Because the changes are coming slower now, I am going to combine weeks.

Most days are similar to week 2 – but the exercises are more (see BOLD)

• Get up around 6:30am when the kids do, listen to them getting around for school, and at some point make it to my home office and do some emails, blog, etc as long as I can. Each day got better – 90min is all I should do before I get up to do something else – anything else.
• Do PT exercises on the bed
  • on back, squeeze lower abs (only) inward for 5 seconds. Do not engage anything else. Must be able to breathe. Try it – it’s harder than you think! 10x
  • on front, squeeze lower abs and glutes for 5 seconds. Must be able to breathe. 10x
  • Rock back and forth on hands and knees – 15x
  • Squeeze a ball in between legs and also use a band to squeeze OUT – 15x
    
  • Assisted little circles of my hip 10 min,
    
• Get on CPM for 1:20
• Do PT exercises
• Get back to office, do some more emails/social media or if sore, ice machine and use laptop to try (this is not as easy as you would hope – SO slow!)
• Do PT exercises
• Either get on CPM for 1:20 or eat lunch – or vice versa – NAP
• Do PT exercises
• Get into Ice machine for 30-90min, watch TV
• Do PT exercises
• Back to office for emails
• Do PT exercises
• Dinner while in ice machine 60min
• Do PT exercises
• CPM for 1:20 while watching TV
• Strap into ice machine and go to sleep

All in all I have easily 6.5 hours of work to do, not including the ice machine time which ends up being about 8 hours/day (including sleep – I change the ice overnight using a cooler next to bed). I’m also going to start driving each day, for a bit, to see how that goes. I will stay local.

Special Milestones

Day 14 – No More calf compression machine, no more compression stocking (yeah! I hated that thing). I am also allowed to do stairs, but I am going to skip that until next PT (day 20).

Sleep is OK now, but I continue to use the codeine cough syrup. Now that I am catching up on sleep I will work to remove that and see how it goes.

Day 15 – I had a couple beers. Ahhhh… that was nice, but due to the Indo I will probably not have more until day 21 when I am off it. However, I slept poorly.

Weight check in: 246, down 5 from pre-surgery.

Day 16 – I drove for about 30 min total. Very awkward getting in and out of car, but it worked out. I just have to leave a LOT of extra time!

Day 17 – Right foot numbness is still there, but no longer painful. Groin numbness persists.

Day 18 – First solo trip driving! FUN FACT: It is IMPOSSIBLE to enter or exit Outback Steakhouse with crutches. The doors are SO heavy and big you need to wait until someone sees you and lets you in.

Also, even though there are handicap bathrooms – the DOOR to the bathroom doesn’t have to be. I have a new appreciation for ADA requirements and how nice some of the facilities I have been in really are. Everything takes SO LONG compared to my prior self!

I also made it to a boy scout meeting, thankfully a scout family lent me a wheel chair. This thing has been a life saver! Thank you Laura Camiliere! She knew, before I knew, that I was GOING to need it. Crutches are fun but your endurance is not much – and standing around isn’t going to happen long. I feel like this though:

But I probably look more like this

It’s all good, at least I am mobile

Day 19 – Went to college night with Erik.  Wow, it is AMAZING how few people pay attention. Being in a wheelchair was way better than crutches but still, we clipped some ankles and I had to touch several people who were just moving without looking in this majorly crowded event. Without the wheelchair I would surely have been knocked over. Besides the normal cell phone zombies, people just don’t look before they move! Crazy. But saw lots of local scout families, school families and even a couple clients so was kind of nice getting out in public.

Day 20 – Wow, payback for the busy day. Lots of right leg muscle pain. Had to massage it out overnight, in the morning, and during the day. Overall, an ok day though, the pain levels were very tolerable. In the evening I went to Scouting Executive Committee, was ok for the first hour but then after that I probably should have taken off and by 90min I REALLY needed to get up. I had a super comfortable chair, but sitting still, cocked off to one side due to the brace, made me stiffen up and more and more muscles were chiming in to complain about the situation.

I was warned this would happen, but today things started popping and clicking at totally weird time. No pain, although I would be lying if I didn’t stop breathing for a second in anticipation that I had just completely screwed up ALL THE THINGS. No, apparently this is quite normal so I can stop being such a spaz

Day 21 – FIRST SOLO PT!

Drove myself! PT itself was not hard, learned some new exercises and a lot of soft tissue. Having a lot of pain in the right leg – all soft tissues, so annoying is all, since I am basically not USING that leg. However, I forgot to do stair training again, so I still have no ventured upstairs. I will need to try that out this weekend and see if I remember and if I am comfortable.

However, when I got back home about noon I had to nap. I ended up sleeping 2 hours – which is a long time for me lately. Lately naps have been 30-50min. Maybe it was PT?

LAST DAY FOR CPM! I should have sourced an upright stationary bike earlier, but I am on the hunt. In the mean time, I will probably just keep using it until I do. I am supposed to use the bike now 2xday 15min NO resistance. Just move the leg.

