One Year Post Op And Feeling Awesome

So here I am one year to the date of my hip surgery. This time last year I was sky high on Morphine at Duchy Hospital !

Today I have:
walked 3 dogs (one for 40mins the other 2 for 30mins each)
Mucked out a stable
Poo picked a field
filled 12 haynets
rearranged my horses electric fencing into new paddocks
groomed my elderly pony
picked out and applied hoof treatments to above pony and horse
A Pilates class.

Phew, I am a little achy but my OP hip feels wonderful. I am so so so glad I git it done. It has been a long hard year but I am in such a better place than before this surgery.

I am 4 months out form my back last  having an spasm episode (see previous post) and it is ok, I still know it has limitations but I am learning to listen to it more and pace myself.

Myleft hip continues to be troublesome and I am pretty much 90% sure I will get the same surgery done on that one next Autumn (I prefer a winter recovery). But for now I am happy to cope with it. We are off on a ski trip to France in January so I am excited to find out how my op hip will do, hopefully snow plough will be less painful on that side than last time! - am not a natural skier but love been in the mountains and pottering about on the greens and blues

So my friends I shall leave you with 3 pics of my boy Charlie Brown (one with me in!) that sum up how I feel about getting my hip fixed and getting on the path out of chronic pain. If you hear nothing more of me on here, presume I am off doing  exciting things and not thinking about my hip. I shall no doubt be back next year to discuss my surgery on my left hip, but for now, Adios, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

If you would like to contact me for any info/advice, you can email on digaden01@gmail.com I can aslo be found on the Facebook hip groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FAIhip/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/408488389227462/

First walk on the beach with my boy and his friend Harvey

The view of the old Pier from on board my boy with his
friend Harvey, This month, it was 3 hr a ride, a great achievement
for us both!



Me with my boy last month , the first time he went in the sea (he is aged 12 lol!)

8 Months Post Op For Right Open SDD, Left hip not feeling great

I can remember saying pretty early on in my recovery that things can change both mentally and physically in just a few hours. And it seems that that is still true.

Saturday 2nd August Marked my 8 month post op day. If I had written this that day, It would have been a lot shorter and more positive.  I had a pretty good weekend, though if I look back at it, I knew something was brewing.

My op hip has been really pretty good, and I am still pleased with my progress. I haven't been to the gym since the she made do heap of squats 4 weeks ago, that really hurt and I think it was just to much to soon for a person who never did squats in the first place. I have wanted to go, but time has been against me and there just haven't been enough hours in the day. I have been doing my best to go to the Tuesday evening Pilates though and am enjoying that.

I have had my horse back on DIY livery for a month and half now and it is going well, I had forgotten how much manure he produces though,, its hard work shovelling!! but they are both living out 24/7 at the moment so that makes things easier. I have been on some nice rides on the beach and up the woods with the other ladies at the yard, one ride was  an hour and half and I was pleased with how well my hip coped.

But my non op hip is really not happy today. One night last week, my spine was really tight and achy and I had diazepam and felt better the next day. Then at the weekend, my IT band on that side was on fire. Really bad and I was due to ride on Sunday afternoon in the outdoor arena with other girls from the yard. I was determined to do it and did it with a fiery IT band and felt not to bad, did some lovely cantering and trotting on Charlie Brown and felt pleased with both him and me. And then bang. This morning my left hip and lower back are HORRENDOUS, my hip feels like something is gnawing away at the joint and my lower back is in complete spasm. First thing my husband said when he saw me this evening was "you are crooked" by that he means my back is crooked laterally . That has hasn't happened to me in almost a year and certainly not since my op. I had thought it was a thing of the past. My heart fell when he said it. I know from the past that when he says that, things are bad I am not going to be right for at least 2 weeks, and work is at its busiest.

I have a feeling that this blog will now become more about my left (non op) hip as my op hip feels so good, all my pain now is focussed on the left, right just feels a bit achy from taking the strain. I know I have to take comfort in how well my op hip feels. As at least I know I am on my way out of all this. When I finally get old lefty done, I should feel great.

I came across this post in a blog that I follow and pretty much sums today up. Hit the wall and can't get over it.

http://invisibleillnessbattle.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/the-wall/

6.5 months post op. Negative FAI test. YES!

I just wanted to check in with a brief update as I have been to see my physio today (16th June) for the first time in  4 weeks. I just needed a break from it to help get back into going to the gym & Pilates, which has gone really well. 

We had a good discussion on how I feel now, and as I always like to quantify things, came up with following. 

This time last year my overall pain levels (taking both hips and lower back into account)  were 7-8 out of 10. Today they are 4-5 out 10, mainly linked to the none op hip pain. If I think about where I am on my journey to hopefully feeling 100% better, I would say I am 60-70% there. 

So those all good figures . My physio had my do the two classic hip FAI tests on my op hip. The tests that this time last year I was in immense pain from. The test that in September 2013 Mr F did not follow through with as he could tell he would be scraping me off the ceiling g if he proceed to the rotation part!  Today ZERO  on flexion plus rotation. Wow. Amazing. I never thought I would ever feel no pain with that test!   So I think that now officially means I do not have FAI in my right hip. 

6 months post op right hip open SDD

Here I am 6 months post op to the day. In many ways the 2nd of December 2013 seems like a lifetime a go, but in other it just seems like yesterday.

 

So to sum up how I feel today. I feel OK. Whilst I would be love to sitting here writing "yes everything is wonderful and I am pain free and I can do everything like a normal person. That would not be true. But I am glad I had the surgery? a catorgoric YES!

 

I think it would be foolish to think that this FAI surgery would cure me of pain completely, especially when I know I have on going pathology in both my left hip and my lower back. BUT what this surgery does seem to be enabling me to do is use my muscles (in particular the glute ones) in a more correct way which in turn is strengthening my back.

 

I am able to do all things that I wanted to do. I am riding my horse for up to  an 40mins in walk, trot and canter. I am walking 4-5 miles a day. I am caring for all my animals , including our elderly pony in two weeks time I shall have my "big" horse Charlie Brown back on DIY livery at the farm. (he has been on full livery for 18 months as I could not care for him). I can do the garden (remembering to pace myself and switch activity often). I can go shopping with other people and not feel like a complete misery.  I am going to the gym two mornings a week and Pilates once a week.

