Tag: arthroscopic hip surgery

Hip Labrum Repair Surgery – 5 weeks post op

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It has been a big milestone week!

I started Monday morning in PT with my usual therapy routine and at the end we added weight bearing tests. First I stood at the edge of the table and just slowly shifted my weight from foot to foot “until it felt ok”. The first one felt like waking my hip up a bit but the second one felt pretty normal so then my therapist told me to do longer holds on my right (surgical)side. After a few reps of that she watched me while I changed to shifting my weight to my right foot and then lifting my left foot off the ground. At the first rep she said “Oh perfect! No hip drop at all! Do 10 reps and hold for 10.”

After that I did step throughs at the edge of the table. Which is basically just walking one step forward and then backwards next to the table, while making sure to use heel to toe foot impact pattern. That took a lot of focus since I’m usually a toe walker myself (bad I know!) I did 20 of those and my therapist announced I was definitely ready to be walking this week. I also did standing straight leg kicks forward, to the side, and back at an angle on both legs – very minimally of with the hip extensors of course and with no resistance.

She told me to go down to one crutch in the meanwhile and if I do well with that I would be able to drop that and be free after my session on Thursday. That first night I felt pretty good but decided to fire up the ice machine for sleep just in case. I probably did not need it, but I decided any time I do a big new thing I will add ice pre-emptively for the hip flexors to help keep the savage beast soothed. The approach seems to be working so far as I woke up feeling just fine!

Adjusting to just one crutch was weird at first and I just slowed myself down to about a quarter of the speed I had been going at with two crutches and then I was fine. Just like drilling Jiu Jitsu moves, I had to practice the movement slowly first to make sure I do it correctly – and as I gain the muscle memory/dexterity/strength, the speed is coming back slowly on its own. Pushing speed first is how injury and pain happens.

Tuesday/Wednesday: in the office

I went back into the office again on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was super slow moving around of course and I allowed myself to stretch out in a more comfortable position as well for the day. I’m still going to be sticking with the pattern of working from home on days I have physical therapy just in case I end up having a really exhausting session and just need a lie down afterwards.

The walking practice does definitely exhaust me. I’m not sore at all so far but I’m definitely really wanting to nap by mid-day. Hopefully I’ll build my stamina back up soon but I’m doing my best to reign myself in so I don’t overdo it and flare anything up when things have been going so well so far!

My boss picked up some supplies for me from the hardware store to repair my old wooden cane, so that’s going to be my project for the weekend! I took it into the back of our warehouse and got it structurally sound again, but now I need to sand it down and figure out what I’m going to do to finish it out and make it pretty again.

Being in the office these two days means I get to pop in on the daytime Jiu Jitsu classes again as well which has been nice! I’ll be planning the same itinerary for next week as well since it seemed to work out pretty well this week without too many hiccups.

Thursday:

Back at physical therapy again today, my therapist said we that I looked really good walking in on my one crutch and that when I did my one-legged stands and movements my balanced looked rock solid on my surgical side. So she okayed me to walk without my crutches a little bit in my apartment this weekend if I felt up to it. She additionally told me that we could start pushing a little bit more range of motion and a tiny bit of external rotation (she specified TINY). I translate that information to: I’ll move myself as far as she moves me during her passive range of motion work but I’m not pushing anything on my own.

She also mentioned that she might be starting me on the stationary bike soon for session warmups. That got me all excited about getting back into outdoor biking and she slapped me back down pretty quickly from that – but said I might be able to get back outside before the weather gets too gross for it.

I also got to add on sets of shallow bodyweight squats to my routine as well today – those felt pretty good! Basically, activating muscles and moving around makes everything feel good, so it’s just a matter of reigning it in and riding that fine line of enough to let it heal, but not overdoing it or causing anything to flare up.

