10th Novmber 2015
A little time has passed since I posted about getting the ball rolling for getting my left hip sorted out. I am now sitting here one week post op for that hip! Things moved quickly from when I went to see my GP to ask for the referral. My health insurance have thankfully decided to cover this hip as it wasn't really mentioned on my medical records. So things moved swiftly and a lot less stressfully then for right hip.
I went to see my consultant on the 27th September. He said that my hip was obviously deteriorating and it made sense to get it sorted now. As the open debridement surgery had been such a success for right hip, and the X-ray of the left looked similar to the right pre-op, we decided the best route was to have the open surgery on this side also.
The X-ray shows a small CAM deformity on the femoral head and a large pincer or overhang of the acetabula rim. When comparing it to the the right, it's easy to see the difference and what needs to be done!
I had had my open surgery on the right hip in December 2013. The pain I had in the run up to that was virtually unbearable, as I had a lot of pain in both hips. I had had to place my larger horse in full livery as I physically could not look after him anymore. Obviously that was not cheap and I was worried about what the future might be for me and him. I have owned him since he was 6 months old and he is now 14 years. I was also worried about work. I run a pet care franchise and whilst the actual work of looking after other people's animals is not to taxing, the driving, walking and even desk admin work was getting to be very painful. By the time I had hauled my body up to December 2013 I was exhausted and frankly rather desperate for something to get me out of the cycle of chronic pain I was in.
I found the rehab from that surgery tough, mentally and physically. To go from being able to do the things you need to do, even though you are in pain,to not even Being able to get out of bed on your own for the first few days is a bit of a shock.
You can read about the rehab for my right hip here onwards. :
http://blueskyhips.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/op-day-and-day-1-post-op.html
From about 5 months post op I could tell I had done the right thing. I progressed on to doing Pilates, riding my horse and even some gentle skiing in January 2014. I could feel a real difference between left and right hip when I sat on my horse. My right leg hung different in the saddle, it felt much freer and more comfortable against my horses side. My left leg just felt a stuck and useless, sometimes I would get a really sharp pain in the front which I guess was the impingement of the acetabulum & femoral neck. It held me back a lot and I didn't do much riding. I'd hack out with the girls from our yard once or twice a week. I found walk and trot ok, so long as my horse behaved but cantering and galloping were not possible. The last time I galloped my horse was November 2014, it really hurt me, I could feel impingement with every stride .
In May 2015 my Pilates class got cancelled. I started Yoga, the wife of one of my husband friends had just qualified as a yoga teacher, so I had a private lesson from her and then joined her group lesson on a Thursday evening.
I really enjoyed the yoga, I found it more relaxing than Pilates. Whilst there was plenty I could not do on my left hip (positions that involved a lot of flexing/lunging or twisting of that hip) the rest of my body really appreciated it so I stuck at it until the week before surgery on my left. If you have never done a yoga sun salutation, I can highly recommend it for stretching and easing your whole body out. I tried my best to start each day with 3 sun salutations.
The summer of 2015 was a long one, and also pretty painful. I did have some good days, when I tried to make the most of it and get things done. My lower back went to complete spasm on two occasions. I had a lot of pain in my left sacroiliac joint, which seemed to shoot through from my left groin. I also had a lot of illiotibial band pain. Work was very very busy, and working hard whilst in a lot of pain in tiring mentally as well as physically. I run a pet care franchise and whilst looking after other people pets isn't too taxing, I was doing a lot of driving, walking and desk admin work. I did not have a single full day off mid June through to September. I felt like I was hauling my body through each day/week, and could get little enjoyment from things. My hobbies of riding my horse and gardening seemed crammed in around work when what I really needed was a sit down. I didn't ride my horse much at all, and if I did, it hurt.
Anyway, I managed to drag my self up to September and our 10 day holiday, without breaking myself completly. We spent our holiday travelling from south to north wales and back with our dog, Ruby, in our camper van. My aim for the holiday was to do a little as possible. I achieved it, but I would much rather of been going for long walks on the beach, walking up Snowdon & Cader-Idris or even going pony treking. Instead I had to settle for a steam train journey that passed the bottom of Mount Snowdon. I took a picture and we planned what route we will take to get to the top next year when I have two good hips.
As soon as I got back I set the ball rolling for getting surgery on the left hip. Things went smoothly and the date was hooked. 3rd November 2015. I got back on life's treadmill and went back to hauling my body through each day and week, I stopped horse riding as it was just to painful. I was ready to get off the treadmill.
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