THR A New Ride Begins - The Puckhead's recovery

[myglasshalffull]

Oh the creative ways we find to complete tasks when in recovery mode.
Hope no cameras are rolling!

 

[Mojo333]

Oh the creative ways we find to complete tasks when in recovery mode.
Hope no cameras are rolling!

Indeed.
I had both hips done at once and several times during early days, when on lovely toilet riser, my undies would fall to my ankles prompting an embarrassing shout-out for hubby to help me pull them up.

The grabbers were difficult ....
I was rehabbing at my sister's for the first 3 weeks because she has a big walk-in shower and noticed her telescopic back scratcher and thought great for panty retrieval!

Sister told me I could just keep it...

 

[Layla]

lowering their food dishes for dinner without spilling.

Check out this handy dandy device on Amazon -

Graceful Pets - Easy To Feed Pet Bowl with Handle

 

[thepuckhead]

And we're back from first, 2-week post op checkpoint/appointment!

But first...

OK, I am pretty good with the grabber, but not good enough to have tried litter box scooping with it! Holy cow, @Merrimay, you're amazing. My poor wife is on litter box duty and so my job is to zip it and not try to politely tell her that the purramedics prefer a more frequent cleaning of their powder room. HOWEVER, I have discovered an extendable scooper! Like a grabber, but now exclusively for feline benefit!

@djklaugh - I use the grabber to lower the food dishes, so I don't have to bend all the way down, but they are very interested in this idea of yours to have them dine on the table. Like, very interested. THANKS for that! Now water dishes are another matter, but one purramedic likes running water in the bathroom sink anyway, so...

And there so needs to be a TikTok dedicated to adventures in getting around the house after joint replacement, @zauberflöte. Can you imagine the sponsor money from the grabber and other gadget companies? We'd be rich and famous in no time.

Anyway, SO, the good news and the less good news from first checkpoint:

NO MORE COMPRESSION SOCKS! NO MORE CUFFS! I'm free! I'm free!!!!!!! Can ya'll see the smoke and flames from here in the Midwest? PAR-TAY! No more waking up my dear wife at 3am because she has to unplug me so I can pee and replug me in when I come back. Oh happy day!

Bandage is off and incision looks good! 3 more weeks until I'm cleared to swim/take bath, etc.

And...the less good...

Fracture is stable and healing, so VERY good news, BUT...the PA I saw recommended 3 more weeks of very gradual, minimal FWB just because, as he said, he's conservative and it takes up to 6 weeks for bones to heal, so he'd suggest protecting the fracture a bit longer.

Long sigh. Not meltdown, though. Just giant sigh. He said if weren't for the fracture, I'd be pretty picture perfect for the replacement healing and he also said the surgeon himself would probably say I'm fine to start weight bearing, but, if it were him, he'd exercise an abundance of caution.

Which....yeah, I gotta admit, I agree with him. I hadn't planned to go nuts with FWB in any case and he DID say I could introduce small amounts of adapting to a cane and listen to my body (ah, there's that lesson I need to learn again). No driving until I'm comfortable getting in and out of the car myself and definitely use a walker anytime I'm outside (I'm in the Midwest and there's this nasty thing called ice on the ground which...yikes).

So, I'm looking at the next three weeks as an extra effort in a good outcome and I have a much easier time thinking about healing from a stress fracture than I do healing from a THR. And, again, so thankful they caught it during the operation and fixed it then so I didn't go FWB and possibly experience a truly nasty time.

Still....that walker...it's gonna get....OK, no, can't burn it, it's metal...bashed up...oh, wait, it's a loaner, so it'll just quietly get packed up and outta here in the near future.

I asked him my questions about restrictions and muscle cutting and he said that the external rotator muscles heal up just fine and the risk of dislocation is much lower not because of muscle cutting or approach, but because they can use larger femoral heads and thinner liners, which provide more stability, and also they don't typically cut you open from butt to knee anymore, so there's much less disruption/damage just because of the smaller incision. Confirmed that data do not show any difference in dislocation rates between posterior and anterior approach. Made sense to me and he's seen plenty more THRs than I have, so my confidence in dislocation being rare increased quite a bit.

I can sleep on the operated side; do not need pillow. But I like the pillow, so I may keep that!

Need to stay on aspirin for 3 more weeks; all other meds should probably stay the same for now, though after I'm done with the rx dose of naproxen, I can switch to over the counter.

