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.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
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.
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