4 weeks through….. here’s the low-down!

So, I am now 4 weeks clear from surgery. All the Meds have stopped and I am becoming more mobile by the day!

I am still using 1 crutch for the most part but, I can manage to get around the house without it and walk short distances without it too! there is still quite a pronounced limp when I don’t use the crutch, but this is not due to pain, only the fact that there is still not quite enough strength in the new joint to fully weight bear so I am “Hitching” a bit.

Most of the time I am pretty comfortable now. Sitting still for long periods of time or on a chair that is too low or high bring on discomfort after a while. For example, this week, we went to the cinema to see Snow White and the Huntsman. When we got in and sat down, I was a little wary that the seats would be troublesome. I sat down and to my supprise the seats were great! However, about 45 minutes in, the pain and discomfort came and by the end of the film I wasn’t really concentrating on the film, but how long there was left!

Car journeys again, are still not quite right and going to resteraunts etc dont sit well, but, I do feel there is progress.

The main worry that I have at the moment is, I still seem to have an impingement, stopping me from raising my knee past 90 degrees…. with BHR (Birmingham Hip Resurfacing – for any newcomers to the blog!) there are supposed to be no restrictions in movement unlike with a THR (Total Hip Replacement). I am going to email my surgeon to ask him about it today. I have found some stats on the tinterweb stating that Impingement can occur in BHR subjects and that sometimes revision surgery is required…… I’m still hopeful that it is just inflammation around the joint or something similar that is the problem but we will see…

until then, I will keep up with my physio and strive to get back on my Snowboard and back out on the Golf course ASAP!!

See you all in a week!!

The Three Week Point…… Progress so far!!

Hi All, Sorry for my Lack of posts recently…………….. I did try to do a post a couple of days ago, but my computer crapped out and I lost the whole thing!! I was too angry to re-write it there and then so I left it… then forgot about it… Sorry!

Well, As the title indicates… it has been a whole 3 weeks since the operation! Ive had some ups and downs during the last 3 weeks, there has been Frustration, pain, sleepless nights, the good feelings of progress and the recession of pain and all these experiences have lead to now.

In my opinion the recovery has gone well. I’m not Wolverine and I haven’t been one of the uber success stories that you read about whilst you are researching the procedure but, it could have been a whole lot worse and there is definitely more to come!

I am still using a single crutch to get arround although in the house I feel confident enough to hobble around without crutches! this isn’t pretty and the limp is severe but, come on… it is only 3 weeks! I have to keep reminding myself of that to stop frustration kicking inn and Pippa reminds me of it constantly!

When it comes to movement and use in the joint, I still have an impingement at 90 degrees (Can’t physically get my knee to pass 90 degrees from my chest)  but every thing else is great! I am getting more strength back in my Glutes and stabilizing muscles every day, thanks to doing my exercises daily and everything is starting to feel looser (in a good way!)

I can get down on the floor and get up again with minimal struggles and I am starting to be able to walk down the stairs in a “usual manner” whilst holding the bannister! (up is still and issue!)

The car is still uncomfortable and I find that if I sit still for too long I get stiff and uncomfortable too. I am no longer taking ANY pain medication, but I am still having to take a pill in the morning for my stomach and inject myself each night for anti-clotting.

The next major step for me is going to be when can I swing a golf club?? If I had my way, I’d head up the driving range now and try to chip a few balls… unfortunately, I still cant drive and Pippa will never agree to it……

 

Beautiful weather, Injections and lots of time in the car!

Today has been a mixture of niceness and discomfort….

To start – Last night we got a GREAT night’s sleep! Alfie went down well and slept nearly the whole night with only a 10 minute whinge in the middle!

This morning, feeling much more awake, we went downstairs and let Alfie out. I was feeling really good and rested. Pippa went to work, leaving us boys to fend for ourselves! So, as the weather was soooo nice, I picked up the picnic blanket and went outside. I managed to lower myself onto the floor, on my front, put a pillow in between my legs and roll over onto my back with no real pain or discomfort.

Laying there was a little uncomfortable, until I put the pillow under my leg to raise it. Then it was nice. The sun was hot and Alfie laid next to me. All was right in the world. Pippa only works a half day on Fridays, so she came home at 13:00. We had arranged to take Alfie to the vets to get his first innoculation. The vet (Jane) is a friend of the family. The only problem is that her practice is about 1 hour away in the car… As I have said before, the car is my least comfortable place. The seat presses on my hip and I can’t quite bend my leg up enough unaided to swing it in.

The journey there wasn’t too bad (and Alfie did really well there!), but on the way back (to my parents where I currently am after a delicious BBQ!) it was really quite uncomfortable… I’m hoping that, when the swelling goes down, it will get better. For now, I’m ok with Pippa being my chauffeur, but I’d like to be able to drive without discomfort soon!