Friday:

Today ended up incidentally becoming a work from home day as well because my coworkers were unable to pick me up this morning. So everyone missed out on the momentous moment that was me being able to put on leggings for the first time since surgery! Since my PT said I could bend a bit more, I decided to see if it was comfortable to bend far enough to put on leggings, and I didn’t feel a stretch at all in my hip even to straighten my socks! Now having shorter legs probably comes in handy a bit here; but still!

This made me realize how much my legs need the biofeedback of compression leggings. It’s a small thing but it really does help me feel so much better after spending over a month wearing baggy shorts. I have a lot of sensory issues that go along with my autism: temperature regulation, touch, etc. – and they are a protective barrier in that regard. I also get episodes of orthostatic hypotension, basically a circulation/blood pressure issue where they tell you to watch your fluids and electrolytes levels and I also tend to get swelling in my legs a bit – compression leggings help with the swelling. Finally, I also have a connective tissue disorder that affects everything, and the little extra bit of outer layer just sometimes feels like it’s just the tiniest ease of that burden.

Anyhow, that all said, I love my compression leggings. In fact, I just ordered some more because why not?

What’s Next?

I see my surgeon again on the 8th which will put it in my 8-week post-op update. Depending on how news is flowing I may then switch from weekly updates to every other week or monthly updates on surgery recovery. The goal is for this series to just naturally morph into a training log back to the tournament podium.

Hip Surgery Recovery – 4 weeks post op

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Note: 4 week healed incision photos in this post! Well, I made it to that first milestone marker that my surgeon laid out for me! He said the first 4 weeks would be the most restrictive on crutches (50% weight bearing), no hip flexion past 90 degrees, no external rotation of the hip, no isolated activation of hip flexors, and no crossing the midline with my leg.

That said, I’m not going to suddenly drop the crutches and do all the things I wasn’t allowed to do for the past month. From reading and researching post-op issues, it seems to me the common thread for setbacks when you’ve had a well-executed surgery, is that people start feeling really good and then push forward too quickly. This inflames the soft tissue around the joint that is trying to recover from the trauma of the surgery. The hip flexor in particular is the main culprit for this sort of complication and I’ve been very careful to not put extra strain on it over the past month – especially taking note of where my surgeon had to make his main usage entry portal as you can see in the photo below.

4 weeks post-op – the larger of the three incisions was apparently where most of the movement of the surgery took place based on the scar tissue I feel under/around it

Thankfully I have a very experienced physical therapist who told me yesterday that her plan for getting me off crutches is gonna be a gradual process. I will start with weight bearing exercises this coming Monday and we will just take it one session at a time – not in a rush at all. At least with the crutches I look like a stereotypical injured black belt sitting on the sidelines during Jiu Jitsu training sessions – without them I’ll just look like some lazy rando creeping on class. I’ll have to break out my cool cane or something later to balance it out.

As you can see from the photo above, I was able to remove the steri-strips finally. I have always had some minor issues with delayed wound healing, most likely from my hypermobility. I’m starting to get some more sensation back in the area and have started some light scar tissue mobilization work on the two smaller incision areas as well as some lymphatic work to help with circulation. The larger incision is not healed enough for even light scar tissue mobilization – it needs the stability right now to continue to heal the surface skin layer. I look forward to working on it when it’s ready because I can feel the scar tissue below it pulling a bit already. My decade+ of Myofascial massage specialty is paying off for myself!

Additionally in PT this week my therapist added straight leg bridges with my heels dug into a large physio ball, and my physio ball crunches got a crunch “up” variation added on as well for more core activation. Those ones are super fun! She also did some light manual release work on my glutes and hamstrings for the first time this week as well in addition to the usual quad/IT band release and passive range of motion work. In total my PT sessions are tipping over an hour in time now and I’m not even adding in the Game Ready ice therapy option yet (let’s see how weight bearing goes next week!)

I have worked from home this entire week, which has definitely been very beneficial for my hip recovery! I was also picked up twice to pop by the bjj academy for an evening class for some enrichment time as well.

