Walk of Life

 

Tito and I have been together for an entire month today, so I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.  We celebrated this milestone by walking a whole mile this morning, our longest consecutive stretch.  My gait feels pretty darn close to normal, and I think my pace is picking up a little bit as well.  I'm excited to extend the walks a little further each time while maintaining my newfound healthy relationship with distance and pace.  A common question I've been getting this week is "When will you be able to run?"  My answer is simple and applies to most of the physical activities I look forward to resuming, and that's I don't know and I don't care.  Feeling my strength and stamina improving every single day and knowing eventually I will get back to all the things I love is truly all I need to be happy right now.  

That being said, the follow up appointment with my surgeon isn't for another week, and there are a few things I am chomping at the bit to get back to that I will be asking about:

1.  Bending past 90 degrees.  Mainly because I'd like to be able to clip my own toenails.  I've been out of work for a month and just bought a new hip...I can't afford a pedicure.

2.  Going down stairs like a normal person.  I'm going up like a champ, but that eccentric motion of lowering one's bodyweight down a step is a lot on the hip and my PT told me to hold off on it for now.  Which is fine, except with every passing day, I'm feeling more and more normal and sometimes forget the whole "down with the bad" thing.  I've always caught myself, but I'm a little nervous that I'll fall down the stairs because I'm feeling so good, if that makes any sense.

3.  Bridges.  See last post about flat bottomed girls.

4.  Riding my bike.  Spring is here and when the weather is nice, I ride my bike almost as often as - if not more often than -  I drive my car.

5.  Walking in sand.  Because my whole crew can't sit on the beach access boardwalk with me.

I went back to work this week so I don't need to ask about that, but I have a feeling I may forget to ask when I can get back to mopping floors, scrubbing bathtubs, and mowing the lawn.  My vacation doesn't need to completely end yet, does it?  

Flat Bottomed Girls

 I'm three weeks post op, and the forward momentum of progress is still going strong.  No pain, no cane, baby!  I haven't taken Tylenol for about a week now, and the only meds I'm still on is the baby aspirin to prevent blood clots.  The physical changes are much more subtle now, most likely barely noticeable by anyone other than me.  Every day there seems to be a little less hitch in my giddy up...my leg length seems to be evening out, slowly but surely, which is helping my gait inch its way toward normal.  Midday is when I feel my best, when the stiffness from being in bed all night melts away and before the fatigue of getting around all day sets in.  

The rest of my movements are starting to feel more free and easy, not requiring as much thought.  I don't have to back myself into bed anymore and can climb in pretty much the way I did before surgery.  I'm getting in and out of the shower with greater ease and only using the shower chair to shave.  Today was my last visit with the in-home PT, and she gave me the green light to start step ups with my left leg.  Until today, I've been taking stairs one at a time, stepping up with the right leg every time.  

I've been given a whole list of really basic exercises I can start doing and progressing as tolerated.  Thank you, sweet baby Jesus, because when I got out of the shower this morning, I noticed a flatness where my left butt cheek used to be.  

                                        right side                                                           left side

Granted, I'm sure there was plenty of atrophy on my left side before surgery, but seeing these side by side shots was alarming.  Looks like I'm adding "grow left ass" to my to do list.

Sleep has been another significant area of improvement.  My body aches less, I'm sleeping for longer stretches at a time, and I'm finding it easier to fall back asleep after I've woken up.  I've even slept through the night a couple of times in the past week.  I've tried lying on my right side with a pillow between my knees and feet for a few minutes, but I don't think I could sleep all night in that position.

I'm getting back to doing my every day things around the house, but in a slightly modified way.  I've done some laundry, but since I can't carry a full laundry basket yet (especially not up and down stairs), I throw the sheets or towels down the stairs and carry them in manageable loads to the washing machine.  I still get help with my clothes since it would be a little more challenging to pick up all the little bits as they rain down the stairs.

Much to the delight of my family, I've gotten back to cooking some dinners.  I'm still building up stamina for time on my feet, so I'll all the chopping, slicing, and dicing, sit for a few, then get to cooking.  It's serving me well right now since I'm not working or playing Camryn's personal chauffeur and have time to spread the dinner prep out.

I'm a little annoyed that I'm cooking and cleaning yet still not driving, but I will stay the course and continue to be patient.  I was given the ok to ride in a car (shhhhh...what the PT doesn't know won't hurt her!), but she realllly wants me to wait til I'm four weeks out to start driving.  I think I can, I think I can.  I'm thankful Brynn has stepped up in the running errands for me department, and I have an incredible village that has helped me get Camryn to allllll the places a busy 14 year old girl without a license needs to be.  For now, I'll just make the most of my off duty status.

Walk This Way

 A dozen days after surgery, and every morning, I chuckle when I find myself moving a little better than I did the day before.  I think I expected the trajectory of recovery to be somewhat flatter than what it has been, so every speck of progress I notice feels like Christmas.  My PT told me I could get around without using the cane a little bit around the house, and that's been awesome.  I carry the cane with me and use it as soon as my gait starts getting a little wonky. 

One of the most helpful tidbits a fellow new hipper shared with me was that for a while after surgery, your surgical side will feel (or will actually be) longer than the other side.  I'm so glad she told me that because it prevented a full blown panic attack thinking the surgeon messed up.  She said eventually the hip settles in and you even out again.  I'm really looking forward to that, as I don't enjoy the little bit of a waddle I have going on right now.

My heartrate and blood pressure have been high when the PT has come and taken my vitals, and since that's not my norm, I'm hoping it's just part of the process of recovering from anesthesia and surgery.  But I did notice a low grade headache I've had this past week or so, and since I'm definitely not dehydrated, I don't feel stressed, and I'm taking Tylenol around the clock, I'm thinking it's from the elevated blood pressure. I asked Dr. Google what they thought about post-surgical blood pressure changes, and I came across an article about regular use of Tylenol causing high blood pressure in people with hypertension. 

Now I don't have hypertension, but it got me wondering if maybe all the Tylenol is contributing to my elevated blood pressure.  Since I have very little pain, I stopped taking the Tylenol during the day and only take it at bedtime.  I've had no issues with pain without it, and I no longer have a headache.  My watch says my resting heartrate is still around 90, and when I took my own blood pressure this morning it was still high, so my Tylenol experiment might be a bust.  The BP isn't high enough to need immediate medical attention, but if it continues after the next several weeks, I'll bring it up with my primary care doc when I see them in May.

On an excellent note, I've slept a little better the past few nights.  The verdict is out on whether that's because Ryan has been away, but we'll find out tonight when he gets back.  I still wake up after 3-4 hours and have some trouble going back to sleep, but that second half of the night is much more restful once I do fall back asleep.  I'm not as generally uncomfortable lying on my back, and while I'm relieved that's the case, I still can't wait for the day I can sleep on my stomach again.

I was lucky enough to have Dayna come down from New York to hang with me for a long weekend.  It allowed my family to take a break from waiting on me hand and foot and get out of town for a few days, and it allowed me to just be.  I spent about three full days not wondering if I was being needy and annoying and also not worrying about anyone else's needs.  We ate chips and salsa for dinner.  We woke up when we woke up.  We sat on the couch and drank coffee.  We played scrabble in the sunshine.  We watched the Eras Tour. We talked, uncensored and uninterrupted.   It was truly delightful.

My family returns today, Ryan will go back to work tomorrow, and my kids will be home all week for spring break.  I think my challenge will be finding a good balance between letting them come and go as they please while also making sure my needs are met.  I'm getting around better for sure, but I'm still lacking the strength and stamina to do it all, all day.  Wish me luck.