Update! 10 months post op

Wow, I didn't realize until I just counted that I am 10 months post op. My life for the last 3 months has been completely un-hip related. My husband of 4 1/2 years filed for divorce in January and the divorce was finalized mid-March. At first it was upsetting but then I began celebrating my freedom. I met someone else in February and have been doing wild and crazy things since then. So now my life is becoming a little more hip related because all the wild and crazy things are catching up with me. Like staying up for hours on end...yea...hip doesn't like that. Climbing on and off and riding on a motorcycle, a crotch rocket to be exact. Yea...hip doesn't like that either. There are other things my hip doesn't like but I won't mention. I keep getting this weird feeling like my hip is just falling out of socket. Like gravity is pulling my hip apart and this happens on both the post-op side and my supposedly barely dysplastic right side. I went to the doc in January and he said he wouldn't need to see me again for a year unless I started having problems. I'm not sure if these are problems I need to worry about yet or not. For now I'm going to keep enjoying things until my hip falls out of socket permanently and I end up in the ER. Lol. Knock on wood!

Zumba!

Wow! It has been a long time since I have posted. Work has kept me very busy with planning, grading, and paperwork. I am having an unmotivated night so I figured this was as good as time as any to update. I finished PT in September and I was supposed to start going to the gym regularly after that. But...life is too busy. I've gone here or there, but not enough to make a difference. I am having major issues with my hip tightening up and causing a limp after I sit for longer than a half an hour. This is bad because I have about a half hour drive to work. I randomly get sharp, catching pains in my hip (normally near the end of a week). I also cannot lift my leg without groin pain. I have been able to do the elyptical machine for 20-30 minutes without issues, so I went yesterday for my first Zumba class in a year. My hip did not hold me back except for the moves where I had to lift my left leg. My endurance was the problem. And now every muscle in my body hurts...it actually hurts to breath! It was worth it though. I missed exercising. I just need to find more time for Zumba classes so that I can have fun while I work out. My next follow up appointment is in January. Hopefully I can improve by then. I told my doc mid-October that I felt about how I felt pre-surgery. I'm ready to be 100%!

From the photo on the left to the photo on the right only took 3 1/2 months!

June 4, 2011 September 17, 2011

3 months and beyond

Well I've made it beyond the three month mark. My handicapped parking tag is expired on 9/8/11 and I am walking sans cane. However, I still have a pretty wicked limp after sitting for long period of time. I had a doctor's check up on the 31st of August and my x-ray apparently looked good (I didn't get to see it this time). It was agreed by all that I should continue PT since I was still struggling to lift my left leg. I have my last two PT session next week and after that I plan on scheduling "PT" at the gym so I actually go. My long days at work have started and are totally wearing my body down. The students are now at school 8-5 M-Th and 8-2:30 Fridays. This translates to me being on my feet at least 8 hours per day but actually closer to 10 hours. These last two days I've started having a new, weird pain in my left hip that seems more structural than muscular. I do go back for another check up with Dr. Scheid on October 18th. I may request to see my X-ray this time.

The same day as my hip appointment I also went to the gyno. Of course they found something wrong because nothing ever goes right with my body. So yesterday I went and had an ultrasound done under my right arm because I found a lump over the summer. Thankfully the radiologist thinks it is just a swollen lymph node and I just have to go back in 2 months to get it checked. I'm about done with this doctor stuff btw....

11 weeks and trying to walk

OMG! Work and school has me so busy right now. I've had students at school for the last week and a half. I love my new students and what I am able to do to help them this year. However, long days at work and physical therapy has been tiring. I have 3 more PT sessions left and I go back to see Dr. Scheid next Wednesday. I am walking with only a cane now. Several places I go I will leave the cane at home or in the car. I don't use anything when I am home to walk. I'm hoping by next week I can lose the cane altogether. My biggest struggle is losing the limp and continued knee pain. Most of the PT exercises really irritate my knee cap a lot, but I need to do them to build the muscles back up. I plan on bringing up the continued knee pain at my appointment next week and also the weakness in my right hip. Whenever I alternate and do my PT exercises on my right side, that hip doesn't seem as strong as my post-op left hip. I just don't want to deal with anymore surgeries at this point! Hopefully I will remember to update after my appointment next week.

