THR Hot Chocolate's Recovery Thread

[Layla]

Happy Thanksgiving, Hotchocolate! Also...a belated Happy Nineteenth Wedding Anniversary!
Nice to see your smiling face. Enjoy the day!
@Hotchocolate

 

[Hotchocolate]

Hit a delightful milestone today.

Before surgery, I was getting 10k steps a day even with the cane, but it took 36 mins to walk a mile (my hip joint was well in the collapsing phase by this point)

And while I'm still on the cane, today I was able to do a mile in 28 mins! So my first sub 30min mile since well before surgery.

Recovery feels sooo slooow, so it is great to hit these moments that show I'm climbing my way back to where I was before I started losing mobility in my left leg.

 

[Layla]

Great news! I am happy for you. It is so encouraging to make strides as you are. We need these little boosts along the way as a reminder we are making progress and brighter days are on the way. I hope your week is a good one! @Hotchocolate

 

[Hotchocolate]

Today ends 7 weeks. Next week I final get to see my surgeon for a "6 week check up" lol

Im excited for this visit. I'm hoping to get permission to add swimming into my week, and a timeline on when to start other exercises. (I know the answer is 12-16 weeks, but I need him to say it, so when my husband worries, I can tell him it's fine because the surgeon said so).

It's raining today, so no walk. I'll probably do some extra time on the bike instead. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

 

[Elf1]

@Hotchocolate hoping you get a great report when you see your surgeon for your follow-up. When you get the ok to get in the pool please take it slowly. It feels so good and it is so easy to overdo because you just don't feel it till well after you're out. I had to learn the hard way but luckily didn't set myself too far back.

 

[Hotchocolate]

I put on my own shoes today before going to the doctor =D

I mean, sure the laces were off to the side on the op leg, but I wasn't struggling to actually get into the shoe, so progress.

Good news: X-rays look good, and I'm cleared to start swimming at the indoor pool in my gym

Bad news: the crack in my bone is still healing, so it'll be at least 2 more months before I can do strength training (I was hoping I'd be able to start next month) I'll probably be stuck on the cane for a while yet too, although I can take a few steps without it around the house now, but the leg let's me know if I push it too much.

Still happy to have pool clearance! Especially since it's a dice roll what the weather is like this time of year. Good to know I can swim on days it's too gross to walk. (Although today is beautiful, so about to go on a walk rn!)

 

[Chocolatine]

I put on my own shoes today before going to the doctor =D

I mean, sure the laces were off to the side on the op leg, but I wasn't struggling to actually get into the shoe, so progress.

Good news: X-rays look good, and I'm cleared to start swimming at the indoor pool in my gym

Putting on your own shoes seems like a big milestone to me right now. I am very impressed!

Great news about the pool! I am sure it's going to feel wonderful to be in the water. Do you plan on doing mainly pool walking or swimming?

I missed that you have a crack in your bone. Hope that heals quickly and that strength training is just around the corner.

 

[benne68]

Great report, @Hotchocolate! And great news about the shoes. (Isn't it wonderful how the little things become big things during this recovery!)

I think you are wise to stick with that cane and let your bones continue to heal. The rest will come!

 

[myglasshalffull]

Yay, pool time! Enjoy, take it easy!

 

[Hotchocolate]

@Chocolatine probably just swimming like I did before surgery. I'll start with 20-30 mins 2x a week and build up depending on how I feel.

 

[Goma]

Great progress. Putting on shoes is a big step forward....never would have had that thought at this stage of life but here we are... pool time...

 

[Sammy-Am]

I put on my own shoes today before going to the doctor =D

I mean, sure the laces were off to the side on the op leg, but I wasn't struggling to actually get into the shoe, so progress.

Good news: X-rays look good, and I'm cleared to start swimming at the indoor pool in my gym

Bad news: the crack in my bone is still healing, so it'll be at least 2 more months before I can do strength training (I was hoping I'd be able to start next month) I'll probably be stuck on the cane for a while yet too, although I can take a few steps without it around the house now, but the leg let's me know if I push it too much.

Still happy to have pool clearance! Especially since it's a dice roll what the weather is like this time of year. Good to know I can swim on days it's too gross to walk. (Although today is beautiful, so about to go on a walk rn!)

Yay for self-sufficiency! So excited to hear about your recent physical gains. I would love to get back into swimming myself—such a soothing feeling being in water.

Enjoy these milestones and I hope you get even better news with your next follow up.

Take care!

 

[myglasshalffull]

Great putting on shoes, I've taken to slip ons!
Now when you can clip your own toenails you know you have "made it!"
You are making great progress, happy to hear about all your milestones.

 

[Hotchocolate]

Now when you can clip your own toenails you know you have "made it!"

This is so true!

 

[Gloucestergal65]

@myglasshalffull - clipping your own toenails is a major milestone.

 

[Layla]

Happy Two Month Anniversary!
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2024!
Thanks for sharing your journey with us and supporting others along the way!
@Hotchocolate

 

[Oldbones02]

Hi,
Congrsts on 2 months! I am closing in on 2 months too. At 5 weeks i was told to wait another 3 weeks before getting back into the pool just to make sure my incession is nice and healed. Please up date on how it goes!

 

[Hotchocolate]

Thanks @Layla Merry Christmas to you as well

@Oldbones02 swimming has gone well so far. My only complaint is getting dressed afterward is a hassle. I can't just hop in a pair of pants like I used to. Swimming itself is great tho.

Yesterday I walked 2 miles (with my cane), and I managed to get on the floor and wrap a few Christmas presents, which is something I couldn't do before surgery, so that was good. Today I have a long drive that I'm not looking forward to, but I promised to do an escape room with my 9 year old nephew, so we're going. I'll elevate my legs and rest when I get home.

 

[Layla]

You're making great progress!
I hope you'll share the escape room experience. Not only how you fared given you're still healing, but whether it was challenging, exciting, difficult etc. It's on my bucket list. Enjoy!
@Hotchocolate

 

[Hotchocolate]

@Layla

My sister lives in a smaller town, so this one is a little run down, but the guy behind the desk is always incredibly nice, and my nephew is obsessed with these. I think we've done almost all of them at this point.

This one was a little different. Instead of escaping the room like usual, we were trying to find where Bigfoot was hiding. The most creative (and annoying) puzzle was #2. We had a tape measure, and there was a hole in the door of a cabin, and we had to feed the tape measure through the hole and steal the cabin key inside to let ourselves in. Super creative! But the tape measure kept wanting to bend, and we ended up dropping the key, so my sister had to get on her belly and use the tape measure to drag it under the crack at the bottom of the door.

There was another part where one person had to crawl through a refrigerator to get to a secret room and open the door for everyone else, and I was like-- don't look at me! I'm not quite ready for that sort of adventure yet.

By the end, we did find Bigfoot (a life sized Bigfoot doll)

The standing wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. The end of each drive was pretty uncomfortable (it's 90 mins each way), but my nephew was happy, so worth it! I'm probably moving out of state next year, so I want to get as many family moments like this as possible before I go.

Today is 9 weeks. I feel like at this point the only thing holding me back is the crack in the bone, but I know each week that'll heal more. In the meantime, I'm off to the pool~