Two years ago today – Feb 24th – I fell and broke my hip. I had surgery to have a screw and plate put on – it was lower enough I didn’t need a hip replacement. After about 4 days, I was sent to rehab for at least 6 – 8 weeks to heal and learn how to walk again. I went into rehab feet first and came out on my own 2 feet with the help of a wheely walker. After another 4 weeks of outpatient therapy, I left there with a cane. After a few weeks I was walking all by myself, though I took the cane to places I hadn’t been to before or if there were a lot of people around.
This is what they did for my hip, kind of explains why I spent 8 weeks in rehab.
The next time I saw my rheumatologist, she told me something interesting – 70& of people who break a bone will break another one within 2 years. I thought to myself, I am going to be in the 30% group and now By George, I am! Recently a friend asked why anyone, especially a doctor, would say such a thing to a patient. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest choice of words, but I have concentrated o being in the 30% since then. How true the whole thing is can be anyone’s guess.
I am also happy to report I haven’t fallen during those 2 years, though I did stumble against the shower door in the middle of the night. I hit my upper arm on the glass door rail for the bathmat. Not a very comfortable thing to do, but I didn’t fall. The next morning I saw this huge purple bruise forming, that sucker hurt! As I looked in the mirror not too long after, I thought “This must be what it is like to have a large tattoo” – only mine would fade and soon be gone. Don’t think I will have a tattoo; that’s voluntary pain and then what happens when I don’t like it any more. More voluntary pain to remove it.
For the last two years I haven’t really thought about the 70% or the 30%, every once in a while it comes up and I choose the 30% every time. I decided dwelling on it and being afraid of falling would be a self-fulfilling prophecy; I would rather think in terms of being the 30%.
I was also wondering if I would mark the 2nd year as the day I broke my hip; but that seemed un productive. I didn’t “celebrate” having RA for 43 years in November, it was just a measure of time. I see this in the same way, though no one gave me percentages with RA. Let’s just say I have reached my goal of 2 years without a “break”. Whether the whole things is true or not, it is now something in the past.
One interesting thing, I was sure I would set off the security scan when we left for Toronto, so I told them I would probably set it off. So they took me to a full scan and I was done. What surprised me was that coming through security in Toronto on our way home, nothing happened. However, Eddie was chosen for a random scan, so he had a little more to deal with than I did. Do you suppose they used a plastic screw and plate in my hip instead of metal? It has me wondering.
Time to work on my next goal – not sure what it is yet, but I will be concentrating on that rather than what has happened in the past.
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