5 months post op RPAO

-
Since I missed my four-month update, I guess you're actually reading about two months' worth of progress on my right hip. Truth is, there wasn't much progress at the four-month mark, but I think I'm starting to get somewhere now!

I now can:
  • Stand from a squatting position with very little trouble.
  • Walk with no pain and no limp. I take hour-long walks and can spend all day running errands, cleaning house, shopping without pain. However, I still feel a little soreness in the joint a day later if I push really hard.
  • Jog at 85%. No pain, but the gait feels a little funky.
  • Jump and dance.
  • Lift weights at 50-100%, depending on the type of exercise.
  • Play volleyball! I subbed last week and return to the league next week. Boo ya!
Issues remaining:
  • Tenderness on the skin around the incision.
  • Random burning/stinging moments deep in the tissue from nerves
  • Speaking of nerves, still numb in the thigh, but not completely. Enough to feel the slightest sensation, but not enough to be able to get at those deep burning itches!
  • Pain when lifting my leg Captain Morgan style (as addressed in my physical therapy post)
Just yesterday, while walking out of Target with my hands full of bags, I thought of how lucky I am to walk ... unaided ... without pain. I'm glad I haven't taken my pain-free hips for granted yet. Such a wonderful feeling.

Comments

JenXer said…
I'm at nearly 4 years post-op. The deep tingling thing will continue to get better. I don't feel it at all except for in rare cases. Your scar might stay numb just in the area right next to it, but the overall size of the numb area should get much smaller over time.
March 31, 2009
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dreams

-
I still have bad dreams about having hip surgeries. It's been nine years since I went under the knife. The surgeries seem far from mind – I don't have daily pain, I don't talk about hip dysplasia, and when I get undressed, I rarely notice the thin white scars on either side of my hips. When I do think about it all, gratitude and pride overwhelm me. I think of my recovery and wonderful life that has followed. It's strange then, that my brain sums up this life-changing event with disturbing scenes from an operating room, flooding me with anxiety and reminding me of the unpleasant parts of PAOs. But maybe the nightmares have some value, after all. Being reminded of the stress and pain and work that went into fixing my hips also reminds me of how strong I was to get through it. Never forget.
Read more

Out of surgery

-
This is Cassie's Mom, after trying to connect to the internet unsuccessfully several times in her room, we have decided that Cassie will dictate to me and I'll try to keep you updated by taking the computer elsewhere in the building where there is a strong enough signal. Cassie's surgery took 5 1/2 hours this time, and Dr. Mayo said it went very well. He did find a cyst in the joint, in the same place as the left one...a matching set! He said that was kind of strange. She woke up in a lot of pain and Dr. Mayo said it took some time to get it under control, fortunately she did not remember much of that! She was out of recovery just 1 1/2 hours later and after a breathing treatment; into a room by 9:30, a little nauseas, and with a very dry throat. She kicked me out a little after midnight, and I took a cab to the hotel, since my carriage had turned back into a pumpkin. During the night they did a Doppler test because they were not detecting a pulse in her right leg, but th...
Read more

4 years post-op LPAO

-
Image
It's been four years since my left hip surgery, the day-long event that became a years-long cornucopia for which I am eternally thankful. My thanks does not wane, even though the periods of pain-free living have started to. Between anniversaries three and four, I have to admit that life has been a little tougher. My hips hurt more often and are less willing to take the beatings an active lifestyle evokes. My mind returns to dark places of my past, when pain ruled and I couldn't count on my body. The most challenging aspect is not letting fears and negative thoughts squash the positive feelings and abilities my new hips gave me. Post-surgery pains are completely different than pre-surgery's. Sporadic, unpredictable and in places I didn't think even counted as "hip pain." Post-surgery pains also have been easier to control, just harder to understand. I am considering a visit to a hip doc in my town, rather than a flight to Tacoma to see Dr. Mayo. I need to...
Read more