Update

On a daily basis life is certainly a lot easier to move around in. I am walking and do stairs with no resistive devices other than a crutch in the morning to lower myself onto the toilet. My back has not changed much and neither has my coccyx. Once the day is under way everything loosens and I must say I do find myself thinking less and less about my hip which is fantastic. The joint itself never hurts. The only discomfort I may feel is muscular. If I can get my back under control I'll be golden. I am back at the gym doing cardio 4-5 times a week for up to an hour. I have very little trouble doing the elliptical or a bicycle for that entire time. PT ended a few weeks ago and I am on my own with finishing the strengthening of my hip.

What I have found is that it is relatively quick to get back to say 80%. Once you start PT things progress quickly and you'll be amazed from one day to the next but then you hit the slow patch. I say this because there are certain things that are just going to take longer to strengthen. We took the dogs for a 2 mile walk the other day and by the time we got home I was really sore. Actual walking is a very different action to the elliptical apparently. It makes it easy to get frustrated with your body. But then it takes being reminded that I am only 4 months post surgery and wow I've come a very long way. So life is good and getting better the more time I spend strengthening my back and my leg muscles.

I've also started a diet to lose some weight. I feel I owe it to my hips and my knees. I don't know how many others have had knee problems due to their hips but I want to avoid any future surgeries for as long as possible. I'm 33% of the way to my goal. I've done it relatively quickly by doing the Clean Cleanse. You don't need to buy the supplements though. Add in your own protein powder and fiber to save a lot of money. It's definetly something to check out if you want to drop some pounds before or after surgery. I feel great doing it and have totally rewired my palate. I now crave fruit and vegetables more than I ever did before. The program runs for 3 weeks but I've kept most of it going for 5 weeks now. I probably will keep it up for another 2-3 months until I hit my goal weight.

So this is where I am right now. You probably will hear less and less from me but of course as always feel free to reach out if you need someone to talk to. Take care.

PT - I Can't Complain

Thanks to Mark at Physiotherapy Associates in Midtown I am 10 weeks post surgery and just about off the last crutch. In fact I walk around work and home without any help. If I concentrate hard I can even walk limp free. I think that I will transition to my cool African walking stick for long distance walking & stairs and ditch the crutch all together.

My only complaints at this point would be that I have bad lower back pain in the morning that tends to prevent me from bending over and some stabbing coccyx pain when I get up from my desk chair or any chair that I have been sitting in for too long. The leg is stiff at night and I don't feel comfortable sleeping on the surgery side or my stomach just yet. Although I have managed to spend some time on both - they still feel kinda funny.

On a positive note I am showering standing up, using regular toilets, putting my shoes and socks on and so much more. In fact these developments have been so for about 2 weeks now. I no longer need assistance for anything. I have been driving for 4 weeks already and life is getting back to normal. I have no pain in the joint the only pain I have now is muscular. I have a feeling that my posts will begin to dwindle and that is always a good sign. It means that life is returning to normal. As always though I am available to answer any questions that any of you may have. Feel free to contact me through here or email. Ciao!

6 week checkup

Last Thursday (27th) was my 6 week checkup and first look at x-rays since surgery. The visit was fine and all went smoothly. No long wait, managed to get into position for x-rays and then Dr S arrived to review the x-rays with Juli and I. The very good news is that things are healing so well that he gave me the go ahead to walk at 6 weeks. 6 weeks! 2 weeks earlier than last time. I was sooo not looking forward to having to get through another 2 weeks and then he said well you can go to one crutch and 100% weight bearing for the next 4 weeks. Then ditch the crutch and see me in 6 weeks. No more counting days! And tomorrow Tuesday I start PT. I asked for the referral because I want to be up and running as quickly as possible. I want this all behind me and to be a normal person again.

