Blinkys Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Gross 2015

[blinky]

The long crutch walk/short cane walk day was a success. I will continue on this path. Today the same thing exactly, tomorrow a little bit more. We have centralized mailboxes about a block away and that was my cane goal and it was plenty far.


Still have niggles, all kinds, but nothing bad. An example would be on my long walk running into someone I know, standing for a good period and chatting, then feeling stiff in the back of the foot (!) when I start up again. I am tempted to cross my ankles with my feet up now and have to stop myself.


I am pretending that doing dishes is beyond me. (Yes, I could wash them in the sink, but can't bend over to put them in the bottom rack of the dishwasher.) H is relieved to have Son2 home to help him. Son2, however, will never just agree to do a chore. He always sets up a double or nothing sort of challenge that determines who does the task----whoever wins a ping pong match does the dishes or whoever hits more baskets into the trash can is exempt from taking out the trash. It is lively at my house!


The future challenges: I will be feeling my inability to drive. Work stuff and holiday stuff coming up and I am going to need a ride to places. H leaves tomorrow so it will be me and Son2. He has gone back to his Thai food delivery job for the holiday break, so guess what I will be eating.


Son2 has been much more matter of fact and curious about the surgery. He asked to see my scars. I think the difference between him and his brother is that Son2 was home to watch my deterioration over the last year while his brother was away at school.


Eager for the incision to heal so I can swim! It is getting so close.

[jd]

Excellent! Did it feel good to be able to do a short walk with just a cane?

I remember thinking my incision was 95%+ for about a week, just waiting for it to be 100% :)

[blinky]

Very good. Today I go a little further on both walks. It is four weeks for the left leg.


My body is returning to normal. A dozen or so days ago my hips were still so swollen I wondered if I had been structurally changed. I looked hippier. Dr Gross said I would be a little taller; maybe also broader in the hips? The swelling was very localized, too. No bruising and no noticeable swelling in my legs. I am pleased to report that I look like my old self again. Most likely there is still a little swelling, but I can't see it any more. My weight is also back to normal. Post op I was full of fluids and up ten pounds even a week or so out. I expected that. My mom fell and broke her hip and puffed up quite a bit from swelling and fluid retention. (No one gave her an ice machine!) It took awhile for her to shrink  back down. I wondered if I would be heavier due to the weight of implants.


So my advice is to stay off the scale after HR. If you can't resist, know you will retain water for several weeks.


I comforted myself by reminding myself of the changes my body went through during pregnancy. Big changes, but I returned to normal over time.


Still playing dumb on the dishes, but doing more otherwise. The trash cans are on wheels so I tried to drag them in---empty---yesterday. I dropped my cane on the curb and had to call Son2 on my cell to come pick it up. Pretty comical!


H is on to me. He leaves today for a long trip and between being distracted getting ready and caregiver fatigue, he is doing less for me. Okay, it isn't always on purpose. He says he will refill the ice machine and then forgets. (That is what happened to the garbage cans.) It won't matter because I can figure this stuff out now.


Worked standing up all morning yesterday and felt it by the end of the day with more niggles. Have to stay on the icing better on the active days.

[blinky]

Walked a little further on both outings. Had a grocery store trip with Son2. In our big Texas supermarket, probably walked a good amount leaning on the shopping cart. H left us with supplies, but Son2 wanted certain junk food items and I needed thank you cards.


H is a very healthy eater which has been great for me and my recovery. We eat lots of fish and fresh fruits and vegetables. Son2, however, eats like a college student. Because he grew up in our household, his basic diet is quite good and he enjoys all kinds of foods, but last night we went to Whataburger.


And then had three dozen warm cookies delivered!


There was some mother guilt in those cookies. I do bake, but currently can't bend over low enough to use the oven. Next week I have a few holiday parties and will have to look up some stove top cookie recipes.


I bought the ingredients for chills and stews, which I can manage on the stove, too.

[blinky]

Four weeks for the right hip today.


What progress! No pain, very very little swelling, moving around pretty freely. I carried my laptop, meds, phone, shawl, and cane to the breakfast table this morning. Carried my cane, didn't use it because my hands were too full. It needs to be here for later, but I didn't need it to get here. Yeah, I was slow and awkward, but better all the time.


I will fly to SC for my six week check up. Alone. H and the Sons will drive to NO and I will fly there after the check up to meet them. In two weeks I think  I will be pretty good on the cane (when I am not carrying it from room to room) and so will travel with it. But I do think I will still need it, or at least want to carry it as a visual reminder that I am not 100%.


Not missing doing certain chores, like rolling the garbage cans out in the morning, but restless to do other things, like get a haircut and GO SWIMMING. Let Son2 bring me a spicy Thai soup, suki, for a late dinner at the end of his shift.

[jd]

That sounds fantastic blinky, great progress. You must be doing very well to be confident on planning the NO trip!

Also good to hear that you're gaining confidence in walking unassisted - it seems like only a few days ago you were primarily still on two crutches. That's amazing.

Surely you can talk your son into driving you for a haircut now :), and swimming! As soon as the incision is good to go...

