Almost 5 months post-op!

I must admit, I have forgotten about writing on this blog to keep it up to date. I has been a while since my last post.

This past month has seen a huge improvement with my hip, from frequent pain and discomfort to no pain at all!

Since my last post I was experiencing sciatic pain while my hip was properly healing. I saw Dr Solomon for a follow-up appointment and x-ray a month ago and he was very happy with the way it looked. He said some pain was normal and could take up to 6 months for the hip to get back to normal. I'm not sure if it was psychological but after that appointment I haven't experienced anymore of the sciatic pain or aching and I am able to walk normally without any problems. A couple of weeks ago I even went out dancing in heels all night for the first time this year! I can sometimes feel the muscle struggling if I over-do it as it is still building up its strength but I am doing exercises to help it along.

The second bit of good news is that I most probably won't need surgery on my other (right) hip after all!! I asked Dr Solomon to have a look at it on the X-ray and although it is slightly displastic, he thinks it may not need surgery! I have not been having any pain in that hip either so I hope it stays that way now that lefty is fixed and doesn't need to compensate!

I am so happy that this surgery was available to me and that I had a very talented surgeon. My recovery has gone better than I thought it would have and I'm happy to say I'm back to normal and have also started exercising again (swapped the treadmill for a low impact elliptical trainer). I'm feeling good and I am glad that I had this experience and got through it so smoothly with the help of my family, friends and boyfriend, not to mention Dr Solomon who made it possible!

Pain in the butt!

It is now 12 weeks since my left PAO. I have been walking mostly without crutches for the past couple of weeks however since I have been weight bearing more I have developed this sharp pain in my left butt cheek and it shoots down my leg. I notice it more after I have been on my feet and then sit down.

I have decided it is most probably the sciatic nerve. I went to the GP on Friday, who just prescribed me more pain killers and wasn't any more helpful than that. So this morning I called Dr Solomon's office to tell him/ask him about this pain. I left a message for him to call me as he is in surgery today so I should hear from him tomorrow.

As the weather is getting colder I've also noticed I am getting achey hips - can this be blamed on the weather?

Will keep you posted when I hear back from doc!

Almost 9 weeks post-op

This is my second week back at work -full-time- and it has been hard getting back into it after 8 weeks off! As I have a desk job it isn't too bad as long as I remember to get up and move a bit every half hour or so, so that my hip doesn't start feeling all stiff. I have been using one crutch at work and at home starting to limp around more without any crutches! It is still a massive limp/penguin hobble but it feels better now to put weight on it like it has adjusted and knows I need to walk with it so doesn't really hurt, as long as I don't overdo it otherwise it will get achy, and that is when I need to rely more on the crutch!

I am thinking that in about a weeks time I will be able to walk more easily without any crutches and by two weeks I will be crutch free! That is going by how it feels now, and my progress in the last couple of weeks so unless something suddenly goes wrong, I'm anticipating my recovery will continue to go smoothly as hoped!

I haven't done any physio therapy except for the exercises which Dr Solomon gave me to do which is all I really need for now. I went to the hydro therapy pool once and have not had time (or too lazy) to go back again although it is great and I would definitely recommend it. It is a warm pool with a ramp going into it and handles around the outside so it's good for disabled people and to practice walking and stretching or using the muscles etc.

My range of motion is continuing to get better every week. I am finding it is getting easier and easier to get in and out of the car and I can almost get my leg in it now without picking it up with my hands, though that muscle does still need more exercising as it feels a bit stained when lifting my leg to get it in the car.
Otherwise, I can do most other things normally. When sleeping I lie on my un-operated side but I am also able to lie on my operated side as well for short periods before it becomes achy. I can lie on my stomach with no problems as well, but I find the most comfortable position for me to sleep in is on my un-operated side.

The scar is fine and still looks just like it did in the pictures I posted earlier, although has been known to get itchy often. I am putting Bio-oil on it every night as I heard a lot of good things about Bio-oil for scars and stretch-marks.

That's all from me for now, I will update again when I am walking without any aides!

Progress!

I walked!!!

I have been walking with one crutch without problem since the start of the week, so I thought to myself if I can handle that maybe I can see how it feels to take a step without any crutches. I was very slow and careful when testing this out. It felt weird but I did it! It didn't hurt like an alarming pain or anything, just an amplified feeling of weight on the hip area, it's hard to explain but anyway today I took 2 steps, then 3, then 4... It was more like a limp/hobble than a walk but this means that the crutches are on their way out very soon! Its only been 7 weeks, so I'm not going to overdo it... I'll stick to the one crutch to get around the house and two crutches when going somewhere, but atleast I know now that I am able to walk and it does not feel totally wrong or painful. Sometimes I have a slight dull ache but I think that is just my hip getting used to more weight bearing. As the days go by it feels more normal and has more and more movement and flexibility.

Although the doc didn't say when I could ditch both crutches he did say to listen to your body and do as much as feels comfortable but that I could start weight bearing and weining myself off the crutches one at a time.

Very excited at the prospect of being able to walk, wear heels, dance, even run again (eventually)! ...Until I have to do it all again for Mr Righty.

6 weeks post-op

I must admit I have sort of forgotten about this blog (or gotten used to being lazy) and as you can see have not updated it in just over a month.

My recovery during this time has been going very well. The time has gone so fast and I am already back at work next week! I have been reading a lot, watching movies, napping and surfing the net. I've also been trying to get myself motivated to do more art in all the spare time I've had.

