Op Day

8th November 2015

Today I am one week post op and have been home since Saturday evening, so I managed to only stay in hospital 4 nights this time. 

My admission time on the 3rd was 12:20, so we had a morning to waste. We stayed at a nice hotel near the hospital the night of the 2nd, I wasn't allowed any food from 7:30 am and clear fluids only until 11:30 am. So I got croissants and nice jam to eat in our room at 7am. We hung around the hotel room until 10am, relaxing. I had a long, hot shower, probably the last for the next month at least. I did some yoga whilst my husband went for his breakfast. The last yoga involving my left leg for 3 months. 

My left hip was really sore that day of the op, I was limping on it and could not have any pain killers due to the  amount of drugs I'd be having in a few hours time. We got to the hospital an hour early as we had nothing else to do. My room was ready so we able to go on in and watch tv until things started rolling. I felt really emotional when we first got to the room and had a good 5 minute cry and hug. I think they were a mixture of tears of pain, relief that I made it to this point at last and trepidation at what I was about to do electively. Anyway, a good cry always does me good and I felt better for it, determined to get on get this over with. 

The anaesthetist and surgeon came to see me and I signed the papers and had an arrow drawn on my left leg. I got changed into my hospital gown and got into bed where I would be warmer and comfier with my painful hip. 

They came to get me at 14:45. I was wheeled down to theatre on the bed which was nice. I then had to get out and hop up on the prep table and lie on my back. They anaesthetist and the technicians were all very nice and it wasn't long until I we talking about horses and cats.. I had a cannula placed in the back of my right hand and an oxygen mask. I was given the first lot of meds and I remember feeling floaty and warm. Then I dont remember anything until I woke up, which I was glad about as I really didn't want to feel the epidural going into my spine. 

When I woke up, I was in the recovery room, back in my bed. I felt really Hot and then I felt a bit painful, about a 7 out of 10. I had a load of bubble wrap on me under the blankets and something blowing warm air underneath it, they said I had been cold in theatre. So I got it all that taken off and given some morphine and then I felt pretty comfy. I couldn't feel anything below my waist due to epidural. The nurse kept checking if I could feel her touching my foot or leg. The feeling in my right leg came back before my left leg, which stayed quite numb until after I got back to my room.  I had to stay in the recovery a while because we had to wait to for the "blood cleaning machine" to Finnish its stuff. Because I have a blood disorder called Beta Thalassemia trait, my heamoglobin doesn't need much excuse to drop. So they had collected the blood I lost during surgery and it went into the machine to be cleaned and then into a drip bag. This blood of my own was then given back to me through my cannula. Whilst we were waiting  for this, the nurse showed me how to use the morphine pump they had set up for me, I had a button that I could press to release some of the morphine into the drip line. It would then not allow any more to be released for 5mins.

I got taken back to my room at about 7pm, and my leg was put into the continual passive motion machine (CPM). This constantly, slowly, flexes the leg backwards and forwards, the idea Bieng that the movement prevents adehesions forming in the hip joint. I also had  the flotron cuffs placed on my lower legs, these inflate alternately to compress the leg and help prevent thrombosis. I Had had a urinary catheter placed whilst I was under anaesthetic so at least I didn't need to worry about going to the loo!

I was hooked up to blood pressure machine, Oxygen saturation finger monitor, ECG, the oxygen nasal prongs, and fluid drip with morphine pump attached. That's a whole lot of stuff inflating, going up and down  and beeping.  I felt pretty uncomfortable with it all going on, so kept on pressing my morphine button. I was allowed a cup of tea at 10pm but unfortunately I vomitted it straight back up. And so began the long night I had been dreading. The nurse kept coming in every hour to do my observations. The machines kept on beeping and things kept inflated and deflating. At 1am my morphine pump ran out. It took over an hour for the nurses to get round to getting it changed and the machine kept on beeping to say it was empty. I felt so hot and tired and uncomfortable. I had the blind up a bit with the window open slightly. I can remember looking out at the darkness and thinking it was never going to get light. But it did at last. 

I managed a glimpse of what my leg now looked like. No going back now!! 

Moving towards getting the left hip fixed...

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. 

One Year 10 Months Post Right Hip Open SDD Surgery for FAI

Cant believe how long it has been since my last post....I can remember in my last but one post planning to just try and get on with life and forget about this hip stuff, until I was able to contemplate doing any more about them. Bear with me on this update, it might be a long one.....

I am still super pleased with the surgery on my right hip, it was absolutely the right thing to do. Since I last posted in January 2015, I have developed an issue with the 3 screws that were placed through the head of the trochanter. These screws are only there because of the type of surgery I had, in order to get to the joint they needed to dislocate the hip and to do that, they have to take off the head of the trochanter, and screw it back on. Once the bone had healed, the screws serve no purpose and it seems many people go on with their life never having an issue with them.

