Feets on the Ground

I guess I've been pretty lazy about keeping up this blog lately mostly because I was having so many ups and downs that things changed daily, er, hourly and I didn't really feel like charting my emotions lest I reveal the true state of my lunacy in cyberspace. Anyway, I'm almost 5 weeks post-op. Its almost tougher these days than when I was confined to the bed or couch and CPM machine because now I get more of glimpse of what I'm missing outside the asylum. I've had stretches of 3 or 4 days where I barely touched a bag of ice or Flexor patch and consequently felt pretty encouraged. I've also had some down-right rotten days where the pain was overwhelming and worse than before surgery and I had to fight back the tears while sitting cramped on the bus back to Boulder in the evenings. I've been pretty religious with my PT -- I've done 2 "sessions" per day on most days with the occasional slacking on the second session because I was sore or exhausted and felt that sleep was equally as important as hamstring curls and single leg raises.

I weaned myself off the crutches very gradually -- 3 weeks at 2, then 1 week at 1 and another 4 or 5 days with 1 as needed in the evenings. My gait is totally off -- I tend to lean over the "involved" hip to protect it and it feels like I cannot really straighten my back all the way. I look like I'm constipated or someone just took a 2x4 to my spine. I'm hoping this gradually changes in another week or I am going to worry for real. I see Dr. S on Friday and I have a laundry list of questions to bug him about (lateral hip pain and tightness? knee is really pissed off? can I get a platelet injection for my IT band? what can I expect in the way of pain level at 3 mos.?).

I've also been gradually working my way up on the bike and am excited to report that I broke a sweat today -- mind you, I intentionally wore insulated running pants and a long-sleeve shirt to the gym so that I would sweat but it was a sweat all the same and I think I may have even gotten my heart rate elevated for a few minutes. Now I'm a little achy and stingy but who knows if this is the dog walk around Shanahan Ridge that took place after the bike, my glute muscles still sore from this morning's dry needling session with Sue (ouch!) or any other dozen or so things that can set my hip off into a red and angry state.

Sue, the PT who I see for trigger point dry-needling at Boulder Center for Sports Med said I have one of the highest thresholds for pain from the needles that she has ever seen. Could that possibly be that I have been in pain for so freaking long now that its really all very relative?? I swear, those needles hurt like a bitch going into the muscle but it does seem to work and I can definitely tell it gets the glute medius and multifidus (sp?) firing again so my IT band isn't doing all the work. I feel like I've been SPANKED hard for a day or two after the butt needling but the muscles surrounding the joint that have been at Threat Level Orange for the last month are able to get a break for a few days. In case you were wondering, I have no formal scientific training past college biology but this whole injury has made me, necessarily, wholly familiar with anatomy, physiology and a host of other sub-disciplines I never would have any reason to know or care much about in a previous life.

A Little More Myself

I hit my two week mark yesterday and am looking forward to all of the exciting new exercises I will get in the coming weeks. At the moment I am doing isometric, closed-chain glute and quad tightening, some ankle stuff and a little bit of hamstring work. I asked my PT what I have to look forward to and he said I will be able to *gradually* add some resistance back to the bike starting in another week...woo-hoo. According to our modified version of the Phillipon (Vail hip doc) protocol, I'll be cycling and swimming by week 10...but who's counting, not me of course.

The pain level has been manageable lately although I'm still pretty beat by the end of the day. The gimp sticks are getting really old and I find myself cheating around the house when I walk to the kitchen or bathroom or whatever. Not being able to bend over and lift things is proving immensely challenging when you're trying to care for three (3) dogs and your husband left you to go skiing in Utah for the weekend. I don't know where I'd be without so many helpful friends and neighbors. I constantly worry that I've re-torn my labrum and the other day I heard an awful "clunk" much like the clunking I've heard when I lift my knee up to my chest since about August. I've been told its pretty hard to re-tear the labrum now that the bony impingement on my femur is gone but its always essential to have something to obsess over when you're living in my head.

I've been back at work this week for part time. The first day was pretty rough as I realized the distance to crutch to the bathroom, water cooler, kitchen etc. was like crutching across the dog park but I'm doing a little better now on Day 3. Everyone who asks me about what I had done generally has the same story to tell about their grandmother, uncle, etc. who had a hip replacement...did I mention that that gets old too? Ah, well, I can't blame peoples' lack of knowledge about sports injuries seeing as it took me eight effing months to diagnose this one.

Thank goodness for red wine, vodka tonics and Entourage. I'm generally never too incapacitated to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail or wash down some IB-profun with a few glasses of Shiraz. If that changes, there is definite cause for concern.