debrafrederick's Journal, 31 Oct 23

Kind of a mixed bag. Good on HDL, LDL, A1C, etc, but darn it about the hip and knee. Thinking of you!! 

Good news on your bloodwork results. Hope things go favorably on the hip a knee problems. Looks like you’re headed in the right direction for your Thursday weigh in.👍🏽 

Congrats on the great visit. 

Thanks for the support guys, it was good news to me and well, I have been dragging that right hip issue around for the better part of a year new and it has not improved any, she believes that my left knee issues are a direct result of my favoring my right hip, I have noticed that I spend more time standing with my weight on my left leg instead of my right and my walking gait has totally changed....I can barely lift my right leg so I tend to trip on uneven surfaces easily and of course when I trip my left leg is what saves me from falling, so yeah, it's taking a beating due to my hip. She said that if it is not bone on bone...which usually creates a noise or feeling of clicking and grinding that I do not have, then surgery is the only option, but if it's the beginning stages of arthritis and I still have cartilage there, then I can try several types of injections, Physical therapy and continuing diet modifications and more weight loss to reduce the pain and slow down further deterioration. I have injured that hip twice in my past, once jumping out of the bed of a truck and back in my teens I got thrown off a horse and landed on a felled tree, it wrenched my hip and fractured my tailbone, nothing they could do about the tailbone but let it heal on it's own...I sat on a pillow in class at school for 3 months. So she thinks it might be Post Traumatic Hip Arthritis that set in when I reduced my activity levels when my vision was compromised. It's always something right?? She believes we can PT it back to strength as long as the cartilage is still there. So, we shall see.... 

Great blood work! I have on average at least 160g protein daily. I’m a meat eater and eat meat, 1% cottage cheese and Greek yogurt daily as my main sources of protein intake. I just don’t feel full if I eat less protein. 

Debra i feel like im promoting hip replacement. Ive shared this story before but here goes: i struggled with leg and hip pain in my right leg since 2014. It was getting progressively worse and by 2020 i was having a hard time walking tho no one knew. I could suck up the pain and walk semi normally in front of people but when alone i would limp or hold the wall with one hand when walking. I got progressively more crippled. About 5 or 6 years ago my dr sent me for an mri on my back where turns out i have bulging discs L4-8. Radiologist and MD both suspected this was causing a nerve to be squeezed which was giving me that radiating throbbing relentless pain that was always worse at night (probably because I wasn’t busy working so i could actually pay attention to it). Repair was surgical. I said no way on my spine i have heard way too many horror stories. Other option is pain meds. I said no way i have heard (and witnessed) way too many addiction stories. So there you go. Fast forward to Jan 2022 and hubs reminded me of a specialist who was able to help my tailbone 16 years earlier when 4 different specialists (spine specialist, internist, g.p. And forgot the other one but he was at UW) were unable to fix. This dr healed me. With cortisone shots in the tailbone. 3 in total. No one had thought of that. Anyway. I tracked him down (he is now just part time between here and Greece so that was lucky). He spent 5 minutes with me and said it is NOT a spine problem it is a HIP problem and most likely surgical. I said i didnt want surgery. He said i may not have a choice. We did the rigamarole required by insurance. Physical therapy, x-ray, MRI, contrast MRI (in that order) and here is the complete and undeniable prognosis: born with hip dysplasia (i never knew but that explains a lot), end stages of osteoarthritis in right hip, torn labrum, cyst on hip bone, bone on bone shards floating around and marrow edema. He immediately sent me to surgeon that he wanted me to see (who was not conveniently located near my house-there are many hospitals between here and this surgeon). Surgeon asked me how on earth i was managing without pain meds and told me i was a 10 out of 10 in terms of the worst conditions he has witnessed. He was scheduling out over 6 months at the time and he had his scheduler move things around and got me in within 6 weeks. I was terrified. Recovery was awful (in part because of how much deterioration had ocurred) and within 3 months (rough months not going to lie) i realized it was the best thing in the world. Today i am completely out of pain on that side. This is what allowed me to start exercising and get this 90+ pounds off since July 2022. Please please have them check out your hip. Don’t try and make do with shots if you actually need it replaced and if you need it replaced do your research and make sure you have a well vetted surgeon. My guy turns out was the #1 top hip and spine surgeon in Washington state. He used robotic assist to get the best placement of the prosthetic. I have to have my left side done as well and last year he thought i would have to do it this year. Guess what? Ive gotten so healthy the pain is so small he thinks i might get 2-5 years out of the left side. This is all said out of care for you Debra. If i had known 5-6 years ago i didnt have to live in pain like this … i lost a lot of my life (and a lot of sleep as the pain would either wake me up or keep me from falling asleep). God bless you Debra. Xoxo (sorry for the book i just wanted you to hear it in full in case any of this resonates with your pain). 