But for some people, the screws can become a problem. They can irritate the muscles and tissues  surrounding them, causing pain and swelling. I had thought that my screws had settled down, having been pretty bit sore through the early recovery phase, by 9 months post op, I had stopped thinking about them. But from about Feb 2015, they started to play up. It has been intermittent, mainly brought on by  “too much” walking but also is worse in the cold/damp weather. The feeling is a bit like something sticking in my leg but from the inside out, and also a bit itchy. Sometimes I get pain radiating down my IT band and very occasionally, a bit of groin pain. It is also uncomfortable to lie directly on, and a  press or knock to the area results in pain and the itching feeling. I also have a small swelling at the base of my scar, it often feels like I am sitting on an egg under my outer thigh.

I have tried not to be to disappointed by the problems the screws are causing as I know it should be resolved by having the screws taken out. But as I have just not had the time to be able to take a week off to have the screws out, I have found the pain from them rather frustrating as it is the only thing that makes me think about that hip.

Despite the screw pain. I have spent much of the year, so far, enjoying be able to ride o my horse, which given that my 1^st opinion hip consultant said was an “unreasonable expectation”, I shall forever be thankful to my 2^nd opinion consultant who fixed that hip. I have been limited by my left hip (more on that later) so made the decision to just take things easy this year, no travelling my horse to lessons, clinics or shows. Very little in the way of schooling (since my left leg prevents me from doing lateral work) Instead,  we have been “happy hackers”, riding out 2 or 3 times a week from the yard.

Back wise, I have only been to see my physio (Donna) for two episodes this year,  that said they were both quite horrible back pain episodes. The first was in March, when my upper back went into spasm. It was sudden and disabling pain, which felt like a bolt of lightning in my spine, and was unable to move very far for a good  few minutes.

During the treatments for this, Donna mentioned how rounded my upper back appears, and how I need to try and address my posture to decrease the amount of upper back pain I have, and stop me developing a “dowagers hump” in years to come (Google that and you will do anything to avoid it!) She suggested looking in the Alexander Technique (AT). So I started researching AT. It all seemed a bit “vague” to me, the Wikipedia definition of AT is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_technique

Having a science/veterinary nurse background, I like facts, and struggle to understand phrases like “Sensory Appreciation” or “let your head and neck be free” and the Youtube videos  I watched seemed very odd, the AT teacher just making minute adjustments to a person as they sat, stood, lay down. But I have always trusted Donna, and if she thought AT could help me, then I would try it. I found a fantastic teacher in Bristol called Lisa Clarke. I went to my fist lesson, and can honestly say I didn’t really understand what on earth she was on about, but it intrigued me. So I kept going every week, from April to the end of June. One of the first things I learnt about AT is that it cannot be learnt from a book or a video, you have to have a lesson to understand it. And so I won’t go into great detail here, suffice to say I found the whole thing immensely helpful, and my posture has improved no end. Just making some minor adjustments in the way I use my back, neck and head I have improved my back pain no end, and If my upper back does feel pinchy, I know it is because I have been neglecting my AT techniques. Here’s a few link about AT:

http://cliftonalexandertechnique.co.uk/
http://www.alexandertechnique.com/
http://www.stat.org.uk/

So from April through to July I felt pretty good, both back and hip wise, the pain from the screws wasn’t to bad with the warmer weather and my left hip was behaving pretty well. I also started Yoga in May. One of my husband’s friend’s wife was a newly qualified teacher and I have always got on well with her when we have met so I decided to give it a go. I think she was a bit worried she might be getting me doing something that would hurt me, when I listed out all my issues, but she was brave enough to take me on and I had a couple of private lessons before joining in the group class on a Thursday. I have found it very beneficial and slightly less intense than pilates,  of course there are a number of poses that I cannot, and some that I should not do, but I know how to listen to my body and not push it to do things that will be detrimental.

July and August are traditionally my most busy months work wise. I run a pet care business and so the summer means long days driving around the many cat care at home visits that come hand in hand with the school holidays, and people going away. I also had some donkeys to care for two weeks. All that aswell as my usual dog walks and looking after my own animals. Something had to give and in the end, it was my lower back and left hip. I struggled through those two months, and had to stop riding my horse because of my left hip. I was having a lot of groin pain, ITB pain and SI joint point. My lower back spasmed a couple  of times, and I managed to control it myself with medication and stretches. Then, in August, it all went very wrong. I was in tonnes of pain, left and right hip and all across my lower back. I sent to see Donna a few times and she said the issues  on the left side were to do with my Psoas and piriformis muscles, and that the issue on my right was my lumber disc disease rearing its head and putting all the muscles on that side into spasm. The last time I saw Donna was the 17^th August and she did some manipulations that she hadn’t done to me before, along with some acupuncture and massage. It was really full on and very painful but oh my word, how wonderful I felt 2 days after. She is an amazing physio!! We were due to go on holiday to Wales the 1^st September so I decided it was best to not attempt riding my horse until we got back from that, to give my back and hips time to settle back down to “normal” 

