I cared for my 62 yr old uncle last year after his hip replacement. He was under the impression that he could just come home from the hospital without help...ding dong. I insisted on staying with him for a few days making meals and such. He was glad for it, as hobbling around on a cane and carrying a simple glass of water don't work well :) Make sure your hubby rolls down the support stocking you'll be wearing (like we use to do in the "olden days" with our delicate nylons)it makes getting it on so much easier. Uncle waited many years before he decided to go ahead with the replacement and can't believe he didn't do it sooner. He's pain free and thrilled to be able to do the things he loves to do without "paying" for it later. Good luck to you, I'm praying for a speedy recovery. Deborah

The most important thing is to have a proper diagnosis for any and all orthopedic problems. Physical therapy can help, but if the exercises are treating the wrong problem, then they can make things far worse than they already are. The same goes for a chiropracter especially. Manipulations of the spine or any joint that are done without the proper diagnosis can do serious harm, especially if there is any osteoporosis going on or displaced joints. Please see an ortho doc that specializes in your specific problems and they will send you for the proper tests, usually MRIs to determine the problem. Then, together, you can formulate a treatment plan. Just swallowing pain pills will not resolve the underlying problem. Catherinet, you need a new PT person. The best would be physical therapists who are sports medicine ones. They are well trained in all kinds of PT as well as new techniques and fibromyalgia as well. As for how a knee can cause all kinds of problems and pain elsewhere, it's simple. If you think of your body standing up to start with and look at it that way, you will see that the pressure on your body, goes from the feet up to the ankles, the legs, the knees, thighs, hips, spine, neck to your head. Any one of those pressure points, when not moving or functioning correctly can and will throw the entire body off and cause pain both below and above it. For example, if you have a problem with your knee, then you are not standing on the affected leg, ankle, knee and foot. You put pressure incorrectly on the hip, all the way down to your foot. By doing that, you then put strain on all those joints, tendons, muscles, ligaments. At the same time you are pulling the spine and neck on that side off as well. As you do this to the affected side of your body, you start putting strain on the opposite side and you start pulling everything out of wack. Sometimes, what you are feeling a permenent pulled muscles and joint irritation from what is going on and sometimes it will create further medical problems from long standing problems with one joint. The other big issue is the spine. As we age, the spine starts to wear down, and though we may think that the pain in the knee or the hip is directly from those joints, the real problem is with the spine. Don't be sorry that the pain is getting to you. I've been there and no what that is like. I've had several orthopedic issues for the past 10 years and found out last year, that everyone of them was stemming from spinal stenosis in my lower back. When that was fixed, oh, the pain was completely gone, until my feet decided that they like my back the way it was before and created ortho problems for me. Got that taken care of and the ankles got pissed at both the spine and the feet. So took care of that, all with custom orthotics, good shoes and Pt. I just have to remember that I can't over do or I really get screwed. Like now. Really over did it last weak and tore a muscle in the lower back that needs big time PT and pain meds. If not healed in 4 weeks the muscle wil have to be stitched. Anyway, get the proper diagnosis for what is going on before you head off to a PT and if you are suffering from any kind of osteoporosis, a good doc will tell you to never go near one ans the manipulations will break bones on you. Try seeing a sports medicine orthopedic doc that specializes in spines. And below is a great link to a spine forum with lots of support and helpfull info. My doc thinks it's one of the best locals on the web for info and support. Click on the link and when the page comes up, go to the left side of the page and click on discussion forums. You have to register to post on the forums and use the live chat. same kind of thing as with GW, but its a wonderful site to be part of. I joined and love it there. Good luck and e-mail me if you want any further info or help or someone to vent to. Fran Here is a link that might be useful: spine-health.com

I had really bad bursitis in both hips. I took ibuprofen and naproxen, but it didn't help much. I had a very expensive prescription-only cream and that didn't help much either. I had physical therapy - same story. What worked is that I had an appendectomy and the forced rest cured me. I am very afraid of it coming back so I am trying to be really careful about my exercise this go-round.

Katieebs: A good design solves ALL design constraints so there's no having to choose between, for example, the plan and the exterior design as you are doing. Both would be accommodated. In lieu of copy and pasting the thing let me just point you here: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3178541/question-for-architectrunnerguy-or-others?n=24 Look at my post 11 posts down, not the one at the top with the colored drawing. Read the part about internet plans (spoiler: Very helpful) and the part about bags of $100 bills on the table. Sometimes I think I take the owners hard earned money more seriously than they do! I only point you there because since posting it, I've gotten some private notes, none of which I'll be doing the designing because they aren't local but all of which are looking to spend some six figure number of their hard earned money the best way possible in an endeavor in which there are no "do overs". Especially when that huge amount is weighed against the fee for a morning of conceptual design work by a creative thinker. So there has to be some interest there and may be you might too in getting someone creative that's local to look at improving the design. But good luck! EDIT: My crude red box was meant to illustrate a diagramitic concept (moving house FORWARD of garage), not moving those exact spaces IN the box forward while leaving the kitchen where it is. Sorry, that's me thinking conceptually!! No, the kitchen would relate to ALL other spaces the owner wishes. That's what separates great design from average design, both of which cost the same.