2.5 Months Post-Op

This morning everything hurts from my waist down...except my hip joint!  However, it's all a good muscular hurt.  I had a very productive PT appointment yesterday.  My PT decided that I'm ready to drop all double leg exercises and move onto only single leg exercises.  My program now includes lunges (ouch), a split squat with my operated leg doing all the work and my right leg rest on a chair, a squat and touch back from an elevated step, and drills with an agility ladder.  The agility ladder reminded me of playing high school soccer.  However, it was good to start to progress to some "light impact" activities.  She seemed pleased with my progression.  I asked her how long PT typically continued after this surgery and she said that we would probably be working together until September or so, but that my visits would eventually drop down to once a month.  In her words, "We don't just get you running a 5K again and then abandon you."  That was good to hear.  We talked briefly about my return to running and she dismissed my idea of not running until August.  She said that since I was doing so well, I would probably get to start a run/walk program in about 4 weeks.  I still plan on being very conservative with running in the beginning.  I am in no rush.  Like I told her, after you've been injured for 2 years, another month or two just doesn't matter.  But...RUNNING!

Last weekend I spent all day Saturday at my favorite race, the Ice Age Trail 50 mile/50K.  Being there felt a bit like having to spend the day with an ex who you still have feelings for, but it was a beautiful and sunny day; perfect for spectating and spending time with friends.  My hip held up well.  I walked around a bunch, stood, sat comfortably in camp chairs, and didn't have any issues aside from sitting on the grass for a little too long.  Last year I volunteered, but I didn't sign up this year because I was worried about being post-op.  My worries were unnecessary; it definitely wouldn't have been a problem.  I'll be back next year, of course, but hopefully with a number pinned on my shirt. 

Max King winning the Ice Age Trail 50 Mile with a new course record

Me and my friend George.  Sunburn in full affect.

So far I am incredibly happy that I had this surgery.  I won't hesitate to do it again if my right hip decides to fail.  I think it's so important to put information about this out there on the web, since you tend to find a lot of negative experiences from The Almighty Google.  Recovery has been so much easier than I anticipated.  The reason I am keeping this blog is to hopefully give others a different perspective of this surgery.  I think it is important to note that I am young(ish), an athlete, and my body has proven to be fairly resilient over the course of my life, so I can't deny that does give me a leg up in terms of recovery. 

I am not sure if it would benefit anyone for me to keep posting my weekly walking/biking miles.  I have been walking about 20-25 miles a week at this point.  I feel like I am getting close to approaching unlimited walking.  I have started hiking again as well.  The first hike was a little shaky with some weird muscular twinges, but that soon disappeared after a few more times out.  So far the furthest I've gone has been almost 5 miles carrying an 18 pound pack.  However, if I can hike 5 miles, why not 6?  If I can do 6 miles, why not 7?  (And so on.)  So I feel like from here, it's just a game of getting my muscles up to speed and used to pushing the distances again.  It struck me as I was walking the other day that I don't have groin pain anymore.  I can vividly recall visiting a friend in Chicago over the winter and feeling that steady ache as we walked to dinner.  It's almost strange to not feel the pain anymore.  Amazing, but strange.

Hiking on a grassy open field

Hiking amongst the new wildflowers on my Ice Age Trail

Week Nine Post-Op

I can't believe it's already been two months. Time has gone by so much faster after surgery, rather than waiting anxiously for surgery to arrive.  That said, I was in a bit of a funk this week.  Every day was cloudy, rainy, and cold; it's May.  Where did you go, Spring?  I also think that I've become used to my normal routine again.  Everything is normal, yet it's not.  I still can't run and am limited in my walking/biking.  I am just trying my best to keep up with my dog's never ending energy.  I am amazed at how well my hip is holding up with the increased walking.  I've also walked a few times on some gentle trails without problems.  (Aside from taking a small digger after getting my ankle caught in a hole.  Yeah, I went totally down.)  I am not sure what my limits are with walking yet.  I am trying my best to increase slowly and not hit a point where I've gone too far.  So far so good, although toward the end of the week I was quite tired and had a few minor twinges in my hip flexor on the operated side.  It has since settled down without issue.