 

Whilst the exercises I am doing  still seem quite basic compared to what I see other people doing at the gym, I do find them challenging , so I am happy that they are right for me. Just some of the exercises my gym instructor has me doing on a circuit type programme:

 

START warm at walk on treadmill, 4mph, gradient of 3 for 10 mins

FLOOR exercise: Clam Shells, side leg raises, sit up using the half balance ball type thing

STANDING Exercises : side walk with resistance band around ankles , and floor raises with band (hard to describe)

Weights for upper body

Squats, stilling using a bench to sit up and down from (when she first had me doing this, I literally could not do it without help. But I can now!)

END: warm down 5 mins on cross trainer (the first time I got on this I could not push the pedals fast enough to make the screen stop saying "sessions paused!")

 

I enjoy the Pilates but the one exercise that really bugs me is sitting from a lying down position, I just cannot do it, whilst other around me can.

 

With all this activity and exercise my op leg does get tired before the rest of me. I quite often have sore flexors, occasional tight IT band and also some groin pain but I can always put it down to what I did the previous day. No pain no gain!

 

My other hip gets quite pinchy and achy in the groin and it is interesting to feel how different the groin pain is in each hip. I deffinatly feel that my op hip is now taking some pressure of the other hip, which is great.

 

My back feels very achy a lot of the time but I have  lost the feeling of it being "about to go" , which I felt it was in a permanent sate of in the 6 months prior to the surgery. I find I am still taking paracetmol and codeine for my back and other hip.

 

I am very aware of my screws in my trochanter giving me some pain and discomfort in that area at night as I really like to lie on that side, I also find a lot of the side lying gym exercises difficult because of them and have to modify my position. A lady on our Open SDD face book page had her screws taken out at the same time as having the other hip done so I hope that I will be able to do likewise, but for now I can manage with them.

 

So there you go, I hope this comes across positive as I am happy with how I am doing and I am happy that I had the surgery. I shall check in again at 8 months post op. Thanks for reading.

Me and My Boy at 6 months post op.

                  

5 months post open surgical disclocation/debridment surgery for FAI

It is Sunday 11^th May 2014 I am now 5 months post op. On the whole I am doing well. I would say I am back to pretty much normal ROM with my op leg. Generally it is pain free. The area where the screw heads are located gives me pain if I  lie directly on it. Or bump into something with it. I can live with that so will not be looking at getting the screws out anytime soon. When I have my left hip done, I will have to decide if I can live with that uncomfortable feeling on both sides, so I guess I will get them taken out in the future.

My op leg continues to feel different from the other one. I can tell the muscles are still weak, the main ache being at the top, and slightly to the side of the front of my thigh. This comes on when I have done too much. There is also some pain in the joint itself, which comes and goes. It is different to the sharp stabbing groin pain I had pre op and is bearable. When it does happen, it hurts more as I take weight off that leg during walking. It can still often feel a little stiff when I stand after sitting for a while, as if the muscles need a moment to realise I have stood up. There is some occasional inner thigh and IT band pain, but again, not like pre op. All of this I can live with and presume will only continue to improve.

My back continues to be troublesome, but again, not as much as pre op. I do still get some pretty nasty SIJ pain, but I haven’t had the feeling of my lower back  about to go into spasm for a long time. Something tells me my back has its own issues to deal with. I know the disc bulge and degeneration in some of the lumbar vertebrae are there and will not go away. But my theory has always been that if my hips work better, may back has a better chance of becoming stronger. Hip surgery always seemed like the better option that spinal.

 My non op leg is pretty ropey, but I have less in the way of groin pain than pre op. I presume this is because it is now not working so hard/compensating for the other leg. I still get some nasty catching and clunking and the feeling of restriction in certain exercise or when riding my horse. I am getting alot of thigh pain at the moment. In particular a nasty sensitive skin / muscle sensation on my IT band and inside of my left thigh. I don’t know what it this is about and hope it will settle with some rest. I have to accept that my non op leg is not going to feel great and that I have to grit my teeth and bare it until I can have it fixed in Autumn 2015. But now that I know it can be fixed, it seems more manageable. Unlike this time last year I now know there is a way out to all this, that I am 5 months through my plan of action that started in December 2013.

Activity wise I am back to normal. I am back full time with my pet care business. Driving 30-40 miles a day, feeding cats, walking one dog 1.5 miles a day weekdays and then doing another 1.5-2 miles a day with the adhoc dogs on my books. With walking down to the farm to care for my  pony and walking my own dog, my pedometer ap is saying I am doing 4-5 miles a day during the week. Our elderly pony has been unwell and so has required a lot of extra care (much of it bending/crouching down bandaging his feet and putting on his hoof boots) and my hip has coped well with that. I am riding my horse twice a week and lunging him twice a week. I rode him out on the gallops last week and we had a  fantastic gallop, he was really gunning for it as it is something we have always enjoyed. You can’t beat that feeling of tears streaming down your face from the wind as your horse gallops so fast you think his legs will be fall off! And yet he is so well behaved all I have to do is sit back and ay whoooaa and he will drop gently back to a walk. My hip has also coped ok with that, a fair amount of stiffness delayed onset muscle fatigue but I can cope with that as surely it only means my legs are getting stronger again. The more I do it, the better it should get being my theory. No gain without pain.

Medication wise, I am still taking 20mg amitryptaline at night and usually 30mg codeine at night also. This is to help me sleep and help with hip pain on the left, not my op hip. I take paracetamol and ibuprofen in the day as needed, but not every day.

On  Thursday  I went for a gym induction at a local ladies gym. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting (from experience these things are given by super fit people who have no understanding of why I am so unfit and just involve telling me I am overweight and then showing me how t o use the gym machines). I am not a natural gym goer. I presume that if you work in an office all day, the gym is the perfect release. However, I am working outside/driving all day. I walk dogs for 3-5 miles each week day, look after my pony and ride my horse who is currently on full livery. For me the gym is an extra chore on top of everything else, and a drain on my limited energy. Outside of a gym I don’t actually feel that unfit, especially when I walking briskly with a dog or mucking out our pony. But as soon as I walk into a gym, I feel instantly overwhelmed by the fit toned types leaping around. I feel self conscious that I am so untoned and inflexible and a bit fat. The lady that runs this new gym, Rane, is in her late 40’s and yes she is super fit but she is also super nice and really interested in me and my case. She has 25 years experience in the fitness industry and keeps up with a lot of the advances and research, and seems to understand the link between physiotherapy and fitness. She was excited to see me x-ray and surgery pictures that I showed her on my iphone as I needed to know she understood what I had had done.

