easy for a few days after but I figure live in the present, for today and for the moment.
I wish you well Naomi and I find you most awe inspiring with your positive attitude. Keep it up! ☺
Naomi
Hi Chrissie,
Thanks for your reply :)
I have had my knee replacements for about 14 years now and they are still going along well, going by my last x-ray, so you will definitely get at least another 8 years out of yours, if you are babying them along – I certainly haven’t and have been ‘using them’ a fair bit, not really thinking about their expiry date. I too live for today and think of all the fantastic things we can look forward to in the future. Neil helps me stay positive as he is a futurist and has no doubt in 20 years I will have brand new body parts!
Cheers
Naomi :)
Susheel Chandradhas
Hi Naomi,
That’s a lot that you’ve gone through… To come out fighting like you are is very inspiring for people like me.
I wish you well in your recovery and hope that its not a fracture.
Cheers!
sandrar
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.
angelina jolie
I love your site. :) Love design!!! I just came across your blog and wanted to say that I