That's great that you finally got to have a dip in a pool,
LeeApril26! Do you feel the aches are the kind that bed rest and ice, etc., will cure? I mean, you don't think you did anything too problematical, do you? I am not a water person, but have always imagined if I ever got in a pool, I would never get out. It sounds so wonderful on the joints. But I guess you really can overdo it?? I really hope you feel better tomorrow so you can go back. Was this a pool near your apartment and, if so, how did you manage it? I also wonder if some of these gyms have elevators or do they tend to have staircases. When is your trip to your friend's --- oh, wait! Is that where you are now??
I'm a little fried in the brain, right now. I hope you are having a wonderful, well-deserved vacation away from the city. Enjoy every minute!
I have been too fried, in fact, to even get undressed for bed this week. I have started back to work and even though I am not working one second of overtime, by the time I get home and eat some dinner and lie down "for just a minute" with my trusty ice bags --- like a beached whale --- I wake up around midnight realizing I've fallen asleep right there. Then my sleep is all messed up for the rest of the night. I fell asleep while logged in to bonesmart, even.
Work has not turned out to have made me actively stressed, and in fact I've been in a pretty good mood. I guess it's because the goodwill of most of my coworkers has been very nice to be around. On the other hand, there is a feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop, as one of my superiors is very inconsistent and one minute tells me to stop working so hard and then the next minute gets annoyed if something hasn't been done fast enough for him. No news does not mean good news. No one has told me that I no longer have pain written on my face; but many have told me I look good--and by that I don't mean pretty or anything. I think they are surprised that I am not haggard and pale. Some even thought I'd be in a wheelchair (????). More importantly, for anyone pre-op or post-op who wonders what it's like to go back to work at week six: Well ... I have felt like someone threw a bunch of tennis balls at my body all day. Kind of a beaten-up feeling. Aches and pains almost like those early post-op days ... when I was looking at my watch and wondering WHEN CAN I TAKE TWO MORE EXTRA STRENGTH TYLENOL! And my job is just a desk job. But I get up and walk a few feet here and there. I carried a ream of paper from here to there. I reached up and down to retrieve stuff from shelves. I walked four blocks to a bus stop. All of this added up, though, to a beaten-up feeling. But my fingers are crossed it isn't anything that ice bags and heating pads and rest will not soothe. And ... those four blocks I just mentioned? Prior to surgery I could not walk them without stopping for a rest. Could Not. Because of the bone on bone pain. This time, I had my friend Lower Back Pain shadowing me, but I did not need to stop. My concentration is okay ... BUT I cannot push myself to work lickety-split. I take my sweet time working on one thing slowly and steadily, rather than trying to race and do many things. Of course there are the inevitable email interruptions. The fact that I can indulge myself in working on one thing only rather than many things in a hectic way is because a stroke of luck occurred: One of the staff transferred to our department because of layoffs and reshuffling around ... and for right now, he is kind of free to help me out! This is amazing to me. I had stressed out prior to surgery because of the real threat that I would be thrown back in without a life raft to do all of my work, and do it fast and perfectly. But I have this godsend of assistance. Not sure how long it will last, but am hoping at least for this week and maybe next. It has been a huge help.
So ... the jury is out in terms of me recommending that "any desk job can be returned to in six weeks." But I'll keep posting and letting people know how it's working out for me.
So far, too, I have NOT been hearing any of those "amazing" stories about so-and-so's neighbor, uncle, in-law, teacher, priest, etc, etc., who had a THR and was mountain climbing the next week. In fact ... someone just today started to tell me about his sister's THR and I said, "... and she was bungee jumping in a week?" and he said, "Why, no, as a matter of fact, it really took her an entire year before she felt back to normal." Then ... someone else told me his wife's THR (which was almost the same time mine was) was feeling very disappointed because she still had lower back pain!
Someone did recommend that I go to PT on my lunch hour. And I said that would be hell on earth. I can't imagine tacking on that much more physical activity during an already full day. Not now, no way. That's insane. I am going to check out PT facilities that are open on Saturday and start there.
Having said that ... I have been lax on the PT exercises I should be doing at home. And I am really tight and stiff. I am unable to put my operated leg up high enough to put on socks or tie shoes. The toenails thus continue to grow.
Songlady, I'm so glad your second OS is so wonderful! Wow ... home visits?? I had no idea that still existed. Well, good! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Thank you also to everyone else for sharing your experiences with OS checkups, withdrawal pains, and all of your support for my nuttiness!
United States
Sending you support over the innertubes 