LAST DAY for Indomethacin/Prilosec – although the primary goal was not pain relief, it is an NSAID (like motrin) so it will be interesting to see.  So at this point I am surgery medication free, except using the cough syrup to help sleep.

Had a shot of Whiskey to celebrate. I slept pretty poorly, so not sure if it was the Whiskey, lack of Indo, or what.

WEEK 4 BEGINS!

PT Routine has changed

• Get up around 6:30am when the kids do, listen to them getting around for school, and at some point make it to my home office and do some emails, blog, etc as long as I can. Each day got better – 60-90min is all I should do before I get up to do something else – anything else. However, I CAN do more, I just find I pay for it later so I find excuses to get up. Or just drink a ton of water and that forces it!
• Do PT exercises on the bed
  • on tummy, squeeze lower abs, glutes and flex feet for 5 seconds. Do not engage anything else. Must be able to breathe. 30x
  • while sitting squeeze lower abs and glutes for 5 seconds. Must be able to breathe. 20x
  • Rock back and forth on hands and knees – 20x
  • Squeeze a ball in between legs and also use a band to squeeze OUT – 20x
  • Left leg fall outs – 15x
  • Rotations of my hip on a swivel chair – 20x
  • Assisted little circles of my hip 10 min – down to 2x
    
• Get on bike 15min no resistance 2x/day
• I’m going to continue to use ice machine so long as I have it – but it will probably be leaving in a day or two
• I will also use the CPM while I have it, but it too is leaving soon

Took a 90min nap. Not a huge surprise considering the poor night of sleep.

I did spend a lot of time on the computer today, finally making some progress on the backlog of stuff.

I am now showering daily, unassisted.

The Steri-strips covering my incisions are falling off.

Day 23 – Another poor night of sleep, but I somewhat figure a couple of beers last night didn’t help. Tried to get a lot of stuff done during the day, but still had to nap. Ended up getting almost 2 hours. Wow! However, it jazzed up my day trying to get things done.

Day 24 – Another poor night of sleep, like really poor. Very broken up, even with the cough syrup. May be time to drop that and try something new.

Had lunch with a friend who is also a mediation specialist, so I will try some of the tricks! Lately I have been HOT and hot is not my thing, it is very bothersome to my sleep.

Day 25 – A totally different night of sleep. I did not use the ice machine, but I am still in the recliner and still using the cough syrup. I woke up LESS but I woke up sore each time. I took a couple motrin before bed, but nothing throughout the night. So verdict is still in, but the ice machine was certainly helping the soreness – just not helping the sleep I think.

All the gear is gone! The durable-medical-equipment vendor came and picked up the CPM, Ice Machine, and calf sleeves. I also managed to arrange to borrow an upright stationary bike which I will pick up tomorrow.

MY FIRST STAIRS! Although I have been cleared to do steps, I really have not been looking forward to them. When I practiced before surgery they were not my favorite. The stability was one aspect, but the amount of energy was a lot more. I am not sure if I am just tense or what, but 2 flights of stairs was a pretty good amount of effort! However, I knew that tomorrow I was going into the office to say hi to everyone and I would have to do stairs there.

So I had one boy ahead of me and one ahead of me and slowly, but surely I made it up. Going UP is not too bad, especially if you jam the crutch into the edge of each step against the wall. It is a lot of energy (Remember you are using your arms to lift your entire body weight each step).  Not too bad though.

Had to rest a bit. I explored the upstairs of the house… crazy, I had not been up there in 3.5 weeks!

Coming down was a lot scarier. I can see why a lot of people do “butt scoots”. 2 crutches was NOT working, way too unstable. I went with 1 crutch and a railing on my left. That actually was not hard. However, without a left railing that could be a problem.

One more victory!

Day 26 – Another bad night of sleep. Horrible? No, but certainly not good. Just could not get any DEEP sleep. And then a long day at the computer and heading into the office.  And only a 20min nap today.

Of course, the first day I get dressed up in a month and it is pouring outside. Swell!

I get to the office and manage to get down the stairs ok, there is a left hand railing so I was able to do it ok.

However, managing IN the office required some skill – to get to my office there is a 2.5ft gap at one point, which I didn’t realize until now is SMALL! Had to do the “sideways crutch walk” to get through.

Getting out of the office was also ok, going up was no big deal. Was nice to see everyone, but I probably stayed too long – I was tired!

However, that evening my knees were SORE. Maybe it was 2 days in a row, maybe it was something I did, but my knees NEVER get sore. I iced and took Ibuprofen. No problem in the morning.

Day 27 – PT Day. Picking up my bike!

Well, what can I say? Another bad night of sleep. I slept for 45minutes and then had a heck of a time. My nose was itching, post nasal drip, and i was WIDE awake. So much for dumping the cough syrup. I sucked down the last of it (probably 1/5 of a teaspoon) and licked the bottle clean. Yeah, I was tired – but couldn’t sleep. Finally about an hour or so later I fell asleep. Got maybe 2 hours, up, 2 hours, up, and then maybe 30minutes before the boys were awake for school. Yippe, Coffee day it is…

I got some computer time but then had to boogie early. Big day today… Was going to get some blood drawn (that didn’t happen), vote (that did), PT (that did but ran over 90 minutes), get some lunch (another 60 minutes – more on that in a minute) then head home for a 30min nap, get up and head to go borrow a bike from a friend. PT required a very specific kind of bike for PT – upright, minimal angle, no resistance and no bar. That whole trip took 2 hours due to traffic. Wow, I’m bushed!