On Monday I had my 6 week post-op follow-up appointment with my surgeon in Sydney. I had another x-ray taken and Dr Solomon was pleased with the result and told me I can now start weight bearing and practice walking with just one crutch to 'wein myself off the crutches'.

The scar is looking good though there was a small open irritated bit at the bottom where I had tugged at what seemed like a dissolvable stitich coming through but that has healed now. I can feel the head of the screws like a bump under my skin on my hip. I'm not in any pain at all and have not had any pain killers for weeks! This is already better than how it was before the op as I was always taking pain killers for the aches and pains in the hip after being on it. I have been quite self sufficient and get by fine by myself all day while M is at work.

Since Monday I have practised walking with one crutch and it is getting easier. When it feels right in a week or 2, I should be able to lose the other crutch and walk crutch-free! I have been doing most normal things for a while now like driving (an auto car) and stopped using my shower stool in the shower a couple of weeks ago as I don't really have a problem standing in there now.

My movement in the hip has increased more and more and now I am able to lift it off the ground with my knee bent at a 90 degree angle. I have a little numb patch at the front of my hip area but that hasn't bothered me at all and feeling in that area will probably come back over time.

My next check-up appointment with Dr Solomon will be in 3 months time where I will have another x-ray and all the bone should look solid by then.

All in all, I am so glad that I went to Dr Solomon for this surgery as I truely think he is a genius and one of the best when it comes to PAO. I couldn't have imagined my surgery and recovery to have gone smoother and will go to him again for my right side PAO.

Now I am going to take advantage of this last week off before I return to work and will post again no doubt with an update when I start walking without any aids!



~ ~ My scar pics below ~ ~

Update..

What has been happening since I last posted?

I got discharged from the hospital on Wednesday 16th Feb. The laxatives had finally kicked in, the physio was pleased with my crutch-use, and I was getting very bored and restless. Mick left at around midday to make the 3 hour drive back home as he needed to start back at work the next day. Shortly after he left Dr Solomon came by my room to see me and asked me if I wanted to go home, which I did. He showed me some exercises I should do and when I should see him next and organised my discharge with the nurse. 2 hours later we were on our way! The trip home was not the most comfortable but it was ok. Dad drove, mum was in the back and I was in the front seat reclined with pillows everywhere. At first bumps and movement felt uncomfortable and I needed to use a small pillow in between my hip and the seat belt but I soon fell asleep and when I woke up we were almost home!

I have been crutching around the house since then but mostly parked on the couch or in bed. We have had a few outings to the mall where we hired a wheel chair so I got to be pushed around... I notice a lot of people look at my legs to see what is wrong with me as I assume it looks odd having a young person in thongs being pushed around in a wheel chair when there is nothing visably wrong with me!

I am surprised at how much I can do and how well I feel. The progress has been fast and I expected to be much worse than I am. It does get sore and stiff when I sit for too long or walk to much on the crutches and at 12 days post-op I have only just started to have a good nights sleep all the way through. It takes a while to get comfortable and used to not being able to move and roll over. Surprisingly, I can now lie and sleep on my right un-operated side without much problem, if I use pillows in between my legs and body.

We have a toilet/shower commode at home which I used as both a toilet seat raiser and to sit on in the shower. I can also use a toilet without the raiser but did find it more comfortable to get back up especially earlier when I just came home from hospital. I have sort of stopped using it now as it is stationed in the shower and I have mastered getting up by putting all my weight in my other leg.

I'm surprised at how self sufficient I am in that I am able to dress myself and shower myself, even though it takes a bit longer. That said, I am really glad for mum who is around to feed me yummy home-made mum food and get me a drink, or towel, or book whenever I need as I haven't mastered carrying things while using two crutches (except for when I figured I could transport things using a plastic bag which is easy to hold onto as well as the crutches).

I am not sure I have been good to my hip however. I was told strictly no more than 2-5% weight bearing or 'toe-touch' weight bearing and I am not sure what I have been doing but I recall putting weight on it several times and even when using the crutches I have a feeling I have been putting more like 10% on it. But it doesn't feel bad and every day feels like an improvement where pain-management and range of motion  is concerned.

Dr Solomon told me to excercise it by lifting the leg. I am having trouble doing this at all without a lot of pain. When sitting, I can't lift my op leg foot off the ground more than a few inches and it hurts. But it's still early days so hopefully this will get better over time.

I was sent home with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and Panadeine Forte and I also picked up some stool softeners. I was taking the panadeine forte religiously for the first few days but now I am starting to lay off them and use just some panadeine or panadol depending on the pain which seems to be getting less and less over time, which is great news. I think Dr Solomon is some sort of genius and did an awesome job on my hip which is why recovery has so far been smooth sailing.

That said, I don't think I will be rushing into getting the other hip done any time soon. I did mention that I wanted both done in one year but now that I've experienced it, I changed my mind. I don't think I can do two major ops like this in one year and why should I if I can help it? I did want to get it all out of the way but if I can wait a year or two before the other hip I think that's the go. It would be better for work that way as well as financially but also mentally and physically I need a rest before my next op..


I am due to see Dr Solomon for the follow-up appointment 6 weeks post op on Mon 28 March where he may give me the all-clear to weight bear.

Will keep you updated on my progress as it happens!

Pics.!