5 1/2 weeks post surgery

Well, not much new to report on the recovery front. I am becoming more proficient with crutches (although Dr. Kregor never told me I could use them!), which is good since crutches are the only way I can get down stairs to the car, and I can move more quickly on them than with a walker. I am still going to PT twice a week, and am steadily seeing progress on leg movements (such as raising my leg to a "captain" position, being able to increase my repetitions on original exercises such as the heel slides, etc.). I still have 3 whole weeks until I see Dr. Kregor again to determine what my next steps are.

I have made myself crutch upstairs to spend some time with the kids lately, and to also sleep in my own bed from time to time. The only problem with sleeping in my own bed is the pain. It is a bit difficult to maneuver pillows underneath my foot to raise it (still have some swelling going on), and my back gets very stiff and sore from lying flat. Our bed is also quite a bit higher off the ground than the medical bed downstairs, so it's harder getting in and out. Also, oddly enough, the toilet in our master bathroom is VERY low to the ground, actually lower than any other toilet. It's difficult in the middle of the night to carefully lower myself down with crutches. (probably more information than you readers care to know!) Nonetheless, there is nothing better than having a nice casual conversation with your husband right before you fall asleep. That makes all the pain and discomfort worth it.

I'm still bathing on the stool in the tub downstairs, using a shower wand. I have a system down now, between getting everything (towel, clothes) set up and within reaching distance beforehand, and the whole routine of getting ready. I have managed not to fall or slip, so I guess all this planning is paying off. I can manage to get pants/shorts on by myself now - meaning I can reach (or bend at the waist) much more easily now. I still have trouble getting socks on my right foot. There is intense pain in my hip when I bend forward and then turn my foot outwards. OUCH! I can at least hook the sock over my toe, then put my foot on the floor and pull the sock on while bent at the waist ... ok, nevermind ... it's just really hard!!

This past week there were 2 huge exciting events. Wednesday was the big kickoff for the children's music and missions program at our church, where I'm one of the leaders for our 1st grade choir! It was hectic. We had pictures, a parade inside the church, and I was back and forth between the wheelchair and crutches ... depending on which part of the church I was in. It was so great to meet a new bunch of 1st graders! Then on Friday, I planned on making a trip to the office to see the crew. It was completely and totally awesome to see my co-workers and the new space we moved into a month ago. The team had unpacked my desk and my pictures, had a group card sitting on my monitor, a plate of homemade chocolate brownies that Edwina made, and it was just so great to be there. I had planned on having John pick me up around lunchtime, but decided not to call him for a lift until around 4:30. :-) He had decided to take the day off, so knowing he was having a "recharge" day just doing whatever he wanted to do ... I hated to interrupt! Plus, I was actually having fun being in the office and felt I was more productive than working at home. Since I had gone 100% on crutches, I was totally beat when I left. I was definitely wishing I had brought the wheelchair.

Oh - and also on Friday, we get an email from John's mom who said she would love to keep the kids for a few hours some night this weekend if we wanted to go out. SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!? We took her up on it ... Saturday night we dropped them off, went to Cheesecake Factory, avoided the cheesecake (we were stuffed!), and then decided to try and kill some time by walking around Green Hills mall. Problem ... forgot the wheelchair. I wanted nothing more than to go by the Coldwater Creek store but absolutely could not crutch that far. My stomach was just in knots over this - couldn't believe I didn't bring the wheelchair. I also failed to mention that just before we left the restaurant, I was walking out of the restroom (marble floor) and there was something slippery on the floor. My right crutch (reminder - right hip was operated on) slipped outwards and of course to catch my balance I put weight on my right leg. I don't think it was full weight yet more than I've put on it yet. I did step outwards quite a ways on the right leg ... and it didn't feel good!!

So, PT tomorrow morning, and again on Thursday, then again for the next 2 Monday's and Thursday's. The hardest part is the status quo of this recovery. I have read other blogs where by this point some have been able to do 25% weight bearing, or are doing ankle weights or elliptical machines ... I'm not one who can be patient with the "status quo". Anyone who has worked with me professionally knows I get bored easily if I'm doing the same thing day in and day out with no accomplishments, no goal to work towards, and no challenge. While I'm seeing minor improvements with PT in lifting my leg while standing, I guess I'm wanting something more significant to make me feel like there will be a light at the end of this seemingly loooong tunnel.

