Joint Replacement

Thanks for chiming in Mayhem.

She walked 1/4mile further last night than before. She was walking 30K+ steps daily beforehand at work, then add another 5 miles ever other day; currently she is down to about 4K now and building up. She has a medium sized limp to her walk now.

She has the results of the MRI, lots of inflammation and scar tissue built up on the spine/nerve, which causes her leg and foot to have severe pain.

She is also walking on our treadmill with incline to stretch the scar tissue, as suggested. Therapist are doing stretching on her now as well. The past 6 months, as a result, she has started to have noticeable vein lines in her legs and feet.

~Allen

Re: Back issues - It's been over 20 years ago that I was diagnosed with a fully ruptured disk (S1 - L5). I asked the surgeon at that time what happens now, and if my body could repair the damage. He said, "No way. It's just a matter of time before you're on the table." My blowout was rare because it went straight out the back, so I never really got the classic sciatica symptoms.

I got to a point of being mostly functional 8 weeks after the disk blew, but was in constant (but not debilitating) pain. I was doing martial arts (Jui Jitsu in particular) to have some sort of workout to keep my core toned. The owner of the dojo I was at embarked on this Ultimate Black Belt test that required him to do 1000 sit-ups/push-ups a week for a year, and I also started doing that workout with him.

After about 3 - 4 months of doing this I noticed that I was no longer in pain. It's funny that when you're in constant pain and it slowly goes away, you don't really notice right away when it's gone.

Looking at Mrs 888, it looks like she is in otherwise good shape so this probably doesn't apply to her, but through experience I've found maintaining core strength is huge in reducing back pain and minimizing future downtime when I do tweak things. I still get back issues, but they maybe last a day or two rather than weeks.

I'd love to have another MRI to see what the heck my body did to adjust and recover, but that answer just isn't worth a couple grand to me because it'd be all out of pocket to have one done for that reason.

In the 20 years since this happened, there are more options now, including disk replacement. Being mechanically inclined, the spinal fusion/s never really made sense to me.

Thanks for the responses everyone! That really helps and gives me hope! I hope you all have speedy recoveries if you are still i that phase =D

Such a great topic! Thank you for asking.

Mrs. 888 just had back surgery number two and is in early recovery. It’s still early on (2months) and have nothing really beneficial to add yet, apologies, yet are subscribing to this thread to follow up on posts made.

History: She has had two laminectomies, artificial disk, a installation of metal rods and plates along with two bone grafts in her lower back. While not a “replacement” specifically, the vertebral does consists of 4 facet joints that affect mobility.

Would you, affected readers with spinal fusions and double spinal fusions, please include experiences with movement, flexibility and painful positions endured during swinging?

This past week when the surgeon told her the pain could take a year or more to subside, we have been recently talking a lot about the uncertainty this brings to the lifestyle table and who better to get the information we seek.

Thank you!

~Allen (and Eileen)

Wife had double knee replacement Aug 2018, first play session afterwards was April 2019, but memory foggy whether she was ready before then....quite possibly she was. She cannot remain on her knees, in doggie position etc, for very long since then, but compensates by bending over the bed, etc. She has never worn heels, so can't address that.

Sorry - I didn’t answer some of your questions in my first post. It was probably 6 months before I wore heels but I probably could have sooner, maybe 3 months, any position was fine for me. I had joint stiffness for about 1 year, but it was more of an a annoyance than anything. Probably in 3 to 4 months at the very most you will be able to do anything you want to.

I had a hip replacement 3 years ago. The more mobile you are and the more you walk the quicker you will be back to normal. I resumed my exercise routine at 6 weeks. Just take it easy in the beginning - you will know what you can and can’t do. There wasn’t much I couldn’t do. You won’t regret it. Living without that pain is wonderful. I never even think about my hip/surgery anymore and my scar isn’t very noticeable. Good luck!

I'd like to hear from any lifestyle women who have had a major joint replacement, esp the hip. How long did you wait to go back to parties? What about 1:1 play? Did you just avoid certain positions? How long till you could wear heels again?