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 !!

4 1/2 weeks post op....

some more progress to report - am now walking inside and out with no stick or crutch ! Yippee !! Happened on Friday when I took my stick with me and I just didn't need to use it.. walking is very steady with no limp and the only slight issue I've noticed is going up a slope or hill - glute muscles are pretty weak and also stopping me from climbing stairs normally - still going up with the non-op leg first then bringing the op leg up and so on.

I'm not too surprised as I had this problem after the scope and I think it's partly residual weakness from surgery 2 years ago to repair a tear to my glute muscle. Will need to do some walking on the treadmill on an incline and do hills outdoors when I can. Today I managed to walk downstairs normally though so that's progress and I know that upstairs is just going to take time.

I'm starting to be able to do things like pull up my sock on the operated leg (kind of without breaking the 90 degree rule) and put shoes/boots on without needing a long handled shoe horn and I can now (oh I waited so long for this) walk around at my normal pace without thinking twice about it. I also made it to the supermarket alone today, with a trolley and had no problems at all. To be honest I'm having to remind myself I'm only 4 1/2 weeks post op and not totally overdo it...The hip is not sore in any way at all - I just get a feeling of pulling and tightness around the wound when I do a bit too much - and I know I need to rest for a bit and keep letting it heal as it's really only the skin that's healed up to now.

Oh and I managed to get onto my bike today with a bit of a hop and a skip so I'm going to do 15-20 mins a day on that this week and see how that goes. Felt fine when I tried it out earlier and I know that this will help with the glute muscles.

The only cloud on the horizon is my right hip. Annoyingly I've had to take painkillers a couple of times for it (just Panadol but even so...:-( )as it's a bit sore on the outer edge of my hip/thigh.. which is nastily familiar as that's what happened to my left - got trochanteric bursitis and the rest is history - the right niggles a bit when I lie on it and inside the joint is a bit nippy from time to time.

I'm really really hoping it will settle down now that the left hip is taking its fair share as I'm not ready to even think about any more surgery (the story on the right is the degree of dysplasia is worse than the left = centre edge angle of 17 degree and my surgeon reckons a PAO would give me a great result and potentially mean no THR ever required). To be fair it's no more than a niggle at the moment by comparison to the pain I had pre-op on the left but it needs to settle down and go away so I can enjoy this new hip.

4 weeks post op !!

It's my birthday today and I can't think of a better way to celebrate turning 36- with a brand new shiny hip !

wow, days are flying by. I marked the 4 week occasion today by going for a walk this morning with just a stick - no crutch !! Hip feels really really good and I'm managing a couple of walks every day of around 20 mins each time. Having had 2 previous ops in the last couple of years, this recovery is a walk in the park by comparison. I don't seem to have lost too much muscle strength and so I'm not limping really at all when I walk without a crutch or stick, and I suppose for the first time in a long time I actually have a hip joint which works properly - which makes a big difference !

I also drove for the first time yesterday (I have an automatic so in theory it's easy) although it wasn't the easiest to get in and out of the car so I'm not in a massive hurry to do it again. There's quite a lip to lift my leg over into the car so it just felt a bit awkward. I'm sure with a bit of practice I'll get there though !!

I've also been keen to get on an exercise bike although I have a recumbent static bike - a sit back rather than sit up bike and the angles are just not quite right to allow me to cycle without breaking the no knee above the hip rule. So I got my other half to rig up my mountain bike on a stand to try that but unfortunately as it's got a bar across I'm struggling to get onto that too ! Never mind, once the restrictions are lifted in a couple of weeks, I can get back on the bike.

Also getting a new hybrid bike for my birthday so looking forward to getting out on that - it's a step through bike so should be able to get onto that with no problems !!

3 weeks post op..yippee

delighted I'm halfway through the restrictions as it's getting easier and easier to potentially break them ! I'm complying though and stopping myself from bending to pick things up from the floor etc. Did some ironing this morning though and managed not to do any damage.

Hip has really really progressed this last couple of days and people are commenting on how much quicker and better my walking is - almost back to normal pace with one crutch and I definitely have that feeling I could be doing without it - so will do that tomorrow indoors for a bit and see how I get on. Still feels like I need to hold on which I think is more about balance and psychological than actually needing to hold onto something for support. It also feels really good if I go out for a walk so I'm trying to do 2 x 10 min walks each day and build up by 5 mins or so every couple of days.

I'm contemplating going to a pool next week to do some water exercises but don't want to do that until I'm totally free of the crutch or a walking stick. Also not sure if there's a pool near me which has steps down into it rather than a ladder (might be difficult with the 90 degree restrictions).

More than anything I can't get used to getting up in the morning and the hip not hurting when I walk on it ! I'm sure I will though !!

Gettting better every day...

...wow the hip is feeling good. Managed my first proper walk outdoors today with only one crutch and I'm starting to get the feeling inside that I could walk around in the kitchen without any crutch/stick. I also feel like I'm ready to walk upstairs normally (even with the crutch) rather than one step at a time.

It definitely feels this weekend like it's taken a step forward - swelling less so I'm only icing once a day instead of 3/4 times - and needing less painkillers which is great. I realised this morning that when I woke up I didn't need a painkiller as the discomfort I felt was simply stiffness in the muscles rather than any soreness if that makes sense.

I'm doing physio exercises 2 or 3 times a day and they are also getting easier. The leg length issue seems to be resolving itself slowly too although it may just be I'm getting used to it.

Will be 3 weeks post op on Tuesday and can't wait for it to be 6 weeks so I can drop the restrictions. Going to see my surgeon on the 8th March for my review so hopefully he'll be pleased with progress and I can get back to doing normal things !