Week #10
I had a good week. My left hip has stayed in place since being "popped" back in. It isn't hurting nearly as much, more sore than anything. I did push it a little far this week, but when I felt the tweaking of pain, I backed down from what I was doing. Both PT sessions went great! Tuesday was aqua and Lisa kicked my butt. She had me for another 1.5 hour session. She started working with me on advanced core exercises and balancing. The core-no problem; balancing-not so good! :-) I'm really glad that I was working my core, even with the pain, prior to surgery because I really feel that all that work has helped with how good my recovery has progressed. Thursday was my first land session and Kevin, more than Lisa, definitely kicked my butt!! :-) But it was good. I did better than I thought I would be capable of at this point post-op. That session was 1.5+ hour session and needless to say, I was a little tired when I was done. I could feel that I have a ways to go to regain my strength and stamina, but I'm able to keep up with what they are having me do and advance with little difficulty! I have to say, I'm excited because I can see that with continued effort, things will just keep getting better and better. I asked Kevin this week about his recommendations about hiring a personal trainer and he laughed a little. He said that I don't even need to be thinking about advancing that much until 6+ months post-op. I told him I'm ready to get back in shape and take things to the next level. I know...no need to put the cart before the horse! One day at a time...blah, blah, blah!!! :-) It is much easier said than done some times, but I will slow down so I don't hurt myself and my progress.
I went for my weekly massage. I'm still sore in my hips and legs, but it has lessened some this week. I'm still med free which is great! I'm so happy that I haven't had to revolve me recovery around that aspect. I have been tempted though lately to take my sleeping pills because I'm still not sleeping well and I don't want to get worn down (more than I kind of feel now). I have an appointment with my PCP on Wed and will talk to her about my not sleeping. Also, hopefully she will order my 12 week x-rays without a problem.
Well folks, only 3 more weeks until I have to go back to work. I don't know how I feel about that. I'm definitely looking forward to having something to occupy more of my daily time, but I'm a little anxious about getting back into the swing of things. I have been keeping track of all the changes that have been happening via email, but it isn't the same as being there. I have been the go to person at work for so long and I have been on top of all the insurance changes, policy changes, new committee meetings, I'm a member of our Ethics Committee, JCAHO accredited Joint Committee and our Spine Committee, along with several other committees that having not been since August, I think I'm going to be spinning my wheels for a few weeks getting back. Plus, with Dr. Clavel wanting me to transition back and not start out full speed will make it take a little longer to get back on top of it all. I will just have to do what I can and take it one day at a time...hopefully, that will be enough.
Well...that is all for this week. Hope everyone is well and things are positive! :-)
Take care,
Kim
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Milestone #4-Two Months Post-Op
Week #8
The week started out really well. I had a great aqua session on Tuesday. I was able to start using ankle weights to increase the benefits of my work out. My let hip was still hurting and my legs were really tight, but things were moving forward without too many problems. One concern though was that my hip pain was getting worse and sometimes it was causing me to compensate while ambulating again. I had been compensating due to issues with my back for so long that my gait suffered more than I realized prior to surgery. I was doing whatever I could (within the scope of my recovery process) to try and get my hip pain to resolve because I didn't want to develop any more bad habits that might cause a problem with my hardware. But I have to say, I was definitely starting to limp more because I was feeling lots of shooting pains when trying to roll from the left to the right foot. Anyway...as usual, I was just trying to block it out and move on, but it wasn't always working.
So Tuesday went great. Wednesday, not so much. I woke up with what I thought was a migraine. My head felt like it was going to explode (of course it didn't...thank goodness). :-) I thought maybe it was related to all the work that I had done at PT the day before, so I basically stayed in bed all day hoping that it would go away, but by the end of the night, things got worse. I started to develop hot/cold episodes, my body ached all over and I was nauseous. Basically, I was feeling like garbage. By Thursday morning, I felt like I had been hit by a bus!! :-( I don't know if I had some strain of the flu (and before anyone asks...yes, I got my vaccine) or if my body finally told me that it needed me to slow down and try to get some more rest. I still haven't been sleeping very well and I stopped taking the sleeping pills over a month ago because I didn't want to become dependent on them for sleeping. By Saturday, I was feeling better, but still a little run down.
Week #9-this week
I'm so excited because my therapist was able to manipulate my left hip properly back into place on Tuesday! My internal rotation was immediately back and I was able to lift my knee to my chest with no problem. It has been 8 weeks of the hip pain being very pronounced after surgery, but today I realized it has probably been closer to 5 months because I really was having internal rotation problems prior to surgery when getting a few Thai massages before leaving for Spain. Kevin, my new hero, told me that if it slips out again, he will pop it back in so I won't have to worry. The only reason I was able to have him do it on Tuesday was I had a progress assessment prior to my aqua session. I asked if he could pop it back in place and he said he could, but he looked a little nervous. He asked me if I understood that it could really hurt and I told him that I assumed it would, but that I was ok with short term pain for a long term goal. So...two hard pulls and...POOOFFFF...no more pain! I'm amazed!
After the re-assessment I went to my aqua session where Kevin told Lisa (aqua director) to "kick my butt because I'm strong and can handle it!" Well, I have to say, she really pushed me and it felt good. I spent about a hour and a half in the pool doing a lot of new exercises and I left tired and sore, but very proud of were I am at physically for being 8 weeks post-op. All tested areas improved from my initial evaluation, I can sit for 2+ hours at a time with minimal repositioning, I am off all medications (except for an occasional Ibuprofen 800), and I can ambulate a mile+ on my good days. Now that my left hip is back in place...who knows what I will be able to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm still REALLY tight
and sore, along with still getting tired easily, but these are all things I can work on. I honestly didn't think that I would virtually be free of low back pain this soon.