9 weeks & PT

I have finally started physical therapy! I had my first session on Monday and it was pretty painful. She had to check all my ROM and teach me the home exercises that I can do. Then I did the home exercises Tuesday and Wednesday morning. I go back for another session tonight. Most of the exercises are working to try to get me to lift my leg from the hip. This is causing me to have a very angry hip that will yell at me at random times through the day. I am seeing progress though! I feel more normal, I can stand on my left leg in the shower and to repeat exercises with my right leg. I also went up and down the steps normally at work yesterday, but only once to be safe. I actually did it without even thinking about it! I will be having PT twice a week until September 1st and my next follow up with Dr. Scheid is August 31st. School starts next week so my updates are going to become few and far between. Oh! And I am still rocking one crutch. I am hoping next week I can ditch it completely or just start using a cane.

8 weeks post op!

Wow! Eight weeks, that's like almost two months now. I've been using one crutch since my doctor's appointment and it is EXHAUSTING. I had to pull out my knee brace to help stabilize my left knee while walking on it. My whole leg just feels tired all the time now and I especially feel it in my knee and shin. When I do a little walking around the house without the crutch I noticed that I start getting lower back pain too. This week I have been at a conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN. If you've ever been here or seen pictures you understand how gigantic it is. And I have been walking around this place everyday (after having a 5 hour drive down here) on one crutch. I can't believe all the freaking staircases too! Up one set, down two more, up another, and then finally to your class. There are elevators, but they are so hard to locate. And with all this walking my feet have been KILLING me. Only one more day of it though....Next Monday (Aug. 8th) I start physical therapy. I'm going to a new place this time around that is on my way home from my new job. That way I can go right after work. It's through the Community hospital system in Indianapolis, so I am hoping it is a pretty good set up. I will try to remember to update next week after my first session.

Follow up with doctor

I had my follow up with the doctor today and it went great! I'm allowed to go down to one crutch now or about 3 weeks. Then after that I can use a cane. I can start PT for my hip and knee now to get my muscle strength back. I'm ready to not have to lift my leg with my hands! I got to see my hip x-ray and the coverage looks great. I have another follow up in 5 weeks which will be at about 12 weeks post op (3 months). Overall I'm feeling pretty good and glad recovery is going as well as it can!

7 weeks and back to work!

I have had a pretty crazy week since I last posted. I went to an Indian's game on Friday and did a lot of crutching in the heat. Saturday I had to ride to Nashville, IN and back. The ride down wasn't too bad, but I started to have pain on the way back. It's only about an hour ride, but the car was very uncomfortable. Sunday I went to car show and had to sit out in the heat all morning. I think it would be more bearable if it wasn't so hot out. On Sunday I was crutching over my dog and I walked with only one crutch on accident and it worked just fine! I started work yesterday and I was one crutching here and there, and limping along the edge of things with no crutches. Then last night I had to take a half a pain pill because my hip hurt pretty bad. So today I made sure I used both crutches as much as possible. I FINALLY have my next follow up appointment Thursday morning. I'm ready to see my x-ray and know how well surgery really went. I am ready for PT to start and to start walking!!

Oh and I just want to vent about the stupid wheelchair company and stupid Lighthouse Academies. I have been calling Cobra insurance since July 12th because the dates are wrong on when my insurance ended with Lighthouse Academies. Cobra contacted Lighthouse to try to fix the dates and they are still waiting to hear back. I have been calling Apria Healthcare that I rented a wheelchair from to try to get them to pick it up since July 14th and they FINALLY called me back today to schedule the pick up. But I was in a meeting at work so the phone tag begins.

I will try to update again this Thursday after I go to the doctor.

6 weeks

Does anyone know how I can set fire to metal crutches? I'm at the point where I am really over needing crutches and I just want to set them on fire when I'm done with this ordeal. However, I have met some milestones over the last week. I went over to visit another hip sister, Ashley, on Friday and was able to get in and out of the pool by myself with her instruction. I also crutched all over the place at the Broad Ripple brewfest on Saturday. We parked at about 2:40 pm and I crutched about 2-3 blocks to the line. Then slowly moved up in line for about 40 minutes when the thing opened at 3:00 pm. Once we were in it felt like I covered several miles and I ended up sitting maybe an hour total. We left at about 7:15 and I had to crutch ALL the way across the park and the 2-3 blocks to the vehicle. My shoulders and armpits and hands and everything hurt so bad Sunday and Monday. I also have started shifting a little more weight onto my leg sometimes. I've been "walking" on the crutches instead of hopping and the only pain I feel is a slight twinge in my knee here and there. I am also DONE with Norco. Yesterday and today the only pills I have taken are Tylenol and only 4 per day.
New adventures coming this week: the next two afternoons I am going to go help out at work in the office since I'm not able to go out to neighborhoods to recruit students, Friday night is an Indian's game downtown, car show at the fair Sunday, and Monday is my first official day of work!