She first got me to stand on a step with my socks off so she could take a picture of the back of my heels. This picture shows how my Achilles tendon is pretty straight on the left and curved to the outside on the right, which is what is causing my right foot (op side) to stick out a 45 degree angle when walking and standing where as my left foot points forward. She says my arch is also collapsed on that side.  According to her, this is due to my muscle weaknesses in my hips and lower back. She doesn’t want me going on any gym equipment for a few weeks but instead to have two sessions with her a week to work one to one on some muscle activation exercises. At first I thought “oh right, and how much is that going to cost me” but, it will be all included in my gym membership of £24.99 a month, as will the Pilates sessions she also wants me to attend.

So what the hell, I will give it a go. This hip journey has lead me to be very cynical of health and fitness professionals (I still have the words of my  ex-chiropractor ringing in my ears from 5 years ago “I don’t see why I cant fix you” –  at that time I believed him. Now I am very sceptical of such statements). But like I say, I will give Rane and her gym a go. There are not extraordinary costs involved, she appears to know what she is talking about and I like her. It is nice to have a fresh set of eyes on me. So time will tell on that. I hope that perhaps this time in 6 months I have stronger  glutes and core muscles and that I am doing some cardio work to get rid of some of the excess weight that walking alone will not shift.

So that is my 5 months post open SDD surgery update, I hope I continue to improve and will update in a month or so.

4 months post op, did someone flip the "you are fixed " switch?!

Well. I am feeling great. The crutch is gone. The groin pain is gone, and I am walking around like a normal person, and beginning to realise what life is like without thinking about chronic pain all the time.

If you had said I would feel like this now two weeks ago, I would have sadi don't be so ridiculous. But now. I am pretty much feeling fixed, not much else to add it really. I went to my last hydrotherapy session on 31st March. Felt strange to be leaving, considering what my goal was when I went there, and that was to be able to walk, well I certainly walked out of there with no crutches.

 

Next Monday I will go to the local swimming baths with my husband an have a go at doing a length or two, I have no idea what to expect. I will be starting with straight kick legs and use my kick board. I can also carry on with some of my hydro exercises there. But what I would really like to do is get swimming lengths to burn some calories and shift this extra stone of weight!

 

I have put both my crutches away in the spare room and plan to just start getting my life back on track. I can now ride my horse for 5 minutes at a time and will aim to increase  that. I can start gym exercises the next time   I go to land physio, and will then use the local pay as you go gym once a week.

 

Out come of my open SDD on  my right hip as of 4 months post op (17 weeks) is that my chronic groin and thigh pain is  gone,  my lower back still feels a little sore but is feeling much more stable. I am sure my back will continue to improve as I start to use my muscles properly -  I think I can confirm that my surgery has been a success.   I am kind of "signing off"  though I aim to check back at least every two moths with an update as I now need to see how my left hip pans out, all being well it can hang on until Autumn 2015 to get fixed.

 

Below is a snap of my pedometer Ap on my phone which I think tells the story of my post op recovery pretty well, I had my surgery in 2nd December. I am now averaging 6-10,000 steps a day.

15 & 16 weeks post open SDD hip surgery. First real set back.

I guess I should be thankful that I have got this far without any set backs to speak of, but it doesn't make it any easier when it actually happens.

Week 14 I felt good, despite a migraine , achy but good, got rid of the crutch, walked dogs, lunged my horse twice, started a dog training class with my little dog.

By the Friday morning I was absolutely shattered, the foggy cold was making my 9 inch scar across my hip burn and I just knew going to walk the one dog I had booked that day was the wrong thing to do. So I called in sick. The dogs owner was so very kind and understanding, she works part time but has a bad knee herself and so can't walk Henry. She has been so understanding through all this and is a loyal client, " oh don't you worry, stay in the warm and look after yourself, Henry can survive without his walk"

Over that weekend I did do a few jobs like spring cleaning my boarding bunny hutches and rearranging the bunny runs, along with some house work. I could feel the pain in my hip coming on when I think about but I wasn't prepared for the horrendous pain I was in by the  Monday afternoon.

 

The pain was a pinching/burning pain in my groin that shot down the inside of my knee. It was a 10/10 if someone had offered me a shot for morphine right then, I would have ripped their hand off. It was worse on walking so I got back on one crutch. When resting on the sofa it faded to a dull but pulsating stabing pain. I had a terrible night, could not get comfy and the pain kept waking me up. It was the same on the Tuesday morning. I had been taking ibuprofen & paracetomol but it would only last about 2 hours before the pain returned and I had to wait until I could  have another dose.

 

I emailed my surgeon. He said it was unlikely to be my trochanter due to the location of the pain and that it could be scars/adhesion tissue between the joint capsule and femoral neck. He advised to take NSAID's and ease off and let him know how I am in a few days. I carried on with Ibuprofen 3 times and day and paracetmol  but nothing settled it. I went to see the pharmacist to get some diclofenac (a different NSAID) the over the counter stuff is 12.5mg and you can only buy 18 tablets, so by taking 2 three times a day, that's 3 days worth. She said if not better after that go to GP and they would probably give me naproxen.

 

The Diclofenac did seem better and it lasted better to the next dose than the ibuprofen so I felt like I had got the pain under control I arranged  the rest of the week off from dog walking. I had a better night on the Tuesday night and a good rest on the Wednesday. By the Wednesday I night I was feeling a lot better although still using my crutch outside to take some pressure off my groin. Thursday morning I woke in pretty bad pain again and had to wait for my diclofenac pills to kick in before I could do much.

Friday morning was the first morning I woke that week and my first thought wasn't "tablets" - I think life is pretty desperate when that is you first thought. I was extremely grateful for that, but aware that my diclofenac finished that day and so I kept up the tablet regime, switching back to ibuprofen & paracetmol. I felt ok, a little twinging groin pain but a lot easier than earlier in the week. Saturday and Sunday came and thank heavens, my groin pain had gone, and I was back to walking without a limp.

