Hip-hop anonymous - a PAO journal

My absence has been noted. Which is enough to guilt me into taking the extra minutes out of my day to report on my status. On May 12, I had a follow-up appointment with my surgeon, Dr. Mayo. Two new sets of X-rays (and who knows how much radiation) later, I got two thumbs up for pelvic bone healing. As far as the other issues I'm having, I didn't get any concrete answers. Dr. Mayo was very clear, however in saying -- as he has in the past -- that I will never have completely pain free hips. I've learned to accept that fact, mostly because experience has proven he's right. This is what we talked about: Right hip burning in the "Captain Morgan" position. No progress has been made here, and Dr. Mayo said the culprit likely was the iliopsoas (ill-e-o-so-az) and the rectus femoris (one of the quad muscles). He put me on Celebrex for a month, with no change. Next step would be an injection into the muscle, but I'm not ready for that yet. Tailbone. T...

These past six months have gone by not quicker or slower than my first PAO, but definitely differently. More inconspicuously, perhaps. I've focused less on the little milestones and even the big ones. Without a second pending PAO, I've had my mind more free for other things. Strange, though, that I've thought less about this recovery when it hasn't gone as well as the first. Unfortunately, I'm not as far as I was with my first PAO. This is where I'm at. Zero pain when walking or having been on my feet all day. Zero pain when jogging or jumping. My "Captain Morgan" problem remains. While I can lift my leg on my own to get dressed, get into the car, it's painful. I still use my hands to help to avoid pain. Still an uncomfortable feeling when lying on my right side. No pain, just weird. My range of motion is not great. External rotation is especially hard. No sitting cross legged or the like. Still get the deep itchy, shooting pains in the incision ev...

Happy anniversary to me! A year ago, I was lying in a hospital bed, numb from the waist down. Today, I feel so many things ... grateful, relieved, happy and normal. And let's not forget what I'm not feeling: pain. One year post op, my left hip feels better than it has in more than 1o years. Sometimes I'm amazed at what medical knowledge and technology has done for me. Seems crazy that cutting my hip apart in three places and screwing it back together has been so beneficial! At this point: Zero pain in my hip when walking, jogging and jumping. Deep groin pain when lying on my side and doing any external rotation (clam-shell type movement). Numb patches are gone, replaced by a tingly feeling on my scar and within a three-inch radius. (I still don't like touching my skin here.) Range of motion is about 90 percent of what it was prior to surgery. Clicking in the joint has increased considerably. I hear/feel it with almost every step, which does make my hip sore after about...

As I prepared to walk through security at Denver International Airport last week, I wondered if the additional seven screws in my right hip would be enough to make the metal detectors screech. I flew quite a bit after my first PAO and six subsequent screws. Through DIA, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles and Seattle/Tacoma, the detectors remained silent. But what would happen when I doubled the amount of metal? Nada. I'm happy to report that I had no problems at DIA or the Milwaukee airports. Guess I'll never have to pull my pants down to show the security guards my scars. ;)

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 ab...

Dun, da da da, dun, dun. Today, I was kindly told by Jennifer, my physical therapist, not to come back. While I'm not at 100 percent, she said there was nothing more she could do for me. At four and a half months, I'm happy to be finished with this part of recovery and hopeful for continued improvement. It's funny, though; I've had to eat my words about physical therapy this go-round. My progress -- which started out so promising -- stalled significantly these past two months. Which meant not two physical therapy sessions, but nearly a dozen over three months. The not-so-great news is that the pain I'm still struggling with (lifting my leg Captain Morgan style, i.e., going up stairs, getting into the car, getting dressed) may be impingement rather than muscle pain. Jennifer is fairly certain that the joint capsule is just too darn tight, causing moderate pain and a lack of flexibility. That information took the air out of my sail. Impingement isn't something th...

Though it's been 31 days since my last post, I've thought about this blog every day since. Something inside me has not wanted to come here. Not wanted to think about my hips, my frustration, my pain. I guess I figured if I didn't face any of it, didn't post on my blog or tell the truth to those who asked, it would somehow go away. It hasn't. Don't get me wrong; nothing major has happened in the past month. I'm dancing, shooting hoops, taking long walks. But my tailbone pain has hit me hard both physically and emotionally, and I've stalled with my progress on my most recent PAO, registering moderate amounts of pain every day. I've been at this whole hip thing for a long time, it feels. Everyone says to me, "It must be great to have all that over with." Or, "I bet you feel fantastic!" Or, "All back to normal now?" I smile, I nod. Because no one really wants to hear otherwise. So I've been quiet here as well, and I apol...

As I read a fellow Hip Sister's blog tonight, I felt a pang of compassion and a tug at my heart. No matter where we are or what we do, we Hip Sisters are connected in so many ways. So I felt inclined to write to her and also to tell you what I told her. Go easy on yourselves, ladies. Pre- or post-surgery, we need not beat ourselves up over our limitations. Getting back into a routine is hard after a PAO. At three months post-op, I'm still struggling to lift weights and dance the way I could before surgery. In my dance class, I usually am in the front, leading the others and looking graceful and competent. The past two weeks, I've situated myself in the back. Because I can't do some of the moves and have pain, I feel discouraged. Same goes with lifting weights. Unable to lift as much as I used to, I feel that everyone's looking at me and thinking, "Gosh, she's weak." I want to wear a sign that says, "I'm recovering from major surgery" so e...

Three months post op on my right side. Just like the other one, sometimes I can hardly believe it's gone by so quickly and sometimes it just seems to drag on. Tonight as I walked by the gym as my volleyball league was in full swing, I just had to sigh. I hope to be playing in a couple of months, but sometimes (ok, all the time) it's hard to be patient. Progress: Walking is 90 percent without any pain in the joint. No limp or stiffness what so ever. Numbness is going away, already better than the left side. I can stand and walk for hours on end without pain. I can lightly jump, no pain. Still working on: Range of motion. I can't bring my knee to my chest like I could before. External rotation also is a work in progress. Getting in and out of the car, standing from a squatting position and any motion that involves raising my knee to move my leg (like driving) still take work. I can do all of these without using my hands to move my leg or pull myself up, but it hurts a bit. I ...

January 23 marked my nine month of progress from my left PAO. Has it gone by quickly? Slowly? The answer is both. I found the first few weeks to go by quickly, followed by a stagnant period, picking up again at the eight-week mark, slowing down at three months, and so on. My RPAO, which hit at seven months, took the focus off the first recovery. Here's how I feel at this point: Good : No pain in the joint. I can walk for hours and not feel anything! Good : My incision is flat and continues to pale. Good : Strength and balance have returned to pre-surgery levels. So-so : My range of motion is not as good as before surgery but not by too much. When I push it, I do feel some pain. So-so : Numbness has decreased following the initial recovery, but I still get a very strange tingling sensation when touching any part of my upper thigh. It creeps me out. Bad : Deep groin pain (which is muscular/tissue-related) upon external rotation. This means no clam-shell type movement sans pain. Bad :...