Osteo-Arthritis & daily pain

[McGurk]

Local hospital with a joint replacement speciality unit. Richmond, VA. Would recommend it to anyone, had fabulous care. My surgeon is a big sports medicine guy, and I also saw an ortho/sports medicine guy at Medical College of VA. I had in home PT and VNA for a month at home.

I had to be off meds for two weeks beforehand and it was AWFUL. I could barely get into the OR under my own power and I felt about 100 years old.

I remember using the shopping cart as a walker very well, as well.

I do agree with the advice to strengthen your quad and hamstrings as much as possible beforehand, I would just say to make sure you also do the stretches!

Big personal rant: I am 55, silver haired, quite plump and wear rimless glasses. No one looks at me and says “Ohhhhhhh, I bet she was a hell of an athlete back in the day!” If you called central casting and asked for favorite grandma or aunt with the homemade cookies, they’d send someone who looks like me.

But the fact of the matter is, I WAS a hell of an athlete, and that person still lives inside me. We have a recognizable stereotype for the older, gone to seed, male athlete (“I played a little college ball.”) but not the equivalent female stereotype. I strongly believe I would have been diagnosed correctly and more quickly if I a was a man, much more quickly if I looked like a former football player and not like grandma-with-the-cookies.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest, it’s been bugging me for a while.

Good luck with your surgery, and please feel free to PM me.

[Eclectic_Horseman]

I hear you McGurk. I had my hip replaced at 53 years old, and I had been being treated for herniated discs and pinched nerves for a couple of years when I finally insisted on a hip xray. When I came upstairs from the xray dept. my orthopaedic doctor was extremely embarrassed. I had absolutely no cartilage left in my hip and the head of the femur was jammed up inside the joint.

I am so otherwise fit that I didn’t miss a beat with all of my daily athletic activities, so it never occurred to anyone that my hip was worn out. Doctors said that I was “stoic.” Believe me, I complain a lot more these days! :lol:

[wateryglen]

Nurse chimes in…

Make sure you all know that RA and OA are different conditions needing somewhat different treatment. For my OA I live on Naproxen. You can take 2 also. In the past I had great success w/Celebrex also. One thing about NSAIDS btw. They need to be taken around the clock 24/7 to be effective. Not just when you hurt. Take them before during & after exercise . For example; when I go foxhunting - I take one before I go, after, that night and for next 2-3 days. Then I prevent the inflamation. Remember; OA is an inflammatory process so you need to prevent it, treat it and help it go away. Ice works good to immediately after exercise and for the next 24 hrs. to prevent pain/inflammation. Avoiding concussion to the painful joint is huge in preventing pain. Good luck ya’ll !!