My hip has been great for the last month. I was able to visit Washington, DC, and walk all over Georgetown without any limp whatsoever. That was fantastic.
Last week, though, I fell down in the hallway of Thing One's preschool. I don't know how it happened, although the fact that I was wearing flip flops (I know, I know) probably had something to do with it. It was the kind of fall you might have once in a lifetime, so I don't know why it had to happen to me on the three-month anniversary of my THR. My feet flew out from under me really fast--it was like an ice skating fall--and I'm not really sure how I landed. I just know I fell hard. I screamed when I hit the floor and really panicked about the whole thing. After all, I spend every day making extra-double-sure I don't cross my legs or do anything else that could adversely affect my hip, but then here I was flying through the air and hitting a rock-hard floor with my hip. It reminds me of a joke from Mad Magazine that has stayed with me since childhood: the cartoon showed a guy with sparkling teeth shaking hands with his proud dentist, and in the next panel the guy has all his teeth knocked out in a bar fight. That's how I felt last Thursday. But I called my doctor and he said, "If you're walking, you're OK." He said as long as the hip wasn't dislocated (I'd be tipped off to that by excruciating pain), I'd be fine. I've been very sore ever since the fall, but getting a little bit better every day. The worst thing about the incident was definitely the humiliation.
Everything else has been very hectic, especially with school starting. None of us has really recovered from the summer yet. It was stressful and painful (in more ways than one) that it's going to take a while for life to seem truly normal again. Nevertheless, the hip is doing great. I'm trying not to take it all for granted. I have to remember how much pain I was in just four months ago. No way I could have walked all around Washington.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Day 60: Horses and worms
I had my two-month checkup yesterday and everything went well. I walk without a limp now, and even my back has been feeling pretty strong. I was told to continue using the raised toilet seat for another few months, and I still have to keep my right leg from flopping in past the center line of my body. There are a variety of changes you have to make in your life when this is a constant objective. For example, when I put socks on, I must keep both hands between my feet rather have a hand on either side of the leg (as any normal person would when trying to put on a sock). This is to help avoid dislocation. I can now stop taking the baby aspirin, and should continue to walk every day if possible. I finally asked if I would be able to ride horses again, and the doctor said yes. He suggested I avoid jumping or anything too crazy, but I'm cleared to ride. If I do fall off a horse, he said, I'm more likely to break an arm or an ankle, so he didn't see horseback riding as a particularly hip-risky activity. I was surprised, but happy. My next appointment will be in ten months, for the one-year anniversary.
Took Thing One to a bait shop today for bloodworms and nightcrawlers. Pet worms, believe it or not. We created a worm habitat--not as easy as you might think--in a plastic bin from Target, and will be monitoring it with great interest. We'll be feeding our worms coffee grounds and veggie-type table scraps, which they compost. Worms!
It's pretty amazing that it only took me two months to recover from total hip replacement. I have a few months to go before I'm 100%, but for now I can do almost everything I would normally do in a day. I'm still just two months out from THR, though, and still have some special needs. Each time I park in a handicap spot--I was given a temporary handicap parking tag to use until November--I wonder if people are judging me, thinking I'm abusing the privilege. I look pretty normal when I'm up and moving around, but I still struggle a bit getting in and out of the car, and I need a fair amount of room to pull it off. If the lot isn't crowded, I park in a regular spot.
I'm going to continue posting about my hip progress, but I'm thinking I'll just post on the first of every month until my one-year checkup. That's the plan. There's no telling what kinds of interesting developments are yet to come.
Took Thing One to a bait shop today for bloodworms and nightcrawlers. Pet worms, believe it or not. We created a worm habitat--not as easy as you might think--in a plastic bin from Target, and will be monitoring it with great interest. We'll be feeding our worms coffee grounds and veggie-type table scraps, which they compost. Worms!
It's pretty amazing that it only took me two months to recover from total hip replacement. I have a few months to go before I'm 100%, but for now I can do almost everything I would normally do in a day. I'm still just two months out from THR, though, and still have some special needs. Each time I park in a handicap spot--I was given a temporary handicap parking tag to use until November--I wonder if people are judging me, thinking I'm abusing the privilege. I look pretty normal when I'm up and moving around, but I still struggle a bit getting in and out of the car, and I need a fair amount of room to pull it off. If the lot isn't crowded, I park in a regular spot.
