8 Weeks Post Op

Two whole months!  Dang.  I want this recovery to keep a rolling on :)

I am feeling pretty well these days.  I had my second post op appointment this week.  Things look good.  I had an xray of my left hip and there is enough bone there to begin to weight bear but my muscles are not strong enough to walk properly.  My surgeon had me take a few steps without the crutches to prove his point that I need to get my muscles back.  After my appointment I was allowed to put full weight on my hip with two crutches.  I am to do this for a week and then graduate to one crutch for as long as it takes me to walk without a limp.  I can easily do one crutch already, so I do that in the house, but when I am out, I still use two crutches at the moment.  Monday, I plan on not needing two anymore, but I am to just listen to my body and go from there.

The remainder of my appointment went well.  He started me on Neurontin for the nerve pain.  Albeit, a VERY small dosage, so I am not sure that I will see any benefits from it, but I'll keep taking it and see.  The burning proximal, medial thigh is less than cool!  Speaking of nerves, my LFCN is still dead.  Absolutely no feeling.  No change or improvement either.  Ok, back to the appointment.  He tested my muscle strength and it seems it is all good except my adductors are almost non-existent.  He asked me if I had been doing my adductor squeezes (uh, yeah, I have been, too bad it doesn't show).  We then discussed my right hip and agreed that it must be done.  I explained how I wanted to do it before August first as it would save me a lot of money in insurance, but he said that it would be cutting it pretty close and that there would be like a 50/50 chance I could do it at the end of July.  The other option is doing it in December since it would be slower in the hospital and my absence would be less of a burden on my resident team.  I really hope that it can be done in July.  Hobbling around for another half year would suck.  He said that we would decide when I see him next near the end of June.  If he decides that I am strong enough, we can do surgery near the end of July, if not, then I must wait until December. Fingers and toes crossed I get my muscles into gear and get strong enough by end of June!!!!!

I am now cleared to do PT as well.  I had to call up several places to see if they were familiar with hips and PAOs.  I called two places and one place seemed confused on what I wanted and didn't make me feel like they knew what they were talking about, so I ended up going with the second place I called.  I made a huge ordeal about needing somebody who knew what they were doing.  So I got the head PT at this place.  I start on Monday with an evaluation.  And then will schedule appointments from there.  The script says 2-3 times per week for 4-6 weeks.  I will do whatever it takes to get strong enough to have my other hip done so that these major surgeries are out of my life!! I am actually excited to begin physical therapy!  Until I get my butt in to see the PT on Monday, I have been trying to slowly start strengthening my hip, butt, and core muscles.  But having a professional opinion and guidance will be helpful as well. 

As far as mobility goes, I am doing alright.  I am able to easily use one crutch and can hobble along without anything as well.  The first day cleared to weight bear, I was able to walk fairly well with just a small limp, but since I have been trying to activate more muscles, they have become very sore, and I now have a sweet Trendeleburg gait going on.  It's kinda pulling on my SI joints and lower back when I do walk without assistance, so I best be careful. 

And, last but not least, I definitely forgot to ask my surgeon during my appointment if I needed an MRI/arthrogram for my right hip.  I only wanted to know now because I would prefer to have it done prior to beginning work.  So I emailed his nurse and asked to see if she could find out anything.  I feel bad for bugging them so much, but I really do want to know.  It would make life so much easier to get it over and done with when I am off, instead of trying to schedule it when I am working at my new job. 

7 Weeks Post Op

Not much to report, but today marks my 7 week mark since my LPAO.  I have not needed a single Norco for the pain since last weekend (just had one bad evening of pain).  I'm really itching to walk.  That may come on Monday when I see my surgeon for xrays and hopefully get the clear to bear weight and start weaning off of crutches.  I'm not gonna lie, I've tried standing with 50% when I brush my teeth and in the shower.  I would be hard pressed to find a single PAO patient who didn't "test their hip out" slightly ahead of schedule! 

I take Tylenol and the occasional Tramadol for pain relief.  But this is mostly due to my pain in my right (non-op) hip.  SO sick of hip pain. Speaking of pain, I have noticed that my pubic symphysis is extremely painful to palpate.  I accidentally leaned on the island in the kitchen today and nearly jumped out of my skin because it hurt so much.  Maybe I just irritated it somehow....it's just odd that it would come out of nowhere.  It kinda caught me off guard.

