5 Weeks Post Op

I should have been better about updating as my days came and what milestones I reached on what particular days so as to have a decent account of my recovery so I can compare it to the opposite side.  Sucks I didn't think to do that after this PAO.  I will promise to be better after the next one!

Yesterday was my 5 week post op date.  I am totally self sufficient now.  I can drive easily given that it is my left leg that was operated on. I can shower standing up and sitting down (the shaving of legs still needs to occur sitting and I just feel more comfortable with the chair in there still).  I can, shhhh, stand on two feet without any real pain and yes it feels weird.  One day I just looked down and holy crap, I was standing on two feet equally.  I know I am not supposed to do this until I see my surgeon again in two weeks, but it just happened.  Now I brush my teeth on two feet...I can't see how it can hurt too much because it is not as if I am walking around on it (although I feel like I can walk on my hip!)--which I would NEVER do at this point.

As far as pain levels goes, it is up and down.  For instance, yesterday, I had to take Tylenol and tramadol on board all day but then today I just took a half a tramadol and Tylenol the rest of the day.  I still take my muscle relaxant at night, but I was taking that pre-op too and am content to keep that on board until I get my other side screwed.  Quite honestly, I am taking these pain meds mostly for my non-operated hip.  My left hip is feeling really good, its the muscles and nerves that hurt on that side, but my right hip aches that deep sickening ache all of the time.  Suffice it to say, the right hip is less than happy to be supporting me fully these days. 

I am not sleeping well at all.  If I sleep in a bed, then I wake up every time I move.  Just this past week I have been able to roll over onto my stomach.  This is a welcomed position change from my back, but I can't stay like that too long.  I am still unable to roll and stay on my non-op side as my adductors spasm if I do that.  Those adductors have really taken a hit with the new bone positioning--right from day one they were sore.  Most night, sleeping in the bed keeps me awake bc I move, so I usually sleep in the recliner, which prevents me from moving too much so I can sleep longer than the usual four hours.  But I can't stay there every night as my back hurts there too much.  Complicated.  So, I rotate between bed and recliner. 

I am doing all of my exercises, including riding the bike. This week I have seen a great improvement in my atrophy as it is visibly less!  I am biking between 25-35 minutes total every day.  I hope that it helps me so I can get off crutches quicker.  My ROM is okay: flexion is about 100 degrees until I get the groin pinch, and I can do the figure four without too much discomfort, external rotation is good--I can get it to be equal to my right side now without any stretch, it is the sharp joint pain that is limiting me from full external rotation.  I am happy with my ROM, but I do believe that I should be able to do more.  I am unsure if it's my arthritis that is limiting my motion or if it is just the inflammation from the surgery, either way, I hope that I am doing as well as can be expected.  I will know more when I see my surgeon for my follow up in two weeks.

My incision is looking nice, all healed up, but the subcutaneous sutures are still extremely palpable with all 10 knots still able to be easily felt.  Two of them feel like they have some inflammation inside. I will keep an eye on it because I feel like they all should be dissolving a bit faster than they are.  My screws, all four of them, can be felt easily on days that the incision is not too swollen.  Lately, I haven't been able to feel them too easily, but I do feel them pinch when I flex up.  As my surgeon told me, I will be "begging to get my screws out!"  Maybe I need to fluff up a bit?  I sure am trying by drinking two high calorie Boost drinks daily...not necessarily to beef up, but to maintain my current weight, which is VERY difficult for me right now. Healing from major surgery uses us so many calories!!!

All in all, I am doing pretty darn well. 

Pre-Op Package

I received a lovely pre-operative package in the mail this past week.  Only 4+ months early, but hey, I couldn't be left alone to forget that I'll be having major surgery in just shy of four months.  No!  They need to remind me.  Ah well.  I've got pre-op appointment two weeks prior and then my post-op appointment two weeks after.  I am glad it is organized.  The entirety of the package was not extremely helpful as I know the drill before surgery. 

I will not be getting the GameReady or the CPM this time around.  The package says that my recovery will not be hindered and good golly the rental is expensive and inconvenient since I live in another country.  So, I will be forgoing these DME and I hope that I do not regret it. 

As far as how I am feeling, it is the same old same old for the left hip.  The right one is acting up lately, about as much as the left. This is so uncool since I was hoping to not need more surgery on this right side of mine.  Maybe once I get the pressure off of it by getting the left hip fixed?  It could be a possibility, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my surgeon will want to PAO the right side as well.

