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Thanks so much for your kind words Lori. It sounds like you're doing better, albeit with a lot of frustration on the long road to answers. I'm sorry you're having trouble with your back after fusion surgery.
My right hip is doing great, thanks for asking. I was back on the stationary bike 16 days after surgery! It helps that I have an excellent surgeon (same Dr. who did my knees), excellent hospital and staff, weight loss - I dropped 30 lbs in the last year or so, from 190 to 160. And while I inherited osteoarthritis from my Mom, I also inherited her stamina/endurance and ability to heal very quickly.
How are you doing after the lumbar fusion? My lumbar spine is a disaster area - scoliosis, stenosis, listhesis, degenerative/degenerated discs. My spine surgeon told me all that is keeping me from fusion is my strong core muscles, so I am in the gym everyday. I've had sciatica twice, but not for the last 15 or 16 years. Fusion surgery scares me a bit.....
And it is weird how many people are so afraid of joint replacement. They walk around in incredible pain. And unfortunately, for too many people who do have the surgery, they simply don't follow through on the rehab, or only rely on twice weekly sessions with a therapist. My motto for prehab and rehab is to get obsessed and stay obsessed. Yes it hurts after surgery. But every day feels a little better if you stick with the exercises 3x/day.
Alright my good friend. Take care of yourself!
Joe
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Joe-190 sounds about right for a Joseph but if you’re a Josefina 160 might be a little too much! I envy your dedication to the gym. I inherited the osteoarthritis on all sides of my family. Although they were an energetic bunch, they weren’t all that athletic. I’ve had brief spurts where I get my athleticism on, but it’s soon fades for my art and career. It is pretty unbelievable that you are working out after 16 days. I have a cousin who told me last week her back hurts and her doctors haven’t given her any rehab for eight months that shocked Me She’s probably in her 50s and I think she should’ve been exercising after a couple weeks with PT. My fusion was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have all the things that you named in your lumbar. What happened was my disc fell completely out, and L4 and L5 grafted themselves together! (Didn’t you ever wonder what happened in the old days before people had surgeries?) Well I found out. Their bones grafted together. When they do that the pain stops because the nerves are squished to death. So although my surgery was an amazing success, it wasn’t done soon enough. The neurosurgeon I saw for 20 years was a bum. He saw back surgeries being bad and so he wouldn’t give me one. So I said I’ll just go home and take the opioids and that’s when he sent me to orthopedic surgeon who said there who said I needed surgery immediately. I complied it’s been 6 1/2 years and now the adjacent areas outside L3 L4 L5 are falling down. So I’m in process once again towards another surgery. But I’m trying to work on my core now giving it a last hurrah! I was very lucky to find out last fall that a lot of my inflammatory pain was coming from gout – the third type of arthritis that doctors don’t seem to recognize. So being on allopurinol has really helped my inflammatory pain be controlled. That tip I got from this site. I think we do a lot of good for people here - you definitely inspired me to more exercise, and I thank you for that! Lori