Monday: 2 mile walk

Tuesday: 3.4 mile walk

Wednesday: 1.8 mile walk (Dog park)

Thursday: 3.2 mile walk

Friday: 1.8 mile walk (Dog park)
Saturday: 2.5 miles a.m. + 3 miles p.m.

Sunday: 2.5 miles a.m. + 11 mile bike ride + 1.2 miles p.m.

At PT this week I was bumped from once a week down to once every other week.  I was surprised that happened so fast, but I suppose it makes sense given that I do most of the work at home.  My PT said that soon I'll be able to start light impact and agility stuff like jumping, skipping, ladders, etc.  That sounds scary to me at this point, even though I tentatively tried jumping the other day and I felt no pain.  I'm still doing a lot of squatting exercises at PT.  He seemed very pleased with my progress this week -- we did a lot of me balancing on my operated leg in a squat position while I played catch with the PT from different directions.  Right now I feel like I am just biding my time until June or so.  I am anxiously looking forward to longer bike rides and some real hikes.  Next time I see Dr. Keene is later this month at almost 12 weeks!

Walking with the crazy girl.

Week Eight Post-Op

PT was pretty uneventful this week.  I told them I wasn't able to complete all my exercises last week since my hamstrings were so sore, thus they didn't advance anything too much.  I am now doing skater squats with a band around my knees and walk-out bridges.  Those were familiar from my first round of PT before surgery, so no worries there.  Since my Monday appointment at PT, my hamstrings have been feeling much better.  My muscles are starting to wake up and get accustomed to being used again.  I can't wait to get rid of the mush that my legs have become over the past two months.

I think I am almost back to my normal walking pace.  Walking feels great.  In fact, I am starting to think that my operated hip feels even better than my non-op hip when walking.  It's smoother, not as tight.  That's a pretty scary thought.  While I am not having any significant pain in my "good" hip yet, there's a very real possibility that it will eventually fail on me.  During my first appointment with Dr. Keene he looked at my X-Rays and said that my right (good) hip looked worse than my left (going to be operated on) in terms of abnormal bone structure.  At least if I have to go through this again, I won't spend years trying to figure out what's wrong with me.  But I really, really don't want to have to go through this again.  Dr. Keene will probably be retired by the time (if) my right hip goes bad and I won't want to trust a new doctor with it.  I know I shouldn't think about the "what ifs", but it's always going to be in the back of my mind. 

Monday: 2.4 mile walk

Tuesday: 10.9 mile bike ride

Wednesday: 12.4 mile bike ride
Thursday: 2 mile walk
Friday:  10 mile bike ride

Saturday: 13 mile bike ride + 2 mile dog walk

Sunday: 1.2 mile dog park walk + 1.8 mile dog walk

The big news this week was that my dog came home on Saturday!  She stayed with me at my parent's house while I was there, but then got transferred to my best friend's house for most of the month of April.  I needed to make sure that I would be able to handle all of the walking that came along with taking care of her, as she's fairly high energy even at the age of 9.  So next week will be a test on my hip to see how it does with increased walking. 

Yesterday I absentmindedly jogged down a flight of stairs.  I didn't even realize I was doing it.  It didn't hurt, so I'll take that as a good sign. The timeline to return to running seems to vary wildly between people and surgeons after this surgery.  I've read about people starting to run as early as 8 weeks, which is where I am right now, and as late as 6 months.  I am absolutely not ready to run yet, both mentally and physically.  My PT told me that the most optimistic result would be 12-14 weeks post-op.  I am not in any rush to start running again.  I would prefer to error on the conservative side and I can be happy enough this summer with just biking and hiking.  My tentative plan is to wait until July/August to start running, which would put me at 4-5 months post-op.  Of course, that's subject to change.  I seem to be healing well without compilations, so maybe I will feel differently in a month.

