Offline for a bit...

Okay so we've finished phase 2 and into the week of the move. I'm not sure when I'll get connected online at my new place so I thought I'd give a brief update before I go. I don't want this to turn into a blog about packing!! Because that's all I can think of right now....

I don't seem to have made any significant progress in eliminating the limp in the last two weeks. I haven't been in the pool as much as I'd like due to the aforementioned packing and socialising (goodbyes!). I've probably been 4 times in 10 days which isn't very good at all. Although I've done a LOT of walking recently and heavy-ish lifting!! It'll be fine, once I move I'm going to get sorted exercise-wise and I'll be getting my appointment for the physio too as promised.

My mother stayed with me last week and she said she'd noticed a big difference in the limp so maybe to me on a day-to-day basis its not noticable but it is slowly getting better. I'm not in pain and can get around at a fair pace with the crutch/cane anyways. I am noticing a significant ache in the muscles under the incision when I climb the stairs or squat. I wonder if its the scar tissue contracting? It can be painful if I try to lift my bodyweight from a squatting position through that leg only, but only in the muscle, not the joint. And the pain subsides very quickly once that movement is stopped, so... This is why I need to see the physio the sooner the better as I'm a little scared at how far I can push myself in this respect.

Oh oh......I managed to get my sock on without the putter-onner!!! It wasn't the most elegant of movements and involved hooking the big toe with the sock and wiggling it on. I've only managed it about 3 times as I only seem to be able to do it at the end of the day, when my muscles are warmed up and stretched out - so the putter-onner is still a must in the mornings for speed! But its getting there then. I can also sleep on my op side now with absolutely no ache at all now, its fab! This is week 9 post-op so that's great.

Right, time to put those last things in the boxes and try to get some sleep. Last day at work tomorrow and I'm already feeling sad about it. I will miss my colleagues terribly, they've become quite good friends. But I'll not be too far from Leeds to visit. That's the life of a scientist eh?

Whoever said...

"Sometimes these things happen for a reason".....

....needs a good talking to before being drop-kicked out the nearest window. You know who you are.

Major surgery is stressful. Needing to get a new job before your contract runs out is stressful. Moving is stressful. All these things are MAJOR life experiences. DO NOT do them all in the space of 2.5 months or you risk a brain hemorrhage!

All I can say is thank goodness for family and good friends. I am fiercely independent, but I've had to learn to ask for help due to the mobility issues. Yes, it can make you feel down sometimes. Useless, dependent, helpless, child-like....all these feelings spring to mind. I have had moments recently when I just want to give up, almost wishing I never got my new job because it might have been 'easier' to be unemployed for a while. But, I think I'd have hated that more - just a different type of stress. At least I know that I'll be continuing in the job I love and, of course, continuing to pay the bills!!

Today has been frantic. Stage one of the move. Up early to continue the organisation of the flat - stuff to charity, stuff to bin. Heavy bags too! Running errands around town as I have very little time to do that before the moving day. By mid-afternoon I was pretty exhausted from humping bags about and running around town, and knowing that I needed to get to the gym/pool as part of my rehab I decided to leave some of my to-do list and head straight to the health club. When I got back from there it was early evening and I'll admit that I got little else done on the list! Meh! Oh I might be tired, but I wouldn't have been able to do a fraction of it if I had to do it within the 3 months pre-op. No way. I'm tired, and maybe more so than someone who hadn't been through major surgery recently, but I'm not in pain and that IS something to be thankful for right there.

Stage two of the move begins tomorrow. My mother is arriving to stay til friday to help me pack everything as I have no time off work. I cannot express how much I appreciate this help! I cannot get certain things down from my cupboards without standing on a chair - er, NO! Not risking falling off a chair and causing a femur neck fracture at this stage.

Time for some rest I think, the next few weeks are going to be chaotic and full. I will survive....with or without my sanity intact!

....."happens for a reason".....*smack*

Article by Mr.O'Hara

Very excited to see an excellent article online in the surfacehippy community by my favourite orthopod himself addressing the recent negative press surrounding hip resurfacing....

http://www.surfacehippyinfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=543&Itemid=108

and this is why I trust him so much :o)

Even my eyebrows hurt!