4 1/2 weeks since surgery ...

Hello, readers.

I wish I could say that the high's and low's have stabilized since my last post. I have a theory that the "low's" are due to being switched from percoset to lortab 2 weeks ago, combined with just being tired of being disabled. Don't really have an answer ... just try to get by day by day.

Today I had physical therapy. This time last week, the appointment was rough. Really really rough. It was a combination of pain, as well as doing some exercises that truly made me realize my muscular limitations in my quads and hip flexors. Well, today we had some breakthroughs. While doing some new exercises from a "standing" position, I was able to ALMOST lift my knee to a 90 degree angle (like a march)!!! This was huge ... I mean, really huge. I was shocked (as was my therapist) that I was able to lift my leg that high. I'm still not to the point where I'm sure Dr. Kregor wants me to be, but I still have 3 weeks left to make some serious progress before I see him again.

We went to church on Sunday, and that was nice. As always it was good to get out of the house. I'm also starting to make some good traction on some projects at work, which makes the brain feel good. I'm hoping the kids have a good week ... last week my son had a rough first week of Kindergarten. Had several warnings of bad behavior, subsequent time-outs, but then on Thursday and Friday he did really well. Hopefully this is just and adjustment period getting used to a new schedule, new authoritative figures, etc.

Not much new to report on the recovery front. I've found I am sleeping more on my left (non-operated) side which feels good, and less time on my back. The one exception would be if I've been using crutches too much during the day and my ankle swells a great deal, I will sleep downstairs in the mechanical bed so that I can have my legs propped up above my heart so the swelling will go down. Overall the swelling has gotten better, is completely gone in my left leg, but my right ankle is still not cooperating.

Happy Monday, everyone.

Highs and Lows of recovery - will it ever stabilize?

I can now say that I have experienced some highs and some low's at this point with my recovery. At this moment, I am hoping and hanging on for dear life that I am coming out of a "low" that I've fallen into for the past week.

Last week, as mentioned in a previous post, I was feeling pretty down ... somewhat like a depressive state. Highly emotional, short fused. There were 2 factors playing into this though: 1, had just stopped taking one of my medications (a 12-hour time released Oxycontin), and 2, Jonathan (my 5 1/2 year old) was home almost all week due to summer camps being over and he had his first 1/2 day of Kindergarten on Friday. Both of these could have contributed to my nerves and emotions being shot.

After a week like that, I truly look forward to Sunday morning where we all get ready for church, and John and I enjoy the hour kid-less in Sunday School where we can focus on letting the Lord speak to us, without interruption, and enjoy some quality time with the incredibly special people in our class. To my dismay, the one elevator in our church that goes to the 4th floor was OUT OF SERVICE!!! Our only hope was to take another elevator that only goes up to the 3rd floor, and then take the stairs. There's just one problem with that solution ... I can't go up a big flight of stairs like that on crutches (which were in the car) just yet, and my only mode of transportation was a wheelchair. I felt this sinking feeling in my stomach ... I couldn't believe that I couldn't go to Sunday School because of a stupid elevator being broken. After all, I've never had to rely on an elevator before. This was not the way I wanted my Sunday to start off, after we had experienced a rough morning as it was just getting ready, getting the kids dressed and out the door, and listening to arguing and tantrums in the car all the way downtown. John and I sat in the sanctuary during Sunday School and listened to our stand-in pianist and our organist practice, and enjoyed the peace ... for at least 30-45 minutes. There is indeed something special about our sanctuary at First Baptist Nashville ... this room has a grandeur about it with the abundance of stained glass windows and the majesty of the pipes for the organ, and you really can feel God's presence in this place. We decided not to stay for the worship service as we were just exhausted, and picked up the kids after their Sunday School was over.

Leap forward to Monday (yesterday). I am now cleared to get back to work! Granted, it is working from home remotely on the laptop ... and I have a 5 hour max per day restriction ... but at least I can hope to feel some sort of accomplishment and productivity by getting back into the groove. Kids started their new school year as well!

The busy day started with me waking up to my usual stiffness and pain, pain more than usual since I forgot to take my pain meds at 2am. John got the kids ready for their first day of the new school year, and we took pictures of them on the front porch (a tradition I started last year). When pictures were done and last minute items were stuffed in already full bags and backpacks, they loaded up in the car and John dropped them off.

