RE: A turtle's view of 'patient driven recovery times'

[Guest guest]

Dear Dan,

“Recovery times are mostly patient driven”

“again, he cited the strong wiliness and determination as key factors..”

Thank you for your interesting mailings. However—I was struck by the

two sentences above from your last mailing. As a psychotherapist for

the NHS, I agree that our minds can greatly affect how our bodies work,

heal, etc. Up to a point.

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. ’s mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now—no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult—I sometimes felt ‘damned if I do’ or ‘dammed if I

don’t’—should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn’t do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

Re:

Hi Dan,

Many thanks for the references............ My parents tell me I used to

adore cod liver oil as a tot so maybe I should go back to

it..........smile.

I see those pesky enzymes getting more of a mention in those

articles.........so it would seem the real question is why do some of us

have more of them than others...........?? Or does everyone have the

same

quantity and something sets it all off to settle in joints under

stress??

And having gotten it set off what switch can be pulled to stop it??

I was also most interested in one of the articles that talks about a

variety

of antibotic causing problems with tendons...... Much of my joint pain

seems more related to the tendons so I can only wonder about past

damage........

More things to ponder - thanks............

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

Here are some articles from the April 2004 issue of the Arthritis Today

magazine (issued by ARC – Arthritis Research Campaign – of UK; see

www.arc.org.uk http://www.arc.org.uk/> ):

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/feb2004/codliver.htm headlined Cod

liver oil shown to be effective in slowing down joint destruction

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/h0667.htm - headlined Bristol

tissue

engineering experts move closer to radical osteoarthritis treatment

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/hints/compfood.htm - read the second

letter

(from top) headed The wonders of noni juice (WHAT IS NONI JUICE???); I

also

liked a letter headed Try Epsom glauber salts, and the one titled Gin

and

raisins by a women suffering from psoriatic arthritis (I wouldn’t mind a

cure which involved gin although an olive would be preferable to

raisins)

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/arctdy/124/hipresurfacing.htm - this

article

with the headline Hip op offers more choice is all about resurfacing

I picked up this magazine at the Physiotherapy Clinic’s waiting room and

found it full of interesting information about arthritis-related

conditions.

The web site is even better.

Regards

Dan

_____

[Guest guest]

Dear Dan,

“Recovery times are mostly patient driven”

“again, he cited the strong wiliness and determination as key factors..”

Thank you for your interesting mailings. However—I was struck by the

two sentences above from your last mailing. As a psychotherapist for

the NHS, I agree that our minds can greatly affect how our bodies work,

heal, etc. Up to a point.

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. ’s mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now—no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult—I sometimes felt ‘damned if I do’ or ‘dammed if I

don’t’—should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn’t do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

Re:

Hi Dan,

Many thanks for the references............ My parents tell me I used to

adore cod liver oil as a tot so maybe I should go back to

it..........smile.

I see those pesky enzymes getting more of a mention in those

articles.........so it would seem the real question is why do some of us

have more of them than others...........?? Or does everyone have the

same

quantity and something sets it all off to settle in joints under

stress??

And having gotten it set off what switch can be pulled to stop it??

I was also most interested in one of the articles that talks about a

variety

of antibotic causing problems with tendons...... Much of my joint pain

seems more related to the tendons so I can only wonder about past

damage........

More things to ponder - thanks............

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

Here are some articles from the April 2004 issue of the Arthritis Today

magazine (issued by ARC – Arthritis Research Campaign – of UK; see

www.arc.org.uk http://www.arc.org.uk/> ):

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/feb2004/codliver.htm headlined Cod

liver oil shown to be effective in slowing down joint destruction

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/h0667.htm - headlined Bristol

tissue

engineering experts move closer to radical osteoarthritis treatment

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/hints/compfood.htm - read the second

letter

(from top) headed The wonders of noni juice (WHAT IS NONI JUICE???); I

also

liked a letter headed Try Epsom glauber salts, and the one titled Gin

and

raisins by a women suffering from psoriatic arthritis (I wouldn’t mind a

cure which involved gin although an olive would be preferable to

raisins)

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/arctdy/124/hipresurfacing.htm - this

article

with the headline Hip op offers more choice is all about resurfacing

I picked up this magazine at the Physiotherapy Clinic’s waiting room and

found it full of interesting information about arthritis-related

conditions.