Okay. Swimming and gymming. I have been 7 times in the 10 days since I joined up and its been great! Even though parts of my body are reminding me of their existence! My hip on the other hand is getting stronger and stronger, and its the one body part that doesn't ache.

I'm doing about half an hour on the gym bike and an hour in the pool, including hydrotherapy exercises in the pool. Mr. O's letter (for me to give to the gym is they're worried about my using the machines in recovery) does sorta say I could be doing a lot more, but honestly, I don't think I'd be able to move the next day if I did all that!! I mean, I have the physiotherapy exercises to do at home too! I figure if I include one more machine each week then I might actually be able to function. I went to work last monday and couldn't use my upper arms and shoulders after all of the swimming last weekend!! My hips were fine! I don't know if I can keep up with this bionic hip...

A couple of other completely fantastic side effects from these workouts - I have a lot more energy and I'm sleeping very well. I'm sleeping more and more on my op side now, not for long periods but I find I'm just rolling over onto that side naturally in the night.

My ROM is still increasing. I still can't get my sock on my right foot yet without my putter-onner but I can get my knee almost to my chest so I can reach to the underneath of my foot....but its still not quite enough to put a sock on or clip my toenails yet. It's getting there. It'll be 7 weeks post-op on monday so all of this is remarkable.

I am, of course, still using one crutch for walking any distance. The limp is still prominent but I can tell its beginning to get better. I've started to use a cane indoors, I haven't quite transitioned to using it outside yet as I've never had to use one before and it takes some getting used to! It was a suggestion by Mr.O to get myself a collapsible cane so as I get stronger I can walk for longer periods of time unaided and I can just take the cane out my handbag to use when I get tired. So I got myself a funky purple spotty one from http://www.switchsticks.com/ , if you've gotta use one, make it stylish!

Anyhoo, I've just come back from the health club and I need to scrape myself up off this sofa (again) so I can go make some dinner ..... ;o)

Let battle commence

So, after seeing Mr.O last week and being told to get my limpy-ass into a gym and pool I took action! I've never been one for joining gyms etc and the local pool is a bit of a bus ride away (which isn't a motivation for going either before or after work). But, I have decided that it'll probably be in my best health interests to now join a health club that will give me access to nice facillites and a large pool. In the short term that causes a bit of a problem as you know how these places work - you sign up for a minimum of 12 months. I'm moving away from Leeds in about 4 weeks time! But I need in the pool now!

After phoning a couple of places the Livingwell Health group (Hilton hotels) said they would do me one months membership only. I would cost me £55 for one month, £10 more a month than it would if I joined up - but hey, if it means I get to crack on with my physio in the pool its worth it. It's a really nice place too, only 5mins walk from my place, tv's on the machines, big pool, jacuzzi, steam room/sauna, the works!! :o)

The battle against the limp has begun! Since thursday I've been in the pool 3 times, for over an hour each time. It's amazing, I can actually move the joint so well in water, no pain or stiffness, it's like it's back to normal! Doing the breast-stroke means I work all the muscles of the hip at once so swimming really is an excellent exercise for me. I also took time to do physio exercises in the water - abduction/adduction, quads etc. During that time in the water I feel normal again, then I get out and rediscover the limp! It will take time. I haven't been into the gym yet, I wanted to just swim for a few days first. Tuesday is the day I get into the gym followed by a swim. Mr.O sent me a letter stating that I'm fit for gym exercise (for the gym, insurance I think) - in that letter I realised exactly what he expects of me in the next few weeks too. He's stated that he expects me to use almost all the machines including rowing machine (eek!)....but only slow on treadmill and light weights on abduction. It's a full time job this exercise!

I am actually exhausted today. Yesterday I got up early for my swim and then headed off for a massive furniture reconnoiter (renting unfurnished in my new place). 4hrs of walking around the big retail shops! No pain in my hip! My back muscles from crutch usage however..... I can't remember the last time I was walking for 4hrs without any hip pain (I may have been a teenager!). So tonight will be an early night otherwise I'll not function at work tomorrow.