He then came all the way back home to pick me up and take me to my first physical therapy appointment, away from home!! Since I didn't have far to walk, John convinced me to just use crutches and leave the wheelchair in the car. Good move. Therapy went well, and while it did hurt at times ... I didn't mind because I felt comfortable with my therapist and trusted she knew what she was doing. Connie seemed like she had been doing PT for a while, and also knew about hips. My biggest concern with blindly calling up StarPT and telling them I would be a new patient was the potential of getting a therapist who only knew how to heal sports injuries like elbows, shoulders and knees ... And who wouldn't know a hill of beans about a hip procedure like what I had. I really got lucky. Dr. Kregor had advised me to take the printouts of my xrays, and I'm glad I did. It helps to visually explain what was done, the areas affected, and thus how to
build the right plan.

Per Dr. Kregor, there are 2 primary goals with therapy between now and the next 5 weeks. 1 - make good headway towards being able to do a straight leg raise from lying down, unassisted. 2 - while lying on my left (good) side, raise my right leg. Today we sampled some muscle strengthening exercises that gave me an idea of how far I had to go, and which muscles would be needed to accomplish those goals. Needless to say, I have a long way to go and really need to do my homework!!!! (translated - be very diligent with my exercises between sessions)

Once I was home, John headed to the office and I hopped online. I had 2 conference calls, solved some user issues, answered emails, and BOY it felt great. Emotionally I felt the "blues" beginning to lift as I was able to focus on something other than my woes, aches and pains. By the end of the day I was exhausted, from PT as well as work I guess, but it was all good. I am so incredibly thankful for my employer to be so flexible with me during not only my short term leave, but also my restrictions on returning to work. The funny thing is (ok, maybe not so funny), last night I had a dream that they let me go!! I woke up this morning to take my meds and realized it was just a dream, and was so relieved. The dream felt so real - everyone on the team had gotten an email saying I had been let go, but I didn't know about it because my Blackberry was acting up and not receiving emails. I remember feeling sheer PANIC and being mad, disappointed, and broken-hearted because I had thought I was really contributing there! I think I have a small taste of what so many people out there have gone through with loosing their jobs, however am very thankful this was just a dream.

Today was day 2 of working, and it was a good one. There have been various interruptions, such as taking bathroom breaks (it takes a while for me to wheel myself out of the home office, fold up the walker, place it across my legs, and wheel myself to the bathroom), doing my exercises, fixing lunch (again, takes a while to make that happen), etc. But my brain still feels good ... and now I just wish the rest of me did!

Pain-wise, major soreness in my hip and down my leg. I'm hoping this is just my muscles talking to me and saying "hey, it's about time you woke me up!". I still have a good deal of swelling in my right ankle and foot, but not in the "good" ankle anymore. One new thing that has popped up is the fact that when I'm using the walker to get to the restroom, or whenever I'm standing for even just a minute, my right foot turns dark red. I emailed Dr. Kregor's assistant to find out if this is normal or not. Haven't heard back yet.

GOOD NEWS ... I'm no longer on the Lovinox injections!!! Both John and I are very excited about this. :-) Now I switch to taking aspirin daily - no big deal.

All in all, I'm starting to feel optimistic that this will be a good week. Tomorrow at church we have the Children's Ministry Back-to-school Bash which I'm looking forward to! Last year I was asked to be one of the leaders in our 1st grade Music Makers choir, so tomorrow is a big day and I'm soooo looking forward to getting to know our new rising 1st graders! Hoping this is another emotional and spiritual lift that will sustain me through the rest of this recovery period.

Until next time!
Lori

Recovery update - 3 weeks post-op

Wow. Has it only been 3 weeks since surgery??? It has felt like an eternity.

Tuesday I went to Vanderbilt to have a Doppler study (ultrasound) on both legs and my groin to look for blood clots as a reason for the unbelievable swelling I'm having from my incision down to my toes, and now slightly in my good leg. No clots found, and I have good blood flow!! Now I just have to wait and hope my body shapes up and learns how to absorb this extra fluid. I'm increasing my water intake so hopefully that will help.

