I wasn't sure which category to post on, so I'll put it here. I did something that was very thrilling today and I know only us Hippies can appreciate what I am about to say. At least it was very thrilling for me. I am almost 4 months post op with both hips done.
Today was the day I did my first lawn mowing of the grass growing season. It is later than usual this year because of a lot of rain and cold here in the Northeast.
I MOWED MY GRASS!
I MOWED MY GRASS!
O.K. so what's the big deal? Let me explain.
I have a yard big enough that I need a riding type of lawn mower. I have an older machine that you have to lift your leg up over the center hump, then sit down with your legs spread apart on both sides of the front of the mower. Some of the newer ones are step through designs. This may sound crazy, but of all the things I used to do before my hip surgery, I dreaded and hated having to spread my legs apart to sit on that mower or sit on my 4 wheel ATV to plow snow. With my very limited ROM it hurt like hell and it was really bad standing up when I got off. Stiff, pain, it was terrible. Last Fall at the end of the mowing season I could no longer mow anymore. My son or my wife had to take over because I just could not do it anymore. I love mowing grass.
So there it sat in front of me. It may as well have been the rack or some other torture device sitting there waiting for me. Even though I already tried sitting on my 4 wheeler and there was no pain at all on it, this seemed different for some reason. I almost didn't want to try it remembering the agony from last year. I slowly stepped up onto it and slowly and carefully lifted my leg up over the center hump. NO PAIN! I slowly sat down and pushed both legs forward along the sides of the front. AMAZING!
No pain, no discomfort, NOTHING! I actually sat there for at least 5 minutes in disbelief. I mowed my yard, got off and stood there. Other than the usual first few steps of start up stiffness, it was like the old days.
I hope I didn't disappoint or bore anyone with this story but I just had to tell someone who has gone through HR like myself. I didn't run a 5K or 10K, I didn't race my mountain bike, I didn't hike to the top of Mt. Whatever, I MOWED MY LAWN! As I write this, I am grinning BIG! and my eyes are watering!