 

I was conscious of the fact that I should not jump up and do everything I want to do just because that pain felt better, that I needed to pace myself this week to prevent a re occurrence. So I arranged to only do the dog walking on Tuesday and Thursday this week. I am learning how to pace myself, something I never seemed able to do pre diagnosis - probably because I could see no way out.

 

So overall at 16 weeks, I am pretty happy with my progress, despite last weeks set back. I think that the actual pain I had the surgery  for has decreased, my back feels a lot more stable and I haven't had one of those lightening bolt pains on my spine since I straightened out my limp. My old groin pain does feel better. I feel that the groin pain I had last week was something different, something to do with the surgical site.

 

So to sum up the overall achievements at week 16:

• Off crutches
• pretty much no back pain
• old groin/hip pain gone
• only taking pain relief when needed
• can put my socks on (granted the op side isn't easy, but I  can do it)
• I can do standing on one leg, flex to about 110 degrees, internal & external rotation
• abduction does still pinch in the groin
• Can walk a (slow) mile

Banging My Head Against a Wall

That is how I feel, I really cannot believe how stressful every single thing to do with this journey is, it just couldn't be a made up story even if I tried.

 

So when I saw Mr F on the 17th Jan, he said he would like an x-ray at 12 weeks post op, but that it would be better for to get the GP to refer me to the local hospital rather than come all the way to Truro for it. He said just a screen shot of the xray would be fine, and I could email him the pic. Great

 

At 11 weeks I went to see my GP to request it. I have a copy of the notes and it reads "she wishes XR locally to check R THR position (Mr F had told her to get this done) yellow card sent WGH + req cc to him." Well apart from my GP thinking I have had a Total Hip Replacement- which I have not- all good.

 

Appointment came for 2 weeks later so x ray now is at 13 weeks post op. I asked radiographer about it being sent to Mr F and she didn't seem to understand what I was asking. She wouldn't let me take a pic of the xray and said a report would be with GP in a week to 10 days.

 

10 days go by. I hear nothing. Phone the GP receptionist. Again another person that doesn't understand what I am asking. She says the report is there, and she can email it to Mr F's secretary. I tell her the address. She says she cannot do that as it is a btinternet address and is not secure, Says she will fax it to the Duchy

14 days post xray and still nothing. I phone Mr F's secretary to ask for a different email address. She says best thing to do is get my GP reception to call the Duchy X ray department and ask for the IEP address to send the xray directly. Now I know how my GP surgery operate so I decide to do that bit for them. I speak to the Duchy X-ray department who seems surprised that Mr F's secretary isn't requesting the x ray herself on my behalf. Says it is very unusual for a patient to be doing this part their selves. Nothing surprises me anymore.  

 

Anyway, she is quite helpful and takes all my details and says she will contacts my local hospital where the x-ray was done and request it to be sent to Duchy. She say they may not have an IEP address, and in which case I will need to go the xray department and ask for a copy on disc and post it.

 

OMG what is all this crap about, it just seems like complete insanity. I would have been better off driving to Truro and paying for the x-ray myself. This last lady says she will call me back and let me know what is happening. I wont be surprised if she doesn't. So I am now 15 weeks post having my head of trochanter removed and screwed back on, and still haven't had my 12 week x ray checked.

Confused - I am  - I am now going to find a wall to bang my head against.

Update - the x-ray was finally received by the Duchy on the 22nd March, and Mr F has reviewed and all is well.

Nearly 15 weeks post open FAI surgery

What was supposed to be a 14 week post op update has turned into a nearly 15 week one as I have been so busy just getting on with things. We went away for a long weekend in our motor hone last week and I managed fine, I took my crutch and used it around the campsite and on our walks. Although I would often carry it instead of using it.

This week was to see me returning fully to my job of running my pet care business, so 5 day week 30 min walk for one dog, and extra half hour walk for three different dogs on 4 days if you see what I mean so 1hrs walking each day plus some cat feeds & pet transport , the usual paperwork and looking after my chickens, bunnies, own dog and pony.

Overall it has been a very good week despite the blip of a migraine. According to my pedometer ap I average 7000 steps a day, with a couple of 10,000 steps days. My limp is practically gone although my hip does feel pretty stiff, especially when I first stand up/first thing in a morning. I have been taking paracetamol and ibuprofen regular though less of the codiene. My back is feeling much now that I have straightened up in my walking.

I went to hydro on Monday and will continue with at as I can progress to harder exercises to strengthen my back. My land physio has set me 6 mins of interval training on my static bike along with some exercises on the Swiss ball.

This morning I woke and felt completely drained of energy and found getting up and getting going today pretty hard. I did a few jobs, but it is foggy here in the UK and it seems to make the scar and glute muscle very tender when I walk. So I am taking some sofa time with a hot water bottle under my bum!


So overall I am pleased with my progress despite this mini set back. I am still awaiting the results of my 12 week post op X-ray which was  actually done at 13 weeks. It was done at a local NHS hospital and still hasn't filtered down to my surgeon in Truro. The wonders of modern technology seem to be failing it!

12 Weeks Post Op - Is That a Light I See At The End Of The Tunnel?

Monday February 24th. Finally I have made it, 12 weeks post op today, and I do believe I am seeing the light. If I had written this post on Friday, I would be saying something completely different. If there is one thing I have learned through this it is how  just a few hours can make a difference in how you feel.

This last 3 weeks (So week 9-12) have been pretty dark. I lost my positivity that I had during my initial post op period and spent a fair old time crying and feeling sorry for myself. I think I had a right to feel sorry for myself though so I wont be to hard myself.

 

It has all been such hard work, getting off the 2 crutches and learning to walk again has pretty much been one of the toughest things I have ever done. I have ached all over, I have been so mentally and physically tired that I almost fell asleep waiting at a set of traffic lights in my car last week. I have really had to push myself with every inch of determination I could find. From getting up the morning to going to bed at night.  The last two weeks I have been trying to get back to normality (still on one crutch) by starting back work (I run a pet care franchise), looking after our elderly pony, going food shopping and doing the house work. I found I was planning my days down to the minute almost, setting out what I would do in a day in relation to the amount of mental and physical energy required. Any deviation in my plans would throw me. I wasn't enjoying anything I was doing.

 

By Friday just gone I was pretty much at my lowest ever, not helped by a visit to my disinterested GP, but I shall post separately about that. My back was killing me, my op hip was pinching, my non op hip was burning and quite honestly I was beginning to think I had made a big mistake. I was starting doubt my surgeon even, whom up until then I had hailed as my hero! I had pretty much decided that all this was a waste of time and money, a wild goose chase and that  I was never going to be pain free, that fixing my hip would never fix my back.