5 weeks post-op!

I've made it to the five week mark!! This was the week that my doctor originally said I would be able to put weight on my leg. However, when I went in for my 2 week check up, he said to come back in 4 weeks. But since I am in between jobs and trying to avoid paying for Cobra, I scheduled my appointment 5 weeks after my first appointment. He told me that I couldn't put weight on it until I go back to see him and get an x-ray. So I'm trying to be good, but I have shifted some weight on my leg around the house and it can handle it. But I have to wait till July 28th before I "officially" put weight on my leg. ; ) Over the last week I finally got passed my nausea and I'm back to eating normally. I've also gone from taking Norco 5s to breaking them in half. I take about a pill and a half throughout one day. I'm also able to wait until I eat breakfast before I take any meds, because I just don't need it right away. I finished my last Lovenox shot on Friday too! This past weekend was VERY busy (wedding Friday night, little Nashville trip Saturday, Suds & BWW Saturday night, pool party all day Sunday) and I didn't exhaust myself doing it all.

I am having some new issues. I'm having a lot of pain under my scar when I stretch my leg out. My scar also feels really dry which might be from all the sun I got on Sunday. I keep putting lotion on it. When I try to imitate walking, I end up with a lot of pain in my knee.

My next major challenge will be in less than two weeks when I start my new teaching job. The first week is at school with no kids. I don't go in till 9:30, so that will be nice. Then the 2nd week we will be traveling to Nashville, Tennessee for a conference. Five hours in a minivan does not sound exciting or comfortable at all. Then I will have one more week at school without kids and the kids start August 16th. The month of August will hopefully be easy on me since we will dismiss at 2:30 instead of the normal time of 5. I'm really glad I made this job change because I get to start later, have more time without kids, and ease into long days. Especially since I'll be doing PT in August too.

Here is my scar at 5 weeks.

Week 4

I've made it 4 weeks post op from my LPAO! Thursday will be exactly one month from when I went under the knife. I've stepped down from taking Norco 10s and am now taking Norco 5s. Unfortunately I'm having to take them almost every 4 hours and I'm starting to have some sleepless nights without my giant pain pills. I also started having nausea over the weekend. On Sunday I ate a fried egg sandwich at 9am and then didn't have anything else to eat until 7pm that night because I was so nauseous. That is way different from how I had been. I had a healthy appetite before then. Last night I tried to take 2 tylenol PM in place of my Norco to see if I could sleep better and it didn't make a difference. I still laid in bed for 2 hours before I fell asleep and was wide awake at 6am. So this morning I called the doctor's office to request something to control the nausea. Hopefully that will help me some. I have a headache right now from not eating right and the tylenol PM hangover I always get.

I have made some progress in movement. I am sleeping on my good side a lot more often. Also, this morning I was able to roll onto my stomach and sleep for about an hour, but I had to put a small pillow under my bad hip to support it. I've been out and about more hanging out with friends. I still can only sit on a hard chair for about 2 hours before I have to move. Sometimes this is frustrating for my husband because he wants to stay somewhere longer, but I'm ready to go. I hope to drive a little bit in the next week. We have another wedding coming up on Friday and I will probably not use my wheel chair at this one. But I will probably use my wheelchair Saturday when we go to little Nashville because it is hard to park close to where you are going.

Scar Picture at 4 weeks (you can see where they scoped too)

Skinny little leg

I just wanted to put up a picture of the muscle atrophy in my left thigh. It was already weak before surgery and now it is teeny tiny.

Ants

Today I have truly lived up to the name of this blog. I'm having a very bad morning and it's all because of ants. They were on my counter when I got up this morning so I sprayed them with cleaner and wiped them and the counter up. I took a shower and when I came back out, the ants were back. So I sprayed them again. When they showed up a third time, I couldn't take it anymore, and I started crying. All the emotions of 3 weeks of pain and exhaustion came out and I cried over 10 ants marching around my counter. Now I feel like the biggest whiny girl and my eyes hurt from crying. Ugh, I hope I can only go up from here!

Three weeks!

