OP
OP
grnplatebrd
senior
United States6 Weeks post-surgery update
I missed posting a week 5 update after reading about everyone else ;) Ha!
I will see if I can keep it to a short(ish) summary
Last week was my 5 week exam. It was a great review. Many/most precautions are lifted.
I can drive and have driven a few times. I think that makes my wife more nervous than I, it feels very safe to me and no issues. Last Monday, I even took the city bus with 2 transfers…less than comfortable, but it was a test. I had a few social outings during week five and I continued to build on what I was already doing. I accept many social outings a challenge and see how they go.
The OS said I am still under 2 main restrictions: crossing legs and bending more than 90 degrees. I can bend more than 90 if my leg is fanning outward. He is cautious, so I expect these to be place for a long, long time. I am also doing the 'golfer reach' and can get quite low, so the 90 degrees is not that big of an issue except for a couple things. Everything else I still use the grabber. If I have not mentioned before, I would not recommend hip replacement recovery to those who have a dog with incontinence. ;) yikes.
The X ray looks good, probably like others it is surprising to see all that metal. I feel like people are interested, but they mostly look the same to me. We discussed it and everything is in fine order. I still feel like my leg lengths are slightly off, but they swear it will settle. He said it might be off 1mm, but it is really close. I do have a little pelvic tilt that needs to sort itself out.
I have my next appointment in mid October which will be 11 weeks. Not sure exactly what to expect other than a check up and maybe relax of the 90 degree.
I am not taking any pain meds or Tylenol, I just ice for any soreness and that seems to work. I take a very small amount (150mcg) of Melatonin if I am restless at night.
I would estimate I am walking almost entirely without a cane, only bringing along for public places, unknown terrain or shopping. My wife laughs because she says I am mostly carrying it.
I am walking about 1.5-2 miles in the morning and that feels comfortable and sometimes I walk in the evening too. I am riding the exercise bike 20 min a day at level 2. All of this activity is approved by my OS. I have not started any outside PT yet, but I have a script. OS says at my own rate of exercise it is not necessary, but I want to give myself all chances to recover well.
My energy level is pretty good, but still not where I want to be. It is coming along and I still feel at a good recovery pace. If I do have a drain after exercise or work, I just ice and rest for a bit. I am working from home at decent level and feel I could handle a full day, but fortunately I rarely need to right now.
My stride is coming along well and I work to keep it even. It does feel like it is getting more natural and I often do not think about my hip when walking. I can go up and down stairs foot over foot and just take care when doing so. I do plenty of flights during the day to help with strength.
No swimming or water yet, but I am cleared for water activity as I see, no ocean activity expected, but a pool will be good for now. I had some lingering surgical tape on the wound until my surgeon ripped it off. My incision is about 3.5 inches and very clean. I need to get my wife to take a good photo still.
Not much to complain about. I do have some lower back soreness, but I figure that is mostly related to weak core muscles, new exercises and those buttock squeezes. Normally, I would stretch my back out, but I believe what I have done in the past would violate my restriction.
The pain is not very strong, so I keep doing stretches and figure it will subside as my core builds again.
Around 2 months, I will try to bike on the road (bike trail) for the 1st time. It will be a slow, short and mellow ride and likely on a step through frame.
While I am very anxious to get on a bike ride, do a small hike and get into the water, I am very grateful to have all my progress and small victories along the way.
If you decided to read all that, thanks for sticking it out, otherwise maybe it was worth a skim through.
I missed posting a week 5 update after reading about everyone else ;) Ha!
I will see if I can keep it to a short(ish) summary
Last week was my 5 week exam. It was a great review. Many/most precautions are lifted.
I can drive and have driven a few times. I think that makes my wife more nervous than I, it feels very safe to me and no issues. Last Monday, I even took the city bus with 2 transfers…less than comfortable, but it was a test. I had a few social outings during week five and I continued to build on what I was already doing. I accept many social outings a challenge and see how they go.
The OS said I am still under 2 main restrictions: crossing legs and bending more than 90 degrees. I can bend more than 90 if my leg is fanning outward. He is cautious, so I expect these to be place for a long, long time. I am also doing the 'golfer reach' and can get quite low, so the 90 degrees is not that big of an issue except for a couple things. Everything else I still use the grabber. If I have not mentioned before, I would not recommend hip replacement recovery to those who have a dog with incontinence. ;) yikes.
The X ray looks good, probably like others it is surprising to see all that metal. I feel like people are interested, but they mostly look the same to me. We discussed it and everything is in fine order. I still feel like my leg lengths are slightly off, but they swear it will settle. He said it might be off 1mm, but it is really close. I do have a little pelvic tilt that needs to sort itself out.
I have my next appointment in mid October which will be 11 weeks. Not sure exactly what to expect other than a check up and maybe relax of the 90 degree.
I am not taking any pain meds or Tylenol, I just ice for any soreness and that seems to work. I take a very small amount (150mcg) of Melatonin if I am restless at night.
I would estimate I am walking almost entirely without a cane, only bringing along for public places, unknown terrain or shopping. My wife laughs because she says I am mostly carrying it.
I am walking about 1.5-2 miles in the morning and that feels comfortable and sometimes I walk in the evening too. I am riding the exercise bike 20 min a day at level 2. All of this activity is approved by my OS. I have not started any outside PT yet, but I have a script. OS says at my own rate of exercise it is not necessary, but I want to give myself all chances to recover well.
My energy level is pretty good, but still not where I want to be. It is coming along and I still feel at a good recovery pace. If I do have a drain after exercise or work, I just ice and rest for a bit. I am working from home at decent level and feel I could handle a full day, but fortunately I rarely need to right now.
My stride is coming along well and I work to keep it even. It does feel like it is getting more natural and I often do not think about my hip when walking. I can go up and down stairs foot over foot and just take care when doing so. I do plenty of flights during the day to help with strength.
No swimming or water yet, but I am cleared for water activity as I see, no ocean activity expected, but a pool will be good for now. I had some lingering surgical tape on the wound until my surgeon ripped it off. My incision is about 3.5 inches and very clean. I need to get my wife to take a good photo still.
Not much to complain about. I do have some lower back soreness, but I figure that is mostly related to weak core muscles, new exercises and those buttock squeezes. Normally, I would stretch my back out, but I believe what I have done in the past would violate my restriction.
The pain is not very strong, so I keep doing stretches and figure it will subside as my core builds again.
Around 2 months, I will try to bike on the road (bike trail) for the 1st time. It will be a slow, short and mellow ride and likely on a step through frame.
While I am very anxious to get on a bike ride, do a small hike and get into the water, I am very grateful to have all my progress and small victories along the way.
If you decided to read all that, thanks for sticking it out, otherwise maybe it was worth a skim through.
