Need help for my 67 yr/old mom

[slowbus]

My mom's been dealing with severe osteoarthritis in her hip and can no longer walk. The problem is, is that she's also dealing with a weight issue (100lbs+ overweight)--which obviously affects her mobility and her comfort.

This pain has been going on for 2 years and just now in the last 2 months is so debilitating that she can't even get out of bed or put her clothes on without crying or making comments like "I can't do this another day..i don't want too." it's really hard to see her go through this for me.

Doctors are telling her to lose weight--believe me, we've tried. cutting bad carbs out of the diet (including gluten), simple exercises (like isometric holds, soft cardio--but even peddling a stationary bike at ~2mph [yes, only 2] causes her such discomfort that she can't do it for more than a few seconds), compresses, medications...none of these have helped or worked for her. They refuse to give her a hip replacement until she loses a substantial amount of weight.

She's gone through multiple doctors who seemed to not really care about her because they all told her the same thing (just lose weight, her problem will be gone, and then she'll be eligible for a hip replacement). She finally met a doctor just yesterday who actually gave enough of a **** about her to run a proper gauntlet of tests..low and behold, she's pre-diabetic and has an under-active thyroid which the doctor believes is contributing to my mom's issue. This makes me extremely happy because now I can create a proper meal plan for her to help correct the hormonal issues going on in her body.

I am coming to this forum to ask for advice from anyone who may have been in a similar position as I with a loved one going through this. What can I do to help ease her pain (if possible?). I'm trying to figure out a way to get her to do aquatic exercises but her ability to get out of a pool by ladder,stair or rail is almost non-existent now. I don't want to watch her continually whither away from this bull****, and hearing her continually make comments about how "she doesn't want to do this anymore" and jokes about her death are subtly creeping into my brain. I can commiserate with her pain partly because I have DDD, but I know her struggle is far harder than mine. What can I do to help increase and influence her mind (and my mind) to be more positive through this situation?



Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

[Garage Rat]

I have a mother in law with a similar condition.
She really hates any uncomfortable activity and is in poor condition because of it.
She recently is recovering from a broken pelvis.
The good thing about it is she has a PT making her do things she doesn't want or normally do to help her recovery.
She really dislikes it but does it because of doctors orders.
I feel once she recovers she will go back to sitting much of the day other that to take her dog out for pee breaks.
The point hear is you cannot make someone do something if they don't really want to.
Hopefully your doctor will prescribe some thyroid medication to help her so she can loose weight along with good eating habits.
That's the first place to start .
I would guarantee if she looses 20 pounds she will start to feel better and move easier.
Your a good person in helping your mom out.
Don't give up.

[Bo_Flecks]

The problem is, is that she's also dealing with a weight issue (100lbs+ overweight)--which obviously affects her mobility...

Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? Nutrisystem? People who deal with weight issues professionally? Just grasping at straws here...

[slowbus]

I have a mother in law with a similar condition.
She really hates any uncomfortable activity and is in poor condition because of it.
She recently is recovering from a broken pelvis.
The good thing about it is she has a PT making her do things she doesn't want or normally do to help her recovery.
She really dislikes it but does it because of doctors orders.
I feel once she recovers she will go back to sitting much of the day other that to take her dog out for pee breaks.
The point hear is you cannot make someone do something if they don't really want to.
Hopefully your doctor will prescribe some thyroid medication to help her so she can loose weight along with good eating habits.
That's the first place to start .
I would guarantee if she looses 20 pounds she will start to feel better and move easier.
Your a good person in helping your mom out.
Don't give up.

Thanks for the words. Sorry to hear about your wife's mom. It's hard to watch people we love go through pain like this.

I developed a diet plan for her and the doctor created a bi-weekly check up routine where she has to journal her food and list what movements she can do with minimal pain, and then we will go from there. I also think just losing 20 pounds will help immensely.