 

But enough of my woe

 

Throughout last  week I have been doing my Physio home work and forcing my body to walk correctly, 20 steps at a time, whilst I was walking a dog or walking about at home. It really hurt my hip flexors and hamstrings, and I was back to codeine and ice at night.

 

Then, when I woke up on Saturday morning, I got up, walked across the bedroom to look out of the window before realising I had just done that without a limp! I walked around the bedroom some more, yup. No limp, and not that slow either!!

 

So on Saturday we had family to visit and we all caught the coastal rider bus into Weston Super Mare, I even got up stairs with my one crutch.  We walked though town to what I do believe to be one of the best fish & chip restaurant  in the UK. I sat on the most uncomfortable wooden chair throughout, then we walked along the pier and back before catching the bus home. Now it wasn't easy, but It did not hurt. My back felt good, my op hip was not painful, just very tired by the end of it all.

 

Sunday morning came and I expected to be very stiff and sore from all the walking yesterday but I wasn't, I got up, went downstairs, walked around the kitchen and living room with no crutch all without a limp! It felt so good to be walking "level" again, not twisted or bent over, and my back really appreciated it. Now my limp did return, as after even short time walking with no limp, my leg muscles obviously got tired, but I still think it is fantastic progress and I can actually begin to imagine that this week I might even manage to walk outside, in public with no crutch and not look like cripple.

 

I rode my horse on Sunday again, for the first time since the head spinning escapade at 7 weeks. This time it was much easier to get on, my leg can now swing up a lot higher, but I am still grateful I have such a placid horse who doesn't mind me scrambling around on him! Once in the saddle, I felt more comfortable than last time but still pretty ineffective. I could not get my op leg in the right position to put my foot in the stirrup. My horse is western trained and so very sensitive to even the lightest cue. Whilst my husband still had us on the lead rein, I was able to  ask Charlie to walk on, turn left and right and stop through almost invisible squeezes of my lower leg, shift in weight, neck rein  and voice commands. I rode for a total  of 5 minutes. Any longer than that and I think my hip flexors would have started to spasm. So whilst I think I am long way off from a proper ride, I can now see that will be able to do this again. I have arranged that my lady who is currently exercising Charlie for me will continue to do so for the next 2 weeks, and then I shall take over his exercise sessions again. To begin with it will all be about me and my confidence I know, but Charlie and I have a good bond and I know he will look after me. I don't expect I will ride much to start with but we do a lot of stuff in hand on the ground so we have plenty to do. Afterwards, I had the tightness back in my groin, but that is something anyone that hasn't ridden for a while will get. My op hip felt a lot better that my non op hip, which benefited from ice and codeine that evening.

 

No hydrotherapy tonight as the pool has a leak, and I cannot make the session next Monday due my Nans funeral, so I will need to rearrange that. With hydro, I want to get the point where I can swim again, and then I shall stop going there and start going to our local swimming pool. I want to start swimming lengths to burn of the stone and a half of weight I have gained since last yea, when the only calorie burning exercise I could do was walking.  I have land physio with Donna this Wednesday, I am looking forward to that this time as hopefully I will be able to show her my normal walking!

 

So there we go, finally a positive post from me. I have no doubt I am going to have my fair share of down times in the coming weeks, but for now, I am going to try and enjoy this positive feeling whilst it lasts. Thanks for reading.

 

 

11 weeks Post op

Last week I started back to a bit more work. I run a Pet care Franchise, and part of my service is dog walking (although I only have one daily one and 3 or four "irregular" ones now, most of my work comes from feeding cats and pet transport). I have employed someone to do the dog walks whilst I was off and it is my plan to phase back in by the end of the month. I started with Henry, my 5 days a week dog, just doing Tuesday and Thursday last week. It went ok, I am still on one crutch so wasn't easy but, feels like a step in the right direction, I think that walking is deffinatly something I need to get back too, to build up my stamina.

 

I went to Land-physio with Donna on Friday 14th . She loosened my back off again and we went and did 2  mins warm up on the static bike then the leg press machine! - no weight, so only pushing my own body weight, I did 15 reps and that was enough. She says next week we start single leg pushes. The she analysed my gait walking up and down the gym without the crutch, She got me to slow right down to the point at which we could spot when it is I fall to the right, it is just as my right foot needs to push off from the back. So she got me concentrating on that point and engaging my core and hip flexors to prevent the listing. It was good, I managed to walk back to her clinic room with no limp, but VERY slowly. So that's my home work for the week.

 

The day after physio I felt really sore in my hip and hip flexors so rested as much as I could. I also felt the familiar shooting pain in my spine when I twisted funny in my desk chair. But I am trying to ignore that . The day after that (Sunday) I was struck down by a migraine, so another day resting on the sofa between trying to do physio and get some jobs done. So overall I am feeling pleased with my hip, but the rest if me just feels fatigued and achy.

 

I AM doing more. Dog walking feeding cats, house work, laundry even going to feed and turn our old pony out in the morning. But everything seems to take so much effort. I have to plan everything. It may appear to some people that I am pain free because I can walk around the house with out the crutch and am driving and doing jobs and errands etc, But when my mother in law asked me to pick up some bacon and milk "while you are out" - that completely threw my plan for the day, both in terms of logistics and energy. I have to plan  where to park at the supermarket, hoping to a find a free space where I can get out with my crutch and yet not walk to far to the shop. Then once in the shop, it is surprising how far you have to walk. And with a crutch it is not easy to manoeuvre, avoid, or pre-empt the rest of the worlds movements. Because I find most people are in a world of their own and oblivious to the young person on one crutch trying not to have to make any sudden movements. Also there is the issue of hands. I cant push a trolley yet so its hand basket only, so then I have no hands! I have to make sure I don't buy to much as I can only carry in one hand back to the car. So much to think about! anyway, I did it. And got soaked in the process as it was pouring with rain.