I am happy with my decision to have surgery in late winter/early spring.  The better I start to feel, the nicer the weather becomes.  It's been encouraging to correlate my healing with the coming of summer.

Content to finally be home.

Week Seven Post-Op

I am continuing to feel better every week.  I was back at work full time this week and sitting in my chair is definitely easier than it was previously.  I am walking faster and going to the store amongst normal people isn't scary anymore.  I feel like I can blend into the crowd now.     

This week at PT we advanced some of my strengthening and stability exercises.  I am now doing partial lunges, side stepping squats with resistance bands, more squat type stuff for my glutes, and one legged bridges.  I am finally feeling like my glutes are getting some good work, since I woke up the next day a little sore (sore muscles, not joint.)  I don't mind the muscle pain, but I must say that my hamstrings were pretty painful for a few days following.  On my own I am also doing planks and calf raises.  (A side note on calf raises - you can't not use your legs for over a month and then break out 50 calf raises.  Ouch.  I felt that one for a good few days afterwards.)  My range of motion seems to be almost back to normal, aside from some certain movements, which they said will come with time.  PT also gave me the green light to "walk for exercise."  They were pretty ambiguous about the distance, but I figure as long as I am pain free, then it's okay.  My gait still isn't perfect (feels only very slightly off), but I'm reasonably sure I look like I normal person walking down the street now.  Walking on flats is definitely easier than on hills.  I slow down significantly on the hills yet. 

Monday: Grocery store (this was a good enough walk that day for me)

Tuesday: 1.8 mile walk

Wednesday: 1 mile walk

Thursday: 2 mile walk

Friday: 2 mile walk

Saturday: 10 mile bike ride

Sunday: 10 mile bike ride + 1.3 mile walk

I have determined that biking is magic.  Sometimes I will wake up with a small limp or some minor pain, but after I've hopped on the bike for a while it's instantly gone.  Maybe it has to do with that "motion is lotion" saying about your joints.  Speaking of biking, I rode my bike OUTSIDE for the first time on Saturday.  I stuck to as flat of a route as possible and just took it nice and easy.  Low gears, easy pedaling, plenty of coasting.  The few hills I did encounter I just put it in a super easy gear and spun away without getting up off the seat.  It felt totally fine and it was great to get outside.  I hadn't been outside on a bike since November, so the first few minutes were like, "Wheeeeeeeeeeee!"  I stopped at a picnic table half way through and took a 5 minute break.  I wound up going 10 miles in about 55 minutes.  Ridiculously slow, but the point was just to get outside and enjoy myself and see how it felt.  My ride on Sunday felt even better and I was faster, so I can't complain about that kind of instant progress.  I'll consult with PT on Monday just to be sure, but hopefully this means I can start to bike outside a few days a week!

I can now easily sleep on my operated side.  I don't really even think about rolling over in bed anymore.  It's just normal aside from the pillow between my legs, which I think I'll continue to use for a while just in case.  (In case of what, I'm not sure, but it can't hurt.)  When going up and down stairs now I have that little urge to jog, since that's my typical behavior.  I figure that's a good sign that my brain wants me to jog, even though I won't be doing that anytime soon.  I would say that the only normal movements I am still having difficulty with is getting in/out of the car.  I am still careful about my leg and use my hands to lift it slightly.  If I forget, I'll get a small zing of pain to remind me that there is still a lot of healing going on inside of me. 

Week Six Post-Op

This week was all about returning back to normal.  I was still only at work part time, but I am starting to feel ready to put this fragile stage behind me.  I am moving much better now.  I can bend over and touch my toes, cross my legs both ways, sit indian style, and sit with my op-leg foot on the knee of my other leg.  I can't think of any positions right now that would bother me.  However, being stuck in my desk chair at work was still slightly irritating if I didn't get up and move around enough.  Nothing to warrant even ibuprofen; it's just annoying. 