I almost don't know how to feel about that since it has been part of my daily life for 27 years. I will have to reprogram my brain to not worry so much about how I'm physically going to make it through the daily demands my staff and block out the pain because meds weren't an option in my work environment. I'm very relieved and thankful that I now have this chance to regain some of the life that I lost and was limited to for so long!
Thursday was another great aqua session. I was in the pool again for 1.5+hours because I asked Lisa to give me more to do. She told me I could stay as long as I wanted so I made sure to maximize the opportunity. She gave me more new exercises, had me on the treadmill longer, and advised that next week she is going to increase my ankle weights from 4lbs to 7-8lbs to see how I do. I'm ready...bring it on!! :-) Also, next week I'm going to start experimenting with land sessions too. Tuesday will be aqua and Thursday will be land. Wish me luck because I think that are both going to kick my butt!! :-)
Last tidbit. Mark and I went out to dinner with friends tonight and I was told that each time the wife has seen me since returning from Spain (probably about 4-5 times) she sees improvement. It was nice to hear that someone else besides Mark and family is noticing that my physical recovery is going well. Most people are amazed I'm doing so well when they realize that I had such major surgery just a little over 2 months ago and that I'm off all meds!! I guess our decision to turn me into the bionic back was a good one thus far!! :-)
Hope everyone is doing well. Have a good week and take care!!
The week started out really well. I had a great aqua session on Tuesday. I was able to start using ankle weights to increase the benefits of my work out. My let hip was still hurting and my legs were really tight, but things were moving forward without too many problems. One concern though was that my hip pain was getting worse and sometimes it was causing me to compensate while ambulating again. I had been compensating due to issues with my back for so long that my gait suffered more than I realized prior to surgery. I was doing whatever I could (within the scope of my recovery process) to try and get my hip pain to resolve because I didn't want to develop any more bad habits that might cause a problem with my hardware. But I have to say, I was definitely starting to limp more because I was feeling lots of shooting pains when trying to roll from the left to the right foot. Anyway...as usual, I was just trying to block it out and move on, but it wasn't always working.
So Tuesday went great. Wednesday, not so much. I woke up with what I thought was a migraine. My head felt like it was going to explode (of course it didn't...thank goodness). :-) I thought maybe it was related to all the work that I had done at PT the day before, so I basically stayed in bed all day hoping that it would go away, but by the end of the night, things got worse. I started to develop hot/cold episodes, my body ached all over and I was nauseous. Basically, I was feeling like garbage. By Thursday morning, I felt like I had been hit by a bus!! :-( I don't know if I had some strain of the flu (and before anyone asks...yes, I got my vaccine) or if my body finally told me that it needed me to slow down and try to get some more rest. I still haven't been sleeping very well and I stopped taking the sleeping pills over a month ago because I didn't want to become dependent on them for sleeping. By Saturday, I was feeling better, but still a little run down.
Week #9-this week
I'm so excited because my therapist was able to manipulate my left hip properly back into place on Tuesday! My internal rotation was immediately back and I was able to lift my knee to my chest with no problem. It has been 8 weeks of the hip pain being very pronounced after surgery, but today I realized it has probably been closer to 5 months because I really was having internal rotation problems prior to surgery when getting a few Thai massages before leaving for Spain. Kevin, my new hero, told me that if it slips out again, he will pop it back in so I won't have to worry. The only reason I was able to have him do it on Tuesday was I had a progress assessment prior to my aqua session. I asked if he could pop it back in place and he said he could, but he looked a little nervous. He asked me if I understood that it could really hurt and I told him that I assumed it would, but that I was ok with short term pain for a long term goal. So...two hard pulls and...POOOFFFF...no more pain! I'm amazed!
After the re-assessment I went to my aqua session where Kevin told Lisa (aqua director) to "kick my butt because I'm strong and can handle it!" Well, I have to say, she really pushed me and it felt good. I spent about a hour and a half in the pool doing a lot of new exercises and I left tired and sore, but very proud of were I am at physically for being 8 weeks post-op. All tested areas improved from my initial evaluation, I can sit for 2+ hours at a time with minimal repositioning, I am off all medications (except for an occasional Ibuprofen 800), and I can ambulate a mile+ on my good days. Now that my left hip is back in place...who knows what I will be able to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm still REALLY tight
and sore, along with still getting tired easily, but these are all things I can work on. I honestly didn't think that I would virtually be free of low back pain this soon.
I almost don't know how to feel about that since it has been part of my daily life for 27 years. I will have to reprogram my brain to not worry so much about how I'm physically going to make it through the daily demands my staff and block out the pain because meds weren't an option in my work environment. I'm very relieved and thankful that I now have this chance to regain some of the life that I lost and was limited to for so long!
Thursday was another great aqua session. I was in the pool again for 1.5+hours because I asked Lisa to give me more to do. She told me I could stay as long as I wanted so I made sure to maximize the opportunity. She gave me more new exercises, had me on the treadmill longer, and advised that next week she is going to increase my ankle weights from 4lbs to 7-8lbs to see how I do. I'm ready...bring it on!! :-) Also, next week I'm going to start experimenting with land sessions too. Tuesday will be aqua and Thursday will be land. Wish me luck because I think that are both going to kick my butt!! :-)
Last tidbit. Mark and I went out to dinner with friends tonight and I was told that each time the wife has seen me since returning from Spain (probably about 4-5 times) she sees improvement. It was nice to hear that someone else besides Mark and family is noticing that my physical recovery is going well. Most people are amazed I'm doing so well when they realize that I had such major surgery just a little over 2 months ago and that I'm off all meds!! I guess our decision to turn me into the bionic back was a good one thus far!! :-)
Hope everyone is doing well. Have a good week and take care!!
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