What will tomorrow bring?? More sunshine and laying in the garden?? OK! I can deal with that!!

Time to reduce the pain meds!

We had a busy day yesterday, with lots of visitors… Unfortunately they were for Alfie… Not me….

During all the visits etc I completely lost track of my pain med schedule, so I missed pills here and there (no important ones just pain relief) and realised that my pain wasn’t “that bad” so today I have decided to try lowering my doses, especially the Dihydracodine … (It’s making toilet breaks pretty difficult…) so we will see how that goes!

Getting around with only 1 crutch is getting easier although my leg does seem more stiff than before in the mornings, I suppose t is the resulf of using it more and doing the exersises my physio gave me.

Its been just over 2 weeks since the operation now, and I’m feeling OK about my recovery. The stitches are out, the wound is looking pretty good. movement and flexibility re getting better each day and I’m hoping soon I will be able to put my own socks on….

I wont rabbit on too much about Alfie but, it is nice to have him arround during the day! I feel like we hsve bonded well and he keeps me entertained. (its just a shame that he keeps me and pipa awake most of the night with his whining….)

Time for a little nap now to try and recharge these depleted batteries…

Welcome Home Alfie!!

Again I apologise for the missing post yesterday, but I have good reason!!

Yesterday was great! I hadn’t slept well the night before but I think that was mainly due to excitement!! Yesterday, we picked up the newest edition to our family…our new 8 week old black lab, called Alfie!

I had moved down to 1 crutch for moving around the day before, that was going well and I think it was just in time!

Pippa and I took the 1h15min car ride to Ipswich, (being in the car is still pretty uncomfortable for me, and getting in and out is still one of the hardest things I have to do) and arrived at the breeders house, welcomed by Alfie’s mum. My hip was stiff and sore but it would be well worth it.

We went inside and straight away, picked Alfie up for a good amount of face licking! I’ve got to say, trying to walk around a kitchen with a crutch when there are 10 puppies under your feet is awkward! Once every thing was settled we took Alfie to the car and Kerry (the breeder) said a tearful goodby and put Alfie on my lap. As we drove away I think it hit us…….. we had a puppy of our very own!!

I was expecting the journey home to be arduous at best…. I had read, and been told all the horror stories of puppies being sick, pooing and weeing in the car, howling and yelping the whole way etc…. but Alfie was a STAR!! He pretty much slept on my lap the whole way! And when he wasn’t sleeping, he was licking my hand! We stopped about half the way home to see if Alfie needed a bathroom break, but I think he was too scared of all the road noise etc, plus it was his first time outside, on a lead, with strangers…probably not the best idea!

We got home, and again, my hip was stiff and sore but we got Alfie out of the car and took him into the garden. I walked around a bit and the hip soon loosened off. When we were in the garden Pippa got the picnic blanket out so she could sit on the floor with Alfie. Mum and Dad turned up with fish and chips for tea, and they both sat on the blanket with Alfie too…… by this time…. I was getting a bit jealous so, I tried to get down on the floor with him too! I managed it! it was a slow process but I did it! after some play, getting up again was difficult but I managed that too without too much stress.

By the time the evening came, Alfie, Pip and I were all pretty shattered and we all sat in the lounge, Alfie dozing on our laps (where his special blanket is! He’s only allowed on the sofa when his blanket is on it!!) it came to 22:30 and it was time for bed….. we put Alfie in his crate, shut the door and went upstairs…..

My heart nearly broke and I think Pippa’s did, as we lay in bed, listening to him cry… But, in less than 30 mins, he stopped! We slept through to 05:00 when I got up to go to the toilet, I think he heard me and he started to whine a little. I couldn’t resist so went down to let him out and let him go to the toilet. Also, I hadn’t taken my pain meds to bed and my hip was playing up so I took those on the way to take him out to the toilet!

So here we are after our first night. Not too tired and with a beautiful little boy asleep on my lap!…. surely this will make my recovery quicker!

Now I know how Wolverine feels!!!

Physio  done, Staples out and a rather long walk….I’m Shattered!

So, Yesterday, Pippa took me to my Physio appointment. I had a nice young bloke called Peter. He was very professional, and it seemed like he knew about Hip Resurfacing or, had at least done some research so that lifted my confidence in him straight away!

It took about 20 mins of questions and testing the movement in my hip, seeing how I walked with both, one and no crutches (that last one surprised me!) and then he took me over a few basic exercises to help me strengthen the stabilizing muscles around the hip. He also pointed out that I was still walking with a “limp” and showed me how to start to correct that. This may take some time as I have been walking with a limp for quite a while!