PT really did a number on me this week.  The lady clipped this belt (looked like a seat belt) around my leg and around her at the same time and did all sorts of weird pulling and pushing to try and increase my ROM.  I'm still having pain bringing my knee toward my chest when I am on my back, but apparently that's normal.  I'm now doing mini squats with a band around my knees and then walking sideways and forward.  I also got permission to walk a mile outside and then slowly increase to 30 minutes.  The first time I walked a mile on Tuesday was pretty difficult.  It felt like a long way to walk and I could definitely tell I was slowing down toward the end.  But by Saturday, it became a lot easier.  I've found that if something feels hard at the beginning of the week, I can expect it to be a lot easier toward the end of the week.  Healing in action and all that.  Mileage this week:

Monday: 8/10 of a mile
Tuesday: 1 mile
Wednesday: 1 mile
Thursday: 6/10 of a mile
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 1 mile
Sunday: 1 mile

I am still riding the bike every day, but toward the end of the week I started alternating my easy spinning with a little resistance.  Adding in the resistance actually makes me feel like I'm doing a workout.  It feels good to sweat again, even if it's just inside my living room.  For some reason I've found riding the trainer a lot more tolerable this year than last year.  I don't know if it's because I've adjusted my bike so much that it fits better or if because I am just desperate for something to do.  Either way, I've been listening to music and happily going for 30-40 minutes at a time.

On Friday, I got to move back to my own house!  Staying with my parent's was extremely helpful for those first few weeks.  I couldn't imagine doing it on my own or mostly on my own.  Long distance relationships are certainly not very helpful in these types of situations, so I was lucky to have my parents close enough to take me in.  I didn't have too much to haul between houses, but my dad did most of the heavy lifting.  I did pick up a big duffel bag and twisted or rotated oddly and tweaked myself pretty badly.  I was limping most of the rest of the day, but iced off and on and woke up feeling fine the next day.  I guess I still do need help with some things, but I feel mostly back to normal in terms of day to day type of activities.

I think the most important thing to note over the past six weeks is that while I've had various pains, I have not had any of my pre-op pain.  None.  For the first time in almost 2 years, I have no groin pain.  It's pretty crazy to think about.  I can roll over in my sleep again!  Rolling over in bed probably caused me the most acute pain before.  I can't wait to discover even more things that don't cause me pain anymore.

Two of my three scope wounds.  The other is on my outer hip.

Post-Op Appointment #2 and Learning About Healing

 

I am finally caught with my blog and am posting in real time now!  I had my second post-op appointment yesterday.  It went just fine, but it was mostly pointless.  Dr. Keene had a 30 minute delay, so things were pretty rushed.  After spending too much time in the waiting room, I was finally called back.  Some resident/intern guy came in and wanted to compare my ROM from my right to my left.  He was a little too rough for my liking on my operated side - pushing and rotating my leg with the same force as my right.  Ummm, hey dude, I just had surgery 5.5 weeks ago!

I had to fill out some form regarding my pain and activities.  Dr. Keene came in and we chatted for a few minutes.  He just wanted to know that I was healing well and that my incisions weren't causing me any pain.  Check and check.  I asked about restrictions and he said I had none.  I asked about biking and walking and he said not to increase too quickly, but I could very slowly increase time and resistance.  I scheduled another appointment in 6 weeks.  He said that the most progress is made in weeks 6-12, so that was exciting to hear.