/Start Rant

Let’s talk about lunch… so I got to Pita Pita – can get a nice plate of meat, veggies, and minimal carbs. Good stuff and leftovers for sure. Plus, bonus, they bring the food to your table – even though otherwise it is fast-food like. Well, today i get there around 1 and it is packed. Ruh Roh. There were a few tables, but also several people ahead of me. I get in line, wait, order, and by that time – no tables. I end up asking 2 ladies sitting at a table of 4 (really 2 sets of 2 next to each other) and they let me sit there. So that’s cool. Now for my drink. So I gimp on over to the drink machine, get a cup, have people shuffle behind me, around me, next to me, etc – and finally get the drink machine going and get my drink. I ASSUMED someone would offer to carry over my drink – you know, yes? Welllllll nope. So with crutches (which need 2 hands) – how does one get a drink to your table? Well, your teeth of course!   Thankfully, no spilling.

I eat my lunch and get the leftovers packed up. I grab the bag of leftovers with my teeth and work my way to the door. Again, kind of ASSUMED someone would actually offer up to maybe carry it for me? It was seriously awkward. Nopers. Or maybe move the several chairs which were 100% in the aisle out of the way? Nopers. Or maybe get the heavy door? Nopers.

Wow. That was a real eye opener. I would have helped someone in that situation in a heartbeat. I would have smacked my boys if they didn’t step up and offer. Even if the person says no thanks, I mean seriously? Wow. Just wow. People are so self obsessed in their phones and their narcissistic worlds that they don’t even see others I guess.

/End Rant

PT Exercises have changed, reduced:

 

• Do PT exercises on the bed 2x/day
  • on tummy, squeeze lower abs, glutes and flex feet for 5 seconds. Do not engage anything else. Must be able to breathe. 30x
  • Rock back and forth on hands and knees – 20x
  • Squeeze a ball in between legs and also use a band to squeeze OUT – 20x
  • Squeeze a ball in between legs and also use a band to squeeze IN and do a bridge – 20x
  • Left leg fall outs – 20x
• Rotations of my hip on a swivel chair – 20x
• Assisted little circles of my hip 10 min
  

• Get on bike 15min no resistance 2x/day

 

Day 28 – 4 Week Followup with Dr B.

Week 4 followup! Squee!

Another crappy night of sleep, however, I did find a fun new trick for ice. My hip was bugging me so I put an ice pack between me and the chair arm (remember I am in a recliner still) and then I put a frozen bottle of water between the arm and the icepack. I put a pillow on top. What this did is keep a very mild level of cold (once which you can keep for a long time NOT like a normal ice pack) and I left that overnight. It. Felt. Great. So Sleep wasn’t horrible, I got up maybe only 3-4x instead of the normal 4-5x. This helped, because when I woke it was not due to the hip.

So how is the pain? This is something I was asked 2x in 24 hours. It is hard to describe, but I will

1. The outside of the hip itself it sore. But totally within my pain tolerance, so most of the time, I do not notice. It flares up though during the day.
2. The inside, groin area, of the hip occasionally gets sore – but very rarely. This is because I am being very good with my rehab protocols and not DOING stuff with it. In and out of cars triggers this the most. With the stupid brace, it is just hard to get in and out. Think “squeeze your knees” – and then move.
3. My quads, hamstrings, and IT Band are all sore. This is almost like “training” sore – so totally tolerable to me, being that I have been training non-stop for 12 years. But I could see it being annoying to someone who isn’t used to some part of their body hurting or aching – constantly.

So overall, pain is fine. WELL under my threshold and I have taken motrin 2x this week, once for a headache and once because my knees were sore. I carry a couple of Narco pain pills because I hear so many horror stories of people being out and about and suddenly BAM! Something happens and they are screwed. But so far, no need.

I drove myself (boom! Another landmark) to the Dr appointment. Everything checks out great and they need me to stay the course. No removal of any restrictions but everything is moving like it should. The real tests will be at 6 weeks.

I requested copies of ALL photos taken during surgery (always do) and I have posted them HERE.  It walks through what they did (and not really that gross) but it shows what a complete MESS the hip was. It looks like a bomb went off in there – I have a new appreciation for taking it easy to let it heal, holy moly.

Still amazed at how much it takes out of me to go out into public. 90min nap today, wow. Maybe it is just the bad sleep. Who knows but my body needs it so I am planning time for it each day in the afternoon and will continue that as long as I need it – it can only help the healing process.!

Weight Check in: 246. 5 down since surgery, and stable for the week. Considering I am burning 7,000 calories/wk less I would say this is a big victory.

I am continue to read and research on the next phase my of assault on my eating issues that have followed me even as an athlete.

And now we start Weeks 5-6!