All achy breaky ouchie ouchies are normal, nothing to worry about.

He looked puzzled when I told him my PT said no sitting with 90 degree flexion because the hip might not "set right." He shrugged and said, no, you can sit at 90 degrees. You can bend over- but some people have trouble putting on their shoes for a few more weeks. Your body will tell you what it can and cannot do.

All in all...progress and improvements! I was horrified at the picture of three screws, but my wife said she was relieved and felt better seeing how well that fracture was anchored. Glad it made HER feel better, LOL.

And was it ever nice to get out of the house. Wow, a highway! Wow, people! OMG is that...is it....a COFFEE SHOP!!!? (yes, I need more coffee, clearly). No increased pain or discomfort after the jaunt out, so also good. And my wife said, "don't be surprised if you're tired." Tired?? I'm wide butt awake and jazzed, thankyouverymuch.

I've noticed that the progress notes written up after my appointments all refer to "lengthy discussions with pt." Gee....wonder how THAT happens? Not my fault you ask whether I have any further questions. It would be rude to not unfurl my scroll of inquiries upon request.

Sadly, a big set back with my MiL. She came home from rehab and was getting up the two steps from garage to house. No railing, but shallow steps and, as my FiL put it, she "folded" on the second step and 911 was called to get her back up. Heart just sank hearing that. I really hope she's not sitting in her chair in pain and back to square one with anxiety. Our biggest fear was that she'd come home from rehab and be too scared to try getting around the house. My wife is going to visit tomorrow to make sure the setback is minimal. It's a long, long and tiring journey. Definitely not like flipping a switch - you're right, @HollyNY.

Need to throw more socks in the bonfire--with the grabber, of course.

Cheers!

Oh, and, of course, the most important thing: I "walked" without pain. I stood up without pain. Much easier to be patient when I know I am HEALING and there's a lot I can do to support that instead of just hoping for an OK day from an end stage arthritic joint.

 

[HollyNY]

@thepuckhead Sorry to hear about your MILs setback!

Steps are still one of the tougher aspects for me. Especially without a railing. Could be strength or balance. It has slowly improved.

All of the traveling pains on an OP leg sound very normal. Pain whack a mole basically.

 

[Klassy]

Purramedics, what a wondrous word!

 

[zauberflöte]

@thepuckhead I am so sorry about your MIL's fall. "Folding" is definitely the least damaging, I've seen in elderly women in my life. You know by now I guess how she's doing. My deepest hope is that only her dignity was injured.

As for you!! What a difference a little visit with a PA can make, eh? Bonfires crackling, walkers shoved in the dark recesses of somebody else's dungeon er basement, new outlook on what you're healing up-- I love it all.

Odd. I had that "might not set right" concept from a non-ortho nurse who convinced me that my leg would fall off if I allowed the leg to turn in or out for an entire month. I checked with real ortho nurse, who said they didn't want me "torquing it" which I took to mean rotation with force. The hip that didn't rotate at all for a month has less rotational ROM now than the one I didn't obsess about but just kept an eye on. C'est la vie I guess.

Keep up the happies! And get some kind of frame/rail/cage for those truly terrifying (to me anyway!) steps at your in-laws' house. We had steps like that at the rental I did my second hip in. Hubby put up the portable ramp we'd gotten for his mother when she became wheelchair-bound. Still no railing, but a heck of a lot safer for me than the steps!

 

[thepuckhead]

Week 3 under my belt. Happy Valentine's Day! Pretty exciting developments. Let's roll the tape....

MiL Update: is OK after the big scare of folding on her way into the house. Whew. She's more embarrassed than anything else. No big pain spike and she was able to go out of the house again for a doctor's appointment, so no big set back mentally, either. She continues to talk about future outings and doesn't mention being in pain at all. PT is visiting the house a few times a week and has been very helpful giving tips on things like where to place the handrails in the bathroom, etc. FiL is noticeably less tired. Big sigh of relief and so glad to continue to see that this surgery may be so much help for her.

