June 17, 2017

I had L resurfacing done by Dr. Gross 5/10/2016. Of course everyone in my city (Austin, TX) advised me against it, even a ortho here in town that does them. Well it’s true that he couldn’t do my surgery anyway bcs I’m a tiny female. But once I read about Dr. Gross, I knew the trip to South Carolina would be worth it. So far my recovery has been entirely uneventful, thank goodness, because I’m going on vacation to China tomorrow. I just got my 6week followup xray (looks fine by my eye, I’m a radiologist, but don’t see these films since no one really does them here), and PT evaluation (looks good for this stage). The PT had me do the stage 2 exercises, which didn’t bother me at the time, but I’m kinda limping today (thought I’d stopped that). Couple questions: I never can tell I’ve overdone it until the next morning when my tendons(?) hurt as I lay in bed. Not the typical muscle soreness I’m used to from training.

July 22, 2017

I am only about 10 weeks out but have noticed similar things, like my external rotators are super weak! Dr. Gross did my resurfacing, and I am still following his exercises. But there was nothing that I felt really addressed the external rotators. So I asked for a PT request. It has definitely helped. And I’m doing yoga too bcs my flexibility has not recovered (I know it hasn’t been long since my surgery, but I feel like it was forever ago!). So I don’t know that I’m religious about deep squats, etc. I can tell when I’ve pushed it bcs it hurts some, and I think it’s muscle/soft tissue but it’s hard to tell bcs it can be sharp, and I get scared sometimes, but I do really feel like my strength is improving and my flexibility, so I guess I’m willing to put up with a bit of pain now and then. I AM religious about no impact, so I guess that makes me feel like I’m being a good girl.

July 25, 2017

I am able to walk a ton, swim a ton, bike medium intensity some (just weak still compared to before). I’m pretty flexible with the operated side, but of course I still have a long way to go to feel symmetric. Perhaps my problem is that I am always pushing the envelope. I notice I’m tight, so I stretch and do yoga, and it gets less tight, but sometimes I’ll do some position and feel sharp pain. Will that go away and I’ll eventually be able to really DO yoga again? I used to be really flexible, and some of that has decreased as I get older (just turned 48), and some stretches feel like tight soft tissue (mild discomfort), but this pain I’m talking about is really sharp. I THINK it soft tissue bcs I can do the same position with my leg when I’m not having to use the muscle to support it and it doesn’t hurt. For instance, in a plank, if I try to move my L knee to my L elbow, it gets part way there, and then it really hurts, but if I do the same move of knee out to side to elbow standing with my foot supported on a box. it doesn’t hurt. btw, my 6 week xray looked “perfect” per Dr. Gross.