I'm going to continue posting about my hip progress, but I'm thinking I'll just post on the first of every month until my one-year checkup. That's the plan. There's no telling what kinds of interesting developments are yet to come.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Day 55: Thrilled
It's been ten days since my last post, and in that time things have gotten almost completely back to normal. I can do all kinds of amazing things now, like wear flip-flops and drive and sleep on my stomach. And as I walked around the supermarket the other day it occurred to me that I was not limping. That's huge. I don't need any of my special dressing tools anymore, like the reacher-pincher or the superlong shoe horn, but I am still taking a baby aspirin a day. Just for the record, St. Joseph's chewable baby aspirin is a million times tastier than the Bayer variety (thanks, Richard!).
I have my two month checkup this week, and that in itself is crazy. It's only been two months? I have zero pain in the hip now, and can even get out of my car a little easier since I leared to slide the seat all the way back before getting out. This makes it possible to kind of lean back and swing myself out of the car without being forced to flop the right leg under the steering wheel (thanks, dad!).
I still have a sore back every morning, but it gets better as the day goes on. My only guess is that I'm spending too much time sleeping on my left side, and this results in a strain to my left upper back? It's my best guess. You know when you see time lapse photography of people sleeping and it's nuts how much they move around? I'm not doing any of that moving around, and I think that's the problem. I still have to wake up and consciously move if I want to change positions at night, so I think my brain has decided to stay asleep and leave my body on its left side. I can lie on the operative side now, but it starts to feel sore after about fifteen minutes. I assume that's because the muscles there are still weak and healing.
I'm doing all the things I desperately wanted to be doing by now, like taking care of the kids by myself (including getting them in and out of car seats, which I thought would be especially tricky), driving, carrying laundry baskets up and down stairs, and hanging around outside 7-11 drinking a Slurpee with Thing One. All this is actually happening earlier than expected and I couldn't be more thrilled.
I have my two month checkup this week, and that in itself is crazy. It's only been two months? I have zero pain in the hip now, and can even get out of my car a little easier since I leared to slide the seat all the way back before getting out. This makes it possible to kind of lean back and swing myself out of the car without being forced to flop the right leg under the steering wheel (thanks, dad!).
I still have a sore back every morning, but it gets better as the day goes on. My only guess is that I'm spending too much time sleeping on my left side, and this results in a strain to my left upper back? It's my best guess. You know when you see time lapse photography of people sleeping and it's nuts how much they move around? I'm not doing any of that moving around, and I think that's the problem. I still have to wake up and consciously move if I want to change positions at night, so I think my brain has decided to stay asleep and leave my body on its left side. I can lie on the operative side now, but it starts to feel sore after about fifteen minutes. I assume that's because the muscles there are still weak and healing.
I'm doing all the things I desperately wanted to be doing by now, like taking care of the kids by myself (including getting them in and out of car seats, which I thought would be especially tricky), driving, carrying laundry baskets up and down stairs, and hanging around outside 7-11 drinking a Slurpee with Thing One. All this is actually happening earlier than expected and I couldn't be more thrilled.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Day 45: Driving!
I haven't posted for a while, mainly because Marie was here for a week to help out. She brought me a half dozen cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery, and those were a huge help right off the bat. I shared 1/2 of one cupcake with Thing One and ate all the rest myself. Next time I probably won't even give away the 1/2.
It was super hot every day, but we still managed to spend a lot of time outside. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard with all the presents Marie brought. The Bubble Typhoon (far superior to our original bubble machine, which broke after one day) and the Frozone Blaster were big hits, and Marie also managed to get both kids playing in the little plastic pool, an ominous backyard fixture Thing One had previously avoided completely. Marie has the magic. We all loved having her here and were sad to see her go.
On Marie's last day here I gave driving another shot, and this time I did fine. The toughest part is getting in and out of the small car, but I'm getting used to that. I'm now able to drive anywhere and everywhere, and it's an incredible feeling.