The web site is even better.

Regards

Dan

_____

[Guest guest]

Dear Dan,

“Recovery times are mostly patient driven”

“again, he cited the strong wiliness and determination as key factors..”

Thank you for your interesting mailings. However—I was struck by the

two sentences above from your last mailing. As a psychotherapist for

the NHS, I agree that our minds can greatly affect how our bodies work,

heal, etc. Up to a point.

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. ’s mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now—no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult—I sometimes felt ‘damned if I do’ or ‘dammed if I

don’t’—should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn’t do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

Re:

Hi Dan,

Many thanks for the references............ My parents tell me I used to

adore cod liver oil as a tot so maybe I should go back to

it..........smile.

I see those pesky enzymes getting more of a mention in those

articles.........so it would seem the real question is why do some of us

have more of them than others...........?? Or does everyone have the

same

quantity and something sets it all off to settle in joints under

stress??

And having gotten it set off what switch can be pulled to stop it??

I was also most interested in one of the articles that talks about a

variety

of antibotic causing problems with tendons...... Much of my joint pain

seems more related to the tendons so I can only wonder about past

damage........

More things to ponder - thanks............

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

Here are some articles from the April 2004 issue of the Arthritis Today

magazine (issued by ARC – Arthritis Research Campaign – of UK; see

www.arc.org.uk http://www.arc.org.uk/> ):

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/feb2004/codliver.htm headlined Cod

liver oil shown to be effective in slowing down joint destruction

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/h0667.htm - headlined Bristol

tissue

engineering experts move closer to radical osteoarthritis treatment

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/hints/compfood.htm - read the second

letter

(from top) headed The wonders of noni juice (WHAT IS NONI JUICE???); I

also

liked a letter headed Try Epsom glauber salts, and the one titled Gin

and

raisins by a women suffering from psoriatic arthritis (I wouldn’t mind a

cure which involved gin although an olive would be preferable to

raisins)

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/arctdy/124/hipresurfacing.htm - this

article

with the headline Hip op offers more choice is all about resurfacing

I picked up this magazine at the Physiotherapy Clinic’s waiting room and

found it full of interesting information about arthritis-related

conditions.

The web site is even better.

Regards

Dan

_____

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor

I am certain that you are right in what you’re saying about your recovery and

the unfortunate pain you’re still experiencing. I suspect my OS was right

too, and his statement applies to your condition as well. What he meant was

that if there were another person with an identical condition to yours but with

less determination than you have, that other person would not have made

equivalent progress to yours over the last 5 months.

So, you’re both right, as I see it. And, no two patients are alike either. I

am surprised every time I read a post from someone saying that after X weeks

they, say, stopped using two crutches and are down to one only, or that they can

now walk up the stairs, or whatever milestone and achievement they’ve reached,

as these experiences do not relate to mine at all. And yet, I also read with

disbelief from and about people whose recovery was even faster than mine, or who

have a much better ROM than I have 2.5 months after the op, and I immediately

rationalize this and seek and find physical explanations and excuses. I guess I

also have to accept that no two patients are alike.

I have accepted my OS’s general prognosis of 1 year to fully recover and

regain pre-OA ROM. It may take even longer. Or forever. Meanwhile, I am happy

that I had my hip fixed and that I haven’t lost part of my femur.

Good luck with your recovery. I hope the inflammation and pain will subside

shortly.

Dan

* +44 (0)7974 981-407

* +44 (0)20 8501-2573

@ dan.milosevic@...

_____

From: eleanor

Sent: 03 May 2004 21:37

To: surfacehippy

Subject: RE: A turtle's view of 'patient driven recovery times'

Dear Dan,

“Recovery times are mostly patient drivenâ€

“again, he cited the strong wiliness and determination as key factors..â€

Thank you for your interesting mailings. However—I was struck by the

two sentences above from your last mailing. As a psychotherapist for

the NHS, I agree that our minds can greatly affect how our bodies work,

heal, etc. Up to a point.

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. ’s mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now—no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult—I sometimes felt ‘damned if I do’ or ‘dammed if I

don’t’—should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn’t do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

Re:

Hi Dan,

Many thanks for the references............ My parents tell me I used to

adore cod liver oil as a tot so maybe I should go back to

it..........smile.