Then it was off to the Rushcutters for a meal with Pippa’s family as it was her mum’s Birthday. This was the first outing we have had since the op, and I

even managed to put some trousers on! the meal was nice and the company even better, the only problem I had was I had to get up every so often as my hip would start to become uncomfortable, This just meant I had to walk about every half hour or so and then it was fine again.

Last night tried to go the whole night without waking again, but didn’t quite manage it, I made it to 05:30 today though so its getting better!

This morning I had an appointment at my Doctors Surgery to have my Staples taken out. the surgery is about half a mile away so, I decided to walk it! It took me nearly half an hour using both crutches, but I have to say my

hands hurt more than my hip did and I was rather pleased!

The nurse called me in and I gave her the extractor tool that the hospital had asked me to pass on. This is where today’s title comes in…. I now think I know how it must feel for Wolverine every time he gets his claws out and puts them away again! It wasn’t exactly painful, (a few were but most weren’t) but it was uncomfortable…. The good thing is that the wound is

Join the Dots!!

healing well and in a few days I should be able to have a shower without worrying about getting it wet!!! that will be BLISS!!

The walk home was also pretty good and again, my hands hurt more than my hip (when will they make crutches comfortable??) but I could feel the strain in the muscles by the time I got in! I sat  down       for a bit with my leg raised and found myself nodding off! I think the walk really took it out of me!

All in all another good day and tomorrow I get to pick up my puppy Alfie so nothing can make that day bad!!!

Positive Mental Attitude!! PMA!!

Firstly, sorry for not posting yesterday… really busy one!

So, I read my blog back to myself and realised, I had started to fall into a hole of worry and negativity. A comment from one of my readers Emma, made me realise that I was looking at this recovery the wrong way and that needed to change!

I went to bed with a promise to myself that tomorrow I would wake up in a positive frame of mind!

You know what?? I did! I woke up after a pretty good nights sleep with my alarm clock waking me to tell me to take my painkillers and Antibiotics instead of the usual waking up every hour hoping it is time! The Leg Bully didn’t arrive, and there was only a lingering of the dead leg given yesterday.

After doing my exercises, I got up and headed downstairs. Pippa had already gone off to work and it was a nice day outside. I stepped out into the garden and looked around. I do love my Garden! The Bird feeder needed re-filling so I did that, then I looked at my (what should be) veg patch… there were weeds all over it and it really needed digging over… I didn’t delude myself into thinking that I could manage that, but I did go to the shed, get the weed killer and go at those pesky dandelions and thistles like they were invading aliens trying to take over my world!

After doing these positive things I felt great! these were the first “real” things I had done since my op and it felt great to be even a little bit useful. Next I knew that we were having Chinese style pork stir-fry for tea, and that the marinade for the pork needed doing. Those that know me know I love to cook! So, I painstakingly gathered all of the ingredients to a single area so I could work and away I went!

I was back! good old positive me, could see that this isn’t all that bad! And even if I can’t do everything right now… there is still a lot that I can do, and I am in a MUCH better position than a lot of people!

Now, either someone from the NHS has been reading my Blog, or I’m a lucky so and so, because that afternoon I got a phone call from a physiotherapist saying I had an NHS appointment at 16:30 today! I’m not retracting my previous blog because my thoughts on that still stand but, sometimes the NHS can surprise you!

My parents turned up for a visit (which is always nice!) and ended up staying for tea. We needed some more meat (and wine for my Mum!!) so Dad decided to walk to the shop. I was feeling good so decided to go with him. I got there and back with no problem, its not all that far but further than I had walked before now and it felt really good!

Last night I turned off my 04:00 alarm hoping that I would sleep right through… unfortunately at 05:00 I woke up needing my pain relief…. getting better though!! This morning I woke up and again, the Dead leg Bully wasn’t around… I’m now hoping I’ve seen the last of him! I have to say after the amount I did yesterday on my leg, I was expecting to pay for it today!

I’ve now dropped to 1 crutch whilst in the house and that seems to be going well too!! I can get around fine and it makes life SO much easier having a spare hand to carry things with etc. I’m off to my physio appointment now so we will see how that goes! then its off out for a meal for Pippa’s Mum’s Birthday!

At the moment, Life is GOOD and I think a lot of it comes down to that switch in attitude! so remember PMA!!!

Physiotherapy…. NHS Vs Private

In my opinion, one of the most important parts of recovering from an injury or operation like this is exercise.

Now, I’m not talking about going running or climbing K2. I’m talking about doing the CORRECT exercises and the correct AMOUNT of exercise for the stage of recovery you are at.

The problem with this is that most of us don’t know what these exercises are, how many of them we should be doing and when we should be moving on to the next stage. This is where Physiotherapy comes in. Physiotherapists are trained to know these things. They spend years at university and, obviously, gather more knowledge, experience and possibly specialisms as they progress in their careers.