Unfortunately, her primary problem is the pain caused from bone-on-bone contact because the arthritis or whatever it is affecting her hip and eaten away all cartilage and joint lubrication. I'm looking for any kind of way to alleviate this. I've been reading into a company called Regenex using stem cell therapy but it costs upwards of $10,000 and isn't covered by insurance. Also, out of curiosity, do you know what kind of movements/exercises your mother-in-law's therapist had her do to help with the pain relief/recovery?

Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? Nutrisystem? People who deal with weight issues professionally? Just grasping at straws here...

She's done Weight Watchers and even did a 5 month program at her hospital (Kaiser) for weight loss and reduction. She followed the diet, lost some weight (however it was much less what was projected even though she followed the diet to an absolute T, which I'm now assuming her thyroid had a hand in), however she was still unhealthy because of the program's nutritional base (it relied on using products--atkin's type protein bars and shakes, tasted like **** and made from processed whey and other foods). Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem are terrible,terrible diet plans in my opinion (I feel they try to hard to combine comfort food and nutrition together and to me, that sets people up for failure) and after the atkin's program at Kaiser I refuse to put her on any more 'product' or 'point' based eating plans. She needs nutritional healing and those system's don't offer it at all. Now that I know about her pre-diabetic condition, I'm going to help her devise a nutrition plan with a heavy emphasis on green vegetables, low-to-no fruits(except berries) and good fats/proteins.

[iabs]

Losing weight will be important in the long term, op.

But, with an osteo-arthritic hip she will eventually need hip replacement surgery, especially at the stage she seems to be at, I work in the therapy field and have worked with many of these patients before, the younger the Pt is the better the outcomes (if you choose a good orthopedic surgeon) and easier the recovery. At 67, she is very young and with proper rehab and diet she can go back to full function and improve her quality of life.

edit: In these cases conservative treatment is always recommended first, (depending of the degree of cartilage waste) cortisone shots are usually prescribed with PT, but these do not change the physiology of the condition, you can not regrow cartilage, she will just lose time and eventually end up getting the hip replacement regardless.

[ParsleyTea]

Sorry to read about the osteoarthritis problems your mom is experiencing. Sorry to read also that diet ideas have not be helpful with weight loss and bringing about pain relief. I had a grandmother that was somewhat in a similar situation. She developed a good amount of leg problems that doctors were not able to find relief for. It caused her a good amount of pain, with about the only relief she found was take large amounts of aspirin. It was a tough situation on her and the family. She eventually had to rely upon a wheel chair to get around.

I don't know if this would be helpful or not, but saw the article on Dr. Mercola's sight, offering different ideas that might be beneficial. Good luck.

"Curcumin Relieves Pain and Inflammation for Osteoarthritis Patients"

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...-patients.aspx

[Georgeoz]

It's the same story in Australia as in the States, and indeed most other so-called "First World" countries. Throuigh our active lives, we neglect what Nature tells us about the human body (eat less exercise more) so that more than half those over 50 (yes, as young as that!) are overweight and suffering, or about to suffer, from obesity, diabetes, collapse of bone tissue, heart issues , ED and so on. The only way to avoid this path to a painful and unproductive old age is to take the bull by the horns. Just do it a little bit better each day, even on days when it hurts.

I suspect your mother may be doing what so many older people do - play the victim. Tell her it's time to get up off her arse and earn the life she has been given. Actually, because she has been diagnosed with a thyroid problem, fixing that will give her some respite and she could make some progress in general.

One of the curses of modern medicine is that we are kept alive so much longer than our ancestors. We must see this as a gift of priceless value, not as a prolongation of suffering. But a healthy lifestyle, in our younger years, is an essential antecedent.

[FlashGordan]

Dunno what kind of bike or cycling equipment she was using. You might take a look at something like a "floor bike" if you haven't. Its designed for seniors to sit in a fairly normal chair and be able to pedal.

Googling "floor bike" or "floor bike exercise" might help. There's another device slightly different designed so that you can "pedal" with your arms. No idea what its called and you'd have to hang it like a speed bag.

I tried and can't post a link (need 50 posts)...there's at least one on amazon though, "2336202 Pedlar Pro Floor Bike".