I see those pesky enzymes getting more of a mention in those

articles.........so it would seem the real question is why do some of us

have more of them than others...........?? Or does everyone have the

same

quantity and something sets it all off to settle in joints under

stress??

And having gotten it set off what switch can be pulled to stop it??

I was also most interested in one of the articles that talks about a

variety

of antibotic causing problems with tendons...... Much of my joint pain

seems more related to the tendons so I can only wonder about past

damage........

More things to ponder - thanks............

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

Here are some articles from the April 2004 issue of the Arthritis Today

magazine (issued by ARC – Arthritis Research Campaign – of UK; see

www.arc.org.uk http://www.arc.org.uk/> ):

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/feb2004/codliver.htm headlined Cod

liver oil shown to be effective in slowing down joint destruction

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/press/h0667.htm - headlined Bristol

tissue

engineering experts move closer to radical osteoarthritis treatment

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/hints/compfood.htm - read the second

letter

(from top) headed The wonders of noni juice (WHAT IS NONI JUICE???); I

also

liked a letter headed Try Epsom glauber salts, and the one titled Gin

and

raisins by a women suffering from psoriatic arthritis (I wouldn’t mind a

cure which involved gin although an olive would be preferable to

raisins)

http://www.arc.org.uk/newsviews/arctdy/124/hipresurfacing.htm - this

article

with the headline Hip op offers more choice is all about resurfacing

I picked up this magazine at the Physiotherapy Clinic’s waiting room and

found it full of interesting information about arthritis-related

conditions.

The web site is even better.

Regards

Dan

_____

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor,

My sympathies with the hassles after the lovely day in the countryside

gathering mushrooms....... I get the same situation occurring and find it

such a challenge to sort out........... I am trying to increase how far I

swim at the moment and amazed at how much pain I can collect by adding half

a lap...........and yes it is somewhat annoying as one feels so wonderful

well while doing it........... someone told me that the body produces these

endorphines while exercising and they mask pain naturally......... sometimes

I would like to have words with mine.......smile.

You mention this blood test ........ Could you explain a little more about

it..........and what it actually means.......??

Do you then attempt to manage those inflammation rates........?? Is there

explanations given for them??

I am curious as I note this happening with my body on a regular basis but

noone has ever suggested that they can be measured or any action taken to do

much about it...........

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. 's mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now-no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult-I sometimes felt 'damned if I do' or 'dammed if I

don't'-should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn't do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor,

My sympathies with the hassles after the lovely day in the countryside

gathering mushrooms....... I get the same situation occurring and find it

such a challenge to sort out........... I am trying to increase how far I

swim at the moment and amazed at how much pain I can collect by adding half

a lap...........and yes it is somewhat annoying as one feels so wonderful

well while doing it........... someone told me that the body produces these

endorphines while exercising and they mask pain naturally......... sometimes

I would like to have words with mine.......smile.

You mention this blood test ........ Could you explain a little more about

it..........and what it actually means.......??

Do you then attempt to manage those inflammation rates........?? Is there

explanations given for them??

I am curious as I note this happening with my body on a regular basis but

noone has ever suggested that they can be measured or any action taken to do

much about it...........

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. 's mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now-no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult-I sometimes felt 'damned if I do' or 'dammed if I

don't'-should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn't do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor,

My sympathies with the hassles after the lovely day in the countryside

gathering mushrooms....... I get the same situation occurring and find it

such a challenge to sort out........... I am trying to increase how far I

swim at the moment and amazed at how much pain I can collect by adding half

a lap...........and yes it is somewhat annoying as one feels so wonderful

well while doing it........... someone told me that the body produces these

endorphines while exercising and they mask pain naturally......... sometimes

I would like to have words with mine.......smile.

You mention this blood test ........ Could you explain a little more about

it..........and what it actually means.......??

Do you then attempt to manage those inflammation rates........?? Is there

explanations given for them??

I am curious as I note this happening with my body on a regular basis but

noone has ever suggested that they can be measured or any action taken to do

much about it...........