Currently I use 2 crutches when we leave the house. Around the house I use one whenever I can. Walking is tiring stuff. It's amazing how quickly muscles lose strength. On the first day back from Schraders I walked around the house for a while and eventually needed to take a nap before we went out that night. I'm getting stronger every day. Can't wait to start PT as painful as it will be to re-engage muscles. Good news is my same PT guy is still working at the one place my insurance company will let me go to. So I at least don't have to explain it in as much depth again. Dr S. gave me a referral for 2 times a week for 8 weeks. Insurance gives me 20 visits in a year so that leaves a few if I need to go back.

I will start back at work next week. 2 weeks earlier than I thought I would. I'm sure I'll start with half days and go from there. So here is my 6 week x-ray. Remember right and left are in reverse order and this time around he placed the screws differently. They are all facing down. Dr S. does this now because they are easier to remove later. I am not sure if I'll do that or not. All depends on whether they bother me. He can do both sides at the same time though which is nice to avoid going under more than necessary.

Home just in time

Day 22 - we packed up all of my stuff and moved me from my mom's home to my house. It was time to transition and with being more active and able to do a fair amount for myself the timing was right. And boy how right it was. I moved home on Friday and on Sunday the snow came and Atlanta shut down.

I started to get a fair amount of sympathetic phone calls because after 4 days trapped in their houses friends and family mad with cabin fever started to understand how I felt. For me unfortunately due to the snow and ice it took longer to get out of my home and so 10 days (day 32) after the move I finally got to go out in the world for the first time. Dinner and a movie were marvelous, fresh air and seeing the world again was one of favorite moments since Christmas.

Day 28 - Yippeee! No more TEDs and no more Baby Asprin. Taking the TEDs off was awesome and I am so glad to feel the sheets on my legs again. Winter certainly makes TEDs that much more bearable but at the end of the day you're always excited to see them go. I haven't yet decided on what ceremony to preform with them - suggestions are welcome.

I sit at Day 33 with 23 days left before I get to walk again. Now it is just a long, dull wait. I have to admit the second time around has been harder. There are no highs - you already know how to do things and so as you learn how to do them again there is no excitement at the accomplishment. Look I can go to the bathroom by myself - yippee!

I was up and moving quicker this time. I stopped taking pain medication quite a while ago during the day but on occasion I take it at night to help me sleep. Sleeping on your back can get old quickly. My leg had more strength in it from the get go and so I didn't have the 200lbs weight attached to me that I did the last time. And NO NUMB PATCH AGAIN that's frigging lucky. These are all good things but I've got to work hard to not let the wait get me down. I have started working part time from home, the snow has mostly melted so I will get out of the house more, I have been lucky enough to see lots of friends because company helps pass time and kills boredom. Once the majority of the physical challenge is behind you the harder challenge begins - the mental one.

I will be seeing Dr S. in 9 days to have my 6 week xrays. I can't wait to see how the bone is growing and gaps are closing. I will take photos and post them here for sure. So all that is left to do between now and then is keep my scar in good shape so that it keeps healing, don't lose my mind and start lowering the number of pillows under my leg. For the first 4 weeks I had to sleep with 3 pillows under my leg. I can now get rid of them as quickly I as I like. I am down to 2 but getting to 1 is tough. Every time I remove the second pillow my muscles spasm. Basically I am having to stretch muscle and tendons back to normal after being in a shortened state for a month. This may take some time. I remember it being a difficult process the last time and there is no getting around it. It has to happen. So I am setting the goal to get down to 0 degrees before I see Dr S. Yippee!

Day 11 until today, day 21

Day 11 - I moved from Percocet to Darvocet for pain control. This is a step down in strength. Pain still under control and all is well.

Day 14 - Hi my name is Lauren and I am a teeth grinder. I have been for the last 4 years. I have a mouth guard that I wear at night but on this day I took a nap and didn't use It. Sometimes this is not a problem. I don't always grind with the same ferocity but unfortunately this time I aggravated the hell out of my jaw. Thus began days of pain. At this point swapping to ibuprofen seemed to help my jaw more than the Darvocet. This is one way to cut back quickly on the heavy narcotics. I did however start taking some muscle relaxants to help speed along relief.

