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
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