I've made it three weeks post op! I'm moving around great. I've been able to lay on my right side for short amounts of time. I try to sleep like that but then I get sharp pains in my hip, so I have to roll on my back. I've cut back a lot on my pain meds too. Yesterday I had a pill at 6am, 12pm, and then 7pm. I didn't take another pill until I woke up around 5:15 when Jeff got up. I did have a big day yesterday. My sister drove me all the way to my parents' house and we had lunch, went to walmart and went to Batesville. I slept on the couch from 7-9:30 last night and then got in bed and slept until 7:30 this morning. The only issue I am still having is with my incision. For some reason there is a part along the bottom of it that is wide open and keeps "weeping" and bleeding. I took all the antibiotics that my doctor prescribed but it is still bleeding. I took the dressing off this morning and blood actually started pooling in it. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to get it looked at again. Here are two pics. One is the top part of my scar that is healing up just fine. The other is of the bottom of my scar when I took the dressing off this morning.

Two week follow up with doctor

At first I was confused when I got taken back for the doctor-they didn't take me straight to x-ray. But Dr. Scheid said they were going to limit my radiation exposure and do my next x-ray when I go back in four weeks. He asked how things were going and looked over my incision and stitches where they scoped. He was concerned about the weeping along the bottom of my incision. I can uncover that part in the shower but then I have to put a clean dressing over it tightly. He also prescribed me some antibiotics in case of infection there. Still no weight on the leg until I go back. I am supposed to mimic walking with crutches by putting the foot of my bad leg flat on the ground. Only the weight of the leg can go on it. He doesn't want me driving until I clear out some pain meds but I can use the recumbant bike. I just need to get to where I can drive myself to the gym. Lastly Denise popped out all of my stiches. Yay! I follow up with him July 28th. I had to do five weeks because of the transition from one job's insurance to the next. I don't want to have to deal with sending bills to Cobra.
Next big milestone: I'm getting all fancied up for a wedding on Saturday. Definitely using the wheelchair for this one!

Two Weeks

Well I have made it two weeks post op. I've made some more progress since my last update. I've had three trips out of the house. First trip was last Thursday and I was out of house maybe 3 hours. I went to my new job to fill out paperwork. Then my husband I went to target and I had my first experience with a motorized cart. I was exhausted when I got home.
Then I went out again Saturday morning to grocery shop and after the trip around Meijer my hip was so stiff and sore that I had to stay in the car at Kroger. Then I actually went to dinner Saturday night but only lasted about two hours until I started to have pain. Today was my first day home without any support and it went well. I am able to shower on my own and take care of my own food. But I still am having to take pain meds every 3 hours and every time I try to go longer, I start having pain right at 3 hours. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday so hopefully the X-rays look good. Here is a picture of my scar at 2 weeks.

And here are my doggies that like to get in my way.

One week!

One week ago I had my LPAO, and I think it was still going on at this time as well. I'm amazed at how much I am able to do already. I can get to and from the bathroom and bed without any assistance. I am able to dress myself using my grabber. I haven't tried putting on my own socks yet, but it is summer, so I can live without them. I plan on taking another shower today which I hope will go quicker than last time. I have been doing my exercises twice a day: ankle pumps, quad sets, glute sets, heel slides, abductors, and leg lifts at the knee. The only exercise I have any trouble with is the abductors. I have to move my leg out to the side and back in and I do not have enough strength to do it correctly. I am still taking my Norco every 3 to 3 1/2 hours. I was trying to spread them out more, but the pain is still too much. I did sit up in my wheelchair and the couch for a total of 3 hours yesterday, and that left me with a lot of pain last night and this morning. Some of it is muscle pain, but then I also have pain in my butt and groin, which I think is bone pain or screws. I will be making my first trip out on Thursday to take care of some paperwork, which is also Jeff and I's four year wedding anniversary. Who knows if we will do anything special. It's up to Jeff since I can't move to do anything, lol. I'm happy about the progress I've made in one week, and I hope I can keep the progress going. I just need to find the focus to get back to my school work. I finished my first summer class with a 100% so I hope I can pull off the same for my other two. Well, now I am rambling.

Last, but not least, please keep my friend Ashley in your thoughts and prayers. She is about to have her 8th orthopedic surgery on June 20th in Boston and is super stressed about it. She needs all the good vibes she can get!

Here is a pic of my silly Lilly doing what she does best. I hope it brightens your day!
EDIT: I forgot to add that I have my follow up appointment with Dr. Scheid on Wednesday, June 22nd at 9:15 am. I can't wait to see my x-rays!

