Day 124

My left hip (non operated side) has been killing me for about 1 week. I had a mental breakdown the other day because I began to panick about having to go thru surgery again. If I have to have surgery on this hip I don't have anymore time off at work to take, nor do I have money to be off work for another 3 months. 

I haven't ran since last Wednesday at PT bc my hips were hurting me. We just did a re eval at PT and he decided I am banned from the gym and PT for 1 week. He is hoping that between work, additionally work in the gym/PT and now running, it may just be too much all at once for me and that I'm not quite ready for it all. 

I honestly believe that my "good hip" has had enough and is torn too. I haven't had the arthrogram on that side to verify but deep down I know that's what it is. I hope my therapist is right and that it's my hip flexors that are agitated and not actually damage to my hip. 

Only time will tell I suppose 

Week 17

I went back to work on Aug 22nd. I work at Summa Health Systems which is a level 1 trauma center so it's always crazy busy. I work in xray. Most people think I just push a button but my job is more physical than you think. I push beds, I pull patients onto tables, I roll/lift patients to get my xray cassettes under them....it can be rough. So far my hip has been good. The first 2 days were hard but I think I just needed to get used to walking for 8 hours and walking on the terrible hard hospital floors. I have trouble pivoting to turn beds around corners and I have a hard time pulling heavier patients or pushing heavier patients in wheelchairs. All in all it's going much better than I anticipated. 

I went to PT today and got to run on the treadmill for the first time. My surgeon told me 4 weeks ago I could start running this week and I've been counting down the days. We went over to the treadmill and my therapist said we can try for 3-5 min but only up to 5, depending on how I feel. I ran for 5 min straight. I started tearing up as I was closing in on 5 min. I couldn't believe I did it and that I wasn't gasping for breath since I haven't ran in almost 1 year. I can try to run outside after a week of running in a controlled setting (on the tmill supervised). I'm so happy to be getting back into running. I've missed it 

Week 12

I went to the surgeon yesterday for my 12 week follow up & I actually saw Dr. Rosneck (about time). He isn't as thorough as his PA (I was with him maybe 10 min) but he knows what he's doing. My scar looks great and I know he fixed my hip so I honestly don't care lol. He said that I am ahead of schedule and am doing great. He said it's time to kick it up a notch with therapy (moving on to phase III...not sure what that entails but it means more than leg stretches so I'm game). I can start running in 6 weeks. That seems like so far away but I'm excited that I'm in the home stretch. I never thought I'd miss running so much. I hope I have some not so cold weather to run in. I am also cleared to go back to work. I go back next Friday. I am soooo not ready. I'm excited to see my co workers and get my full paycheck back 😜 but the hospital is so stressful and I don't want my summer vacation to end haha. Being paid to not go to work has been awesome. Reality had to come some time. I am nervous to go back to work because the hospital is huge. It's a lot of walking. I just gotta go slow and do the best I can. One step at a time. 

Dr. Rosneck said I need to work on my stretching more, to externally rotate my hip. 

I did this today at the gym. Doesn't look impressive but you have no idea how much effort this is taking. It's out way more than it has been. 

So since I'm allowed to advance to phase III, I got to do a lot of fun stuff at PT today. I did real leg presses on a real machine, not the reformer. I did them at 60lbs. I also did calf raises on the leg press machine. I did balance work and squats on a bosu ball. I had this giant smile on my face the whole time. This stuff is way harder than the basic table work/stretches I've been doing. I was actually sweating and my heart rate was up. Pathetic I know but I'm so excited! 

11 weeks Post Op

Although I'm doing amazing since surgery, the struggle is real right now. I'm at a point where I'm feeling good, I'm returning to work soon, and I'm starting to be able to do more physically (squats, arc trainer, lunges). Even with positive progress I'm starting to get depressed again. I am not necessarily gaining weight but I'm getting bigger around the middle. It's driving me insane bc I can't workout like I normally would. I can do a lot more than what I have been, but it's not enough to see the results I want. So my struggle is, my hip feels good, but I still can't do shit!!!  No running, no cardio more than 15 min, no leg day. I want my ass, legs, and stomach back. Clothes aren't fitting right. This sedentary time frame and lack of eating clean (it's summer let's be real...drinking and cookouts/parties) is catching up with me. I saw this yesterday and it made me feel better (for a minute) 

Just impatiently waiting to be normal 

2 mo post op

Today I'm 60 days out and I feel great. I'm so glad I had this surgery. I know I will be better off in the long run. 

Yesterday I started to add resistance to the bike/elliptical. I started doing squats (not past 90*) lunges, side steps with a band, & just in general making my normal exercises a little harder. 

I was at the gym 2 days ago and I got up to 7 mph on the elliptical. I don't think I went that fast before I had surgery. 

I made a goal for myself to run a 5K either in the end of Sept or Oct.y surgeon said we could talk running at 4 mo. I've been doing amazing throughout this recovery so I know I can do it. I may be a little ambitious saying this, but I want to do a 5K around the 30 min mark. Ok honestly I'll be upset if it takes me longer than 30 min. I understand it will probably be around the 30-35 min mark but I'm going to be positive. 

I'm so excited to be getting back to my old ways. 

#dontcallitacomeback 

Gym Time

5 weeks exactly today and I went to the gym for the first time since surgery. Big day. Just 5 min on the bike and upper body stuff. Not a lot but you have to start somewhere 

Day 40 - almost 6 weeks post op

I had my 6 week follow up with the surgeon today. Well, I should say his PA since I still haven't seen the man that actually operated on me. Ugh. Lucky for him I really like her. 

She said I look great and am actually ahead of schedule. She said it was ok to advance to Phase 2 of PT. Basically that means I can start doing the elliptical, stair climber, things like half squats... More intense workouts. So what did I do?? Went straight to the gym!! 

I got on the elliptical for just 5 min. I couldn't go any faster than about 3.2 but I'm ok with going slow. Even just 5 min on that thing gave me a workout. 

I forgot to mention that I stopped using the shower stool when we went to Vegas (obviously) so I've been on my own for a little over 1 week. I still can't bring my leg up to shave or to wash my feet. I just prop up my leg on the tub to shave it and I just bend my knee to about 90* and reach as best I can to get to my foot. Sometimes I use a loofah if I'm not feeling so flexible. 

I'm so excited to slowly start to transition back to normal.