I've been reading various online accounts of young patients recovering from hip replacement surgery, and some of them really scare me. The number of people who break their driving restriction and are back behind the wheel two weeks post-op--against doctor's orders--is alarming. I'm sure I could drive right now, but my doctor has told me not to. And for good reason. A car accident--even a small fender bender or something like backing into a lamppost--could result in a dislocation or other traumatic injury to the healing hip. It's not worth the risk. I still have to be very careful just getting into bed, so I can't imagine getting in and out of a car a bunch of times in a day. I might be overly cautious, but to me this seems prudent after joint replacement surgery.
I managed to go for a pretty long walk today--maybe about 1/8 of a mile. I went all the way to the deserted horse farm (where I swear I heard a cow mooing yesterday) and back, and felt pretty good. Lee claims I was told to add a little distance to my walk every day. I'll take his word for it and go even farther tomorrow.
