2 Weeks Post PAO

I have neglected to properly update my blog.  Shame on me. Hahahaha.  In any event, I will, in the future detail my hospital stay, but today is my two week update.

All I have to say is this is one beast of a surgery. Check out the following link.  There is a surgical video under the Supplementary Data section that is not for the faint of heart but most certainly justifies my perpetual pain post op.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4017955/

As of now, I am still requiring pain medication on a constant basis.  I alternate 2 Tramadol and one Tylenol #3 every three hours.  I also take Robaxin every 8 hours, then the regular Neurontin and laxatives/stool softeners.  All in all, I'm still pretty unhappy from the pain. The majority of my pain is located in my pubic bone laterally and deep as well as in the pubic symphysis.  I also have one part of my abdominal muscle near my incision that is definitely angry.  Otherwise, I still have that deep aching pain and SI joint pain.  Basically, everything hurts still.  The only numbness I have is my lateral femoral cutaneous nerve on this side too. (which actually surprised my surgeon in the hospital since he didn't even see this nerve during surgery--he attributes this numbness from the scope).

Functionally I can crutch around pretty well.  Very slowly and methodically, but I can get around decently.  Yesterday was the first day that I can easily and safely get up from a seated position by myself.  Prior to this, I had been able to do it on my own, but it was not safe and one of my parents would hold the crutches for me in order to stabilize things as I stood up.  This adds a lot of freedom as I can go to the bathroom as I please, go get dressed as I please, etc.  I have no problem putting on socks since I have been trying to do this since my hospital stay.  My main issue right now is pain control.  Functionally, I feel like I am right on track.

I have good and bad days.  Today was a decent except I had one incident of sympathetic response.  Which was weird, because, yes it hurt, but it wasn't ridiculous--all I had done was get up and put some lipstick on.  I had to then sit down, put a cold washcloth on my neck, and take a Zofran. Things are so unpredictable with this recovery.  But I suppose this goes for any surgical recovery.  Our bodies are strange and mystifying organisms sometimes.

The screw removal site it healing nicely. In fact, both hip incisions are healing nicely. But the screw removal surprised me as it hurt more than I expected.  I definitely still have some throbbing in the area at night.  But this is nothing compared to my PAO'd hip. I know it will get better, it just needs to be sooner rather than later.

Another very real source of my stress is returning to work.  I was scheduled to return back to work next Wednesday (a week from today), which would put me at three weeks post op.  This obviously is NOT happening. I have another week scheduled to be off as of now, but there is a very real possibility that I will need more time off.  This would completely screw up my schedule and would shift my completion of graduation from internship, getting to my advanced residency position in another city for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, which would shift me all the way through for the next three years after this year.  It is a big ordeal and a big decision.  One which I will not make until the time comes. But, I realize that I cannot be superhuman and if I can't return at four weeks post op, I simply can't return and would take time off.  But, as it stands now, I'm gonna try to return.  It's just so stressful; having a timeline to recover.