Debra, Really fantastic news! Sounds like your doctor is fun 🙂 Do you take Collagen powder? It's helped my pain so much 🙂💜 

I like your doctor 🙂 Great bloodwork and continued fat loss! 🥳🥳 Hoping your joints respond to conservative therapy 🙏 

Sounds awesome  

YOH, Thanks for the more detailed story of your hip, I can appreciate the hiding the pain thing, I've done it for most of this year but with the knee going sideways on me, I can't hide it any longer. It did just start bothering me badly since July of last year. We are going to see what the damage level is and move on from there. I was sixteen when I broke my tailbone, wrenching the hip was resolved in about three weeks with rest, elevation and ice...that tailbone only hurt when I sat down and put pressure on it, then it would stop hurting....till I got up and released the pressure, then it was like a hot knife slicing up my spine. That was a miserable 3 months during the 10th grade. My pain level is about a 4 standing, it becomes a 6 when I try to lift my leg higher than three inches off the ground, I have no pain when lift it backwards...so odd! I can raise my foot about 18 inches off the ground backwards, lifting it sideways....I scream....I think that pain level is about a 50. So getting into my car, I lift my leg backwards and put it in the floorboard....that leaves me standing kinda sideways on my left leg...then I twist that left leg to seat myself and bring it into the car. So, that twisting and my slips and trips and a couple of falls has really beat my knee up. Biking seems to help my hip, but it makes my knee raise holy hell. I'm done with DIY fixes LOL, it's done nothing for it really. We will see where it goes. The Orthopedist who did hubby's knee replacement was wonderful and it will probably be that group who sees' me once the insurance companies check-list of try this first is satisfied. They insist that you start with x-rays, then proceed to MRI's then physical therapy, then injections with physical therapy...then when all that fails, they approve surgery. Been through all of that with hubby's knee and his back. LadyD, Rcguenth, Doc Misty is fun, she is real and really supports my stuborn instance on trying diet and lifestyle changes before drugs. She shares many of my views....I just wish I was still 38 like she is. She does not shame me, nor does she sugar-coat things and she never ever talks down to me. If I ask a question about something that I am ignorant of, she answers it in detail with no medical jargon, she breaks it down to a human comprehension level and does not act put out or bothered by my lack of knowledge. My knowledge is increased when I leave. She believes that is important that her patients understand the why of things, and I have a need to understand the why of things, so we get along well. 

Storms, I can't imagine the amount of meat you must be eating to get 160 g of protein, I'm struggling to get 70 from real food and I am filling in the other 50 with a protein shake, even with that it still seems to be a lot of food, I am hoping that I get used to it....still searching for that perfect fiber supplement. Anybody tried PXG??? 

Dyslexia strikes again...that would be PGX.  

Yep im familiar with that hot searing poker like pain in the tailbone. It would bring tears to my eyes even if it was lightly touched. I lived with it for about a year. I had to sit leaning forward on the part of my legs under the knees at my desk and when driving had to lean on one bum cheek . Sounds the same right? Boy, i sure do hope they get you fixed up and soon sis. 

Yay! Congrats on the improvements! How long since the first results - 12 months? So awesome to feel heard and understood by your doctor and hope you get some help with your hip. I have no recs for fiber but sure could use some help in that department myself. 

Yay, that's exciting to see your hard work showing on your blood results! 

Moko, my last results were in February, so that was 8 months ago, so it's supposed to be every 6 months so this appointment was supposed to be in August, Covid struck and I saw her three times that month, but we did no bloodwork with those appointments. I was supposed to go back the week I ended up running three post offices so I had to reschedule again....my life seems to be constantly tossing things at me that make me cancel appointments, so now my next regular visit is in April. I'm hoping for even more improvement by then. I will have more visits while I sort out the knee and hip, but they won't entail blood panel workups, we do that twice a year. 

Keep it up 👍🏼 

I had to start taking protein powder, because I was barely getting 11-18%. 😪 Please believe me when I say, if you have to supplement, go with a plant-based protein supplement! the whey isolate .... let's just say I'm grateful to work from home and leave it at that. Best of luck on your fitness journey!! ❤️ 

congrats on the good report from the doctor and you are doing great 👍..  

Wonderful, thanks for sharing all the details. Happy about good results. I eat vegetables and some grains that add plenty of fiber. I realize you don’t eat grains but vegetables may help.