A week last Friday,about noon tripped on a gravel drive.
Husband called ambulance ,which came quickly and in spite of the pessimism of the ambulance staff,I was immediately.taken into A and E corridor
After X ray etc turns out I had broken. My right hip. I. Was transferred to a ward by 9 and then two days later had partial hip replacement.
It was an interesting experience as I was found to have a streptococcous infection ,so was being treated for that ,in a private room, as well as my scleroderma and hip.
Most of the staff were wonderful. They got me up and walking soon and after physio and the delivery of equipment by occupational therapy .,I was home
Thank goodness for my husband who is going to be a full time carer for some time ,I'm afraid .
In hospital scleroderma was somewhat of a mystery to the orthopedic staff,one young doctor had to look it up
I was well aware that I knew more about my condition than they did and had to be quite assertive regarding not taking methotrexate,
Sorry for my tale of woe but it's a lot to take in and I guess some of you ,will have experienced similar
K
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KathleenMary
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Well what a week you have had darling and well looked after as well. I hope you recover quickly. My one piece of advice is keep doing your exercises. Hugs from me. xxxx
What a week for you, but good to hear the NHS responded fairly quickly and got you the help you needed.I'm not surprised about staff not knowing about your scleroderma nor having basic MTX knowledge. Thankfully you can advocate for yourself.
Gosh, poor you. What a shock. Glad you got fixed up and are home now. Like Sylvi says - keep doing the exercises - that’s the secret of success - and rest too though. My husband’s physio told him he had to lie flat on his bed for an hour every afternoon and not to sleep in his reclining chair at night.
Just be aware that your husband will be worrying about you too - I know I was when my husband had his new hip and started doing things like walking outside on our really uneven pavements. 💐.
Just before my husband went into hospital for his operation home we brought a 3ft single bed downstairs to our dining room and he slept there - that bed was higher than our double bed and it gave him easy access to a downstairs toilet / shower room, we also changed the towel rail for a really heavy duty supportive grab handle that he could lean on if need be.
I was a bit worried that I might not - we’ll definitely wouldn’t! hear him during the night so I bought a cheap baby alarm / intercom in case we needed to talk to each other and that worked well for us.
No as I slipped and broke my leg and ankle in August and the NHS were brilliant, told the receptionist "I'd banged my leg" after a lengthy wait my husband reminded them about me. I think I'd been put to back of queue as a bang leg. I was the called through next' in a wheelchair in agony as had walked to A& E from carpark and nurse looked at it, said"You've broken it so off to Xray'' Round to Xray by porterage and back in 30 minutes a doctor sent me back again via porterage and back again. Seen fitted with boot and crutches and out in 4 hours of which one was spent in A &E triage waiting room. I think even with all the issues it is still hanging on but those poor staff look like they are so tired. My sister is still working as a nurse at 68 and how long can the staff be worked so hard. I was seen at fracture clinic 5 times before being discharged and can't praise them enough. My leg and ankle have healed very well and now its just the tendons and ligaments which ache a bit as the soft tissue takes longer than the bone. I thank them for prescribing Ad Cal for past 6 years since the AKI as its worked as I have really good bone density despite over 30 years of RA. Enjoy being spoilt and ask for the remote control and lots of cups of tea. I got a raised loo seat and shower seat from Amazon which really helped as needed and also the plastic shower grab rail really did work as I didn't want a permeant one fitted. Now stored in the garage until someone local needs one. I really hope your up and about soon xxxx
I'm just grateful that despite me moaning about the Ad Cal it actually works. They said my bones are great and it was sheer bad luck I slipped and fell so hard. I never miss a dose now. lol x My sister is still vey fit and well but I know she's finding it a bit much now as gone down to 3 days a week. What would we do without the NHS ? xx and I do have Beneden membership as I thought one day I might need a hip done, but happily no they said my bones are all good and no Oesto either.
I've just had total hip replacement (not nearly as traumatic as yours as mine was scheduled) but just want to give you some words of encouragement about how quickly you'll get better.
It's a big operation and it was very daunting at first. I'm at 6 weeks now and walk about with no problem - the only thing I can't do is put socks on, but that will come.
Hope you're feeling OK and are being looked after well.
The three things I learned are...
1. Take all the pain relief you're given. The idea is not to be in pain, particularly in the beginning, so you can mobilise.
2. Schedule regular periods of movement throughout the day. Walking if you can, feet wriggling and leg flexing if you can't. The more you move, the quicker you'll get better.
3. Make sure you have laxatives like Laxido. I was really bunged up from painkillers and without Laxido life would have been hell!
4. Have faith that however hard it seems now, in 6 weeks you'll be better. You improve every single day - though it might not seem like that in the beginning.
4a - forgot this one - an ice pack really helped me. I didn't discover it for about 3 weeks, but after exercise I lay down and applied it (wrapped in a sleeve) to the scar. It really helps reduce swelling.
Hope you're feeing OK, and good luck with the recovery XXX
I had low blood pressure afterwards too. Mine was postural, which was a bit scary, but it did eventually go away. If you had a spinal block it might be associated with that…
Thank you KathleenMary, sorry to hear of your mishap , and other illness. Your right the doctors don't often know as much about our illness as we do, unfortunately some think they do and can end in dire consequences. Glad to hear your doctor looked it up . Lovely to hear you are back home, but some hard times to come for you and your husband it is a long haul to recover from a fall when it involves other health issues, stay safe, takecare and hope you have a slow progressive recovery, with no more mishaps. Best wishes to you both.
Gosh, you were lucky with ambulance, I had a really bad fall, I tripped over the conservatory door trim, flew through air landed flat on my face, rang 111 who said I had possible broken leg and shoulder but as this only gave a category 4, it would be 8 hours plus for ambulance, even though I am 70 and disabled and a very large lady. So, Could my husband possibily get me to A and E!!
A very painful hop to car, I am disabled, couldn't drive my mobility scooter once there so used their wheelchair. They would let my husband in so I was abandoned in a and e for 5 hours
poor you quite an ordeal. Yes we know more about our illnesses than doctors. They never heard of our drugs or spell them. We often have to be quite forceful about what’s best for us as the tend to try and over ride what we know is best. Hope your recovery is quick
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RA certainly makes me more accident prone. 
A cautionary tale and an out and out ‘get it off my chest’ moan!
Normal CRP but feels like a flare?!
Got a phone call from the divisional manager
Hip replacement advice?