• Can lift leg past 30 degrees while lying flat. Just took a deep breath, exhaled, and up it went! No pain in the hip. No struggle.
• I made it up and down our basement steps with a cane and no problems!
• I can’t walk FWB yet, but I can drive! Am going to meet some friends next week for lunch and so wanted to do a dry run with wife of how to get out of house/load walker, crutches and myself into car/drive/unload myself/walker/crutches from car, wander around in the great out of doors on a walker/load walker, crutches and myself back into car, drive, park, get back in house. A little swelling in my pelvis/lower ab region toward the end of the errands (about 30 min or so), but otherwise, all good! Did need to clean wheels of walker, so must remember next time to pack towel. And grabber. Never, ever be without a grabber. It’s going to be a full scale day pack excursion next week.
• 
  
• First night without an oxy. Had a crazy episode of bloating yesterday. It was insane, like I could feel myself getting pumped with gas. Dr. Google, of course, had the usual terrifying diagnosis (abdominal compartment syndrome….no, really, don’t look that up) and ascites. Then I remember…oh, yeah, I’ve been taking an oxy at night for just over two weeks. Mebbe think horses when hearing hooves? Mebbe try a night without it and see how it goes? Haven’t felt like I’ve needed the oxy and I didn’t – no disruption in sleep, no increased pain. Now I’ll see how it goes after I eat some breakfast and whether I blow up and take off like a hot air balloon. Oh ,wait, maybe don’t want that with all of these “objects” flying around U.S. skies lately…object in the Midwestern sky identified as a recent hip replacement patient now a poster child for oxy side effects.
• 
  
• I stood outside (with walker) with a friend who stopped by and chatted for about fifteen minutes – I realized I didn’t’ invite her in because it felt so good to be out in the fresh air that the last thing I wanted was to go sit in the house again! Felt really invigorated and excited. But I finally did come back in and that’s when my body said, “um, easy tiger, you need to sit down now.” I sat. I thanked it for letting me know. Really think I’m getting the hang of listening to my own body. This will be an invaluable skill and tool going forward, even when I’m completely healed.

And the blooper reel:

I think cabin fever is definitely replacing anxiety as the worst part of the recovery so far. Saturday I was feeling sorry for myself because after going outside the previous day, I was feeling all kinds of ready to rock, but my wife was definitely in couch potato mode, so I sat and sulked and built up a good head of self pity and then started chopping stuff for dinner and dropped a piece of onion on the floor. Did a gorgeous Sasha Cohen (seriously...a ten...my left leg had great extension AND pointed toe) to wipe up offending piece of onion and….a very distinct pulling sensation in achy breaky pelvis. Ohhhhhh holy heck, now I’ve gone and done it. I froze, waited for surely the inevitable pop goes the hip joint or for my pelvis to crack open (although…if my innards fell out, that would be helpful to relieve the bloating…), but nothing except more aches/pains in the pelvis.

I settled on the couch with an ice pack and dark cloud over my head and finally I told my wife that I was worried and she said if I wanted, we could go to the clinic in the morning and, well, that was absolutely a solid idea, but I started tearing up and throwing a fit:

“You think there’s something really wrong!”
“No, but if you’re worried, they said to come in any time.”
“But I don’t waaaaaaaanna go to the clinic for every stupid thing!”
“Then we don’t have to go.”
“BUT I FEEL LIKE ABSOLUTE **** FROM SITTING ON MY (rapidly growing) *BLEEP BLEEP* ALL DAY!!!”

Blah blah blah, wah wah wah….then we got onto realizing we both had different interpretations of what the PA had said at my checkpoint. She thought he’d said I could be FWB with the walker for balance out of a general caution. I thought I was still PWB because of the fracture. Then this turned into whether a walker was for balance or guarded weight bearing and I said if it was just for balance, that was stupid and why would they tell me to use a walker if I wasn’t supposed to use it for guarded weight bearing? Why in the *bleep* would the surgery center have me walk on a *bleep* walker if it’s for balance and not to help with PWB if I had a *bleep bleep* fracture and could people please, for the love of *bleep* get their *bleep bleep bleep* stories straight?!

Fun night. But my wife said she knew this was going to be the hardest stretch for me – she also said it was clear I was getting better if I was getting whiny from cabin fever and inactivity.

For those playing at home – I was right. I called the clinic and they confirmed that, yes, a walker is used to support PWB, which I am supposed to be doing until next checkpoint. Anyway, they are always so quick to call back and tell me to call anytime, tell me that they want people to call with questions, which is always reassuring to hear.