Next week I do plan on returning to the office for a couple of days if my hip allows. This time I plan to use the couch either in our office, or in the bjj academy next door in order to keep myself stretched out as much as possible and avoid the pinchy issue I had last week. I’m still planning for PT days to be work from home days though since it takes up a decent chunk of time and then wears me out. I will play by ear with my plan however – if weight bearing training makes me feel sore and I feel like I need to sit on my ice machine at home I’ll do that instead. I am very fortunate to have a supportive work environment, as well as a job that CAN be done remotely.

Thoughts on Returning to Training

I’ve been chatting a bit with several people who are in various phases of injury recovery and rehab and there’s a common thread among everyone of being nervous about getting back to training and having to start over because you suck now. And it’s gonna be true for a while. Depending on how long you are out, you lose your reflexes. Depending on what sort of injury and/or surgery you had you may have to re-learn how to move certain body parts completely.

I say embrace the suck. Let go of the feeling of having to measure up right away, and just enjoy the fact that you are able to train again. You will eventually surpass where you were previously but why frustrate yourself during that process? Yes, always strive to improve every day, but in order to improve you need to accept what your current state of being is. And the state of being when coming back from an injury is – it sucks.

I’m gonna lean into it when I’m allowed to train again. I’ll work my bad side (since my dominant side was my operated side anyhow!) I’ll practice the techniques I never thought I could make work – the 12 yr old labrum tear and subsequent joint instability was likely causing a movement deficiency and I want to see what I can actually do when I’m not having to compensate for it. I’m gonna think of myself as starting Jiu Jitsu all over again and just see where it takes me when the “the suck” passes.

Arthroscopic Hip Labrum Repair Surgery – 2 weeks post-op

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Today is my 2 weeks anniversary of surgery!

I have so far had four physical therapy sessions, gone off all pain meds other than my Mobic/meloxicam, had my stitches removed at my post-op appointment, and been given the all clear to begin doing some fascial work on my incisions to limit scar tissue formation.

Post Op Appointment

Day 11 was my follow up appointment with my surgeon’s PA. I was first x-rayed and then we went over concerns to make sure I didn’t have any residual nerve issues (none) and he asked about the hypotensive episode I had a couple of days after surgery. Then he gave me an assortment of photos from my surgery and thanks to all of the pre-op research I did, they actually all made sense to me. He pointed out I had some rather unusual scarring on my joint capsule itself that the surgeon cleaned up for me at the start of the surgery since it was in the way anyhow.

As far as my labrum goes, it was super floppy and required 4 suture anchors to be hammered into the edge of my hip socket to secure it in place. My surgeon first did a light shave of the bone around the area to encourage blood flow and therefore improve healing. Once the sutures were in place you can see in the photos how much more secure it looks (no more flappy-floppy!)

After the labrum was secure, they took a quick trip inside my hip socket to clean out some old leftover fatty tissue debris that he said was just hanging out back there, so they usually clean it up while they are there. Now of course I want to know what it’s leftover from, so I’m going to do some research and if I don’t find an answer before I see them next visit I will ask!

Now they were free to let the traction off my leg so it could slide back into the socket and check that the seal of the labrum was secure (apparently it was!) and address the issue that is the head of my femur.

I had a small bone overgrowth on the neck of my femur, right on the growth plate that the surgeon said most likely formed during adolescence. This was what caused the tear in my labrum since the bone didn’t fit quite right when my leg would move a certain way – and is also why the conservative measures I had taken to address the issue could only help me so far. I could get the inflammation to die down, but it could be easily re-irritated by that overgrowth/impingement again. It was a very small one, and my hypermobility gave my hips a lot of leeway for movement around it, but this latest episode tore it worse and there was no point repairing the labrum without addressing the stick that was poking it.

The surgeon filed down this area of the bone and sculpted it to fit properly, typically this assisted by x-ray scans and then is then also checked by moving the leg through range of motion while watching through the operating camera to make sure that the bone is no longer catching on anything.