[blinky]

Thanks, yes, Son2 will take me....eventually. Life with a teen ager. Good intentions, but slower to act. I have to schedule time with him to get things done. Like today we will have an appointment for milk, bread, and eggs. He could certainly go out and buy them himself, but it has been three days of nagging, so we will go together. (He is a good kid and I saw this coming. He sleeps until noon, gets up to play tennis/train since he is on the college team (a little bragging there) then has work at five, often sees friends after work.)


I am tantalizingly close to so many places I would like to go. Drugstore. Grocery. City Hall. Bank. But they all fall just outside my one mile walking radius. Not to mention I would have to walk back. I have a bike, a cruiser with a basket, but no biking until six months.


I will call on friends. There are community events I have to attend the next few days and I have rides lined up.


Still feeling good. An assortment of niggles. I do get tired and swollen when I overdo it and sit down and ice. I noticed today that I can nudge things sideways with my feet, like push a chair out of the way, without pain. My butt muscles look wasted so there is work to do. A tiny bit of scab on both incisions.

[blinky]

Beautiful weather here in south Texas. It is a joy to walk outside. Still following the long crutch walk/short cane walk pattern. I am faster on the crutches than I was two weeks ago. The cat follows me on some walks. In the beginning, she was faster than me, would get ahead and then stop and wait. Now I zoom ahead of her and she follows, meowing at me to slow down.


I modified the cane walk yesterday. I had to go to a city hall holiday event that involved a lot of walking and standing so I counted that as cane time. I was on my feet outside much longer than the usual cane walk, but it went fine. The cane would get in the way and I would need two hands to take pictures, so I would put it around my neck. (If I drop it, I have to get someone to pick it up and I didn't want that....). I felt pretty normal.


Out again for dinner, but just sitting, albeit on a bench, so learned to observe hip precautions in a new setting. Got in and out of a Fiat successfully.


Pooped at the end of the day (pooped=tired in this case---lol) and collapsed into the recliner with ice. With more activity I am sleeping much better, a solid eight hours last night.


Did get that milk and eggs. Today I hope for some laundry help.

[PMac]

Glad it's all going well for you, I went out for dinner last night for the first time, seems I'm one of the lucky ones who is recovering quite quickly. Walked a mile and a half with one crutch yesterday and am not using them at all at home most of the time in the house. Not bad for three and a bit weeks.


That said I've only had one done, really not sure I could have coped with both! The interesting difference here in the UK is that I have not used ice once and have been told by everyone I've seen here that I don't need it. Can't say I've missed it but interesting to see how many people rely on it

[blinky]

Isn't it great to go out again? I am glad you are healing so well. I was told to ice often, especially in the beginning, to control swelling. Not doing so as much now, but I will sit and ice when I notice that I need it, or when I just realize I ought to sit down and take a break for a while.


And I am standing up a lot these days. Sometimes because I am out and about, but also because I just would rather stand than sit. This is very different from preop, when I much preferred to sit. I am up enough and busy enough that I do have to schedule sitting down time.


Long crutch walk. Again I didn't have a formal cane walk because I had to go to an event and decided to take the cane. I did more standing than walking, though, so  think  today I should do the cane walk even if I go out. My cane walking has made a big leap forward: I am faster and smoother.
I am mostly unassisted in the house and woke up this morning and couldn't remember where I left the cane.


I do have niggles and even some swelling in the right leg. I can tell I have some bad habits that need to be unlearned (favoring one leg) and need to strengthen some muscles (glutes). Sometimes I feel completely great and normal and find myself doing things I probably shouldn't (bold pivots or going up and down stairs without really using cane/crutches/handrail). I don't think my niggles are bad, but do look forward to seeing what my six week eval will reveal. Two stubborn little bits of scab are hanging on, too. It has reached the point where I am going to ask Lee if I can't swim anyway. Maybe the loose boxers strategy is hurting me now? Would tighter pants have knocked the scabs off?

[blinky]

Tighter pants strategy worked. Now I need a ride to the pool.

[jd]

That's hilarious blinky!

I feel like a bit of a broken record on your thread, but glad to hear you're still making great progress, and I still don't envy your bilateral experience!

[blinky]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.


I still don't have a ride to the pool until Wednesday unfortunately.


Walks are going well. The cane walk is edging up above half a mile and I am moving faster. I contrast my post op cane walking with pre op walking; I was a turtle pre op. Still stand up a lot and walk around the house unassisted. Do short sorties in the yard unassisted like to get the paper (with the grabber) or walk to the car.


It is Hanukah and so I am going out every evening to take pics of the community menorah lighting. Every night I get a ride I should say;city hall is 1.1 miles away.


I am falling into Son2's habits: staying up late, sleeping late, eating late and not as carefully. Thai yellow curry last night at 9:30. I tell myself it had healing powers.


Speaking of which, I look forward to Indian food tonight. The last of the neighbor provided meals. I love Indian food. It is like a drug to me. And full of those anti inflammatory spices, like turmeric.

