At 29 years old, I'm about to have surgery on my hip to fix a tear in my labral cartilage. Before we go any further, here is how I got here...
It's late spring of 2010. I have a trip to Hawaii coming up in September. Next summer I'll be a bridesmaid in an outdoor wedding and I'll attend my 10-year high school reunion. It's the perfect time to get in shape!
Right now, I'm 5'10'' and I weigh about 235 lbs... I was overweight, but I always "carried it well," as I was told. I also went to the gym occasionally but I pretty much ate whatever I wanted whenever I felt like eating it. My blood pressure was high, but I wasn't taking any medication. I couldn't even run 1/4 mile without stopping or feeling like my heart was going to pound out of my chest.
I start walking with someone from work 1-2 times a week and cut back on my eating. No results. I remember that a girl I know from college is now a personal trainer. I found her on facebook and contacted her. She has opened her own gym and started doing small group cross-fit type workout programs.
I tell my new trainer my goals and I start working out with her a couple times a week and she gives me a pretty strict diet to follow. Almost immediately, I see results. Not only that, I actually ENJOY working out!
So, I decide that if twice a week gives me results, then surely FIVE times a week will give me even faster results. After only about a month of working twice a week, I increase to five times a week and add in some running and jiu-jitsu for good measure.
It's now April 2011. I've lost about 50 lbs, have awesome muscle tone, dropped a few pants sizes, and I can run more than a mile without stopping. I'm doing great!
But, for some reason my right hip hurts when I squat. No big deal, I think, it's probably just bad form or a sprain/strain. I massage my quads and hamstrings regularly and stretch after each workout. It still hurts. Maybe I just need to rest. So instead of jumping onto a knee-high box, I just step up onto it. It still hurts. Come to think of it, my hip hurts a lot... and it hurts a lot of the time. It hurts if I sit too long, it hurts if I pull my knee up to my chest, it hurts if I squat down to pick something up. Luckily I stand all day at work, which surprisingly doesn't hurt my hip. Maybe I should go get this checked out...
I schedule an appointment with Orthopedics. They take an X-Ray that shows them nothing. Based on my description of the pain, they suspect a tear in my labrum. An MRI will show them more but they're expensive and physical therapy is usually the first recommendation for a labral tear. So I skip the MRI and start physical therapy.
After a couple months, physical therapy isn't helping. In fact, it's making my hip hurt even more! I finally get the MRI and it shows the tear that was suspected all along. Arthroscopic surgery is the next step to either repair or remove the damaged cartilage that is causing the pain.
So here I am. It's almost New Year's and my 29th birthday. My hipstergery is scheduled for January 4th. I'll be on crutches for about 6 weeks, out of work for about 8 weeks.
I'm writing this blog to keep my sanity during those 8 weeks out of work, but also to put more information out there. When I was researching my condition and options I found a surprising lack of information. And even less information that was helpful to me. I wanted to know what someone actually went through, to help me decide if it was something that I should undergo. My goal is to help people seeking information on labral tears, surgical procedures, side-effects, recovery, etc. If I make some people laugh along the way, even better.
I hope that whatever your reasons are for following this blog, you find what you're looking for. Please feel free to comment with words of wisdom, inspiration and motivation, or to just ask for more information.
Happy reading!
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It's late spring of 2010. I have a trip to Hawaii coming up in September. Next summer I'll be a bridesmaid in an outdoor wedding and I'll attend my 10-year high school reunion. It's the perfect time to get in shape!
Right now, I'm 5'10'' and I weigh about 235 lbs... I was overweight, but I always "carried it well," as I was told. I also went to the gym occasionally but I pretty much ate whatever I wanted whenever I felt like eating it. My blood pressure was high, but I wasn't taking any medication. I couldn't even run 1/4 mile without stopping or feeling like my heart was going to pound out of my chest.
I start walking with someone from work 1-2 times a week and cut back on my eating. No results. I remember that a girl I know from college is now a personal trainer. I found her on facebook and contacted her. She has opened her own gym and started doing small group cross-fit type workout programs.
I tell my new trainer my goals and I start working out with her a couple times a week and she gives me a pretty strict diet to follow. Almost immediately, I see results. Not only that, I actually ENJOY working out!
So, I decide that if twice a week gives me results, then surely FIVE times a week will give me even faster results. After only about a month of working twice a week, I increase to five times a week and add in some running and jiu-jitsu for good measure.
It's now April 2011. I've lost about 50 lbs, have awesome muscle tone, dropped a few pants sizes, and I can run more than a mile without stopping. I'm doing great!
But, for some reason my right hip hurts when I squat. No big deal, I think, it's probably just bad form or a sprain/strain. I massage my quads and hamstrings regularly and stretch after each workout. It still hurts. Maybe I just need to rest. So instead of jumping onto a knee-high box, I just step up onto it. It still hurts. Come to think of it, my hip hurts a lot... and it hurts a lot of the time. It hurts if I sit too long, it hurts if I pull my knee up to my chest, it hurts if I squat down to pick something up. Luckily I stand all day at work, which surprisingly doesn't hurt my hip. Maybe I should go get this checked out...
I schedule an appointment with Orthopedics. They take an X-Ray that shows them nothing. Based on my description of the pain, they suspect a tear in my labrum. An MRI will show them more but they're expensive and physical therapy is usually the first recommendation for a labral tear. So I skip the MRI and start physical therapy.
After a couple months, physical therapy isn't helping. In fact, it's making my hip hurt even more! I finally get the MRI and it shows the tear that was suspected all along. Arthroscopic surgery is the next step to either repair or remove the damaged cartilage that is causing the pain.
So here I am. It's almost New Year's and my 29th birthday. My hipstergery is scheduled for January 4th. I'll be on crutches for about 6 weeks, out of work for about 8 weeks.
I'm writing this blog to keep my sanity during those 8 weeks out of work, but also to put more information out there. When I was researching my condition and options I found a surprising lack of information. And even less information that was helpful to me. I wanted to know what someone actually went through, to help me decide if it was something that I should undergo. My goal is to help people seeking information on labral tears, surgical procedures, side-effects, recovery, etc. If I make some people laugh along the way, even better.
I hope that whatever your reasons are for following this blog, you find what you're looking for. Please feel free to comment with words of wisdom, inspiration and motivation, or to just ask for more information.
Happy reading!