So here is my first wound picture at 2 weeks. You've got to love the symmetry of the two scars!
















Day 15 - New Year's Eve - there were 11 of us on the night celebrating the coming of 2011. I certainly was not ready to start on alcohol so it was a quieter celebration for me. All in all a good night was had by all.

Day 17 - Period started (only 4 days late). Everything is now officially in working order.

Day 18 - My first trip out of the house. This is a good week earlier than the last time. Getting into the car wasn't too tricky and I used 2 pillows to prop my leg up and get the right angle. Off we headed to Gamestop to get a new game for my new Wii system. Parking was tricky so I ended up staying in the car. This Christmas gift should help pass some of the next weeks to come. From there we headed to Target and I got to take my very first electric scooter ride around the store. Most people get out of the way quickly and are polite. I'm sure there is fair amount of curiosity due to my age. After Target we headed to a burger joint to get take out food. For this I got out of the car and walkered in to order. You certainly can get some strange looks on a walker. People really don't know what to make of it. This was our last stop and armed with burgers, fries and shakes we headed home. I must say that this was a very tiring trip. Getting in and out of cars and walkering around can take it out of you. It was a lot of fun and well worth the fatigue to get out of the house for a few hours. Thanks Mom and Todd!

Day 19 - Wound care is not always easy. It is possible for your wound to split around the leg crease area. This is the spot that gets the most movement. Dr S's advice - keep the wound dry, don't use Neosporin, use butterfly strips to close the split areas where the Steri-Strips have come off and use gauze to protect the wound.

Day 20 - In less than 24 hours the wound filled in and in other areas closed up. We will keep a close eye on it and make sure that it doesn't get worse. It all looks like it should be just fine. Over the next few days it should scab over and continue to heal.

Day 21 - 3 weeks down, 5 to go!

Day 9 - Christmas

Christmas was fantastic. There had been uncertainty regarding how much I would be able to do this close to surgery but I was able to do a lot more than anticipated. I managed to sit in the wheel chair 3-4 times that day for over 2 hours at a time. Family and friends, great food and good spirits made for a very successful Christmas Day. It snowed to boot. The first time on Christmas in apparently over 100 years. Thank you to everyone for your gifts of love, finding the energy after days of little sleep and the time to help me do all of the basic tasks that take so much longer than ever before.

Day 8 - Shitty Situation

My biggest problem at this point is that I still haven't managed to have a bowel movement. This as far as I am concerned should be the last criteria that you should have to fulfill before they let you leave the hospital. It can get quite scary if you don't have one and I am now 8 days post surgery.

I have regularly taken (stop reading if the subject makes you feel ill because this will only get more graphic as I go) fiber tablets, stool softeners, laxatives, fiber in liquid, prune juice and 2 suppositories. Nothing is happening. It's the day before Christmas and so Dr S. is on vacation but Dr. Axelrod is on call and tells my mother that there are 3 options left. 1. Laxative suppository 2. Enema 3. Back to hospital for no doubt an enema. Now just so the absurdity of an enema is as clear to you as it was to us look at the position they expect you to get in to.

There is no way in hell I could do either of those two positions with a broken pelvis. Not to worry option #1 worked and order was restored to my bowels. The swelling went down and I felt less toxic. Truth is there are other ways to administer an enema but the box did make me laugh and feel ill all at the same time.

The best part of this day was my very first shower. After 8 days of sponge baths and wipe downs this was a glorious moment. Juli and my mom got me showered, shaved and moisturized before our fantastic Christmas Eve seafood extravaganza.

Oh and moving around has gotten a whole lot easier. I stopped using the commode and now I am walkering to the toilet and of course got myself into the shower which takes getting in backwards. These are all good things to practice before surgery. The lip on my mom's shower to too high to go in forwards. Having done this surgery before we knew how to get me in. I must say that waiting this time was harder than last time but the surgery itself has been easier. You sweat less of the small stuff and just know what to expect. Still glad I don't have a 3rd leg going through this twice is more than enough for this gal.