 

Monday night was hydro night and I was so tired, I didn't feel like going. But I made it through the dreary dark rain and it was nice to get into the pool and get warm and relax a bit. Here is a break down of the exercises I am doing in the pool:

 

Pool walking, normal, lifting kneed, lifting heels and side stepping

standing leg lifts (still can do them on land)

Standing abduction

Standing swinging leg back

lying on back flexing knees, flexing spine, cycling with legs

Step ups

Squats (very slight)

Lying on a support and doing front kick with legs (under water)

 

Chris, my therapist said my waddle is improving, and was looking much safer so I didn't need to use the walker frame around the pool, So that is another step forward.

 

So there you go. To sum up 11 weeks post op: Op hip feels ok, some pinching on occasions. other hip aches, Back aches, basically all of my body aches and I am very tired in my head. Hopefully my energy levels will pick up soon.

10 weeks POst op

In many ways, things are great. I am down to 1 crutch now at last. I spent last week flipping between one and two as I getting all sorts of aches and pains in my other hip and back. Went to first physio with Donna on Friday. She is really pleased with me but I can tell she thinks I should be off the crutch by now. Things is,  I list to the right side and waddle a bit when I go “Free style”. Last Wednesday I strained a rib in my back which I have done a few times in the past. It is very painful, like a pinching pain and hurts to breath. I also had pins in needles in my right arm/hand because of this. Donna sorted that out with some massage and two acupuncture needles. She then got me on the Swiss ball which was very hard to start with as I couldn’t balance myself. She said this was an important exercise to so as it will teach my muscles to balance my body again. So I have 5 exercises to do on that every day now. She also got me holding a rail and trying to do knee lifts. I could lift my op leg no problem, although not to 90 degrees. But I could not lift my left leg at all (because this involves standing on my op leg). The muscles for  doing that are obviously still asleep, though I can do it in the pool. So that is another exercise to work on. I also have to do the abduction and backwards swinging of my op leg whilst holding the back of a chair, 15 times each as well as the knee lifts (or attempted knee lifts). I am to continue with the exercise bike at no resistance, increasing the time.

By Thursday last week I found that I could climb the stairs one after another fashion by holding the hand rail in my left hand and carrying my crutch. And I could come down one after the other so long as my crutch accompanied my op leg, holding the hand rail with my right hand. So I am glad I can do the stairs quicker, one at a time was becoming VERY boring!

My new walking stick arrived in preparation for not needing the crutch. It is lilac. I had a go with it, but my hand wobbled about on it as I am obviously still needing to bare more weight than a walking stick can cope with. Hopefully I will transition to it soon. Something I never realised before my op was that if you use a stick or crutch, you should use it on the opposite side to your bad leg and move it forward at the same time as you bad one. Try to do it any other way and you will fall over!

I had a busy weekend at home. Because I can do the penguin walk with no crutches, I found myself doing the vacuuming and mopping and few other odd jobs with no cructhes. I also went to see my horse on my own for the first time. I took one crutch and someone had already brought him into the stable for me, so I just groomed him. It was nice to spend sometime on my own with him after so long.

I  really felt like I had overdone it when I woke up on Monday morning and spent most of the day resting on the sofa. I went out a 3pm to do a couple of jobs and then to hydro, first time driving myself there, and first time in the group session. I coped Ok, we all just get on with our exercises and the therapist comes and round help you if you have any problems. My hip and back felt quite tight and pinchy in the pool and I didn’t feel I could cope with the new lunge exercise so we have saved that one for next week. I didn’t get home until 8pm so had been out for 5hrs, the longest since my op, so I was really tired.

9 weeks Post Op

Today I feel ok, I have taken very few pain killers and I seem to be doing well getting about on one crutch now. I am finding I can do a “penguin walk” with no crutches, which is handy around the bedroom/bathroom/kitchen. I am aware that doing to much of this might mean I start doing more things in general and must make sure I don’t overdo things.  I have some achey/restriction pain, but no groin or leg pain at all, unless I push beyond my ROM limit. The incision has been  giving me some sharp nerve type pain over the last few days, but nothing really bad, I think it just a process of it healing. The area around the incision also feels rather numb. Again, I am not worried about this, I am sure it is just nerves healing.
 

Hydro tonight was good, I did go on two crutches but only because it was late (8:30pm!), rainy and it is a fair walk through the hospital to the pool, my  leg does tire quickly of I walk far on one crutch.  I had to use the walking frame around the poolside again. I felt a lot more confident in the pool, a lot more balanced. I mentioned to  my therapist about the reduced ROM in the leg raise and he said it was nothing to worry about, it would improve again. We did a lot of different exercises today, including a step that was put on the floor of the pool and I practiced going up and down like a normal person would! Next week I am joining the group, so there will be six of us but we all have own exercise plans to work to. Bit worried about that, as I tend to be a self conscious in a group environment. I hope I don’t over do it as it is a 45min session instead of 30min and obviously I won’t be supervised as much. I shall have to remind myself to take things slowly and not rush!

I go to see my physiotherapist Donna on Friday so I am looking forward to that. I want to go through the exercises I am doing at the moment and see of there is anything I change or add to it.

The day before 9 weeks post op

 Taken from my post on the FaceBook Hip FAI group:

It's Sunday the 2nd February 2014,  and I realise that one year ago today I was feeling completely bummed out, depressed and lost after the appointment with my 1st hip specialist who told me I did not have enough FAI to benefit from surgery, and that the scope surgery he could do on my "slight cam" would probably make me worse.

He said all my pain must be coming from my back (or in my head),and that I should pursue the spinal route next. He said a hip block injection would be of no benefit and also that I should give up riding my  horse.  "not a realistic expectation" were his words, and he even put that bit in writing. Well now I am sitting here on the eve that marks 9 weeks post from my open dislocation & debridement surgery  from my wonderful 2nd opinion surgeon who addressed cam, pincer & calcified labrum. Last weekend I sat on my horse, at my surgeons recommendation. Recovery is not an easy ride but I am getting there. For all you FAI sufferers reading this, I cant lie, it is a tough journey, stick at it, don't let doctors tell you are wrong when you know are right. Find one that will listen to you. Stay strong.

Calculated & Educated Risks

When I went to my first hydrotherapy session, 8 weeks post op, and told my therapist that I had sat on my horse at 7 weeks post op, he did a very good job of not looking completely aghast. I wondered if  I hadn't have said that it was actually my surgeon that suggested it, if he might have said I shouldn't have done it. But we kind of got to talking about how such things are both a calculated and educated risk.

