Four + Weeks Post Surgery

I just had my second follow up visit and am about 2 weeks deep into physical therapy.  My flexibility is great and I got released to start walking short distances without the crutches - which if I'm to be honest - I've been doing for about two weeks anyway.  

I had a slight set back last weekend when I slipped on some ice with a crutch and came down pretty hard on my leg.  Almost right away I started having a sudden pain deep in my groin.  It wasn't constant and it would come right out of the blue with no obvious reason and sometimes almost feel like a spasm.  At first we thought I might have just pulled a muscle but the physician's assistant says that it's not all that uncommon after surgery for a few of those muscles to be "irritated" for a while.  It's happening much less often now so I guess I'm good.

I'm getting very antsy to start really walking again but with the ice and snow, I'll be pretty much stuck indoors for a while to reduce the risk of falling.  I think I'm going to be stuck on the Exercycle for a while for anything that burns calories.  But the good news is that I'm healing well, incisions look really good with only one having a bit of scar tissue under it that should go down as time goes on, and I'll soon be back to "normal".

A huge help

This little gizmo is a pocketed bag that attaches to crutches.  I bought two of them this time.

They have been a huge life saver!  Instead of putting my travel coffee mug in the waist band of my yoga pants, I can put it in one of my little pouches.  I keep my cell phone, chap stick, mini-wallet, etc., in the other one. I got these on Amazon and they have been worth every penny.  So much easier than trying to put everything I need in my pockets (if I have them) or in a shoulder bag!

Did it again!

About four months post surgery on the left hip I asked my surgeon about doing the right hip before the end of the year.  While I wasn't 100% healed on the left, I was getting along just fine and had about 85% of my strength back.  Sometimes I'd have an occasional "catch" when standing up or moving funny but from what I had read, this wasn't all that unusual.  Besides, I had met my insurance deductible and out of pocket maximum and wanted to squeeze it in before the end of the year since it's going to be even higher next year!

The surgeon was pretty agreeable and we scheduled for November 13th - almost exactly 6 months after the first hip.  I was excited and started making plans for work, home, family, etc.  I also started paying close attention to that first hip and how it was feeling every day and pushing myself to make sure I wasn't playing favorites.  

A few days before the surgery, I noticed I finally had my full stride back and wasn't holding back when walking.  For a long time I knew I was going slower than normal but just couldn't break past that.  And then I did.  For about 3 days.

I'm now a week post 2nd surgery and I am VERY happy to say that this one was a breeze in comparison to the first time.

For starters, I didn't spend 15 hours in the surgical center like I did the first time.  The other huge bonus was NOT PUKING MY GUTS OUT!  I was fanatical about pushing that subject with the anesthesiologist and reminded them over and over that I did NOT want to get sick this time.  Apparently they took me seriously.  I had a tiny bit of nausea the next morning and that was it.  I also refused to take any of their narcotics after that first day and only took Aleve for 2 days.  

According to what the surgeon told my husband, he pretty much did the same resurfacing and repairs to the labrum that he did the first time but I have to believe he either did a better job or there wasn't as much work to be done.  I don't have nearly the post surgical pain that I did with the first one.  Seriously, I was able to put weight on that leg almost right away (though I wasn't supposed to).  

It's like night and day.  On day 5 when I was able to take a shower after the first surgery, I was practically dragging myself in and out and needed a nap to recover.  This time, I was ready to dance a jig when I was done showering.  I have very little swelling and no nerve damage on the outside of my thigh like I still have on the left leg.  I was able to roll over on both sides within 4 days.  Last time I think it was more like 2 weeks if I remember correctly.  I probably should go back and read my own blog!

I did go back and read my own tips and reminders and had the house set up much better this time though there are still some obstacle course points just because of the floor plan of an old house.  I did not do a very good job prepping the husband and kids.  They were like deer in the headlights when I reminded them they needed to cook.  I did WAY too much those first few days this time though I can't say it's been a big negative impact.  I'm feeling pretty awesome and actually kinda forget sometimes that its as fragile as it is.  The other morning I got up and took two steps before I remembered I'm not supposed to be walking....

I'm just past the 90 day mark and have to admit, I'm feeling pretty darn good even if the doc says I still can't ride my horse.

I am walking just fine with no pain in that hip at all.  I do sometimes move funny and get a "ouch" and I still can't do straight leg raises without some discomfort.  PT ended about 3 weeks ago and I have to admit I've pretty much failed at keeping up with the exercises even though I  have had great intentions.  

