Joint Replacements

My wife had her second hip replacement a couple months ago.  Four years ago she had her lift hip replaced, now she has had her right hip replaced.  Fortunately, her knees and ankles don't have any osteo-arthritis, it decided to settle in her hips.  She went back to work after 9 weeks.  Prior to her right hip going bad, she was helping me drag brush and pile wood while we cleared enough space in the woods for a drive, house, and garden.  She pushed to get the surgery done in winter so she could be recovered and able to help again with building our house this spring.

There are some things she has to be careful with to protect her new hip joints.  She does daily exercises, some of which are to develop better balance and stability as both are affected by hip replacement.  The negatives are far outweighed by the positives.  Without hip replacement, she was immobile and in constant pain.  With hip replacement, she is able to work, walk, hike, swim, canoe, and do a wide variety of non-impact activities.  If it weren't for the miracles of modern medicine, instead of her helping so much, I would be tending to her.

Good timing. I'm up late today cause i had knee surgery today.  It was quick but the travel to the hospital and home made for a very long day. When i got home i took a long nap. Now i can't sleep. Its 1:30 am and i just mixed up 2 loaves of bread to rise.

Glad it worked out for her. So far i think mine is going to do well.

It is interesting though. We tend to gripe about all the bad things of modern stuff. There's plenty of good also. Modern tech saves lives and makes lives more enjoyable. I had a perforated appendix 30 years ago. With out surgery i would be long gone. There will be a hundred more fruit trees in the world because if that.

wayne fajkus wrote:Good timing. I'm up late today cause i had knee surgery today.  It was quick but the travel to the hospital and home made for a very long day. When i got home i took a long nap. Now i can't sleep. Its 1:30 am and i just mixed up 2 loaves of bread to rise.

Glad it worked out for her. So far i think mine is going to do well.

It is interesting though. We tend to gripe about all the bad things of modern stuff. There's plenty of good also. Modern tech saves lives and makes lives more enjoyable. I had a perforated appendix 30 years ago. With out surgery i would be long gone. There will be a hundred more fruit trees in the world because if that.

I work nights so I'm up at crazy hours and trying to sleep while the rest of the world is up making noise.  Hope you have good results.  The head of the Joint Replacement unit at said that she thinks part of the reason for so many "early" deaths prior to joint replacements was due to immobility.  If people can't get up and around, they sit.  That leads to all kinds of terrible health issues that shorten life spans.  The modern stuff I gripe about is consumerism and waste.  I appreciate the medical advances that allow us to live better lives.  I have a lot of allergy issues.  Without modern medicine, I sure wouldn't be building a homestead!  My wife had colon cancer that was detected and removed early enough that she didn't need chemo or radiation, and has been pronounced cancer free.  Without modern medicine, she would probably be on her deathbed now, if not already gone.

The big key for her in both surgeries is staying mobile, physical therapy, and doing the exercises in the Joint Replacement handbook 3 times a day.  She was determined to get maximum mobility and worked hard at it.

I'm looking at two knee replacements pretty soon (should have happened two years ago).  I've got several friends and relatives who have done them with good results.  The only thing holding me back is trying to find the time for the down time.  I've talked to people who have had the stem cell injections where your own stem cells are taken from your own fatty tissues or bone marrow and then injected into your faulty joints to help grow the cartilage back.  They were very satisfied with the results.  They both have positives and downsides.
The knee replacements are covered with insurances or medicare with quite a bit of down time and recuperation, the stem cell has minimal down time but is all out of pocket (about $10,000) and is only about 75% successful.  Has anyone on this forum had any personal experiences?