I'm now about 8 months post second surgery and figured I should wrap up this blog with a final post.  

I am walking totally normal now with a good swinging stride.  I think I'm a bit slower now than I was before all this started but I'm also almost 2 years older.  I've been able to get back on my horse which was one of my big goals.  I'm happy to say that so long as I use a saddle (bareback didn't go so well), I'm totally fine.  

I do think that the left hip still has a few rough spots that flare up now and then and I feel a weird pull in the right one occasionally but I'm not so sure they are related to the actual surgery or something totally different.  Either way, I have absolutely no regrets for having both done and feel WAY better than I did before the surgeries.  I feel like I'll go into this winter with two good legs and much less likely to take a spill on the ice like I did last winter.  

Good luck to anyone considering surgery for FAI!

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.