Additionally, I had a bone cyst that had formed underneath this area – reaching into the marrow (from what I can see from the photos). After confirming that the impingement was corrected, my surgeon debrided the cyst. He said that these sorts of fluid filled cysts are not entirely uncommon and while this one was a bit larger than what they typically see it will scar over just fine now that it has been cleared out.

They rounded out surgery with a capsular closure (stitching the joint capsule closed after they opened it to do all this work). I ended up with three entry ports: Anterior, Anterior-lateral, and a modified anterior-lateral.

I got my stitches removed and replaced with steri-strips to just continue the incision support for a few more days – and was told to start doing some aggressive scar tissue work especially on the anterior entry portal incision on Friday (the two-week mark)

Typically, I would see the surgeon at the 6-week mark, but he is going to be out, so I will instead see him at the 7 1/2-week mark. I have another 2 weeks on crutches while everything keeps healing.

How It’s Going Otherwise

This week has gone pretty well other than the cabin fever. I have still been working from home and have completely weaned off Tylenol. I am staying on the Mobic/meloxicam once a day for the first month – it is an anti-inflammatory and the surgeon’s office said it will help to reduce the amount of post-op scar tissue I build up as well. I’ve been sleeping with the ice machine on more out of habit than necessity for the last several days and decided to skip it last night, woke up feeling just fine. I think I’ll keep the ice machine out just in case I have a flare up day, I’m sure one will be coming as I have been known to overdo things on occasion and I would personally rather try ice first over taking meds.

I did take a walk outside on day 12 because it was super nice out and I wanted to go to a neighborhood cafe – it ended up being a half mile round trip walk. I did not get in trouble with PT however since I treated it as a mobility exercise instead of an impact exercise and used my crutches: keeping my weight on my hands instead of my operated hip. It does feel really good to move – I’m just being cautious about any impact. I have started sleeping a bit on my non-operated side well bolstered with a pillow between my legs (not allowed to let my operated leg cross my midline) and that feels amazing!

Speaking of PT, I’ve been tempted with a promise of possibly being allowed to do some shallow wall sits next week. She moved me up already in ankle weights and reps for quad extensions and I think she is starting to trust that I’m not too much of an idiot. I did point out to her that I’m turning 40 next year and can’t really afford to be too stupid if I’m gonna be able to do the things I want to do for the rest of my life.

Monday I will be having my 5th PT session in the morning and then going in for my first day back in the office since surgery. I won’t be able to sit comfortably at my desk or any standard chair, but one of my coworkers has a nice comfy overstuffed chair that he said we could move into my office. It will be nice to be around people again as the longer I stay isolated the more I feel myself losing what few social skills I had to begin with – plus my dog will appreciate having more than just me around to beg food from!

Arthroscopic Hip Labrum Repair Surgery – 1 week post-op

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Today marks one week post-op from arthroscopic surgery on my right hip.

My right hip has been an ongoing problem for over a decade since I slipped and fell, dislocating it back when I was still a white belt. I had no health insurance at the time so of course I never got checked out, but it was months after that incident before I could raise my leg without pain or instability. I’ve had issues with it flaring up and causing me pain and problems since then. While I have always been able to rehab and strength train it back into working order – each time seemed to take a little bit longer and be a little bit worse.

This time I flared up badly over the holidays and my usual measures would not put a dent in getting me any relief, I had added instability that really worried me as well. It was progressively getting worse to the point where not only training, but just sitting or standing was constantly miserable and I wasn’t able to sleep because of it either. Pain I can handle, but misery is a no go.

I’m very fortunate to have access to a group of orthopedic surgeons who specialize in working with athletes. I’m going to breakdown the process I had from first appointment to today. I should state at this point I already knew that whatever I had going on was going to be surgical, if they told me anything else I would have been absolutely floored.