I've been slacking off on my daily walk. We've had triple-digit temperatures--or close to--for about a week, and I just can't handle the sweatiness of it all. Swimming is what I really want to do, but I still haven't been able to arrange pool access. I need to join a gym. The only pain I've been having is in my upper left back. I assume this is from muscle strain, maybe even from slouching over this keyboard. I need some kind of strength training.
I'm able to take care of the kids on my own now, although it's still a challenge. Because I'm still so weak, I start to get tired and sore, especially in my back, every day by about noon. But they say the total recovery time for THR is six months, and I'm only at the 45 day mark. I'm doing much better than I anticipated, and am perfectly willing to believe that by Christmas this surgery and recovery will seem like ancient history.
It was super hot every day, but we still managed to spend a lot of time outside. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard with all the presents Marie brought. The Bubble Typhoon (far superior to our original bubble machine, which broke after one day) and the Frozone Blaster were big hits, and Marie also managed to get both kids playing in the little plastic pool, an ominous backyard fixture Thing One had previously avoided completely. Marie has the magic. We all loved having her here and were sad to see her go.
On Marie's last day here I gave driving another shot, and this time I did fine. The toughest part is getting in and out of the small car, but I'm getting used to that. I'm now able to drive anywhere and everywhere, and it's an incredible feeling.
I've been slacking off on my daily walk. We've had triple-digit temperatures--or close to--for about a week, and I just can't handle the sweatiness of it all. Swimming is what I really want to do, but I still haven't been able to arrange pool access. I need to join a gym. The only pain I've been having is in my upper left back. I assume this is from muscle strain, maybe even from slouching over this keyboard. I need some kind of strength training.
I'm able to take care of the kids on my own now, although it's still a challenge. Because I'm still so weak, I start to get tired and sore, especially in my back, every day by about noon. But they say the total recovery time for THR is six months, and I'm only at the 45 day mark. I'm doing much better than I anticipated, and am perfectly willing to believe that by Christmas this surgery and recovery will seem like ancient history.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Day 33: Shaving, clipping, limping
I'm continuing to take a 30 minute walk every day, and the leg does seem to be getting stronger. Today it hurts to the touch on the outside part of the thigh, and it's not the deep muscle pain I would expect after all that walking, but a kind of surface pain, like a bruise. It's weird, but I'm pretending it's normal.
It's been exciting to be able to move in more regular ways now that some of my restrictions have been lifted. I don't have to keep that 90 degree angle at the hip anymore, so now I can shave my legs and almost even clip my own toenails. You take that kind of thing for granted in your normal life. I'd love to go for a pedicure, but I'm afraid to expose myself to the creeping crud so soon after the surgery. I actually asked the doctor about the pedicure thing, and he said it would be OK. I'm pretty sure, thought, that he doesn't understand that a pedicure involves a hastily "sanitized" community foot bath, hastily "sanitized" supersharp skin clipping implements, and a bottle of polish applied with a brush that has touched lord know how many other strange, gross toes. I considered bringing my own skin and nail clippers, and even my own polish, but there's no way to get around that foot bath. I don't want to risk infection--I have to be ultra-careful about that for the rest of my life, and get treated immediately for any infection I get (even like a sinus infection)--so I'm sadly passing on the pedicure for now.
Other than the fact that my toes are not polished, I feel almost back to my old self. I still walk with a limp, but that's getting a little better. It all depends on how weak I'm feeling, and how much I'm concentrating on my gait. The more I think about it, the worse I limp. I predict I will be walking limp-free and with a perfectly normal gait by Labor Day. How's that for completely uncharacteristic optimism?
It's been exciting to be able to move in more regular ways now that some of my restrictions have been lifted. I don't have to keep that 90 degree angle at the hip anymore, so now I can shave my legs and almost even clip my own toenails. You take that kind of thing for granted in your normal life. I'd love to go for a pedicure, but I'm afraid to expose myself to the creeping crud so soon after the surgery. I actually asked the doctor about the pedicure thing, and he said it would be OK. I'm pretty sure, thought, that he doesn't understand that a pedicure involves a hastily "sanitized" community foot bath, hastily "sanitized" supersharp skin clipping implements, and a bottle of polish applied with a brush that has touched lord know how many other strange, gross toes. I considered bringing my own skin and nail clippers, and even my own polish, but there's no way to get around that foot bath. I don't want to risk infection--I have to be ultra-careful about that for the rest of my life, and get treated immediately for any infection I get (even like a sinus infection)--so I'm sadly passing on the pedicure for now.