Realized that my next post op visit with the surgeon is actually at 5 weeks post op, not 6, so hoping the timing is OK. May ask whether I could schedule another xray and appointment at 8 weeks or so just to confirm full fracture healing and some bone growth around the implant. Don’t know whether insurance will go for that (because I’m sure they have a preordained number and reasons for post op visits, but I really would like to confirm some bone growth and fracture healing and I don’t know whether that’s going to be possible at week 5. We’ll see. Surgeon may be OK with FWB even without complete fracture healing and, maybe, just maybe, I can cheat out of the full six week immersion restriction and get in a pool? I know…I know…but I’m gonna ask!

Oh, my incision is officially 5 inches long so I can confirm I benefitted from a “smaller” posterior surgical space, as promised. It looks fine, but it feels absolutely disgusting to touch. Ick, ick, ick. Luckily, I’m not someone who picks at my nails or scabs.

On to week four – this buttercup will continue to both suck it up and make the most of this.

Onward!

Purramedics, what a wondrous word!

Credit where credit is due...I think that's a @djklaugh creation. It is absolutely fitting.

Odd. I had that "might not set right" concept from a non-ortho nurse who convinced me that my leg would fall off if I allowed the leg to turn in or out for an entire month. I checked with real ortho nurse, who said they didn't want me "torquing it" which I took to mean rotation with force. The hip that didn't rotate at all for a month has less rotational ROM now than the one I didn't obsess about but just kept an eye on. C'est la vie I guess.

Oh my goodness - those "don't do this OR ELSE...." DA DA DUM! admonishments can wig a person right out. And, honestly, maybe miss the point a little? Of course the hip shouldn't be torqued or excessively twisted or stressed. How does that get interpreted as "don't ever, ever turn this way, even a little bit, or....well, we'll see you in a very warm unpleasant place that smells like....brimstone..." So glad I'm not the only one who heard this warning, though. Makes me feel much better to know it's not just me. ;) Your posts make my day, by the way, so thank you for being part of my thread.

 

[lanstan]

My husband got velcro tape and put it on my walker and on my grabber. it was always there when I needed it!

 

[zauberflöte]

@thepuckhead such good news on your MIL-- and if she can come out of that with flying colors, she's a real inspiration to you!!

Sorry about the bloating, and hope you fizzle out and stay grounded teehee. Fresh air is a wonderful thing, isn't it! And real sunshine! And a Virginian telling you her crocuses are blooming, how d'ya like that! Also glad you did no damage with your onion stunt, but I have to wonder,,,, why is a person with gut issues fixing to eat Onions?!?!

I am sincerely hoping your OS, like mine, says
don't don't don't get in that pool early!!! The reason they keep you out is... infection. I'm sorry, I know this is a nasty subject, but infection was my deepest scary thing-- and actually still is if I think about it. Dislocate? Ow! But put it back together and all will be well (and anyway I can't see what I'm going to intentionally do to dislocate, and if it's a crazy physical accident, I would dislocate on a natural hip too). Infection is a big hairy mess all over the place. Do. Not. Want! (Heh. Would you like to take back your kind comment about making your day...? I'm honored! Just passing it forward)

Happy last few hours of Valentine's Day, keep up the great work!!

 

[Mojo333]

I certainly remember the cabin fever and post up blues came upon me in full force at about one month out and I can imagine with the weight baring restrictions...it is definitely starting to get old
Some outside time and fresh air definitely helped my mood also.

Really think I’m getting the hang of listening to my own body. This will be an invaluable skill and tool going forward, even when I’m completely healed.

This is definitely the key.

 

[Klassy]

my body said, “um, easy tiger, you need to sit down now.” I sat. I thanked it for letting me know. Really think I’m getting the hang of listening to my own body. This will be an invaluable skill and tool going forward, even when I’m completely healed

Well put! Hang in there (I have probably said that before) and all will be well.

Happy Valentine’s Day for yesterday and give your wife a hug. It sounds like she is a treasure, like my husband.

 

[Charlie33]

@thepuckhead great update! On blooper reel cabin fever and post op blues hit about the same time for most. especially when u get a zing like you did just makes it worse…but as I’ve read here time and time again it’s all…just… ‘temporary’ .

Lucky that hockey rinks keep a nice sheet of ice year round so you won’t miss anything: it’s all just waiting for you when you are ready. Let us know how lunch goes!

 

[myglasshalffull]

Love your writing style, I'm sure it's somewhat therapeutic for you!
Great new on MIL, PWB w/walker won't last forever, let the fracture heal.

