Sorry - been awol....having a life !

ooops... missed a few weeks there - was off on a work trip to France which I'm pleased to report went well as it involved lots of trekking around airports and towns & cities - all of which the new hip coped brilliantly with. Even the now bad hip behaved itself. Then I had a lovely week on holiday and did lots of walking and a little cycling, and it continued to behave itself.. I love my new hip !!

I'm now 9 weeks post op (I think - just had to check the calendar which is a good sign) and it's not all about the hip - at last !! I'm at the point of more or less being able to do most things - can do upstairs now although there is a bit of residual muscle tightness down the left of my thigh - about halfway between the knee and hip.. so am working on that with my physio.. can put my socks on and tie shoelaces - not quite with total ease yet but I can do it and that's what's important !!

Inevitably now the left is fixed, my mind has turned to thinking about the right - no real symptoms - just the odd niggle if I've been sitting in a funny position. My OS has told me I'd be a great candidate for a PAO (the mother of all hip surgeries and not be taken lightly) on the hip and as it's largely symptom free he thinks if we do the PAO I might never need a THR.

I guess what I'm struggling with is I've had a great recovery from the THR (touch wood) so far and I know the PAO recovery would be much tougher and longer. Having had 2 previous ops on the left hip in the last 2 years which were difficult to rehab from I'm not in any hurry to go down that path again any time soon. I also feel like I have my life back now and I want to get on and live it and not have to rely on other people AGAIN for another x number of weeks while I'd be on crutches unable to do cook, look after the house, walk the dog etc.

Plus, thinking about having kids and although I know it would be sensible to get the PAO out the way - I'm sick of having the hips dictate what I can and can't do and just want to live. So, I've left it with my OS that I'll have a follow up at 1 year post op for the left hip and if I experience any increase in pain on the right, I've to get in touch with him. So fingers crossed it stays as it is. I think my gut feel is if I could get through having kids etc and a few more years down the line, have a THR on the right I'd be happy.

Seems extreme I know but I am a bit freaked at the thought of messing with something that doesn't hurt at the moment (athough once the pain starts it means that damage is being done and a PAO will become less successful) What I do know though is if the right starts to hurt the way the left did when it began to deteriorate a few years ago, I'll be knocking down the surgeon's door for a PAO asap. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it but is that so wrong ?!!

'Scuse the rambling !

6 weeks yippee !! (a few days late...)

So I made it to the 6 week milestone with no issues. I had my 6 week check on Monday with my consultant who was very pleased with progress and happy for me to drop all the hip restrictions with the exception of possibly crouching which he doesn't recommend for a few weeks more.

I asked him what I should avoid and he said 'hmmm, possibly pot holing ?' !! So I reckon that gives me plenty of scope.... The new hip coped brilliantly with a weekend traipsing around London and I couldn't believe how good my walking was. It was so lovely to be doing normal things that have foxed me for the last couple of years - like going shopping, walking around an airport, getting on and off the tube and for people to look at me and not know there was anything different about me - and in fact to have people not look at me was lovely.

The only thing that isn't quite normal yet is going upstairs. I still have to do one step at a time at home especially as my stairs are quite steep but my physio has given me some exercises to do and I'm sure it's just going to take time for the muscles to strengthen and work properly. But no limping at all which is the best thing ever.

It's so hard to put into words how grateful I feel to my surgeon for giving me my life back and just how incredible this operation is - it really is life changing and I would urge anyone who has been told they are too young for a THR to seek a second opinion, or anyone wavering or scared about the thought of having such a big op, that I would do it again in a heartbeat. If I could bottle the feeling of what it's like to be able to walk around normally, in no pain after all this time, I would - and share it with you !

5 weeks post op...

still doing really well - now walking 2 x day for approx 25-30 mins with no problems - little bit of swelling after the second walk but no real pain. I haven't taken painkillers during the day now for several days and only taking an antiinflammatory at night - which to be honest I can probably stop too.

I can't describe how great it feels to go out for a walk and be able to walk at a reasonably fast normal pace.. incredible and something that I hope I won't ever take for granted again. I'm also starting to be able to bend and stretch much more and can see that by next week (when I lose the restrictions) that putting socks on and tying laces shouldn't be a problem.

Walking upstairs is still challenging so I'm alternating doing them one at a time with trying to walk up normally to exercise the muscles. Downstairs is no problem. This coming weekend will be a good test of the hip and muscle strength as we're off to London so tube steps, walking through airports etc all beckons. I've got my 6 week check on Monday so hopefully will be good to go after that and get back to living my life !!