The Pre-Op Days

My first appointment was with the surgeon’s PA. First they took my x-rays then a nurse took my history (the fall, my pedestrian vs car incident, etc), then the PA came in and said he expected to see worse on my x-rays based on my history but they didn’t look bad at all. Of course he said he expects the physical exam to show a different story. I said my best-case scenario is just him telling me I’m being a little baby about some tendonitis and that I need to get over it, but that’s not very likely. I did tell him that I had an event coming up that I had until the following Monday to withdraw from, so I think he put me on the fast track for getting me all my tests and info because of that.

I had positive physical testing signs for labrum tear in my right hip, as well as in my left hip. He said that it’s very common especially in women to have functional labrum tears and since it’s not bothering me we will just ignore it. I had a very “hot” reaction to the test in my right hip so he wanted to get me in the MRI as soon as possible. Thankfully they just happened to have a cancellation that morning – so I went out in the waiting room for about 20 minutes and then got called back again for the MRI.

They called me later that afternoon to confirm the labrum tear and to schedule me a follow up with the surgeon for a couple days after to discuss the results and plans going forward. I was told over the phone that based on the scans the recommendation would be for either surgery or a steroid injection to get me through the jiu jitsu events I have planned for the year – the doctor could discuss the details with me at the appointment. I definitely appreciate the advance information so I could have time to collect my thoughts before going in.

Meeting with the surgeon I also learned I had a “very small impingement” on the neck of my femur. He said it probably formed in adolescence since it’s right on the growth plate, and he would take a few mins in surgery to smooth it down so it’s not rubbing on the fresh repair work when he’s done stitching my labrum back together. I also learned I have deeper hip sockets as well – just a fun little anatomical tidbit to file away (built for power yo!). One additional thing that I learned that I was not prepared for was that they would have to stretch out the joint capsule during the surgery and because of my hypermobility it may not tighten back up all the way afterwards, so I may have a slightly increased risk of dislocation in the future. I decided the pros outweigh the cons and ended up scheduling the surgery for 4 weeks out. Additionally, my surgeon also ordered a pre-op CT scan with 3D reconstruction of my hip, just to plan out a little bit better in advance how he was doing his surgical approach.

The next 4 weeks were a flurry of planning and prep work. I filled 14 pages of a word document with research, I watched so many videos of surgery, PT, OT, anesthesia, recovery vlogs, etc. I got bored of it all. I stocked my apartment with everything I thought I might possibly need, since I live alone I was really concerned about being able to take care of myself with limited mobility. I knew I would not be allowed to bend at the hip past 90 degrees or rotate, and would be on crutches for four weeks post-op; so I moved food and daily items onto my counter and even got myself a booster seat for the toilet (yes, it is definitely needed!)

Surgery Day Pre-Op:

My surgery was scheduled for 10:30 so I got to the hospital a little before 8:30 with a teammate who was also going home with me as my post-op babysitter. I had the same pre-op bay as I did for my knee surgery, the nurse said they usually keep the ortho patients in the same 4 slots and it was just luck of the draw for me. Different OR this time though, I had #1 last time and this time they said I was in #4.

First off, I got changed and then settled in the bed to go over my intake paperwork with the nurse. They hooked up my warm air blanket and checked vitals. At this point my friend was able to come back and hang out with me for the rest of the time until the wheeled me back. Eventually the anesthesiologist came by to ask about my last experience with general anesthesia. I told him as far as I’m concerned, I had a very nice nap although I was told I took a while to wake up and I was pretty trashed afterwards – although probably because the surgery lasted an hour longer than planned. He scrolled through his notes (I was at the same facility for my knee surgery and made a nod), confirmed a few more things, started up my iv in the back of my hand (with lidocaine thankfully), and then told me “I wish you a forgettable experience!” before bidding me farewell to go handle an induction in another room.

Next to visit was my surgeon, he came by to confirm that we were operating on my right hip, signed my leg, and assured me he had a fantastic plan in place. I should state that even with just saline in my iv I was very chill and relaxed – so when he signed my leg, I told him he should go ahead and write “later” on my right knee. I additionally told him I was quite ready to have my brain turned off so I could get stretched out and skewered. He also wanted to make sure that my medications and such had been sorted (there had been a mix up at the pharmacy), and that my friend was all set with the info she needed for proper care and feeding of me afterwards.