 

[thepuckhead]

Helllooooo from Week 4/Week 5 checkpoint!

Big turning point this week. Just realized I felt more confident, less fearful and overall like I had a lot of the hardest part behind me. The milestones include:

• Three short outings – went to see my hockey team play and went to two appointments. All involved getting out to and into a car, sitting in chairs of all different heights and mostly without cushions, walking around with a walker on slight inclines/declines. I drove solo to the two appointments without a problem. Iced after all outings. Did not have increased pain or fatigue afterward. The lunch I'd planned for yesterday turned to an online call because of the dang SNOW STORM. Gah!!!! Why do we LIVE here???
  
  
• Can bend far enough (no pulling sensation, no discomfort) while sitting to pull up my socks, put on my pants without a dressing stick and shave my legs. Yeah! I’m a big girl now! Have not tried to put on socks without sock-putter-on-er tool and have not tried to clip toenails just yet.
  
  
• The Sasha Cohen spiral continues to perfect itself so I’m confident picking up water bowls and other things off the floor. Could even get back to an electrical outlet that was hidden behind a stack of “things” precariously piled on a chair to plug in my laptop before it died.
  
  
• Can stand in the kitchen long enough to prep a dish or two for dinner more complex than spinning something in the microwave or sitting it in the toaster oven. Tried to make fondant potatoes yesterday, which involved a heavy pan, a sharp knife and an oven heated to a toasty 400 degrees. And a walker. And a purramedic that was very interested in the butter. No digits lost or burned, no butter was accidentally fed to the purramedic, and no complaints from the hip although I did notice a tightness in inner thigh when I turned my toes straight. I don’t stand like that naturally – I stand with my toes slightly turned out. Must have been a ballerina in a former life. Anyway, I was fine, but the potatoes didn’t exactly turn out as gourmet as I’d hoped, more like nice baked potato.
  
  
• Shhhhh….I crossed my right ankle over my left for a bit, too. Getting to the point where I really, really want to sit as I used to, with my right leg tucked up under me, flamingo style. I know, I know…
  
  
• Have not taken oxy in a week with no ill effects and I’ve started skipping the afternoon dose of Tylenol with no problems.
  
  
• Whack-a-mole pain report: mild soreness in glute max, couple of yips from glute medius (new this week!), couple of opening notes of achy breaky thigh bone, IT band likes to sometimes get twisted tight like a rope, aforementioned tightness in inner thigh when I point my toes straight out. All mild, all tend to resolve on changing position or after about ten minutes.

So, overall, going really, really well. However, I now present an as yet unidentified experience that is kind of like the fine print of any drug commercials…you know, the “unexpected effects such as turning purple and sprouting antennae on your right ear have happened” sort of thing. Without further ado:

The Mystery of the Pelvic Water Balloon

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension (probably don't want to go here)—a dimension of sound (ouch), a dimension of sight (where's my walker?), a dimension of mind (a lost one, maybe)….you have entered: THE TWILIGHT ZONE of recovery!

Consider one 53 year old woman in week four of her hip replacement surgery recovery. She wakes up one morning and begins her day as usual – coffee, breakfast, ankle pumps and squeezes of quad and glute. She has breakfast of no particular interest (an egg, a yogurt). She sits on ice and reads or watches television, then gets up to fix something else to eat. Suddenly she notices she has what feels like a water balloon in her pelvis. She is most definitely not pregnant, having had a hysterectomy years ago. What could this be?

The water balloon makes its appearance every afternoon and recedes by evening. In the morning, it’s gone. Our heroine shrugs it off, decides maybe it’s the oxy taking its sweet time to clear out. Until….Sunday…she sits in a chair she hasn’t sat in for months, a 90-degree angle chair at a desk with little wriggle room. She sits there for 2 hours because of a family call that goes on way longer than it needs to. When she gets up, the water balloon is no longer a water balloon. It is a freaking bowling ball.

(I kid you not, I thought I was going to freaking give birth to something, the pressure was so intense and awful).

Well, that clearly ain’t right, so I called the nurse line and the on call professional I spoke to said it didn’t sound like anything dangerous, that he had “a few ideas” on what it might be but without seeing me, he couldn’t really say, so please leave a message for my surgeon team. I’m like, oh, no, if there are ideas, somebody’s seeing me, so I met my poor wife at the door when she came home and said, “Hi, I’d like to go to the urgent clinic at the surgery center because I think I may be in labor and my hip apparently wants to be born again?”

