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Don't get old.


Bud

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Visit with my primary DR yesterday resulted in x-ray of hip, diagnosis of Osteoarthritis and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon in a couple of weeks. I'm kinda getting tired of Winter with the prostate diagnosis last winter and now this. :dopeslap:

 

The good news is that the retina specialist I saw today said I didn't have to come back for another two years!!! :clap:

 

Not the worlds toughest rider, but not gonna quit riding over this. If I need a new hip, I'm getting one ASAP. :grin: Don't want to lose any more riding time in 2018.

 

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Getting old beats not getting old...

 

Amen! Feeling old is a state of mind. Fortunately I am getting more forgetful so I think I am still young! :grin:

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Getting old beats not getting old...

 

Amen! Feeling old is a state of mind. Fortunately I am getting more forgetful so I think I am still young! :grin:

 

Well I am 82, Heart attack ,Rotator Cuff, Knee Replacement in my Past, still Ride about 15 to 20 1000 Mi. a year. Do not remember if I went for a ride yesterday or not

so I think I had better go for a ride tomorrow...

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Bud - just be glad it's not caused you issues till now! I had my right hip done 7 years ago - and while it was undoubtedly painful just walking - one friend would always remind me that I was limping, but because the discomfort builds up over the years, it [the pain] becomes 'the new normal' - with very sharp pain only raising its head at certain angles. I had been having x-rays periodically and the bone on bone area in the hip continued to get worse as the years passed. What drove me to finally having the right hip replaced was that it was just too painful to ride. Going out on the bike became a torturous ordeal - snowmobiling was out of the question. I'd known for 20 years I would need to replace it, but didn't want to risk doing it at 35 and wearing it out. The surgeon mentioned to my wife that now that I finally had the right hip replaced, he thought I'd be back in a year to get the other one done.

 

I guess I'm too stubborn. Looking back, just like the right hip, the pain built up and became the new normal and one makes unconscious allowances to compensate or to avoid painful movement. At START in Helen, Eric and I put in long 330 mile day. On the way back to HQ, we stopped at a market so I could get a lemon for a medicinal cocktail at the hotel. I didn't realize how bad my leg was till I tried to walk. I had to use a cart as a walker and that fortunately allowed my leg to loosen up. I put that incident down to extenuating circumstances. My trips with the Clean Living Hoosiers were marked by Advil by day and Norco by night.

 

Finally, I'd had enough! After the trip to Colorado in 2016, I scheduled the surgery for after FART, 2016! :clap:

 

Then playing 'Uncle Fun', I tore both my rotator cuffs and their repair seemed more urgent, so the hip was put off and surgery commenced on one shoulder (twice) and then the other. At START that year I tried following the bread crumbs of very quick and accomplished rider. While I learned a lot in doing so, at the end of the ride when we stopped for fuel, I nearly dropped my bike while I was on it (and at a stop with my feel down) my leg hurt so badly. I couldn't risk putting it up on the center stand to fuel it, as is my custom, as I was sure my leg would give out. So I had a very awkward fueling session because I'd pulled up to the pump with the hose to my right - which isn't an issue when you center stand the bike. But instead I was on the high side of the side standed bike, trying to look natural as I awkwardly held the nozzle at an odd angle to fill the tank - not smart enough (or too dazed) to walk to the low side of the bike to operate the nozzle. No amount of pain meds that night allowed me to sleep and I stayed 'on the porch' the next day and let the bike rest.

 

Last summer's bike trip to the East I almost didn't go on because of my hip. Fortunately for me, My Clean Living Hoosier riding partner does not like to pile on miles daily and that was the only way I could survive the ride out to NH and ME and back.

 

I finally had the left hip replaced on Nov 28, 2017. Now past most of the post surgery pain, it's .... so much more peaceful as I go through the day. That pain and discomfort TORTURE that I was putting up with every day is gone, and it's conspicuous by its absence. For example - when I went for my first ride after surgery, each time I came to a stop and had to lower (or raise) my left leg, I discovered my body was conditioned to tense up, lean to the right slightly and I would grit my teeth each time I went to move my left leg on or off the peg. I noticed that I was expecting and anticipating the pain as soon as I moved my leg. Except now there was no pain. I rode for 90 miles and by the time I got home, I had not shaken the unconscious responses my body has been making for who knows how long. I obviously waited too long to have this done, and like the right hip before, only when it became too torturous to ride did I finally act.

