From Hipster to Leapster

HAPPY LEAP DAY!

Before we start on the excitement that was today, yesterday was my final post-op visit with my surgeon. He was in the room for about 3 minutes. He asked how I was doing. I told him I felt pretty well and seemed like I wasn't having any complications. He rotated my hip and said everything looked okay on his end. He asked if I had any questions for him. Since I didn't, he cleared me from his care. So, at this point, I'm done with the surgeon unless I have any problems. Luckily my PT and surgeon are in the same building, so if I do have any problems during PT, he'll be right there.

"Leaping lizards!"

 

 

 

Today was my first day back at work! The half-mile trek from the parking garage to the heavy grey door behind which I work was not something I missed.

My first stop was Occupational Health to get cleared to return to work. I gave them a letter from my surgeon, and the nurse took my blood pressure and temperature. Painless, but annoying. At least it took up about an hour of my time, most of which consisted of me waiting out front to be called back.

I went downstairs to check in with the Boss Man and get the run down on what went on while I was out. Same stuff, different day.

Luckily, I make the work schedule, so I made sure that I would be working the "sit-down" job today and the next two days so I can ease back into work. Surprisingly, though, work day wasn't as annoying as I thought it was going to be. I guess the 8 weeks I had off really did help me mentally, as well as physically.

Even though I had the "sit-down" job, working in a pharmacy still requires a lot of moving and walking around. By the end of the day, the front part of my hip, where the hip flexor muscle stretches across the joint, was pretty sore and achy. I had physical therapy scheduled right after work, but before I could get there, I had to get back to my car. My PT center is only about a mile and a half from where I work. So, I walked the half mile to my car, then drove a mile to PT... I should have just walked the whole thing and counted that as my warm-up!

No changes in PT; still trying to get my hip acclimated to being used again. I'm taking advantage of the handicapped parking decal I have; although I feel guilty for using it since I'm capable of walking. I just make sure I limp around a little bit when I am close to my car.

The gym is still pretty low-key. I'm sticking with the stationary bike for cardio to reduce the amount of time I spend on my feet and to keep the stress and impact down to a minimum. Hopefully next week I'll be able to go for an actual bike ride if the weather is nice. My poor bike is so lonesome propped against the wall.

Since I live in a second floor apartment with no elevator, I try to avoid the stairs as much as possible, at least on the way up. I took the elevator up one flight of stairs at work today. I refused to take it back down. One small leap at a time...

Next up: A leap of faith, maybe?

7 Hipnotic Weeks

Tomorrow marks 7 weeks post-op, and I am finally free of my crutches!

We walked down to the
Stop sign and back.

Last Wednesday, at 6 weeks, I was able to walk around the house without the crutches, but I was still supposed to use them outside the house. Needless to say, I barely left the house for the rest of the week and all weekend because I didn't want to have to use them!

Today, I am sore from Monday's PT session. How I have missed this kind of pain! My quads and glutes are killing me! I did some single leg squats and leg presses. At the end of my session, I was given permission to leave the crutches at home! FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST!

Apparently, the dog is aware of the fact that I don't need the crutches anymore. He went crazy this morning begging me to walk him. So, this morning I took him out for a slow short walk. And by short, I mean, like 1/4 mile in about 10-15 minutes. Usually, he gets to walk at least a mile at a brisk pace. He wanted to keep going, but he humored me and let me take him in early.

Note the flippy-floppy on the left.

Today was my first day back in the gym after surgery. I forgot how much I missed the smell of sweat and workout equipment. I also forgot how much fun it was to people watch at the gym... (There was an older woman on the elliptical wearing sparkly flip-flops! As if older people don't have a hard enough time keeping their balance on those machines, or walking, or standing... let's add flippy floppies to the mix...)

I digress. My workout at the gym was nothing impressive. I did increase my cycling time to 30 minutes with low resistance. Then I stretched and did all my PT exercises. I also did some upper body work, but since I haven't been working out AT ALL over the last 2 months, I just did a quick easy workout to get the blood flowing again. I'm sure I'll be all kind of sore tomorrow and Thursday. CAN'T WAIT!





Ariel said it best...
Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far
Legs are required for jumping, dancing
Strolling along down a - what's that word again?
Street

Hippofatamus

...That's what I feel like these days.

Wednesday (2/8) was the 5-week mark for my surgery. Time is definitely starting to move faster now. It's hard to believe I go back to work in less than 3 weeks now!

At PT, I've been "treading water" so to speak. They have a treadmill in the pool that I've been walking on for the last 3 visits. I started off slow. I was chest deep in the water, so I was only putting about 30% of my body weight on my feet. I did the "museum walk" as I like to call it, one mph for 20 minutes. I walked a whole third of a mile! The second time I did 1.5 mph for 20 minutes; I got to a whole half mile! This last time, I was only waist deep in the water, so I was using about 50% of my weight, and I picked it up to 2 mph for 20 minutes, walking about 3/4 of a mile.

My Handi-Capable
Parking Permit

I was also finally cleared to start driving! It's been nice being a little more independent again. I can drive myself to PT and to meet up with a friend. Sitting in the car too long gets uncomfortable though, so I've been keeping the driving to a minimum.

Because of the extra weight I've been putting on my foot over the last week or so, plus driving, plus being up and about more, I've had some pain in the front part of my hip where my hip flexor stretches across my joint. I've also been having a little bit of pain around my adductor muscles (groin area of my hip). Apparently this is normal and will come and go with added movement and weight. Applying ice to areas after I do PT (in clinic or at home) seems to help and I also take some naproxen as needed.

As of my last PT appointment, I am now "weight bearing as tolerated". That means I still have to walk with my crutches but I can put as little or as much weight on my right leg as is comfortable. Hip, hip, hooray!

It finally feels like I'm starting to make progress!