I got my surgeon's bill today. It was a lovely $18K.  The breakdown of procedures was as follows:

• Periacetabular osteotomy
• Open treatment of slipped femoral epiphysis; osteoplasty of femoral neck (Heyman type procedure)
• Arthroscopy of hip, surgical with debridement/shaving of articular cartilage (chondroplasty), abrasion arthroplasty and resection of labrum
• Bone graft; major/large

I hate hate hate insurance because of past experiences, I am so careful with these types of things because of traumatizing experiences after previous surgeries.  It makes me nervous just looking at the bill.  But it all looks like it has been billed properly and I have to pay just over $1000 for the surgery itself.  I am still waiting on the anesthesia and hospital fees.  I know that I will hit my $5000 OOP and $200 deductible.  I just would love for it to go smoothly without any hassle or hiccups.  For insurance purposes, I hope to get my right hip PAO'd before August 1st as it would be covered under my current insurance and essentially be no additional charge.  I could definitely handle the copays and that is it.

Sleeping is still sucky.  I got some melatonin and tried that last night and it seemed to work.  It's hard to be fully confident in this supplement as it is usually used for circadian rhythm disturbances.  But, it worked, and I fell asleep last night very quickly.  I was extremely tired though since I had been out and about yesterday.  I convinced my Mum to go to Applebee's for their $6 burger Wednesday.  YUMMY.  And then we went to The Dollar Store and then to Walmart.  I crutched all over each of these stores.  It wasn't exactly fun, but it also wasn't terrible.  What irked me was that I have a handicap parking pass for an entire year and at each of these stores there was not one single open handicap parking space available.  Which, whatever, it's busy because of Easter weekend approaching, but when they don't have a handicap parking pass displayed makes me think that they just parked there because it was close and don't actually have difficulty getting into the store.  So, I STILL haven't used my handicap parking pass to date since I a) always forget it or b) all the spots are occupied.  First world problems...I know.

7 (almost) Weeks!

Time flies when you are having fun.  Or so they say.  These past weeks have not been what I call "fun" but they certainly have flown by.  I cannot believe that I am seven weeks post-op tomorrow. Incredible. 

Having said this, I am recovering veeeeery slowly compared to all of my previous surgeries.  My right hip joint feels great, but I am so incredibly swollen that I have a hard time walking.  It is worrying me a bit because it seems to get bigger and bigger each day.  I know that I am trying to get off crutches, which is a lot of work and is expected to induce some swelling, but of this amount may be unnecessary.  I may call/email the doctor's office soon if it doesn't improve.  I have tried everything to reduce the swelling and it is being quite stubborn.  This, I believe, is the sole reason I am not fully off crutches.  I was supposed to be off of them two weeks ago. 

I have one week left until I am allowed to lie on my tummy. Woohoo!  I am pumped.  Problem is that tomorrow I am going to have to lie on my tummy for an extended period of time at the doctors.  I am sure one week early won't be too problematic!  I am going to a vascular surgeon tomorrow to get a vein treated.  It's a long story, but I've been dealing with this for years and years and it really does hurt and need it taken care of (properly, as I've had it unsuccessfully treated twice before).

I also got my insurance letters requesting a bunch of documents to process my claims.  This has added SO MUCH stress!  I hate hate hate having to deal with this crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that's the scoop! 

Astalavista Baby!!!!!!!!!!!

Astalavista! Ciao! Later! Good bye CPM and leg puffers!  Hallelujah, they are gone, out of sight for at least 9 weeks.  Although this is not a permanent departure from my beloved CPM and leg puffers, it is a welcomed  lengthy break.  What will I do when I don't have the caring caress of the CPM and the oh-so-gentle puff of sweet air against my calf skin all night?  I haven't a clue!

In all seriousness though, I am extremely happy that I made it through these last 5.5 weeks relatively sane.  It's been hard at times, but I've made it.  And in one piece.  I'm still standing tall, even though my right leg hurts like the dickens.  He is not happy about taking over total weight bearing.  At all.  But he'll get his turn to be fixed...all in due time.

I am now 75% weight bearing and will graduate to 100% weight bearing tomorrow.  I can't really stand at 100% yet though, my soft tissue just won't allow it.  I can do a kinda waddle-walk while hanging onto things like counters and such, but it still is light years behind last surgery.  Although we are taking it more conservative (ie add a week onto everything plus more in some areas), I still want more.  Don't we always want more?  I will walk, but I don't expect it to be crutch free at least until the weekend, if not longer.  Slow and stead wins this race.  Grrr....  I do this every time, I tend to do too much to 'strengthen' my leg/butt/hip and then make it sore, let it calm down for a couple days, then repeat the same process.  I should be more gradual with my introduction into walking since I really have no timeline at this point.  Just to get better is my main life goal at the moment and why must I push things? I mustn't do this.