Off we go and the surgery center is nice and quiet on a Sunday, though of course, as with all urgent cares, the wait is….well, whatever, I have a nice meditation to do as I stare at the wallpaper. PA sees me, says she has never heard of pelvic swelling as a complication of THR, pokes and prods my calves, hip and leg, confirms no groin pain, no pain with any of the poking, gets xray, everything looks great on the xray. So, it’s not my hip, but maybe follow up with my primary care doc, go to a quick clinic to rule out a UTI and leave a message with my surgery team in case they want to see me.

So, my first solo outing is to a quick clinic to pee in a cup and get my ovaries poked and my kidneys thumped. All checks out OK, though there will be culture results with anything more subtle that the dipstick missed. Otherwise, another mystery. Clinic PA was impressed with how easily I got on the table, though. She was more worried than I was. Said clinic is housed in a Target store, so believe me, it was tempting to do some shopping cart therapy, but I decided not to overdo and came home.

Surgical team indeed wants to see me, so out I go again today and see my surgeon for the first time since the recovery room. He has also never heard of an immaculate conception of a water balloon happening because of hip surgery. But since I’m awake and can now pay attention to him, he explains the fracture in more detail and said that the implant was very stable and he was confident that the fracture would heal up with the rest of the bone as it grew around the implant. Pointed out the lack of gap and various other good news on the xray that I nodded along with (cos I can’t read an xray to save my life – not really a visual learner) and pronounced me ready to start…..wait for it….introducing small amounts of full weight bearing!!

So, this particular mystery isn’t solved, but what a happy ending!

The water balloon birth has been feeling much less imminent since Sunday, so I can confirm with 100% confidence that a THR did not end up with some kind of tabloid, medical freak show pregnancy. Must. Be. Grateful. For. Small. Miracles.

Week 5 is starting out pretty darn well. Plan (unless Rod Serling appears again) is to introduce small amounts of cane and FWB walking while indoors and continue to do more “light” chores, though I’m likely going to opt out of fancy French recipes. Next post op at 8 weeks. 2 PT sessions scheduled for weeks 7 and 8. Doc says I’ll be playing hockey in no time. My holy grail for the next month, though, is to walk unassisted without pain. I told the surgeon how amazed and excited I was when I took the first step after surgery without the arthritis pain. He appreciated that, said it confirmed recovery was going well and the correct decision was made.

Onward!

I am sincerely hoping your OS, like mine, says
don't don't don't get in that pool early!!! The reason they keep you out is... infection. I'm sorry, I know this is a nasty subject, but infection was my deepest scary thing-- and actually still is if I think about it. Dislocate? Ow! But put it back together and all will be well (and anyway I can't see what I'm going to intentionally do to dislocate, and if it's a crazy physical accident, I would dislocate on a natural hip too). Infection is a big hairy mess all over the place. Do. Not. Want! (Heh. Would you like to take back your kind comment about making your day...? I'm honored! Just passing it forward)

I will not take that back! You're right - I'm not taking any chances, don't worry. I will be 100% sure I am approved for swimming before stepping foot in a pool. Meanwhile, have discovered "chair aerobics." Where, yes, you sit in a chair and do assorted arm waves, toe taps, etc. Why, yes, I have resorted to marching along with my tv theme shows.

And a Virginian telling you her crocuses are blooming, how d'ya like that!

Wait, what? What are these things you refer to as flowers? I only know the color of snow at the moment. In fact, forecast calls for over 12 inches of the stuff. Do tell me more of this other world of yours where things are....green. And blue and purple and yellow and pink and....

Happy Valentine’s Day for yesterday and give your wife a hug. It sounds like she is a treasure, like my husband.

I tell her every day how lucky I am to have her in my life, even if I'm like a dude and forget important dates like, ahem, anniversaries and birthdays. More than one bouquet of flowers has come from a last minute dash to Walgreens - although, Russell Stover candies aren't that bad, are they?

@thepuckhead great update! On blooper reel cabin fever and post op blues hit about the same time for most. especially when u get a zing like you did just makes it worse…but as I’ve read here time and time again it’s all…just… ‘temporary’ .

Lucky that hockey rinks keep a nice sheet of ice year round so you won’t miss anything: it’s all just waiting for you when you are ready.