 

Part of the reason I got on my horse was because of what my first opinion surgeon said about me doing it. "Not a realistic expectation with your back" he had said, back in 2012. Also, my current surgeon that had done the op had had scope surgery for FAI himself, and he had got back to his cycling and skiing pretty quick, so he knew how I was feeling mentally about getting back on my horse as soon as I could.

 

My therapist referred to the show jumper Nick Skelton. He won Gold at London Olympics 2012. He has 2 knee replacements and a hip replacement, as well as a near fatal neck injury in 2000. Nick Skelton must know that to fall from a horse now,  with these replacements and neck lesions, gives him a higher chance of severe injury. But he does it anyway, because he loves it, and because he is taking a calculated, educated  risk. He knows what he is doing, he knows the horse, and yes, he also knows the consequences of falling off. But a lot of variables need to come together for a catastrophic fall, and he has control of many of those variables through knowing his horses training, and his own abilities.

 

I loved this thought process coming from my therapist. It made absolute sense! I was taking a calculated, educated risk getting on my horse, because I love it and  because I know he was well trained, that he is a calm relaxed horse, that I do know what I am doing. It would be a different thing entirely if I was getting on a rodeo bucking horse, the variables there certainly suggest I would  hit the dirt!

 

And anyway. We all take calculated educated risks every day. From driving our cars to getting on an a train on airplane.

Exercises - up to 8 weeks and after 8 weeks

As a reminder, here are the only exercises I was allowed to do for the first 8 weeks post op:

Exercises up to 8 weeks

Ankle pumps and ankle rotation as often as possible during the day.

Glute sets as often as possible during the day

Twice a day:

·       Passive abduction to max 30 degrees x 10

·       Passive flex ion to max 90 degrees x 10

From 3 weeks added  a raised passive flexion to 90 degrees max x 10

·       Quad sets – 2 lots of 10

·       Glute sets – 2 lots of 10

·       Non op leg – leg lift/extension, 2 lots of 10

·       Prone lying (when able to get there) for 30mins, with some knee raised to stretch quads

My Planned exercises from 8 Weeks

Active heel slides – 2 lots of 10

Active abduction to 45d, x5, build as tolerated

Active leg left, angle as hip will allow, 5, build up as tolerated

Leg lift & flexing for non op leg as before

Prone lying and flexion as before

20+ “sit ups” for core - literally just lifting my head and shoulders off the bed but ensuring core is "engaged"

Pelvic rocking

Standing abduction as far as leg will allow, startat 5. Build up to 20

10 minute walk if weather allows

Static bike, no resistance, start at 3mins and increase by 1 minute per day.

1st Hydrotherapy Session - 8 weeks post op

First Hydrotherapy session tonight (Tuesday) at the Avon orthopaedic Centre at Southmead Hospital, Bristol. Paul drove me. It was a long way from the main entrance into the hospital so I was glad I went on 2 crutches. First of all I had to answer loads of general questions about what I had had done and what I doing physio wise and what my goal of Hydro was “To be able to walk with out the crutches”. Then he checked my leg lifting and abduction on op leg. I could lift my leg to about 60/70 degrees!

I had to use the walking frame around the pool as  went down into the pool, I left the frame behind and used the hand rail to walk up, round and down. As I went down into the water if felt wonderful, lovely and warm. The water came up to my chest in the shallow end. I Spent a few minutes standing getting  used to the feeling of being held up in the water. Then I was given two woggle floats to old onto in front of me to use to balance on and walked across the pool.

It was a very odd feeling as I felt as though I might fall but the water would not allow me. During the session we did walking, high stepping, side stepping and holding on to the side to do abducting and moving leg backwards. It all felt ok. The we  did floating in the corner using the woggle and flexed knees alternately which felt good as my knees are feeling creaky! I had a rubber blow up ring put onto my op ankle when I was not flexing that one to support it a little.

The weirdest thing was getting back out of the water as I could feel myself getting heavier and less able to walk. So then it was back to the walking frame and back to reality of needing crutches to walk.

I really enjoyed the hydro and the plan is for to go for another solo session and then join a group.

The following few days I felt achy and my ROM reduced, I could only do a leg lift for a  few inches, and even if Paul helped me passively ,my leg was shaking at the top. I am sure this is all due to using the leg more and some Delayed Onset Muscle fatigue  from the hydro, but it is difficult to not feel down when things start to go backwards.

On the Thursday  after Hydro I tried a side lying leg lift. Big mistake NOTHING HAPPENED!! So perhaps this is another of those things that require me to just start by sending the message to the muscles and will eventually get the idea? I am guessing it is because my abductors have been asleep for 8 weeks due to the non weight baring? I try again in the Friday morning and still no movement. So I email my surgeon just to check this is OK. This was his reply:

“yes… its the hardest thing to do at the moment… don’t bother trying. do the same movement whilst standing, and continue until you can do it 30 times easily, then start to hold your leg out 18” for as long as you can. When you can do that for 30 seconds, start doing the same thing on your side.
On your side, try keeping your one bent initially (to make you leg shorter, reducing the lever arm) and then progressively straighten your leg as you get stronger”

-         Thats ok then, I shall go back to standing abduction then for a while!

8 Weeks Post op

At 8 weeks I feel like have come so far yet have so far to go. I have been fully weight baring on my op leg for a week, and it feels great. I am down to  1 crutch around the house most  of the time but I switch to two if my back or other hip starts to hurt. Outside I am still on 2 crutches .

I can officially start doing my extra physio exercises now so shall add in some active abduction and leg lifts. I can also use the static bike so I will start at 3 mins and build up by 1 minute each day, no resistance. I am pretty much of pain killers in the day now, I still have some groin pain at night so I am taking 20mg amitryptalline and 60mg codeine at night so that I can get to sleep. Sleep is much easier now that I can roll over on both sides, though the op side is still a bit sore so I don’t spend long on that side, I think I am mostly sleeping on my front.