Day 5- Clean!

I just wanted to add a quick update about progress since I've been home. I also changed my dressing today so I have a pic of my incision.

• I can walk to and from the restroom on crutches by myself
• I was able to sit in my wheelchair for about 30-40 minutes before my hip was irritated
• I got dressed this morning using my grabber
• I took a shower with just a little help from my husband
• I pooped! (I thought it was funny that the Dr at the hospital asked me everyday if I had or not)
  

Here is the pic of my incision. Whenever I can move around more I will get a measurement on it.

Day #3- EXHAUSTED

So I woke up this morning determined--I was going to go home today. So I made sure the nurses were bringing me pain meds when I needed them. I stopped using the morphine during the night. So after I had my IV unhooked (it's still in my arm) and they took more of my blood. I had my morning meds then my nurse removed my catheter. It felt weird getting that out, but I also felt cleaner. The tech came in and got me water for a sponge bath, I cleaned up and got to put on normal clothes for once. Then at 9:30 PT showed up. He had me get out of bed completely on my own and then I crutched to my wheelchair. He showed me how to use the wheelchair safely, then he took me down the hall to where the stairs are. He showed me how to use the crutches on steps and then I practiced a few times. It wasn't too hard. Then I came back to my room and just stayed in my wheelchair. This was at about 10:15. I asked for some ice for my hip and then I had to get up to use the restroom while I was in the chair. I was so exhausted and in pain by the time I finished with that, that I just got back in bed. I called the nurse for some pain meds because she was a little late. Then I settled down in bed and slept. I woke up around 12:15 and was very stiff and sore. I ordered my lunch and it came pretty quick. At some point the Methodist doc came in and said that everything should be ready to send me home as long as PT cleared me. Jeff got off work a little early and showed up at 3:30 to take me home. I was still waiting for my nurse to come remove my IV hookup and go over any paperwork. I think with getting all my stuff to the car, making sure I had all my supplies, and getting prescriptions filled, we ended up leaving the hospital around 4:45. Now I am all set up in my bed with my computer and remotes for the TV and Wii. I probably won't move much this weekend except to do my exercises and go to the bathroom. I am looking forward to a real shower tomorrow and building strength in my legs. I'll try to update each week on what kind of progress I am making.

Post op Day #2

So this is Thursday. It was a bad idea for me to sleep so hard the night before because I woke up very stiff, sore, and had a horrible headache. I was also very nauseous. At about 6:30 am, some little blond nurse came in and said that Melissa (my nurse) had asked her to draw my blood for labs. I was all cool with this until she spent forever digging in my arm in 2 spots trying to get a vein. So now I have two bruises on my left arm from blondy. Around 7ish both Melissa and Rhonda come in. Rhonda is my day nurse and they are going around and taking care of all my stuff. I told them I was really nauseous, so they gave me some zofran with my pills. I told Rhonda about the blood taking ordeal and she was really annoyed that she had done that. Apparently Melissa had requested someone from a heart place that specialized in drawing blood but blondy took it upon herself to try anyway. I do not like being a guinea pig for people with needles. I ate some breakfast, but I couldn't have much. I just wasn't feeling up to eating. Dr. Scheid came in to see how I was doing and he thought I was making good progress. I asked about my screws and he said that I have 1 small and 3 large screws in my hip. The large screws are about the diameter of a pencil. Then Denise came in and removed the drain from my hip (that hurt a little bit) so I am glad that is gone. She said that depending on the progress I make I could go home Friday night or Saturday morning. As of right now, I'm not sure when it will be. I did some more sleeping after they were gone, then Maria came to visit with me some. She brought me some fruit to munch on, so that helped me hold over until lunch. When she left I ordered lunch and dozed some more. After lunch I got a little sponge bath from Nita, my favorite PCA. She was kinda mad because she normally does her baths in the morning. She told me tomorrow morning that she is giving me the "Nita Special". After all that, PT came in to see me. It was a different lady than yesterday, but she was good. She gave me a set of exercises that I need to do, and I went through those. Ankle pumps, heel slides, abductors, and butt squeezes (not a technical term!). Then she helped me get to the side of the bed. I stood up and crutched all the way to the bathroom, sat on the raised toilet seat, then got back up and went back to bed. She said that she will be back in tomorrow morning to practice some more. Well, I will add on to this post if anything else interesting happens tonight.