3 Weeks post-op (tomorrow)

We left the cozy security of Vail and Howard Head and have returned to San Francisco - and I'll be going back to work tomorrow. Tomorrow, I also get to start weight bearing 50% weight on my left leg - still with crutches. A week later, I get to say goodbye to them entirely - assuming I can learn to walk with no extension past neutral, otherwise it'll be another week after that. CPM leaves me tomorrow or Wednesday. Already said goodbye to the gameready - which was sad. Unfortunately, some of my other restrictions ahve been lengthened - I'm still required to limit external rotation and extension - and that's been extended from 3 weeks to 5 weeks - to be sure that my joint capsule/hip heals all nice and tight. So, still have the damn bolster and boots at night, and the hip brace for another 2 weeks. It'll go by fast, no worries. Also stil have the calf pumps for another week. So, that should be manageable I suppose. I can bend over and put that stuff on and off myself at night - so its more just annoying than impossible.

Its been a rough transition - leaving a place where I spent most of my days either in PT or on the couch, and had two loving people around me to help me with everything (i can count on one hand the number of meals i prepared during the 2+ weeks we were in Vail). I now have PT 3 times a week - and I only have 30 minutes with my pt at those sessions. I'm thinking about upping it to 5 times a week (prescription says 3-5), but i'll see how this goes. I'm supposed to do constant passive motion for 20 minutes 1 to 2 times a day for the next 8 weeks. So, this gets done 3 times a week in therapy - the rest of the time, i suppose i'll go to the pool to do it, or beg my brother or some other poor soul to do it. Friends beware, I may show up at your houses asking you to move my leg around in circles... it'll be fun!

Janet - pool therapy was awesome. Basically, a bit of aqua jogging with the aqua jogger belt (totally new for me) and some kicking on my back. some mini squats and some side standing leg lifts, and then some walking, forward, backward, side to side. Today I actually swam a little - with a pool bouy between my legs. My upper body is finally going to get some muscle back (after 8 months of a weak/broken collarbone) - crutches and pool should do the trick.

I'm also supposed to ride a bike with no resistance for 30 minutes a day 2 times a day. My road bike on a trainer isn't working unfortunately (not comfy at all and very hard to get onto with my restrictions), so I'm scrambling to find a spin bike somewhere that I can have at home, rather than having to drive to the gym 2 times a day every day.

In between this will be work and catching up on everything that i've missed.

As for how the hip feels. So far so good. Much harder recovery than last time - I think last time I felt great a few days post op, and would have been happy walking less than a week later. This time, I'm only now starting to think that going to 50% weighbearing sounds like a good idea. Hip is still quite tender some days, other days/times it feels pretty good. I think my adductor is working overtime and sometimes just screams at me - as does the graft site. My IT band and everything that connects with it will need a lot of love in the coming weeks. All in all though, I think I have a more realistic idea of the trajectory of recovery. I don't get all cocky and over confident on good days, and I'm more able to take in stride the bad days. I do also feel like my hip is slowly tightening up (which definitely helps me take things more in stride). I don't care if my hip still still hurts - so long as its not falling out of the socket, i'm happy. I'm hoping that the next week of increasing the work the hip has to do won't cause any major flare ups - but I won't be suprised if I'm in for a bit of pain here and there. I'm very excited to get to walk crutch free again soon - its just a pain in the arse.

Next surgery has been pushed back a couple of weeks - and is now scheduled for April 5. I originally was scheduled for exactly 7 weeks after the first surgery, and now it will be 10 weeks. I think that will make it a bit easier on my recovering hip to deal. Counting down the days!

Thank you thank you thank you for everyone who has been there for me through this time - and the past 8-9 months. It means so much. what's important in life has certainly become more clear to me in this process.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I CANNOT wait to be riding my bike one day and think - my hips don't hurt! doesn't seem too far off now.