Today it has been 5 weeks and 4 days since surgery.  5 weeks and 5 days since I've run.  I've only recently remembered to start looking at the big picture again.  It's hard to convince myself that there's an end game to this whole thing.  I've been so consumed with never ending pain for 2 years that it's hard to realize that I'm actually on the road to getting better now.  I have a hard time describing my situation as chronic pain, as I hardly suffered like people with true chronic pain do.  However, it really did take over my entire life in a way.  I had to stop doing the things that I loved to do.  I wondered every day how bad it was going to be.  It dominated my thoughts.  It was just something I eventually accepted as part of me, because you can't move forward with your life without accepting that.  When you're running an ultra and you're alone in the woods in the dark, you are supposed to make friends with your pain so you never feel alone.  So I asked my pain out for coffee and it stayed a while.  It's not that you stop thinking about it, it's that you just get used to it.  The pain becomes your new normal.  I'm trying to remind myself that a new normal is coming yet again. 

What has amazed me in the last few weeks is the feeling of healing.  That might sound silly, but I had forgotten what it was like to heal.  After you've exhausted a dozen options and given up on having anything change, to be able to watch yourself make progress and GET BETTER is indescribable.  I know I am still early in this process and I have a very long way to go, but I'm hopeful that there will come a day where I don't think about my hip.  I want to go through the motions of a normal day, come home from work and go for a run with my dog and lay in bed pain free that night and think, "Huh.  I'm missing something here."

Every day that I walk a little farther makes me smile.  I walked 1 mile last night.  I may have ran 63 miles in a day before, but damn if I wasn't proud of that 1 mile. 

Week Five Post-Op

This was the week that marked my return to (semi) independence.  1.)  My parents were leaving for Virgina for a week to visit my brother.  2.)  I was going back to work part time.  I was stuck tying my shoes all by myself.  We joked that I could probably pay the neighbor kid next door to come over and tie my shoes every morning, but I managed okay by myself.  I still couldn't bend down to do it, but I could bring my foot up on my opposite leg.  It was nice to be on my own for a while.  I very slowly navigated around the grocery store one afternoon.  It felt weird to be out in public and be moving so slowly.  Some people gave me funny looks; I needed a sign on my back that stated I just had surgery. 

At PT this week, they had me starting to do mini squats and balancing on my operated leg, as well as walking forward and sideways in the mini squat position.  I was a little worried about incorporating new exercises when I was just getting my walking legs back, but I didn't have any pain or problems.  I felt like my gait was starting to normalize after a little over a week off the crutches.  I obviously wasn't going anywhere fast, but my limp was getting less pronounced.  PT said my range of motion was getting a lot better and continuing to improve.  It's really important to work hard on your range of motion since you have a limited time frame to get it back. 

I feel like I went back to work at the right time for me.  I could have gone back earlier, but it wouldn't have felt right.  The plan was 4 weeks totally off, 2 weeks back part time (4 hours/day), and then back to my normal full time hours.  Those first few days this week were tiring and I was very ready to get out of the desk chair by the end of my 4 hours.  My joint felt mildly uncomfortable by my limited positions.  I missed my recliner.  It wasn't bad, but I guess I didn't realize how much normal things still made me tired, even after a month. 

In the middle of the week, I was dog sitting for my brother's little 5 pound dog.  He was fun to have around because he was so easy to handle and I could actually take him for a walk and not worry about being pulled over.  We decided to try and make it around the block (approximately a half mile).  Toward the end I was dragging pretty badly.  My leg was just really tired and I was starting to get some pain in the joint.  Getting back to the house seemed so far away!  When I got home I iced it and took some ibuprofen and all seemed fine an hour later.  A few days later I was able to walk a half of a mile with no problems.  My walk schedule this week looked like this:

Monday: 1.5 miles (last walk on crutches)

Tuesday: 2/10 of a mile
Wednesday: 1/2 of a mile (dog walk)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 1/2 of a mile
Saturday: 1/2 of a mile
Sunday: 7/10 of a mile

Sleeping was getting a lot easier.  My movements in bed were almost totally pain free and I could sleep on the operated side with only a little bit of weird feeling.  I am still sleeping with a pillow between my legs; I'll probably continue to do that as a precaution for a while.

Hanging with the little guy on a nice day.