A lot and nothing has happened since I last blogged. I went to Australia, relaxed, showed my tattoo of my implant to my mother and drove 1500 km in 10 days with surprisingly no ill effects! I also have managed to swim a full 1 km in the pool. All in all, the joint is wonderful, it sometimes grates or vibrates when I stretch which an odd sensation.
I have have very sore feet, I have developed plantar fasciitis which is makes my heels and arches very tender, I went to the GP when they got unbearable, not long before headed to Australia in November. She gave me some exercises that seemed to be okay and my sports masseur released my rock hard calves and stretched the soles of my feet. The reason for the developing of the feet is because of my pretty sudden change from no activity to wanting to walk everywhere!
There was not much improvement but I stuck with the exercises and they settled whilst in Australia only to flair again when back walking in London. I had organised some more Physio on the suggestion of Mr Hutt earlier and we were looking at my walk which is still very limp like and he had done a pretty good job on the skeletal stuff and I shouldn't be limping. So the Physios have started building my glutes in an effort to stop me dropping into the joint. This seems to be working, very slowly. They also rejigged my exercises for my feet to accommodate my hypermobility. This seems to be helping but I still get days where the feet burn as I sit in the tube which is very uncomfortable. I am finding that I want to limit the amount of walking and that is frustrating, so I am heading back to the GP to see if I can get some steroid injections so I can continue with the exercises but not be in as much pain.
The feet have been frustrating but the fact the thigh pain has not disappeared has been very difficult. We were hoping it would go over time and it wasn’t obvious in Australia except when I tried running on the beach (soft landings there). Coming back into the cold it became apparent that the pain was still there, some days very bad, sharp pain, when I walk. Going up stairs I can feel the implant every step. Getting up off the floor, that downward pressure is very evident.
I went for my 12 month check up with Mr Hutt, he was very pleased with my progress, the bone is growing into the replacement and overall he is very happy besides the ruddy thigh pain. We talked about what was causing it, the shape of the stem, which is a documented issue but fairly rare. The tip rests on the bone of the femur, which is causing the pain, we think. Hutt feels it is a pressure differential between the metal and bone. Hence when there is pressure put on the joint moving there is pain flairs.
He has suggested we leave it for another six months, to see if it rights itself. If not we will have to have a CT scan and isolate if it is the whole stem or the just the tip of the stem causing the issue. If it is the whole stem the option will be replacing just the stem. If it is the tip, it would be putting in a plate to spread the pressure and possibly some bone grafts. Of course the third option will be to leave it and live with it.
In the meantime I am going to try to lose some weight and strengthen the muscles around the hip. This may help and frankly I am ready to grasp at those straws. I am overweight and the muscles are weak so there are improvements to be made there regardless.
Needless to say the thought of more surgery and revising the implant has made me quite upset and my mental health has taken a bit of a tumble with this newish development. I am really disappointed about it and finding it difficult not to worry big time. It will not be an easy decision if I have to make it. Thankfully Mr Gin is being wonderful and supportive as always.
So Hippy Birthday to me and hopefully this will pass.