Finally another anesthesiologist and nurse came to fetch me for go time! They gave me a dose of propofol into my iv in the bay then started wheeling me out toward the OR – I remember saying “Oh that’s spicy!” when it hit the vein and getting a bit fuzzy by the time we reached the OR. Near as I could tell I had an all female prep staff in there with me which I registered and appreciated in the moment (due to the nature of the prep area for the hip surgery) as I helped scoot myself from the bed onto the much more narrow operating table. I had several people helping to secure me in place and a mask on my face and I remember trying to ask a question that they couldn’t understand with the mask in place, so they removed it to hear me.

That was the point I decided to just shut up and let them work. I might have said that out loud, there might have been a jedi hand wave while saying that out loud. But that was my last conscious memory “I’ll just shut up and let you work” before I work up in recovery. What happened between that memory and waking up in recovery will be forever sealed in the annals of time!

Surgery Day Post-Op:

I woke up a lot faster than I did for my knee surgery, and a lot more clear headed this time! I likely didn’t have to be put under as far as I did since it wasn’t nearly as intense of a procedure. I was asked if I was in any pain and there was some so I said yes, and also asked if I wanted my friend to come back so I said yes. So my friend was brought back and I was given some pain meds in my iv and apple juice. My friend said she got the text that I was out of surgery only 15 mins before she was called to the back, so I really did wake up quickly this time!

I chatted a bit and went through a bottle of apple juice and some saltines before I decided to use the bathroom – this was when I learned I was allowed to stand with my weight evenly distributed between my feet. My nurse was very surprised at how alert and articulate I was with the level of medications I had in me, she had ended up giving me about 3/4 a syringe if dilaudid and offered to top it off but I declined, instead opting for another bottle of apple juice to help me finish off the crackers and get the plastic tube taste out of my throat. Speaking of medications, my prescriptions had somewhat been sorted out and were getting picked up by a coworker who was then coming to pick us up from the hospital and drop us off at the front door of my apartment building. I was still missing my prescription anti-inflammatory but we could substitute aspirin while we waited for that to get sorted out and we had my prescription pain and nausea meds, so we were good to go.

When we got word that the meds had been picked up by my coworker, we got pulled together and headed downstairs to go meet her. When I got home I settled into my air mattress that I set up on the floor (my bed is really high) and really just tried to chill as much as I could and unpack the whole day and experience.

Since then the days really have blurred together. That first day (Friday) I took the strong pain meds as prescribed, 1 every four hours on a timer just to stay ahead of any post op pain. For my knee they gave me straight oxycodone and that knocked me out pretty hard – for this surgery they gave me oxy/acetaminophen which thankfully I found I could stay standing while taking which was super important for me since I live alone and need to be able to take care of myself while on crutches.

Saturday

The next morning as per the doctor’s instructions I took off the large bandage that was covering the surgical site and clean the incisions using Q-Tip’s dipped in a half and half mixture of peroxide and water. He told me he was okay with me showering after 24 hrs. – he just wanted me to let the stitches dry and then cover them with band aids to keep them from rubbing on clothing and getting irritated. I have three entry port areas, from what I was researching before surgery it looks like he used the standard anterior-lateral port as well as the anterior port, in addition to a modified anterior port to help with placement of anchors for suturing my labrum in a more anatomically secure angle (I read about it in a research paper). There was (and still is) significant bruising around the two upper port entries and very little around the additional access port. I started out Saturday spacing my pain meds out to every 6 hours to see how the pain felt. It was a little achy but nothing terrible so I decided to keep it that way. My friend went home this afternoon so it was just me and my puppy in the apartment