My plan for my left hip has always been to get it fixed over a winter, as I tend be quieter work wise and as a real outdoorsy person, if I have sit around recovering during any months, I would rather it be the winter ones. I couldn’t have contemplated it last winter, I was pleased with my other hip allowing me to get back to horse riding- and skiing! But through the middle of 2015, I can feel that my left hip is starting to deteriorate, I am getting more in the way of stabbing groin pain,  SI joint pain, and part of me longs to know how much more stable my lower back will feel with a matching pair of correct hips. Plus, I am through with taking it easy. I want to gallop my horse on the beach , school him, go to clinics with him, take him on holiday to see, and ride with my friend in Wales. I want to go kayaking. I want to go on proper walks, the sort of walks where you need to wear proper hiking gear, where you have to pack you rucksack with an OS map, food, a flask of tea, waterproofs, a torch and a fist aid kit. I want to walk the Cornish Coastal Path, the Mendip Hills and Snowdon. The only I see me doing those things is if I can get this gammy old left hip fixed and get properly fit again.  So, when we got back from our holiday, I set the wheels in motion to get my left hip looked at. I have an appointment to see my surgeon in Truro on the 25^th September.

Snowdon

Crushing the "you can't do that" voice

16th Jan 2015 I have been pushing my luck all week. And now I am paying for it but in a positive way. I am Sat here snuggled on a sofa with my non op hip (old lefty) resting on a cushion, in the TV room at Hotel Alpe in St Martin De Belleville, 3 valleys, France.,at the end of a skiing holiday. This time last year, my Facebook status read "feeling like I do have two legs after all" I was just starting to weight bear on my right leg and reduce down to one crutch. Yesterday, I ski'd 10 miles from a height of 2400m. It was a challenge, I am only just out of snow plough and into parallel skiing, I still have that fearsome moment when the next section looks so steep the skiers in front look like ants, but I pushed on. There is something awesome about beating that little voice that says "you can't do that, who do you think are for even  attempting this , don't be silly, you need to stop now "that voice has been winning over for a while now and yesterday  I suppressed that voice and I did it, feeding the part of me that is actually pretty much a determined dare devil. The part of me that longs to gallop full pelt along the beach on my horse again, the part of me that wants to climb snowdon mountain again. The part of me that secretly longs to do a parachute jump. The part of me limited in recent years by hip & back pain. As I wooshed down a particularly straight section, reaching that point that your face stings with the cold wind, that point where you are only just in control, I felt like the old me. That I was crushing that voice who try's to convince me I can't. Well actually I can. 

But now, That's me done skiing for this year my un operated hip (old lefty) has woken up in a very bad mood. On the positive side, I now know the surgery on my right hip was worth it, as it feels great! Onwards and upwards, I am so so very grateful for what I have been able to do and mountain tops I have seen this week....hopefully by this time next year I'll be well on my way to a matching pain free pair.

Now I do appreciate that I am very lucky to be able to ski post a Fai repair/with fai. I know that there are many in my situation for whom skiing (or what ever their chosen longing may be) will never be reality. We each have ownbattles to fight and we should strive to do the best we can, even if that is just putting one foot in front of the other, and we should not expect the journey to be easy.

There is a quote told to me that I try to use in all asspects  of my life. I was involved in the retraining of my horse whose behavioural issues had spiralled out of control and I was seriously facing retiring  him if retraining did not help. I was reading Buck Brannamans book Believe . In it he mentions St Francis of Assisi's words :

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
With my horse, we started with the necessary being leading in hand training on the ground to help him be a safe horse to be around. Then it became possible to ride him safely for short periods, 9 months later we were riding out alone up Cadbury Camp hill. Something we  thought impossible. 
So it was with my hip recovery. The necessary being the physiotherapy and hydrotherapy to allow me to put one foot in front of the other. And then came the possible of crossing the road on two crutches to sit on a bench to going back to  work and before long doing  what once seemed like impossible, riding my horse and now skiing. 
Taking my skis back to the hire shop this afternoon, walking across the bottom of the ski slope with skiers whizzing down and stopping at the end, grinning, I had to pinch myself that I had done it myself, yes my hip is shouting at me now but I had done it. And don't care if I never manage to do it again. Take it a step at a time. stay on each step as long as you need, above all, be kind to yourself. 

 

 

 

Top of the world, 15th Jan 2015

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.