The non-surgery hip is really bothering me now.  It held up great post-surgery and did a fantastic job of holding me together while I was healing;  much better than I would have expected.  Now it's complaining quite a bit.  I go back in about 5 weeks and will find out if I can get that one done before the end of the year.  I thought they'd tell me at this last visit but they only took an x-ray and said it was too soon to decide.

At this point, I do get a little achy feeling now and then, usually after I've really been on the go, moving and lifting a lot.  It never lasts more than a day or two unless I just keep on pushing myself.  Getting out of the car after a long drive is soooo much better.  The right side will hurt like hell and not want to move but the fixed side is ready to rock.  I am noticing that my left SI is now bothering me when it used to always be the right SI.  I think this is a case of the "opposites".  The left hip was worse and it was felt in the right SI.  Now that it's fixed, the right hip is complaining and the left SI joins in.  

Overall - I'm still VERY happy I had the surgery even though the recovery has been what *I* consider slow since I'm still not 100%. I was forewarned though.  

I'm now 5 weeks post surgery and am walking around without the crutches!  Well, most of the time.  I'm supposed to still use them for any kind of distance but around the house I'm good.  I've been up and down stairs and at least 200 yards without them and no troubles.  I do notice that leg gets tired fairly quick and when it does, the hip starts to ache.  Just so long as I sit for a while, I seem to be fine.

When I had my follow up visit with the surgeon this week, he was impressed with my flexibility which made me happy but I was fairly flexible prior to the surgery so it's not all that surprising.  I had pretty good strength too.  He told me I can pretty much do anything except straight leg raises with the left leg for therapy and no jogging for a few more months - no problem there since I really had no plans for jogging.

Physical therapy is going well and we are spending quite a bit of time on core strength which never hurts.  Well, yes, it did make me quite sore but in a good way!  I haven't been doing as much at home as I should but I stay pretty busy with daily activities and am on my feet moving around quite a bit.

I did my first long distance drive this week - 2 hours - and it went pretty good.  I got a little achey but it was evenly divided between the surgery hip and the non-surgery hip.  Actually, I think the non-surgery hip is ready to be 'done' with carrying the full load.  It held up surprisingly good this past month but now it's starting to complain.  I don't blame it.

I should mention that the return to work after the 3rd week was pretty rough.  I work in a huge high rise office building where my normal parking place is about a block from the door but then it's almost another block of walking to my desk.  When I came back to work, they gave me special parking accommodations in front of the building but it still was a pretty good distance.  Doing that on crutches was NOT fun.  The first day I came in at my usual 7 am and figured out pretty darn quickly that I couldn't possibly carry the backpack I had brought with my laptop, wallet, lunch and other work supplies I had brought home.  I got to my desk and had to sit and wait for another early-bird to show up to go back out to my car for me....  After that I asked them to let me install a virtual desktop at home so I could just leave my laptop in the office.  This wouldn't really be an issue for those that work only in an office but I'm pretty much split between office, road, and home.

By the time I was getting off the crutches, my arms had developed enough muscle that the crutches were less of an issue for these longer distances but they still pretty much sucked.  I can't even count how many times they've fallen to the floor from where I had them leaning.

Post Surgery Week 2 - part 3

Yesterday I had my post-op appointment with the PA.  Although I'll admit I haven't used the continuous motion contraption much since the nausea quit and I started feeling more normal, my range of motion with that leg was surprisingly good.  I'm still limited to 20 lbs of weight on that leg (I know I've exceeded that more than a few times) but I was happy to get the stitches out and remove those crusty steri-strips.  I was quite surprised to see I actually have FOUR incisions!  I knew there could be 3-4 but two were close enough together that they had them covered up as one.  Not that it matters any but it was one of those "oh wow" moments.

I also got my application for a handicapped parking pass from the PA.  I had been lucky enough to get a half-way close parking spot there but going to the Secretary of State with it to get the actual car tag was a different story.  It would have been much easier if I had brought someone along that could have dropped me by the door.  Since I didn't actually HAVE the handicapped parking pass, I couldn't park in that spot...and their stupid doors aren't very cooperative for someone on crutches either.

Lesson Learned:  Take a driver to post-op appointment and to Secretary of State office.

Lots of other things are starting to get easier but I have to keep reminding myself to go light.  They did give me permission to start using an exercise bike but we don't have one...need to find someone to borrow one from.

Post Surgery Week 2 - part 2

This post might fall under the TMI heading but for anyone considering this type of surgery, it's probably good stuff to know.  And besides, I'm 50 and way beyond caring about stuff like this!

