Bilateral THR Hello from “the other side”!

[cold_brew]

Another 3/8 mile round trip down the driveway to the road and back today. Tough towards the little uphill at the end but feeling ok afterwards.

Need to start plotting out where to do some longer walks when I’m back home tomorrow!

 

[Jaycey]

@cold_brew Well done on taking the slow and steady approach. It works every time! Sounds like you are doing very well!

 

[cold_brew]

Well here we go…reality is gonna hit like an asteroid this week.

I’m back home again and my kids are back from the grandparents’. I missed them so much! But I’ll also miss having the run of the house. Now we’re back to 4 people in the house.

Back to work on Monday (nooooo!)

First outpatient PT Tuesday….

Kids back to school on Wednesday (double nooooo!)

I’m sure it’ll all work out I just don’t know how, yet

 

[Jaycey]

@cold_brew If you are back to work, I would not recommend you also go to PT. You will get plenty of activity working.

Are you able to do a phased return?

 

[cold_brew]

Well “work” is 99% computer button-pushing. So It’s not like I’m going back to full time lumberjacking or something. We’ll ease back into things with WFHing a lot.

We’ll give PT a try and see how it goes. But yeah, lots of progress from just walking last week in my ‘week off’ from PT while out of town. So I can see how maybe it won’t do much. We’ll see.

 

[benne68]

“work” is 99% computer button-pushing.

I have the same kind of work and found that it was too easy to get caught up in the work and lose track of time. Then, when I tried to get up, I was really stiff!

I finally set an alarm to remind myself to get up and walk around the house every hour. Also forced myself to take a short walk outside after lunch each day.

It's important to keep those new hips moving!

 

[cold_brew]

6 week update….

Starting to get around the house without the cane sometimes when I’m feeling good.

Daily walk is up to about 1/3 mi, carrying the cane just in case, but barely using it.

Stairs are doable with the cane but still feeling the effort after stairs and the long walks.

Sleeping decently, can lie on my side with a knee pillow; still gets a bit uncomfortable after a while though and I need to switch sides from time to time. But the motions of rolling over and shifting around in bed are getting easier.

Toilet seat risers and shower seats are in the rear view mirror. Walker is currently gathering dust in the basement.

Still plenty of Tylenol and ice every day.

I still get uncomfortably tight esp in R hip if I sit up in a ‘proper’ chair for a while, like going out to dinner. Not stopping me from going out though I just need to get up and stretch regularly.

Doc says I’m allowed to swim as of today (can’t wait to try!) and I can drive in two more weeks.

Still some persistent numbness and tightness in R hip incision area, and the skin all down the outside of R thigh is still numb. Maybe that’ll come back in time.

So overall I’d say things are going pretty great. Lots of ‘details’ for my body to finish healing up but the important stuff seems to be in a good place, and I’m getting close to a normal level of self sufficiency.

Thanks everyone for the help and encouragement along the way so far!

Next up: Back to work today…!

 

[Mojo333]

Sleeping decently, can lie on my side with a knee pillow; still gets a bit uncomfortable after a while though and I need to switch sides from time to time. But the motions of rolling over and shifting around in bed are getting easier.

Yes, very reminiscent of my experience.

Toilet seat risers and shower seats are in the rear view mirror. Walker is currently gathering dust in the basement.

Yay, hallelujah

Still some persistent numbness and tightness in R hip incision area, and the skin all down the outside of R thigh is still numb. Maybe that’ll come back in time.

This is very possible, and certainly can take a good bit of time.

Glad to see you are mostly good...
The Ice is nice for quite a while.
Lots of improvements yet to come!

 

[cold_brew]

Yay PT says I can start riding the exercise bike…5 mins at a time. Baby steps!

 

[Layla]

Go slow, stay safe.
Enjoy getting back to the regular stuff!
@cold_brew

 

[cold_brew]

Survived my first day at work *at the office*.

Worth doing for some people who were glad to see me, and the “hey remember me I’m alive” value, but for now I think I can handle the experience about once/week tops and I’ll be WFHing the rest.

 

[Layla]

Hello and Happy Thursday @cold_brew
I'll bet your colleagues were happy to see you. I'm glad you survived your "soft" return.

It sounds like you have the option of a phased return, which if so...you're lucky as many don't.
What I've read here repeatedly over the years is that once you're back at work, you're colleagues tend to treat you as "you're back" and expect you to perform accordingly. I'm glad you recognized it was a bit too much because six weeks is pretty early for a full return. When we envision returning, we tend to think of ourselves in the work place without much consideration to the time and energy it takes to get there, then fulfill duties once there and get back home. It can be A LOT! I'll leave our article on A Phased Return To Work just in case you haven't read it. Check it out and have a lovely Thursday and weekend!
http://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/phased-return-to-work.5696/

 

[cold_brew]

Ha yeah I made a point of flashing the cane around and leaving early in case anyone didn’t get the memo that I am functioning at like 75%.

 

[Layla]

Like this -> Hey, don't get any ideas peeps, I'm not back YET!

Boredom may be setting in and a yearning for normal life. It's coming and it gets better and better as the months roll on. Happy Friday!
@cold_brew

 

[cold_brew]

Survived the first full week back at work!
It’s Happy Hour!

Or at least it would be if I wasn’t still taking Tylenol & staying off the cocktails for a while

 

[cold_brew]

Nice walk today, 3 laps up and down the block = 2k Fitbit steps. Plus 5 mins on the exercise bike.

I hear the Rocky theme playing in the background!

Hm in the movies they never show the hero with the ice packs after the training montage…

 

[benne68]

You're doing great, @cold_brew ! I love that you hear the Rocky theme in your head, but don't go running up any staircases just yet. Remember that slow & steady wins this race. You've got this!

 

[cold_brew]

Stairs…haha nope. But, I am getting to the point where I can do “alternating feet” or whatever it’s called when you don’t put both feet down together on the same step (still with the cane).

 

[cold_brew]

In other big news I cut my own toenails today

 

[djklaugh]

@cold_brew Wow 2 big milestones -- stairs and toenails!