Other than the fact that my toes are not polished, I feel almost back to my old self. I still walk with a limp, but that's getting a little better. It all depends on how weak I'm feeling, and how much I'm concentrating on my gait. The more I think about it, the worse I limp. I predict I will be walking limp-free and with a perfectly normal gait by Labor Day. How's that for completely uncharacteristic optimism?
Friday, July 27, 2007
Day 31: Still a ways to go
I was excited about some of my restrictions being lifted, so I tried to make the most of it today. I got to sit outside in a regular old patio chair without first stacking it with pillows, and was able to do a few yard things, like fill the baby pool for the kids. I took a long walk around the neighborhood with Lee and the kids, and did this, per doctor's orders, with only one crutch. At lunchtime I convinced Lee to drive me to a salon to get my bangs trimmed. I was feeling pretty confident as the day wore on, and decided I would drive myself to the mall. But when I attempted to do that, I realized almost immediately that I wasn't ready. I had difficulty just getting into the driver's seat, because my car is very small and the seats are of the bucket variety. Once I finally did get into the car and started to drive, I could tell that I did not have the strength or flexibility to move my right foot from gas to brake. As I drove through the neighborhood, I had to coast through every stop sign because I couldn't apply enough pressure to the brake to completely stop the car. So I looped around and came back home. Once back in the driveway, I encountered the biggest problem of all--getting out of the car. Because the space between the seat and the steering wheel is so tight, I wasn't able to swing my bad right leg out of the car without flopping it in, and flopping the leg in is still a forbidden movement. I sat behind the wheel for a minute or two before I gathered the nerve to just do it. I got out OK, but it's not something I want to try again soon. Maybe I'll wait a week and give it another shot. A larger car with a tilting steering wheel would make the whole thing a lot more doable. If only I still had my 1968 Dart!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Day 30: Hip hooray
Lots of good news today at the one-month checkup. I can ride in a car now, and sit in any chair, even a short smushy one. I can practice driving if I feel up to it, although the doctor suggested I start out "in an empty church parking lot" for safety. I'm allowed to sleep on my back, my stomach, or my side. I'm still supposed to keep pillows between my knees if I sleep on the non-operative side, but otherwise I can just lie there like a normal person. I can bend now, even to touch my toes. I'm supposed to walk for at least 30 minutes a day, and I should be able to do that using only one crutch, in my left hand. The best and biggest news was that I'm cleared to take care of my own kids, as long as I'm very careful about Thing Two. The doctor was concerned that I could hurt myself or dislocate my hip trying to catch a squirming baby, so I'm going to continue to accept as much help with T2 as possible, at least for the time being.
I don't know if it's the exact brand, but this is the type of hip I have. Note all the "potential risks." I had an x-ray today and found out that my implant is screwed in, which surprised me. I'm not sure why that was done, or what the risks might be. The doctor only said it was to give me "a little extra bit of security."
We celebrated today by taking the kids out for ice cream. Thing One had a giant cone of cake batter-flavored ice cream with sprinkles and a pair of candy eyes. Thing Two had a teeny baby cone, also with sprinkles and eyes. Lee had one scoop of black raspberry in a dish, and I had a peanut butter/hot fudge sundae. An awesome day.
I don't know if it's the exact brand, but this is the type of hip I have. Note all the "potential risks." I had an x-ray today and found out that my implant is screwed in, which surprised me. I'm not sure why that was done, or what the risks might be. The doctor only said it was to give me "a little extra bit of security."
We celebrated today by taking the kids out for ice cream. Thing One had a giant cone of cake batter-flavored ice cream with sprinkles and a pair of candy eyes. Thing Two had a teeny baby cone, also with sprinkles and eyes. Lee had one scoop of black raspberry in a dish, and I had a peanut butter/hot fudge sundae. An awesome day.
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