July 13 – now

I didn’t meant to not blog for so long, but take it as a good sign that I’ve been so absent. My pain decreased and I was able to resume normal life!

The end of July brought a lot of triumphs for me! I saw Clohisy on July 21 and he cleared me to wean off my crutches as tolerated, as well as to start physical therapy. I also started a round of antibiotics (which eventually turned into 2 rounds) for my infected incision. Seems my body doesn’t particularly like internal stitches, because they kept coming out through the open wound. We went to Arcadia for the daze a few days later and I was able to get around VERY comfortably on one crutch (and the long drive didn’t even kill me, as long as I maintained my pain med schedule). I ordered a cane online and it was at our house when we got home, and from then on, at exactly 5-weeks post-op, I was off crutches and onto my cane! I tried to take a few steps unaided and had a HUGE limp, but it didn’t hurt too much.

I returned to work part-time on July 30! I did half days for 7 workdays and returned fulltime on August 10. Work was HARD, and not just physically. My brain felt like a pile of mush and I couldn’t figure out what had been done on my behalf while I was gone, and couldn’t get in a good rhythm. It took me a solid month to get back into a routine and confident in my abilities to produce quality work.

I started physical therapy on July 27. She had me start by doing basic strength exercises. It was fine and exhausting, but extremely effective. At that stage of recovery, you can see changes very quickly. At 6 weeks and 2 days post-op, I could walk short distances WITHOUT A LIMP! I still brought my cane to work for a few weeks because I got fatigued very easily. At 7 weeks, I could ride a bike (ok, stationary bike) 2 miles with no pain! It was about this time that I was having some nerve pain in my inner thigh down to my knee, so I got a script for muscle relaxers. AMAZING. I’ve never slept better. Just before 8 weeks, we went to a wedding in Chicago. I used my cane but was able to get around the dance floor and drink a good amount and not take pain pills! We even used the cane as a limbo stick. What a hit. Just before the 9 week point, I volunteered at the LFCS auction. I made it through almost 7 hours on my feet and woke up feeling GOOD. Granted I was on pain killers the whole night, but the point is I DID it and I felt GREAT. I even walked a mile the next day (with my cane, and it was hard), and finally traded in my elastic laces for the real deal (honest moment: tying my shoes still isn’t easy. My hip doesn’t want to bend that way). At the 9-week point, my scar had FINALLY healed and I could swim! I went to the Becker’s pool and it was HARD. I jumped in and kicked and oh man, I didn’t have the strength I needed to do that. I did some slow laps. PT kept getting harder! She had me doing balance exercises and the bike and stairs (my poor knee is suffering from weakness as well as from the extreme tight IT band).

In September, we flew to Portland for a wedding. I brought my cane and am proud to say I didn’t really need it at all. In fact, I left it on the plane when we arrived back in St. Louis and the flight attendant had to chase me down! And that was it, my cane was retired. Jon had to pull both of our roller bags because did you know it takes good balance and hip strength to pull a roller bag? It does and it was hard and a surprise. This was also the last weekend I really took pain pills to get through anything.

At 12 weeks post-op, I was able to start JUMPING! Yes, I was THAT excited. You’ve gotta celebrate the little victories as they come. It was hard, but another step up on the recovery ladder. It opens new doors and brings about a more positive attitude. I was also struggling with keeping my pelvis from rotating and was having to correct it several times a day, including at work on the floor (ask me about the time the CEO walked in on that…). At this point, it became my goal to be able to walk as far as possible without a limp or having to stop and rest. I was at about a mile. Once I could do this, I could try running!!!

14 weeks brought out the resistance bands! Talk about killer. It’s SO good for hip strengthening. I also was struggling with endurance so I started taking the stairs more often and trying to walk faster.

15 weeks post-op I went back to Clohisy for my 4-month checkup. MY BONES HAD HEALED. All the way. It was a shock! I thought there would still be some gaps. He cleared me to start walk-runs with strict instructions to TAKE IT SLOW. DEAL! I also made the decision to cancel my second surgery. My right hip has been feeling SO good and I do NOT want to go through this horrific recovery again for a hip that isn’t in dire need of fixing. I will wait and see what happens. Hopefully I’ll never need the second PAO, but chances are I will.

At 15 weeks and 2 days post-op, I took my first short jog. Tears streamed down my face and I sobbed and sobbed and was so proud of myself for how far I’d come. I can’t believe that my hip is fixed and pain-free and I am so happy I can finally move on with my life.

At 16 weeks and 3 days, I started taking barre classes. I’ve been once a weeks since then and I LOVE it. It works all the muscles I need to tone – butt, thighs, core, hips. It is so expensive so I think I’ll stick with only once a week for now.

And that brings me to now. 19 weeks post-op to the day. I have been having some left SI joint pain the last week or so and some hamstring and thigh tightness, but for the most part, I feel great. While walking, both of my hips feel the same. I still struggle with my SI joint rotating out of place and feeling off-balanced, but that’ll resolve as I keep strengthening. I keep having some joint swelling after extreme exercising (by extreme I mean a long walk or barre or a short run) so that sucks. For the most part I feel like a normal person again. I can carry my own laundry, pick up heavy things (though don’t tell my husband because I still like him to do the heavy lifting), stand for long periods of time, and just generally kick ass at life. We are going to Belgium in a few weeks and I can’t WAIT to walk unlimited miles.