I also had the lovely experience of weighing myself for the first time in months and months today.  That also is uncool.  I have gained 9 pounds since May!  I attribute this to lack of activity outside of work and my eating habits not changing.  I literally lie around with ice packs after coming home from the hospital/clinic for the day and don't move all weekend off the couch in hopes of regaining some energy and rest for the hips so I can tackle the week.  This leaves me munching lots and not burning many calories.  I am starting Myfitnesspal with a friend and we are going to try to get some weight off.  I do it in hopes of relieving a wee bit of stress of the hips before surgery.  My goal: lose one pound a week.  It says that I need to eat 1400 calories a day.  I am unsure if this is accurate, but it seems like very little calories to me.  And BOY do I love to eat!  This will be a challenge but maybe I will feel better about how I feel and maybe a little less hip pain?  Every pound off will help reduce some stress off the joints.  Since I have never been this fluffy and my pain is at its worst, I think it's time to put my big girl pants on and eat clean and lose some weight.  Goal: 12 pounds.

Lets DO this!!!!

Patience, Patience

I try, I really do, to be patient.  The surgeon says I need time...so here's to time healing all wounds!  I continue to plug through this hip journey.  Regardless how I feel, I am trying to remain positive and have things to look forward to that are not, in any way, shape, or form, related to hips.  Although I basically detail my hip journey on these posts, I really try not to let my hips dictate my every thought and activity.  This is definitely easier said than done.  I truly believe that keeping a level head and forcing myself to do things that are not related to my health is extremely important.  I feel like it is so easy for a journey like this, chronic in nature, to become who we are, dictate everything we talk about and everything we think about.  We are more than our hips.  We are more than our pain.   I'm not minimizing the fact that bad hips (or any other chronic illness or that matter) really does dictate how we live our lives, but keeping things in perspective and remember that I am not completely my hips; they are only a part of who I am is essential.  I am a daughter, sister, friend, medical student.  I have been surviving my chronic pain for six years now, and over this time I have been in contact with some amazing people.  Having seen many perspectives on similar situations, it amazes me as to how people cope differently.  I know that everybody has to do what works for themselves, it is just interesting to me how people respond to health challenges.

I am currently trying to put the pieces together to return to school.  I am scheduled for rotations to start Feb. 18th and I am ecstatic about this.  I still have two required rotations:  Emergency Medicine and General Surgery in addition to two electives (of my choosing).  Since I have to do General Surgery before I do Emergency Medicine and because I cannot just hop back into rotations in my current stage of healing, I have asked to begin with an office rotation (most likely Family Medicine).  Although the details are still being worked out, I am pumped to start having a schedule and be moving forward with life.  Deep down inside, I am scared to see how my body will hold up because my left hip still throbs the majority of the day (especially if I do any sort of physical activity--cleaning, swimming).  God know what is in store for me and I completely trust what He is doing with my life.  Even when I am scared and sore, He is there for comfort and courage.  For that I am thankful.

Since I have been hurting more lately, I have been in contact with the head PT dude in Vail.  We have been talking, on average, once a week.  I am truly impressed because I feel that he truly cares about me feeling better.  We are adjusting exercises according to pain levels.  This and keeping in regular contact really help me feel like I am trying what I can to get this pain under control while gaining strength bilaterally.  I have been instructed to reduce my Naprosyn to only 220mg BID.  Ugh.  But, I have began something that I had read on Facebook:  Golden Milk created with turmeric paste.  At first I was leary:  turmeric paste, almond milk, sesame seed oil and honey.  I could barely gag it down for the first few days.  When I removed the honey and added a dash of cinnamon, it was muuuuuuch better.  So I drink a cup of milk with a heaping teaspoon of the paste.  It really isn't that bad and it is supposed to be anti-inflammatory in nature.  I'm not sure how much different I feel while drinking this every day.  But it is inexpensive and I am willing to try anything at this point in the game.  While speaking of foods, I am trying to eat more healthy too.  Not necessarily starving myself, but counting my calories so that I remain at my current weight.  Having a visual representation of the foods I eat really is an eye opening thing.  I must have been eating SO MUCH before I was recording my food/calories!  I'm surprised I'm not 200 pounds.