[blinky]

Five weeks out on left leg.


I think  I should modify the daily walks so that I take two on the cane. Two half mile-ish walks. I will try that today and see how I feel. My movements are pretty even on the cane. Unassisted I am wobbly the majority of the time UNLESS I think  about lifting my knees when I walk. Then I straighten out. Or if I touch something as I move, like the wall or the countertop.


This is swimming day. I should make it tomorrow as well. Friday not so sure. So exciting! It won't be completely normal since I can't flip turn or push off the wall hard. It will look like a series of 25m.


I have a swim goal for the first week in January: to swim an hour. My swim club has a big fundraiser the first weekend in January during which swimmers see how far they can swim in an hour. This year won't be a record breaking event for me, but I would like to participate. Any amount of meters would be a victory. I have a newbie swimmer friend and we could team up as lane mates. Last year, OA throbbing, I swam next to a young guy who treated me like an old woman. He was telling me about his IM races, etc. I smoked him.

[blinky]

I swam!


Eight hundred meters free very slowly. It was good. I felt different than expected: after all that pre op pulling, my arms went right to work. My legs dangled behind me at first, not doing very much. I got going kicking and the left leg, the one that used to hurt all the time, was pain free and strong. Right leg was awkward with mid thigh sore. My glutes need A LOT of work. I couldn't kick fast. I can see kicking with a kick board will be a good exercise in a few weeks. No flip turns or pushing off walls.


Yay!


What I learned from my swim outing:


Go when it isn't crowded. I did because that was when Son2 could take me, and it was best. Easier to find a spot in the locker room and to get a lane alone. Also easier not to get held up talking to people ("you are on a cane? what happened?")


Think about how you will get dressed beforehand. Is there a place to sit in the locker room? Is it high enough? What if you drop your clothing? I brought the grabber and needed it but was pleased to find I could dress standing up, standing on one leg then the other.


Think about how to get in and out of the pool. This pool is a treat. Heated, 25 m outdoor pool with eight lanes and an attached kiddie pool. The kid area has lots of shallow steps and a rail plus a beach like graduated entry. I walked in from the kid side.


Beautiful sunny weather in the mid seventies. To put a cherry on top, I walked across the street to Starbucks and drank cold coffee outside under the pergola until Son2 finished tennis.


The two cane walks also went well. I was falling asleep in the recliner at 8:00pm.

[blinky]

Swam again and this time it all went better. Kicked better, right leg cooperated better. I won't be able to go today and maybe not tomorrow which is probably just as well. I feel like I need a light day.

[jd]

Catching up on your recent updates.

Walking sounds much better (cane is much nicer than crutches, right?), your swimming sounds fantastic (you're already swimming better than I ever do :)).

Good stuff!

[PMac]

Brilliant stuff Blinky, I'm hoping to go for a swim Monday morning

[blinky]

Yes, I am looking forward to swimming again. Two days of swimming in a row plus the new cane only walks plus the end of the Mobic was a bit much, so yesterday I dialed it back and essentially just sat and ate. Holiday events. I was out and about, lots of standing and moving and up and down, but not true, measured, structured exercise. Slept in and now I feel better. My right leg was worn out. (I struggle to describe it. Tired? Sore? It isn't really a muscular soreness, but it is a soft tissue fatigue and some minor but functionally significant swelling. I can't see any swelling, but I can tell it is there by how the hip/leg works or by how the incision site feels.)


At five weeks I am tired of the ninety degree rule.


It is easier to observe it now. I have the arm and leg strength to raise and lower myself from all kinds of chairs (and toilets). But it is a nuisance when I want to pick something up or even scratch my foot. I suspect once it is lifted I will be stiff and weak in all kinds of new and surprising ways, however.


Probably won't get to swim today due to weather (the downside of the outdoor pool), but then I will get to go every day until I fly to SC for the six week check up. My goal is to bump the yardage up a little more each time. I can always pull at the end if my legs poop out. 


H comes home today. Son1 comes home Monday (I think).

[blinky]

I snuck in my outside walking before the rain and was surpassed to find that I had covered 0.9 miles. Raced to get ready for H's return, mostly nagging S2 to do the things he was supposed to be doing all along. After going to the grocery store and pushing a cart with bad wheels, I decided one walk was enough.


Back to healthier eating with H here. And swimming again!


I woke up feeling a little tweaked on the right side. Maybe from the cat sleeping between my legs? He wasn't on me, but he did pin me down in one position. When I woke up, he was on his back like a dead beetle, legs in the air.


H is quite amazed at the improvements I have made. When he left I was moving to the cane, but still wanting the crutches for longer trips. Now I use the cane. He was disappointed I had already been swimming without him. I think  what he doesn't understand is that the hard part of swimming isn't the swimming, it is the dressing and undressing. He did enjoy regaling people he saw with stories of his crazy wife and her two hip surgeries. I think I mentioned he is a huge fan of Dr Gross and his staff. H went in to this ready to be my strong advocate, to stay with me and fight for me, and then when it happened, there was nothing to fight for because everyone took such good care of me.