Through that first week I had been most concerned about the nausea side of my gastrointestinal system.  I had been warned that the narcotics often cause constipation and that isn't something you really want to deal with when your hip is rather sore.  I had brought home stool softeners with my prescriptions but after the first day, read that you shouldn't take them if you are experiencing nausea.  Since I wasn't eating, I wasn't too concerned about getting anything back out.  I had a bit of gas now and then so I wasn't overly concerned.  I sort of forgot about Thursday's dinner....

When I could finally eat on Wednesday, it must have woke up my bowels too.  I was happy to finally go but it hurt like hell and felt like I was pooping out thumb tacks.  Not good.  

The next couple days the door was closed.  I felt the urge to go but the nether regions were saying "not now".  I started popping the stool softeners and dug out an old tube of Preparation H.  The next time wasn't any easier and I have a feeling that routine is going to continue for a while.  I'm thinking I need to change up my diet for the next week and concentrate on fruits and veggies and other high fiber foods.  

Lesson:  Start on high fiber foods prior to the surgery and try to avoid constipation!

I think I also over-did it a little again.  My arms are really sore from the crutches but I was winging all over the house trying to clean up for some guests.  I really should have asked my kids to clean up MUCH better before they left for a few days.  Hubby was great and did a lot of the things I just can't do yet like the floors but I'm a control freak and still had to do more than I should have.

Lesson:  Hire a cleaning crew pre-surgery and then ask family to KEEP it clean during recovery.

Post Surgery Week 2

Friday marked the 1 week point and I practically sprang out of bed.  So far so good!  My kids are heading to Florida to stay with the grandparents for a few days and my son was in desperate need of a few new clothes so I had him up and out the door with me by 8:00.  The night before I had drove for the first time so I knew I "could".  Just minor complications - I didn't have my handicap parking pass yet because my post-op appointment isn't until next Wednesday.  Maybe I'm not supposed to be driving yet either but I'm not on narcotics so why not?

When the dear son and I got to the local JCP, I was feeling pretty frisky on a sunny bright but brisk day and opted to crutch my way to the back of the store rather than use their wheel chair.  I did pretty darn good if I do say so myself though on the way back to the front to pay I was running out of steam.

By the time we made it home I was pretty tired and actually hurting a little bit.  I might have over-done it.  I tried to "sit" the rest of the day and spent some time stretched out in bed but I'm just not a sitting kind of person.  By bedtime I was pretty sore.

I did spend some minutes reflecting over the past week and what I had found "difficult".  I had mostly lived 24/7 in pajama pants or yoga pants with socks.  Those were good choices.  Changing pants is a bit difficult so just sleeping in what I had on all day was easiest.  The only problem with both is that they don't have pockets.  Remember, you don't have much use of your hands when moving around so pockets would have been handy.

Lesson:  Pajama or yoga pants with pockets would be very helpful.

Putting on my tennis shoes for that first shopping trip was impossible.  Son had to tie them for me.  My Croc's were much easier to get on and off without drama.  I put boots on Thursday night and while they were easy to go on, coming off wasn't so good on the hip.  

Lesson:  Think about footwear in advance - plan what will work easiest.

On Saturday we had to run out a couple of times and I found that my regular purse was just too heavy to lug on crutches and opted to leave it in the car.  Because the dumb yoga pants didn't have pockets, I really had nowhere to stash ANYthing.  

Lesson:  A small backpack type purse or crossover body bag would probably be a good choice while on crutches.  And think minimalist.  

Prior to this surgery I had never been on crutches before.  And while I'm not finding them particularly hard to use, the dang things SLIDE off everything you lean them against!!  You'd think in the zillion years that the things have been around someone would have adapted them so this wouldn't happen.  Seriously, they fall to the ground and you can't get them because you aren't supposed to be bending that far...so then what?  I'm thinking at minimum some duct taped wrapped around that top 1/3 from handles to arm pits would at least make them less slippery.  Some foam pipe insulation would probably work pretty darn good too.  I wonder if Pinterest has ideas.....

Post-Surgery Week 1 - part 3

By the sixth day my appetite was back and I wasn't sleeping nearly so much since I was OFF the narcotics completely and doing just fine on Aleve after a knock down battle with my doctor that I was NOT going to take any more hard drugs.  I'd been without coffee that long too and was dying for a good cup.  

