This week marks six months since my left hip resurfacing with Dr. Pritchett.
All in all, I feel really good. Range of motion continues to improve. In some planes of movement, it is now significantly better than it was before surgery. I am still sore in my glute and outer flank of my quad. Wouldn't call it pain, but sore, like after a solid leg workout. Keep in mind though (for those who've followed my story), I was in excruciating muscle pain in the weeks after surgery. I believe I am just one of those people for whom it may be 18-months before I feel "normal"
I've just begun some very light impact sport. The first test was at the Oregon Coast on vacation with family and friends. I did some light jogging while playing frisbee and catch with a football on the beach. Afterward, I felt remarkably better than I had anticipated. My only additional soreness was in some of the lateral stabilizer muscles that hadn't seen much action in quite awhile.
At the gym, I'm sticking with a lower weight cross-fit routine. I get a great pump, work-up a good lather and keep my heart rate up. I'm just now starting to add some light jogging/walking on the treadmill. It feels a little awkward, but great at the same time.
As I mentioned in my 2-month post, my short external rotators continue to be the slowest to recover. They get stronger with exercise each week, but it's a slow go. I have a couple times gotten an horrible cramp in the muscles while stretching. You know the kind of cramp that almost causes you to hit the reset button on the gut? Yeah, that kind.
But as I stated at the beginning, overall I feel good. My last PT session was last week and I'm continuing on my own at home. Best part? I don't get woken up at night by osteoarthritis pain in my left hip!
To those of you who are in your 30s like me and considering surgery... I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. And my recovery has not been the sunshine, rainbows, and flowers that some folks on here report. In the early days, mine was more like puking rainbows and as impacted as a desert flowerbed!
I look forward to the months and years ahead.
