Good news and not-so-good

It's thirteen months since my hip replacement operation, and I was back this morning for a situation review with the orthopaedic surgeon.

Good news: I don't need to go back. As far as he's concerned, everything is fine with the hip.

Bad news 1: when I told him I wasn't doing so good with walking, he brought me over to the X-ray monitor. 'See that? That isn't bone, that's an artery. Badly calcified artery. The pain you're experiencing when you walk is nothing to with the surgery. You're displaying textbook symptoms for atherosclerosis" (hardening of the arteries in layman's terms). He asked me if I'd ever had my circulation checked, I told him no, he said he'd refer me to an appropriate specialist.

Bad news 2: I asked about the bone density scan which was done in September. He told me it's standard practice in cases of breakage from a standing fall to do this scan. Again, he showed me a couple of graphs on the monitor. There are three zones (green, orange, red). Ideally, the result should be in the green zone, but I'm on the line between orange and red in the hip area and well in the red for the spine. That's not good, and explains why last year was the Year Of The Falls And The Breaks. He's writing to my GP about this.

I asked if either condition was serious, and he said both could hopefully be tackled with medication without the need for further surgery. First, I need to see the circulationologist. I sure hope the walking problems can be sorted out, because it's a right nuisance doing my impression of a pregnant penguin.