I am finally sitting at my desk (home) . I am 23 post op. I like to put my legs under the chair. However, I have not been able to do that with my right leg in about 8 years due to the pain it would
create in the hip joint. No problem today. I can actually see my right ankle!! So weird. What did you notice first?
Mine was the first time the physios got me walking following surgery. No terrible groin pain whenever I put my foot down to walk. That was gone with the first step I took following the BHR. I could have cried and kissed the face off my surgeon at that point hahaha!
Now that i'm 8 weeks post op, that's still a lovely feeling. However I now have the groin pain when I'm stationary, but i'm still thankful I can walk without that pain. None of that scary 'catching' pain which would take me by surprise, causing me to fall on the spot, wherever I happened to be... One time up a set of ladders :-\
Same as Ruby for me- although it's with a THR. The lack of pain on first walking was incredible.
It's still a great feeling eight weeks later, but those first few walks to the bathroom in the hospital were special.
Great topic Hoyt!
Two things I noticed pretty immediately: When they wheeled me into my room, I noticed my foot was tilted inward. Before surgery, that was physically impossible.
Second, the first day of in-bed therapy, they had me drag my heel and draw my knee upward toward the ceiling. That too was impossible before surgery.
My epiphany came a few weeks after when I was doing my assigned walking. I felt the new hip was strong and smooth. It was a real profound sensation. Meanwhile, my left hip is sore and catches/buckles.
Dee
Like Barista, it was when standing, my right toes were pointing straight instead of aiming at about 2 o'clock.
Me too. I had a penguin-walk and after op I noticed a significant straightness in the foot. Amazing. I could probably mine out about 20 or 30 things that I've posted about here about "first-times" after surgery. There were things I noticed several weeks, even months afterward.
I think the picnic table is a pretty significant one, being able to get and out of a picnic table without pain or awkwardness happened to me about a couple months after the first surgery.
Taking 2 steps at a time going up stairs was a few months after surgery. The list goes on.
Great topic!
Mine was being able to lay my right leg totally flat on the bed.
Chuck
Quote from: imgetinold on October 05, 2012, 03:50:21 PM
Like Barista, it was when standing, my right toes were pointing straight instead of aiming at about 2 o'clock.
Awesome one! I just noticed the same thing at pt while I doing the recumbent elliptical. I remember in the gym before surgery looking down and my right foot was soooo far out.
It's kind of a long retrospect for me, but a couple things come to mind where early in recovery I thought: wow! I'm already better than I was before the surgery:
* Getting into a vehicle right-leg first, rather than arthritic process of backing in butt first and then swinging your legs in (with arm assist as necessary).
* Getting out of vehicle in grocery store parking lot, and just walking in, rather than doing the pain-induced scan for carts that you can use as a walking aid.
Best wishes for many more such aha moments for all recovering hippies - like alcoholics, I suppose we all are always in that state ;)
I think the biggest thing I noticed after my first initial sets of PT, my therapist had me do outward leg swings for lateral motion. I remember wincing at the thought of it and after I tried, the smoothness and lack of pain feedback almost gave me motion sickness. I was amazed at the immediate gain in range of motion to the side and the lack of " pinching and pain ".
First thing I really noticed was that when I was in bed I didn't have that constant toothache pain in my hip. Then when I stood up my foot pointed directly ahead instead of having Kipper feet. When I walk now my new hip points my foot forward but my left hip goes out to the side. So I am a semi Kipper feet now.
Jas
Dirk - I forgot about the car. I would get into my truck and have to do that same sort of motion. I always had a pretty sharp pain right when bringing the legs up and swining in. I also walked/limped to work from a distance parking location (no office parking). Long before OA set in, I would ride my bike to work. The first time I rode my bike after HR was another wow moment.
Let us not forget.
Being able to tie my shoe from the outside of my leg. It had been like that for years from the impingement even before any pain set in.
One of my hobbies is "detailing" cars. That means washing, waxing and overall keeping them clean on a borderline OCD level ;D. Anyway, this weekend I noticed while washing my
wife's car that I can bend over with my right leg forward. For so many years I never could do this. The flip side is I'm really sore because I have used my muscles in a way they
haven't been used in years. It's always a good feeling after this procedure to be validated you made the right decision.
Admittedley not the first thing i noticed but for the first time in years I can touch my toes. Hurts like mad to do it with my non opertated hip but my right hip didn't complain at all. I won't be doing it again because of my left hip.
Jas
sitting on the toilet without having to keep the bad leg straight. Let's just say that cleanup gets a little more involved when you can get more of a squatting position.
Quote from: Tin Soldier on October 23, 2012, 05:02:27 PM
sitting on the toilet without having to keep the bad leg straight. Let's just say that cleanup gets a little more involved when you can get more of a squatting position.
Brilliant. Couldn't have put it better my self!! I've been swimming for the first time, the last three days, and the biggest benefit that I've seen is that I can sit on the toilet in comfort. Ah, those little pleasures in life mean so much!
Like Chuck said, the first big obvious change was when I could get my leg to lay flat on the ground when laying down. It was the first time in over 10 years. For many years, the closest I could get was with my knee flexed at least 4"-6" off the ground.