I was quite cheery crutching out to the kitchen to make a pot until I got the coffee maker and stopped dead in confusion.  How was I going to carry the coffee pot to the sink to dump out the remains of that last pot made?  There was still some coffee left in it so I couldn't just hold it under my chin or let it dangle off one finger while I used the rest to balance on my crutches!  I really only needed to get it from the coffee pot that was on one side of our double frig to the other side where there was more counter.  I managed but I know I put a little more weight on that left leg than I was supposed to.  But then I needed to get water back to the maker...I solved this with a quart jar with a lid - empty spaghetti sauce jar I think.  I filled it up and dropped it in my grocery bag hanging off my shoulder.  The rest wasn't hard and I do have a stool next to the coffee pot so I could even take a load off while I ground my beans.  

Making coffee takes a ridiculous amount of time if it's not adjacent to your water source!

Lesson:  have someone get your coffee ready the night before so all you have to do is hit the on button.

Post-Surgery Week 1 - part 2

Before the surgery I was really only thinking in terms of not having the use of one leg.  In reality, not having one leg means you  really don't have use of either of your hands/arms either because you will be using crutches.  

The fifth day was also the day I was able to take a shower for the first time.  It was a glorious day not being nauseated and also able to shower! I had borrowed a shower stool from a friend who had had a hip replacement and was glad I did.  I had also borrowed a walker and found that was quite handy for the bathroom - it was easier to support myself on that getting in and out of the tub than on the crutches.  Personal preference I guess.  My shower doesn't have any grab bars but I wasn't so sure I wanted to stand on one leg as long as I planned to stay in that shower to scrub off all the betadine and bandage goo still on me.  

Lesson:  Someone needs to put the shower stool in the shower for you.  Don't try this on your own.

Speaking of bandage goo - that thing hurt like hell coming off!  Keep in mind my comment from a few days ago that the incisions were lower down than I expected.  Although I thought I had shaved  everywhere close to where they would be going, I could have gone further down on my thigh including the BACK and SIDE where the bandage was taped.  

Lesson:  Shave up down, back forward and everything within a mile of the surgical site.

Back to the shower.  Be sure to take something to help you scrub off that bandage goo - I think I still have some stuck to the back of my thigh though.  I probably need to look up what I can use to get it off.  Probably vegetable oil...

Post shower...I could have used a stool to sit on to dry my hair.  My good leg was getting very tired from too much attention and that hip isn't in such great shape either.

Post-surgery Week 1

My very first "uh oh" happened as we got home on Friday night and I couldn't remember how to do our three back stairs with crutches.  They had showed me how when they gave me the crutches but I didn't actually do it.

Lesson:  practice getting in and out of the house with your crutches BEFORE the surgery.

I already mentioned the nausea...oh my was it bad.  I really ate nothing after my dinner on Thursday night until Wednesday late morning.  By then I had downgraded from Oxycodone to Hydrocodone and was still sick.  I ended up doubling the anti-nausea medication on Tuesday night and only taking regular Tylenol.  I woke up Wednesday thinking I might be okay...I was but it took me a few hours to convince myself that I could also eat.

That first week also left me with the odd problem on not really being able to urinate normally.  While still in recovery, I felt the urge to go but when they got my groggy, nauseous butt to the bathroom, I couldn't go.  They turned the water on.  I couldn't go.  The nurse even left the room thinking I might just be shy (ha!) but that didn't work either.  Mostly I just wanted to doze off and figured my bladder wanted to do the same.  However, I wasn't allowed to leave until I "made water".  They brought in an ultrasound for a quick scan and sure enough, my bladder was very full.  They told me a catheter was in order to "jump start" my bladder for me.  Ooookay.  I wasn't thrilled but the nurse did a great job and I was still woozy enough that I neither cared all that much or felt much.

This little urination problem continued after I got home but I found if I sort of pressed/rubbed my bladder with my fist, it would get going okay.  Sometimes I'd stop and know I couldn't possibly be empty and have to start up again.  Very weird but I'm told it's not all that uncommon by a neighbor who is a long time surgical nurse.  

Because of the nausea I was only up for very short periods of time that first 4 days.  The first day I had my son and hubby waiting on me hand and foot.  They had mastered the ice machine and using frozen bottles of water instead of ice cubes (which was good since our ice maker has been broken for months), and knew how to set me up in the Continuous Motion Machine that had been prescribed for post surgery. All went pretty good.

Second day I got up and crutched around the house a bit but nausea sent me back to bed pretty quickly each time.  I really didn't have much of any pain but I was still on the heavy narcotics at this point.  Or as much of them as was actually staying in my stomach and absorbing before I'd puke them up.