 

All that to say, Bud - if it's time, then get it done! The rehab isn't bad and in fact I healed quicker and with less pain (and pain meds) than the hip I had done just 7 years ago. Hip replacements run in my family. My mother and grandfather and great uncle all have had them - with my mother and grandfather having them both replaced twice. My grandfather had to go to NYC to have his first one done and he very nearly died from it. They have come a long, long way!

 

Best of luck!

 

 

Edited by workin' them angels
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Dave,

 

Having waited 10 years too long to have my shoulder replaced, I know exactly what you are talking about. My riding partner joked that I was taking too many Vitamin I pills every day (Ibuprofen) :grin:

 

So if I have to have a replacement, I won't dilly dally around. Recovery time seems to be minimal, 6 to 8 weeks which means START isn't at all out of the picture! :thumbsup:

 

Thanks to all for the words of encouragement and advice. :wave:

 

Like Marty Hill, I plan to keep riding. :clap:

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Dave, there's a bodywork modality called Feldenkrais that's really good for getting your body to forget those habitual adaptations to pain. Google it and see if there's a practitioner in your area.

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Marty,

 

Thanks for the good wishes.

 

Wasn't clear enough. I had a bad shoulder for 10 years, and then wised up and had it replaced several years ago. My comment abt the shoulder was to say that I wasn't going to fool around if I need a new hip. Nothing gained by putting up with the aggravation just to end up having surgery when I'm older.

 

Will see what the bone man says on Monday.

 

I plan on doing WWMHD...ride till you can't. :wave:

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Dave, there's a bodywork modality called Feldenkrais that's really good for getting your body to forget those habitual adaptations to pain. Google it and see if there's a practitioner in your area.

 

Thanks for the advice Bill. I went for a 100 mile ride Friday and I seem to have overcome the compensation on the bike - although I'm still pleasantly surprised at being pain-free in regards to the hip. As I continue to strengthen and work on improving flexibility, I'm hoping I can remove my peg lowering gadgets.

 

Bud - Hope you can give us an update us on the Monday Dr.s visit.

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Will do Dave. Looking forward to hearing what the saw bones has to recommend. This appointment is in Mt. Vernon. I have another appointment at Washington University on the 20th of next month.

 

In addition to the arthritis I also have a cam type hip impingement . THIS ARTICLE does a good job of explaining it in terms that even I can understand. :grin:

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Yes Bud, I had a fairly acute case of that in my right hip, scraped everything away. Left wasn't as pronounced, but still problematic - thus the extra years before the replacement. Funny you mention this - just before my first replacement my hip doc mentioned in passing that now when this is detected in teens or early adulthood, they can go in and fix that, grinding down the imperfections and making the bone smooth. I had to laugh, because they have to essentially do all the basic surgery - displace the hip, etc that they do for the replacement. . . meaning the recovery is pretty much the same. I'd guess the cost is too.

 

One thing that can help with impingement is a 1/2 inch or so riser in your shoe. Your doc should have them. By using it, it's supposed to alter and rotate the friction point of the bone on bone, moving the 'spur' in normal activities to s slightly different point and can offer some minor (my words) relief. I had one in my riding boots, sneakers and causal shoes. They just slip in and out, so you can move them from shoe to shoe easily.

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Here's my take. If they are eventually going to have to do a replacement, at 71 years old, why not just do the replacement now? Every year of age adds to the risk factor of surgery. A replacement now would last the rest of my life.

 

Guess those are questions for the dr tomorrow.

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I don't care what you call me, just call me for supper! :wave:

 

Something wrong with my right side, new shoulder 10 years ago and new hip on the way. Hmmmmmm.................... I guess I should be getting up on the left side of bed???? :grin: Getting up on the right side is getting harder and harder.

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