Today I needed to run a few errands in town so I kitted up with two crutches, and a rucksack instead of hand bag & shopping bag. Drove to town and parked across two bays so I could get our of the car with my crutches. Went on two crutches across Zebra crossing to vets to get cats tablets then back across to the chemists, then back to car and home, pretty tired but felt like had accomplished something on my own at last

Week 7 Post FAI Surgery

Week 7 feels like a VERY long week.  I feel ok, my hip feels good and I just want to get on do things! I carried on full weight baring on two crutches for a few days. It is nice to get out walking on the sea wall as fully weight baring means I can walk normally without straining my shoulders. So I go for 5 minute walks every day. By the Wednesday I am really bored of 2 crutches so start switching down to 1 in the house – only for carrying things when I need to. It feels good to be able to make my breakfast and carry it, even if it does take 3 trips (1^st to take cup of tea in, 2^nd to take toast, 3^rd to fetch crutch number 2!) But using one crutch makes things ache a bit, all the muscles on my non op side between my ribs are really sore and my lower back aches as I feel I am a bit twisted, so I carry on with two wherever possible.

On the Friday I had couple of things on. I had to feed some clients cats, collect my friends little dog that stays with us when she is on night shifts  and go the beauty spa to have my legs & feet done in prep for hydro - I have no hope of doing such things! So I take 1 crutch, it goes ok but it is really tiring and by the time I get back home I am really tired and achy and a bit bummed out thinking I am not going to be able witch to one crutch when he said I could.

I spend Saturday feeling very sorry for myself and using 2 crutches around the house. Pretty much the same on the Sunday but Paul talks me into going to see my horse, maybe to have a ride. Paul saddles him up and off they go to the indoor school and I follow on one  crutch. Paul lunges him a little first and CB seems in a very relaxed state of mind. I really didn’t want to get on as I was just feeling sorry for myself but with  the determined voice in my head and Paul's encouragement I do it: I get up onto the mounting block like I do stairs and pass the crutch to Paul. Then I put my non op leg in the stirrup and realise I can't push up off my right leg like I would normally. SO I have to haul myself with my hands on the front and back of the saddle. IT REALLY hurts, Not sharp pain but that tight feeling from the muscles all being to tight. Three attempts of me saying “I can’t do it” and Paul saying “you can” (he told me later that if I said it a 4^th time he would have let me stop) And on the 4^th attempt I manage to get my leg up onto CB’s bum. My leg just feels like a big lump of lead that doesn’t want to do anything! “My leg's stuck1" the two options available of carrying on or getting off now look both as impossible as each other so I opt for carrying on. Paul comes round to my side and helps move my leg a bit further on then he goes back round the other side “Right, you are going to have to lie forwards and let your leg drop down this side, I’ll control it” OK. There was no going back “This just seems like such a stupid thing to be doing, why am doing this”? and then, my leg is down on the right side of CB and and I am sitting up. It feels VERY weird. Like I can't  get on my seat bones in the saddle  as I would normally. I am perched there, on top of my horse, my head is spinning and I have no hope of getting either of my legs to a position where I can get my feet in the stirrups. My non op leg feels just as tight as my op leg. “ok?” says Paul “yeah”, says I.

And so we go for a walk, only 5mins, around the school. And my head the spins the whole time. “what a stupid position to be in, sat on a horse, 7 weeks post open hip surgery, I cant even get my feet in the stirrups never mind actually ride him! If he does something silly now, I will fall straight off” But then I think “No don’t be stupid. Trust your husband, trust your  horse, trust the training he has on him, trust what you did with him last year, Trust the fact he is your horse and he knows you need him to be good” So I did I relaxed a bit but my head still span. And then it was time to get off. Paul tied CB up to the tie ring and told him to be still. And he was. He stood like a gentle lamb whilst Paul first helped lift my leg up onto his bum then ran round to the other side and helped lower my leg down as I slid off and he caught me. DONE I had ridden my horse and wonderful clever horse he is, I gave him a big hug and a kiss. I was more proud of him being so gentle and kind and understanding than I was of what I had managed to do.

 

Me and My Horse, after our first ride,
7 weeks post op

 

Week 5 & 6 Post FAI Open Hip Surgical Discloation & Debridement Surgery Recovery

During the 5^th week post op, I seemed to improve quite a bit. I had cut down a lot of the pain medication and so was a bit more “with it” I was moving about more on my two crutches without pain. The swelling in my leg was a lot less  and  I started to feel like my leg actually belonged to me again! I was getting very tired of the crutches as everything ached and everything was hard work with only toe touch weight baring.  When I woke up on the morning of 6 weeks post op I felt great. I took hardly any pain killers that week and actually started to bare some more  weight through my op leg as it felt fine and my shoulders really appreciated it.

We went down to Truro for my post op check on the 17^th Jan and the Xray showed that my osteomy had healed, Mr F said he could barely see the fracture line. I must be a super healer or something because my scar looked great to! He said he was pleased with my "new angles". He said that I could fully weight bare on it from that moment and from the following Friday I could drop to one crutch. Then from the  Monday after that (8 weeks post op) I could start my hydrotherapy and begin to get back to normal. He even said I could do a Zumba class form 12 weeks if I fancied - I didn't fancy, thank you very much. Not my sort of thing! What about horse riding? "When ever you feel like it from next weekend, just for a few minutes at a time"  Brillo!  My post op x-ray is below and it kind of freaks me out how different my hip sockets look now. My operated one is so much smaller!

I asked him if there is now a risk that my op hip may dislocate now that it is all so much smaller? He says not a chance. I ask if him if I will need to hip replacement, He says it very unlikely because now, as if it wasn’t for the hardware, my hip looks a very good, healthy hip. 

He says I will need number 2 doing, as soon as the number one is recovered at the Tonnis angle in that is is in the negatives and the CE angle is to big. There is also posterior overcovergae so basically the same as number 1 was. So there is no question of whether my other hip needs doing, its more a matter of when. They say it takes at least a year to heal from this op, as the current op leg needs to take on the role of the main leg when the other is done. But realistically, I don't want it done this year. Autumn 2015 would suit me, so long as it can hang in that long!

So overall I feel very happy with my post op verdict. It is just sad they have to go through all this again with hip 2. It seems like I am half walk through my battle and the end is still a long way off.

7 Weeks 5 days post op!

 

 

Photos Taken During Surgery - Do not Look if you are squeemish

Ok, so for the brave ones amongst you, here are 3 pictures taken during my surgery, when my hip was dislocated!



Pic 1. Following dislocation this is the top of my femur
You can see the damage done by the pincer impingement and the
large CAM deformity

pic 2. Close up of the CAM lesion, and damage.



Pic 3. Following Mr F's femoral osteoplasty (re shaping)
Here he using a template to check for spherety