Third day was Monday.  Hubby got up and left for work early.  That was fine, son was home but still sleeping when I woke up.  My first dilemma was how to get ice in the icing machine.  I couldn't carry it to the kitchen because I needed my hands on my crutches.  I had found one of those reusable cloth grocery bags to keep with my crutches but the bottles were dripping wet coming out of the machine... I ended up getting a plastic garbage bag, putting the now unfrozen water bottles in that and then in the grocery bag that I could sling over my shoulder.  Hobbled the bag out to the kitchen to unload into the freezer and restocked with new frozen ones.  This process took a ridiculously long time and wore me out.  I was getting weak from lack of nutrition!

Lesson:  Plan in advance for how you will handle your icing machine and CMM if prescribed.  Freeze some water bottles or those reusable ice packs.

Another little situation that I could have planned in advance for was all the electronics that I was going to need to have plugged in at bedside. I had the ice machine, the CMM, my iPad, iPhone, and lamp all fighting for electrical real estate space.  A power strip with USB ports solved the problem after the first day. 

The other half to this problem were the cords.  We had the ice machine set up near the bottom of the bed so that meant the cord was running from near my head to the foot of my bed.  This also meant I was stepping over that cord getting out of bed.  Same for the CMM's cord...

Lesson:  Plan in advance for bedside electronics and clearing the way for your crutches.

Surgery Day

There's not much to say about the surgery experience.  Mine was arthroscopic outpatient as I think most do it now days.  I think my biggest surprise was finding that the small incisions were much lower on my leg than I expected.  For some reason I expected them to be up closer to where your front hip bone pokes out on  your pelvis.  They were actually down below my underwear line on my thigh.  

If you have never had any kind of surgery before, you might not know how you handle anesthesia but I had so I knew it makes me really sick.  I reminded the anesthesiologist of this about six times.   Of course, I still came to wrenching my empty guts out but at least it wasn't a surprise.  Personally, I think those little puke bowls they use are totally useless - give me a bag or something please! And I really don't need to be able to SEE what comes up.  A dark bag would be quite nice.

They also hadn't given me a prescription for anti-nausea medication in advance so hubby had to go get that for me before we left.

The doctors and nurses all kept reminding me to stay "ahead" of the pain and take my narcotics as prescribed.  What they didn't tell me was staying "ahead" of the nausea was probably important too.  I spent 5 days being more nauseous than I have ever been in my life!  I'm positive it was from the narcotics.

Lesson 1:  Even though it seemed a Friday surgery was a good idea, it meant that I really had nobody available to call short of a severe emergency for the next two days.  When I do the other hip, I'll opt for a Tuesday or Wednesday if possible.

Lesson 2: I'll write on my forehead next time that I need EXTRA anti-nausea medication with anesthesia and remind them I need a prescription for this along with anything else they prescribe.

Lesson 3:  I really didn't need the heavy narcotics.  I had very little pain that first 5 days.  Possibly because I couldn't do much of anything but lay flat on my back with my eyes closed or I'd throw up.  I also didn't plan very well in advance to have the house stocked with stomach-friendly foods.  I planned for hubby and the kids but not myself.  Typical mom, aye?

I was diagnosed with FAI

I'm a 50 year old woman - not the typical person diagnosed with FAI from what I've learned.  But its important to know my age and that I'm not some super athlete (I'm pretty active but I mostly just walk for exercise - nothing that makes me sweat).  My experience in healing from FAI surgery is likely to be a little different than from many people but its all relative, right?

I had minor hip problems since around age 35 - nothing that slowed me down any but they did start after I have been running 3-5K per day for a few years.  I'd just get a hitch walking now and then like my hip was "stuck".  I never mentioned it to a doctor but I did have to quit running around that time after a broken foot.  That was the end of my "athletic" days.

Around age 47 I started having some lower back problems and what I thought were issues with my SI. I now know that the SI and hip are pretty closely related and it was mostly likely the hips that were causing the SI problems.  

As I was closing in on 49 the hips had gotten gradually worse and getting out of the car or up from a chair after sitting for any length of time was becoming really hard.  I was feeling like I was turning 89, not 49.  A few months before turning 50 I gave in and asked my doctor about it.  After several xrays and a couple rounds of physical therapy, the diagnosis was made with FAI - Femoral Acetabular Impingement.  I decided it was time and opted for surgery on my left hip in mid-May.  I had a "gap" in my busy work schedule that would almost sort of accommodate the 3 weeks I would need to be off.

I was actually pretty shocked when they told me I'd only be off work for 3 weeks.  It seemed everyone I knew at work with a hang nail got at least 6 weeks!  I wasn't so sure that 3 was going to be enough - I was 59 after all - but that's what I planned for.  I prepped the husband and kids and stepped off the plank!