Since I learned I don't see Dr. Kregor for another 6 weeks, I have had some bouts of serious depression knowing I have to live in these confined conditions for that much longer. I'm tired of this uncomfortable hospital bed that we rented. I'm tired of being confined to the downstairs. I'm tired of the front wheels of my wheelchair pinning me in doorways. I'm tired of the unbelievable pain in the palms of my hands because of the walker. I'm tired of every limitation that keeps me from running errands, helping get the kids ready in the mornings, and everything else domestic that a wife and mother is responsible for. I could go on ...

None of this is a surprise or unexpected. I've been told since day 1 that I would be recovering for 8-10 weeks. One just doesn't really know what that means and feels like in reality until you are in the throws of it.

There are 2 things I can look forward to though. One, my first born starts Kindergarten tomorrow! Two, I get to start work again (granted from home on the laptop, with a 5 hour per day max restriction), so I hope and pray that getting back on my big project I had to step away from will give me the much needed mental distraction and sense of progress that I've been needing lately.

I get to start off-site physical therapy on Monday morning as well. Hopefully it won't be too hard on me.

2 1/2 Week Checkup

Today I went to see Dr. Kregor for my first checkup since surgery. They took new x-rays of my hip to ensure the bone is healing properly, and they took ALL the sutures out!! This part was rather painful, particularly taking out the ones at the far edges of the incision, but I'm glad they are out. In their place, there is dissolvable glue and tape strips that should remain dry for 48 hours, then they are to dissolve on their own. Still feels better than the nylon poky things that were there before!

Here is a summary of the results of my visit:

• Continue toe-touch weight bearing for another 6 weeks when I see him again.
• I can shower (sitting on my bench in the tub) again in 48 hours.
• I can discontinue home PT and progress to off-site therapy which can include bike therapy, with the goal to progress to a straight right leg lift unassisted over the next 6 weeks.
• Continue pain meds as currently prescribed
• Keep our eyes on the middle of my incision which is not healing properly, and hope it heals soon like the rest of the incision.
• At my next checkup in 6 weeks, we will discuss the plan for the rest of my recovery. With any luck, at that point I will be closer to getting clearance to DRIVE!!
• Got release to begin doing work from home (heck, if I'm just sitting on the couch playing on Facebook then why not do some "real" work?) in a week. Stipulation - max 5 hours per day right now.
• Swelling - this is the biggest concern right now. The swelling has progressed to my "good" leg, and is still pretty severe on the right. I am scheduled for a Doppler ultrasound on my lower extremities tomorrow afternoon to see if I have any blood clots. My dear husband is giving me Lovinox injections in my stomach every day (blood thinner), however there is still a chance I guess that there may be a clot that is causing all this swelling. I hope and pray it's not a clot ...

Here is the "before" picture (sorry, I don't have a digital version so this is a picture of a piece of paper) of my hip. You will notice on the left side of the picture (i.e. my right hip) that the femoral head is sticking outside of the socket. The goal of this Peri-Acetabular Osteotomy (PAO) is to use my hip bones to create more coverage on that ball, so that it evenly carries the weight that the upper body creates.


Here is a picture of my post-PAO hip, at 2 1/2 weeks. There's not much change since the picture taken in the OR immediately following surgery, which in my opinion is a good thing. You will notice however that the femoral head on my right hip (left side of picture) now has very nice coverage by the socket!

I'm still trying to figure out what the big black hole is inside my pelvis.

When I got home from my appointment, my Physical Therapist came by for probably my last appointment at home. It went well, and we added some other exercises as well. Yes, I am sore as all get out today! Getting out of the house 2 days in a row, plus PT ... I'm hoping to sleep real well tonight!

It was good to hear that I can double up on my pain meds before I go to bed at night. With my increased desire to drink fluids lately, it of course means I have to go to the bathroom often, and when you really have to "go" in the middle of the night ... I've found I'm extremely stiff and sore when trying to get up out of bed at night. Hopefully a double dose of meds before bed will make it easier, and will also give me some relief when I wake up in the mornings.

Other than that, still dealing with the recovery process pretty well I think. I will admit I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with toys and such lying in the floor that suddenly get caught in the wheels of my wheelchair, and I'm frustrated that I can't help out more around the house and have to carry around my grabber and walker with me at all times while I'm in the wheelchair. Life right now for me is just a big production. I have to plan every move I make, to each room of the downstairs, to make sure I have everything I need and don't have to make multiple trips. Both of the kids now have felt the pain of having their toes squished by a wheel, making me feel absolutely horrible. They just get too close sometimes and I don't see them (or their toes) when I'm wheeling around in the kitchen or den.