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. 's mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now-no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult-I sometimes felt 'damned if I do' or 'dammed if I

don't'-should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn't do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

[Guest guest]

Dear Edith,

Thanks for your reply. My GP asked for a set of blood tests as she was

concerned whether or not I might have an infection and was also

concerned by the amount of pain I was experiencing. My white cell count

that indicates infection was normal; but the two that I quoted were sky

high. I am unclear how they differ from each other, and will try to

find that out. She said that these two tests indicate inflammation, but

she wasn’t sure what to do about them. In the end, we decided that I

would have my bloods taken again on Friday, to see if there is any

variation, as I go to see my OS next Monday. Results take 5 working

days. I will be interested to see what he says about this—has he

experienced it before in others, should one be taking

anti-inflammatories, etc.—and will let you know. I suspect he will say,

well—this happens with some, and one just needs to wait it out, but we

shall see. As I am experiencing a bit less pain, on the whole, I would

guess the levels may have gone down.

Eleanor

Re: A turtle's view of 'patient driven recovery

times'

Hi Eleanor,

My sympathies with the hassles after the lovely day in the countryside

gathering mushrooms....... I get the same situation occurring and find

it

such a challenge to sort out........... I am trying to increase how far

I

swim at the moment and amazed at how much pain I can collect by adding

half

a lap...........and yes it is somewhat annoying as one feels so

wonderful

well while doing it........... someone told me that the body produces

these

endorphines while exercising and they mask pain naturally.........

sometimes

I would like to have words with mine.......smile.

You mention this blood test ........ Could you explain a little more

about

it..........and what it actually means.......??

Do you then attempt to manage those inflammation rates........?? Is

there

explanations given for them??

I am curious as I note this happening with my body on a regular basis

but

noone has ever suggested that they can be measured or any action taken

to do

much about it...........

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

As a member of the turtle group for recovery time, one thing that this

hip op has taught me is patience, (and then more patience), and how to

listen to and go with my body as much as possible. No matter how wilful

or determined I am, my hip and muscles will rebel if I overdo my

exercises, or do them improperly. For example, 2 days ago, I did a 2 ½

mile (approx) hike in beautiful countryside with proper boots and my

trusty hiking sticks. At 5 months post op, this seems very reasonable.

Because we found a whole crop of St. 's mushrooms, we spent a lot

of time picking them, and I walked a bit extra. I was fine during and

after the walk in the evening. And then went to bed and was in agony,

as my muscles protested. Even strong codeine did not help. The muscles

calmed down the next day with rest and last night was all right,

although my legs ached during my swim this morning. The day before Good

Friday, I had a blood test. My inflammation levels were very high---ESR

was 65 (should be 25) and my CRP was 28 (should be 10). Now-no matter

how wilful or determined I am, it will not help my inflammation levels.

Some of us heal very quickly indeed; others take a great deal of time.

It is good to hear that your OS thinks recovery can take up to a year,

even two depending on prior damage. My recovery is slow, but is

progressing. My prior damage was only OA, nothing special. The

difficulty with thinking we can control things too much, is that we can

start to blame ourselves if things do not progress as well as we think

we should. Of course, there is always much we can do, but I think part

of the art of rehabilitation is also being able to accept and work

within our limitations. Of course, defining these limitations can be

difficult-I sometimes felt 'damned if I do' or 'dammed if I

don't'-should I be doing more exercise (and then my muscles rebel), or

are my muscles rebelling because I didn't do enough exercise? Not easy.

I am sure others have various ideas and thoughts on this subject.

Eleanor

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor,

Thanks for the information......... I may ask my GP about this next time I

see her........ and like you I wonder just what they recommend one then does

anyway........... and does it come and go - I ask this because I seem to get

the associated pain of my arthritis in waves............ Look forward to

hearing.............

Edith LBHR Dr. L Walter Syd Aust 8/02

Thanks for your reply. My GP asked for a set of blood tests as she was

concerned whether or not I might have an infection and was also

concerned by the amount of pain I was experiencing. My white cell count

that indicates infection was normal; but the two that I quoted were sky

high. I am unclear how they differ from each other, and will try to

find that out. She said that these two tests indicate inflammation, but

she wasn't sure what to do about them. In the end, we decided that I

would have my bloods taken again on Friday, to see if there is any

variation, as I go to see my OS next Monday. Results take 5 working

days. I will be interested to see what he says about this-has he

experienced it before in others, should one be taking

anti-inflammatories, etc.-and will let you know. I suspect he will say,

well-this happens with some, and one just needs to wait it out, but we

shall see. As I am experiencing a bit less pain, on the whole, I would

guess the levels may have gone down.

Eleanor