So,”Get to a Physio as soon as possible!” would seem to be the obvious advice….Apparently not, if you are using the NHS! After speaking with my doctors’ surgery, they have agreed to refer me to a local physio… This could take up to 6 weeks, just to get an appointment….

I’m thinking that this first 6 weeks of recovery are possibly the most important and where I’ll benefit most from the support and input of a physio. So, now I feel like I’ve got to find and pay for a private physiotherapist, which could obviously become a bit pricey. I have been looking on the internet and phoning around this morning, trying to find a local Physio with experience in hip replacement. I found a few and called them up asking for availability and costs, etc.

Generally, they all seem to come out around the same price – £30-40 per hour if you go to them and £55-£65 for a home visit. For me, it would probably be cheaper to get a taxi there and back, rather than have them come to me. And when’s the earliest appointment that I could get?…. Tomorrow!

I can’t quite get my head around how there can be a 6 week wait on the NHS, when there are physios with availability the next day. I know that there are funding issues within the NHS, but surely there are some areas that are more important and pressing than others? In my opinion, recovery has to be one of the most important areas after surgery.

If the recovery is bad or compromised, won’t the overall success of the surgery be compromised too?

Of course, there is always the ‘DIY’ version, using Google and Youtube! – Maybe that’s the way to go??

This time …It’s Paranoia!!!!

Things are pretty much the same here today. The leg is still swollen and sore and movement is getting a tiny bit better by the day. My Nan has been to visit today and brought me Grapes and Cookies which is always nice!!(Thank you Nan!)

Last night however, was a little different. Pippa Slept in the spare room because she is not sleeping well next to me (she is scared of clonking me one in her sleep…wouldn’t be the first time!!) and I wake her up every time I need the toilet, or need to take more pain meds etc.

Pippa went to bed before me as she was shattered so when I went up, she was already asleep in the spare room. She had laid out the bed for me, got my water and pills ready and even put my pilllow that I use between my legs (I have to use it to stop me crossing my legs in my sleep) within reaching distance! As I got into bed though, I felt an eerie feeling of paranoia come over me… this horrible feeling that something either wasn’t right or was going to happen.

I laid in bed for about half an hour not able to sleep due to this feeling until I eventually fell into a light wary sleep. I woke up again about 1 hour later with the feeling still there, and an even more pressing one in my bladder. I got up to go to the toilet as quietly as I could, trying not to wake up Pippa who was sleeping next to me (she wasn’t…. I’d just forgotten she was in the other room!). On the way to the toilet I found myself looking behind doors and into shadows, like I was expecting someone, or something to be there…

I went back to bed and struggled to get back to sleep. and when I woke up this morning, the feeling was gone and everything was peachy!

I don’t know why this happened, and I’m definitely not normally a paranoid person…Again all I can think to put this down to, might be the medication that I am on… I have lowered my Morphine use and am using a different brand of Dihydrocodine (my original prescription ran out) so maybe that is it….

Has anyone else experienced the things I have so far due to meds? Vivid dreams, Nightmares, Paranoia? Or could this all just becoincidental or just my minds way of dealing with it all?….. Whatever it is, Ill be glad when it all stops and I can get a regular nights sleep!

Turns out, I’m not Superhuman…. :(

I may have gone into this operation with slightly more optimism than was perhaps advisable…..

Before this operation, I was researching as much as I could about the recovery periods – what I should be expecting to be able to do, and when. The problem was there was no information for someone my age!

Most of the information out there is aimed at 70 year olds, and I instantly thought  “well we can slash those recovery times! I’m much younger and fitter than them!” the thing I didn’t realise is there is a flip side to being young and fit….

As I think I have mentioned before, the operation took longer than expected, and they had to make a larger incision because of the amount of muscle in my thighs and bum…. This, I think is what is causing me problems! The hip-joint itself feels fine and there is more and more movement available from it every day but, the muscles in my thigh and bum are killing me!

It feels like every morning I am woken up with the school bully, ready and waiting with his leg cocked back, then swung through with all his force giving me the dead leg of the bully’s lifetime!  This “Dead Leg” pain is pretty constant and the morphine just about holds it at bay.

I know I have only been out of the operating theater a week, but for some reason I am disappointed with my recovery. I feel like I should be further on and should have less pain by now.. but that’s just me….

I do this to myself in everything that I do, be that DIY, an errand that needs to be run or a challenge I set for myself. I always think I will get things done quicker than in realty is possible… I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing… on one side, I am disappointed when I miss my targets but on the other hand I am always optimistic with things to come…

Should I stay optimistic? or become a realist and see things with a bit less rose tinting???