I hope and pray there is no news from the ultrasounds tomorrow! Until then ...

First Outing

Well, today I ventured out of the house for the first time since I've been home from the hospital. We all went to church together! The kids were quite excited to see me crutch myself to the car and actually get in. It was very cute how they reacted. Everything went really well, however my legs (yes, both legs now) are swelled up like balloons since I haven't had them propped up whatsoever today. It was still so great to see everyone in Sunday School this morning.

It was especially nice to talk to a special lady in our class who is having eye surgery this Friday. Martha Kirkland, who taught me in children's choir when I was in grade school, has been such a spiritual mentor to me these past few years, will be having this surgery so I wanted to take the chance to let her know in person that I would be praying for her. She is such a wonderful woman and has a heart of gold. I hope and pray the surgery goes well and she can recover very quickly.

Tomorrow is an exciting day for me. I have my first appointment with Dr. Kregor since I last saw him in the recovery room! I was EXTREMELY lucky to nab an 8:30am appointment so that hopefully it's early enough so that they don't have a chance for the appointments to run late and thus cause my appointment to run late. My sister is coming to the house early in the morning to stay with my son Jonathan, since he is done with summer camps now. We will take my daughter Kathryn to school when the doors open at 7, then grab our Starbucks, and head to Vanderbilt. I am hoping they will take my stiches out - it is a royal pain to wrap up my hip and thigh with saran-wrap and electrical tape just so I can bathe, without getting the stitches wet (this is not an easy task). I imagine they will also take x-rays of my hip to make sure everything is healing appropriately and that the screws are doing their job. I am also hoping I can get clearance to start working again (remotely from home) on Monday, August 24th. And, while I'm not expecting much, I'm hoping to get some kind of idea on when I can drive again. Since the surgery was on my right hip, I imagine I will still be another month out from being able to drive, but we will see.

I hope to post a great report tomorrow afternoon after my appointment. For now, I just need to try and get this swelling under control ... which seems to be a loosing battle. The swelling encompasses the left foot/ankle, and the right leg from my toes all the way up through my hip area. I could tell there was quite a bit of swelling when I was sitting in the car and I felt like my hip was hanging off one side. Not pleasant!!

Until tomorrow ...
Lori

13 days Post Op update

I woke up this morning feeling like I had been hit by a Mack truck. I can't figure out why I was in so much pain, considering I was diligent waking up to take my meds at midnight and 3 am, so I can only assume it was because I was stationary for so long. Once I took my oxycontin for the day and my 4 hour percoset (and a couple cups of Starbucks coffee), I feel human again and am ready to start the day!

The pain this morning was not just in the hip, but also my thigh, palms of my hands, forearms, biceps, triceps, and head. The headache was probably because of the pain everywhere else, and the hands/arms were undoubtedly due to increased use of the walker and wheelchair (there is quite a bit of resistance wheeling on carpet).

This picture is my "room" where I only spend the nights in. The bed was rented from a medical supply store, and comes fully equipped with a lifter bar on the top (that I don't use much anymore, but helped give me something to help lift me up out of a lying down position), and a remote-controlled motor to raise the head and feet as needed. The blue noose-looking-thing is my leg leash. This is another "must have" tool that I use to lift my leg into bed, or move it from side to side to get settled. Once my muscles are stronger, I can stop using this but right now my leg feels like it weighs a ton so it's needed. I have a nice TV on a pedestal at the foot of the bed, my laptop/table stand by the window, and of course a potty. In the middle of the night, it would take me too long to maneuver lifting my leg to the floor, getting the walker, and getting to the restroom down the hall ... so unfortunately this is needed for a while as well.

Which one of these is not like the other?

Swelling is becoming a problem right now. It used to be contained just to the hip and thigh area, but has now progressed down my leg and into my ankle. Dang - I thought swollen ankles were a thing of the past once I had my last child!!! I guess I should be thankful it's only confined to the right ankle, versus having swelling in both.

Nonetheless I feel good now, and am able to get up on the walker to brush my teeth and start working on thank you cards. I also need to do my exercises, so that my muscles can get stronger.

John went to the office this morning for an 8:30 meeting so it's pretty exciting and exhilirating to be able to demonstrate my independence skills for a little while!

Let's hope the pain stays in check for the rest of the day!