Ha, ha,
@Klassy, I was amazed my friend got as far as she did! I really did try to persuade her to stick it out for the last part of the month, but she was adamant that she was done. She did, however, thank me for my support and said that going forward she intends to be more mindful and deliberate about her alcohol consumption which, as far as I am concerned, makes it worthwhile to have gone through this mostly dry January. And yes, I DID enjoy a glass of sauvignon blanc with lunch one day, and also a yummy Satsuma Cosmo cocktail at dinner with my husband the following night.
Well, I think I might have been able to sleep on my right, operated hip side but I really never tried it as I am a left hip, close to the edge of the bed, sleeper. I could roll over onto my right side fairly quickly but I'm not sure I could have slept on it. It will be interesting when I finally--groan--have to get my left hip replaced as I will have to switch sides of the bed and sleep on my right, not left, hip. I was also astounded by the fact that except for one night when I forgot to wake up to take a pain pill (was quickly advised to set an alarm for that) I really had no pain--just stiffness, soreness, tenderness, whatever--but no muscle pain. I felt as if that was a true miracle!
My recovery was fairly swift, although like everyone else on this forum, I did overdo it a few times but nothing that set me back long term. I credit this mostly to being in fairly good physical shape before surgery, with regular (if limited) exercise and I'm not overweight. I did a weekly Pilates class the summer before surgery, and daily PT exercises (which had been prescribed for my sciatica but seemed to help strengthen the musculature around my hips, too) as well as continued cardio at the gym on an elliptical. Sure, I wasn't very impressive in any of these activities and it got harder and harder as I approached surgery, but I always believed it was better to do something as I was able rather than sit around and brood and wring my hands. I'm not saying I didn't have days when I felt perfectly miserable (like many folks, I was terrified at the prospect of surgery) but I somehow managed to pick myself up from those bad days and try to resume some kind of exercise the day after, no matter how minimal--"onwards" through gritted teeth.
Thanks for checking in. It is a sunny day here in the PNW so I may get outside at some point and pick up yard debris from our deck. We have an enormous redwood and a cedar tree in our backyard which throw off an incredibly amount of stuff all winter long. I will try not to do too much as I really don't want to set myself back as I did a few weeks ago when I really hurt my lower back. Cheers, all, and happy Monday!