It's all I do now - work, exercise, eat, sleep, repeat! Done it before, it will get easier. Zzzzzzzz...

Orthopod check-up

Another long day!

Up at 5.30am to catch my train to Birmingham as my appointment was for 11am. I actually arrived 1hr early (the trains weren't late for once!) and was taken straight through to the clinic. The nurse on duty was really nice and said that it seemed to be really quiet today so if I popped upstairs for my x-rays I could probably go in early. Excellent I'm thinking! Uh-uh.... there was a reason it 'seemed' quiet. There was a 2hr back-log in x-ray as the computer system had gone down! I've never seen the waiting room so packed, seating was only for patients, rellies had to make do!

After putting in my form and thus effectively joining the queue, I asked if they didn't mind me pottering off for a while - nup! So I walked straight back down to the clinic to let the nurse know as clearly no-one had thought to pass on the message. I also wanted to let them know because if I had waited I might not have gotten to see Mr. O! Previous experience pays off - consultants on the NHS usually only hold morning clinics and if it runs over, you get re-scheduled to another day. As I've always come to the hospital from far away I've always reminded them of this fact so not seeing my orthopod is NOT an option!

So, after letting the nurse know she scuttled off to ask Mr. O; I walked straight in for consultation! As it was 'quiet' we had a good long chat. He said I didn't need a new x-ray that day as he had the set from 5 weeks ago (he thinks the ROHB gives people unnecessary x-rays sometimes and one shot of radiation less is good!). He'll be seeing me in 2 months and I will have x-rays then.

He was pleased with the progress so far and in the ROM that I have regained. He wasn't impressed with my limp! He wants me to have physio and was a bit annoyed that it hadn't been set up already. I explained to him that I'll be moving due to my new job in Nottingham mid-may and as it can take a month to set up the first appointment on the NHS, he said that he has a friend that is an excellent physio down in that neck of the woods so he'll get in touch with him and set it up for me in time for me moving. In the mean-time he's given me a whole bunch of exercises to do, including abduction exercises that he initially told me not to do. I've also to get myself working out in the gym and in the pool. The only downside to this limp is that he doesn't want me to ditch the crutch yet until I get physio!! It is a fairly bad body tilt, swaying thing I have going on - at first he thought perhaps he got my leg length wrong, but its not, its perfect. We think its just my poor muscles got so used to that leg being slightly (0.5cm) shorter for years that now the legs are equal, the muscles are too tight on one side, thus causing me to tilt. It's not a good look so whilst I'm a little disheartened not to lose the crutch any time soon, it is for the best I suppose *sigh*.

I am a considered a complicated resurfacing. So it looks like I'm in it for the rehab long haul! I have done remarkably well recovery-wise so far but its going to be a few months of hard work to sort out all the incorrect muscle usage. Some muscles have been used incorrectly for years, that is one of the consequences of arthritis, chronic pain and previous surgeries. That won't be easy to correct. But I'm going to give it all I have for as long as necessary!

X-ray taken 4 days post-op. Resurfacing with extra fixation screws. Scary!

Close up of my right hip. Red circles highlight the remnants of broken screws left after my osteotomy. Red arrow shows muscle anchors/staples used to reattach one of my muscles back to the bone.

My scar at 5 weeks post-op. Looking much better!

I climbed a mountain today

....or rather, the stairs!

No great feat huh? Only one flight of stairs you say? But not one step at a time... I was walking the stairs normally, with NO CRUTCHES and NO PAIN!! Woo hoo! I don't care that it was slow, I climbed UP the stairs today using two legs, go me! :op

It's a good end to a stressful week. Walking unaided is getting easier too, but I still have a major limp. I'm seeing Mr. O on tuesday so I'll be able to have a good chat about exercises then. I really want to get back to doing pilates but I've just wanted to take it slowly. What's the point in rushing the recovery and undoing all Mr. O's good work. I have plenty of time to get back into various things. I've just been concentrating on walking, walking, walking just like he told me to! I've been pretty pleased with the results of just walking so far!!