Oh, it was good to be at the rink again, even as a spectator. I am really fortunate that around here, there are absolutely no shortages of opportunities to skate or play once I'm feeling ready. There's even a rink just a few blocks away from me that I'm planning to check out. It's at a community center that also has a walking track from which you can watch the rink, so I'll try to get a preview of how many flailing newbies I may have to try avoid at an open skate. TubeDude had a guy go splat right in front of him the first time he skated after THR, which was funny but terrifying at the same time.

Love your writing style, I'm sure it's somewhat therapeutic for you!

Thank you - I really appreciate that. It has been quite helpful for me to post these blatherings and I hope any future or current hippies might find any tidbits of info or smiles to keep company during recovery or while making the decision to have surgery (which, so far, is absolutely looking like the right decision for me).

 

[HollyNY]

@thepuckhead I bet it is surgery related.
AUS article from 2021.

Post-surgery bloating explained

During the post-surgery recovery period, some of the most common questions our nurse receives are, “have I put on weight?” and “why do I look and feel so bloated?” The truth of the matter is that symptoms such as swelling, stomach discomfort and distention are very common after surgery.

hunterplasticsurgery.com.au

Great update! Week 6 to 8 is when I noticed strength returning quickly

 

[LaKarune]

This “pelvic water balloon” is certainly a plot twist. Does it feel something like extreme menstrual bloating?? Very keen for one of the
Mods or experienced members to weigh in, though Holly’s note on post surgical bloating seems reasonable enough. The way you describe when it comes on and that you wake up fresh and unbloated reminds me of the ankle edema I get occasionally when I’ve been standing at my desk too long, so wonder if it’s a similar phenomenon — maybe edema in the pelvis from sitting for long stretches of time that could resolve if you break up the sitting with time laying flat on your back or belly?? (I usually try legs up the wall or another inversion when I get edema in my legs or ankles, with inconsistent success, but could be worth a shot?)

 

[Caison113]

@thepuckhead - you should take advantage of this down time to write a novel about a retired hockey player who becomes a private investigator and solves mysterious, non-violent crimes. At first, everyone underestimates her because of her limp and stream-of-consciousness patter, but underneath that facade is a first-rate mind, who sees everything and puts together pieces of facts that no one else noticed, to discover who threw the water balloon into the window. Maybe a series of novels. Her name is Mandy Puckington, but everyone just calls her "Puck." First book will be called "The Puck Stops Here." Eventually there will be a Hulu or Netflix series, you'll be rich, and fund your own minor league hockey team: "The Puck Heads". I can see it all from here...

 

[thepuckhead]

Thanks so much, @HollyNY and @LaKarune - the article mentioned distention from a slowed GI tract, which makes a lot of sense since I'm not moving around much right now, and also said it could last up to 12 weeks post surgery. And it definitely makes sense to try shifting positions more often -the worst of the mystery happened after I'd been sitting for 2 hours, so maybe I should consider myself not quite ready to sit in one spot for that long.

@Caison113 - that's too perfect! And Puck just happens to be in a prime position to spy on all the minute goings on of her neighbors at the moment...rubs hands devilishly together....I'll split the royalties with you and we can open a combo ice rink and martial arts arena. Must get prominent signs to bar skates from mats and kickboxing moves on the ice, though...

 

[zauberflöte]

@thepuckhead re the PWB, I have one word for you:
ONIONS!
Seriously though, @HollyNY 's article makes a great deal of sense to me. I will continue to hope that is all it is.

You made me look up fondant potatoes! Wow that looks sinful.... it sounds as picky as risotto though-- do try again when you're having me over

Your update is full of such happy things, I got a contact high. Shaving the legs is a huge milestone! Toenails will come. I know the feeling of wanting to just open up your hips and stretch them out so you can sit however you want! You had anterior, right? I remember after both hips, perhaps after a few more than 5 weeks, being in church and being so thankful it was a casual place, folding my op leg up on the seat/pew area next to me in a sort of lotus on the op side. It felt so good to just stretch it out, and no pain except the stretch sensation. Now I really enjoy crossing the legs high up on the thigh, then pulling outwards with the underneath knee, to stretch whatever glute/hip combo it is that gets so sore and stiff after my barre classes. "The dancer divot" she calls it. But not for you now! I won't tell a soul about your little cross ankle action. I was very guilty of that myself!

Attached for your viewing pleasure and your guided meditations are a few local-color ideas!