Sunday

I took the prescription pain pill at 5 am and decided that if the pain wasn’t bad at 11 that I would try switching to Tylenol, with the escape that if it got bad, I’d go back on the prescription medication 4 hours after that if needed. I ended up not needing it and just stayed on Tylenol (still have been since). I still had a little oozing from the stitches so I cleaned the incisions again with the peroxide/water mixture, let them dry, then covered again. I had a hypotensive episode that really frightened me this afternoon, I nearly passed out and was very close to calling 911 for myself. I checked all my pulse points and verified that it did not hurt my lungs to breathe so I made my way to my bed and created a pillow nest to call the weekend on call line for my surgeon’s office, I additionally called a team mate of mine who is a nurse who deals with similar issues. Overall consensus being my mild orthostatic hypotension must have gotten mad triggered by the anesthesia and I just had to take it really easy for the next couple of days and use up all the electrolyte powders I had bought. I had planned on showering that day but decided with that excitement that I didn’t want to risk trying to stand up for that long again and would try again in the morning before my PT appointment.

Monday

Joy of joys I made it through the shower! Being able to stand with my weight evenly distributed, and having a walk in shower without a tub made it a pretty simple affair – it was just exhausting. Then it was time to get ready for my first physical therapy session! It was at the same PT clinic I went to for my knee and my newly assigned therapist recognized me from all those visits – I told her I just missed everyone so much I just had to do something to come back and see them again! PT is going to be all table work for a while since I’m 100% crutches for the first 4 weeks. She did a lot of passive range of motion movement and was very happy that my hip could already flex to 85 degrees before she felt a slight bit of resistance. My max of course is 90 degrees and I’m allowed internal rotation but strictly zero external rotation. Also, no active hip flexor activation or crossing of the midline with my surgical leg. Basically, none of the movements that I really want to do right now. I have PT homework too that consists mainly static muscle squeezes to just try to keep the muscles firing while the joint isn’t allowed to move dynamically quite yet.

Tuesday

Not a whole lot going on for Tuesday really. I’ve been working remotely since Monday and am planning to do so for the first two weeks post-op. This is mostly because of the movement restrictions and my need to periodically hook myself up to my ice machine during the course of the day. I highly recommend getting one of these continual ice machines if you’re having any orthopedic procedure, it really makes a huge difference for pain and inflammation in these first few weeks! I keep frozen water bottles in the freezer and just rotate them through the little ice box and it will keep the wrap on my hip chilly for several hours at time without me having to worry about it getting too cold. I sleep in it every night – they have the new version that does compression as well as cold therapy but I’m good with just the cold.

Wednesday

Second PT session was today! Had a repeat of the first session except she bent me to 90 degrees during passive range of motion and I didn’t even feel a stretch, so I’m gonna tentatively say maybe I won’t have too much trouble getting range of motion back from this surgery. She also added two new exercises – one where she assisted me with rolling to my belly for a good stretch there, and then the other was a core crunch using one of the large exercise balls to keep me from actually breaking my 90 degree flexion rule.

Thursday

Thursday was basically a repeat of Tuesday although I noticed that I’m starting to get more yellowing bruising spreading out around my hip and the swelling is really starting to go down. I slept in a more flat position as opposed to having my leg and head elevated and it seemed to really have helped the fluids to distribute a bit more evenly at this stage of everything (I was headed into BBL territory for a bit there).

Friday/Today

And that brings us to today, one week post-op. Other than the movement restrictions I currently have in place I already feel so much better than I did before surgery. I’m a bit more sore in the mornings right now because I’m sleeping through the night: which I wasn’t able to do before the operation. Once I do my limited PT exercises I’m feeling good. My plan has been to work from home for the first two weeks which has been working out okay so far and my dog Dmitri has been doing a stellar job at guarding my hip for me.

To my knowledge I have 3 more weeks at 50% weight bearing, meaning I can stand unassisted at the counter to make food, then gotta reach for the crutches to walk myself to the next location. My post-op appointment Tuesday morning, so I’ll get to hear the details of what exactly went down while my brain was turned off in the OR, see pictures, hopefully get the video (I have the one from my knee!), and see if any adjustments were made to my recovery plan as the result of what was done in surgery.