Night Nurse to the rescue!

Well, I am now 4 weeks post op and feeling pretty good, apart from the disturbed nights sleep.  I am completely off medication and have been for about a week, but the nights are proving hard.  That was, until, I found the bottle of Night Nurse!  I had forgotten how powerful that stuff is – sleepless nights are a thing of the past!!! Lol!  Not that I will get addicted to it, but it definitely has its uses – even my husband’s snoring hasn’t disturbed me!

I have also caught up with technology and have uploaded some photos – family ones, under the About Me page, and then if you go back to the day of my op – 20th May – there is the incision in all its glory.  Believe me, it does get better!!!  (Well you can make your own mind up when you look at the photos at the end of this post!) 

The hydrotherapy pool is still not up and running, and when it is I hope to be in it first! (Well, I shall be crutching all the old ladies and gents out of the way in my rush to get in there, so I should be first!)

The groin is still tight, and lifting my knee to 90 degrees causes a graunching/grinding, sort of Yukkk feeling but it doesn’t really hurt.  I have been going to the public pool to do my hydro exercises and I am also up to 10 lengths running with my aqua jogger.  I am finding I don’t get so cold now, which means that I must be speeding up, which is a good sign.  Also helps the life guards, as they start to panic when I am going blue in the middle of the pool – I am not so sure that they learn how to rescue someone who has had major hip surgery – it’s the look on their faces as I crutch towards the water’s edge that gives it away!

Anyway, enjoy the photos – more on the way, now I know how to upload them!

Ooohh - moisturiser is needed pronto!

Have crutches - can clean!

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Hands that do dishes are as soft as your face with mild green Fairy Liquid!

Nobody said how bad it would hurt.  I really was not prepared for this part of it.  The hip is fine – no real complaints in that department, but it’s my hands, left one in particular, that are just so sore.  I tried the cycling gloves, but it was too hot, then when the sun disappeared, I managed to lose them (somewhere in this house, but lord knows where!).  I have got some spongy stuff wrapped round the handles and this has helped but not totally.  First thing in the morning is the worst, and going up stairs – and sadly, you just can’t not use them!!!  As I found out!  Lol! 

Swimming is going well, apart from going blue in the water because it is soooooo cold.  I am up to running 6 lengths, and I am up to 6 lengths of front crawl ‘sans les jambes’ !   The hydrotherapy pool should open next week, but it could take up to 3 weeks for the physio to do ‘on land’ assessments of all those on the waiting list – I am hoping that I am relatively near to the top of that list as I am post-op – but we shall wait and see.

The last three days I have been excrutiatingly tired, and ended up going back to bed yesterday morning and sleeping through from about 8.45 a.m. to 11.30.  I did the same this morning but only managed a 45 minute snooze.  I don’t know if this is part of the healing process but, boy, felt like I had been steam rollered.  Also back to driving in the X5 which is lovely.  So nice to have my freedom, although I now have to sit and look woefully at people going in to Tesco’s in the vain hope that someone might offer to push my trolley!!  I have done this previously, but not for the same reasons! Lol!  My friend did take me shopping on Wednesday, and I soon realised that this was a huge mistake as she was buying much healthier, nicer food than I normally buy, and which has now given me a taste of the good life! 

I have realised though, that if I do go ahead with my other hip later on in the year, could prove interesting in the fact that we have no stair rail up the right hand side of the stairs.  Not sure yet if this will cause a problem as I haven’t (obviously) been able to try pretending that it is my right hip that has been done.  I presume that I can still take the crutch in my right hand and hold on to the stair rail with my left (which is what I have to do now), but I am not sure.  So if anyone reading this has any experience then please let me know.  Don’t know if that makes any sense, but I hope so!

Anyway, I am going to upload some photos of my scar tomorrow, with luck and a following wind, but for now I am going to get dinner.  Yum!

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2 weeks and 2 days Post-PAO

Well, firstly I must confess to not quite telling the truth in my last post – mainly due to the fact that I felt so bloomin’ stupid!  I didn’t trip – I hopped, yes, believe it!  Well, tried to hop out of my right trainer whilst my daughter held onto it, and yes, you’ve got it in one – IT DIDN’T WORK!  So now you might understand why I said that I ‘tripped’!  Still rather pink in the face even now!

But all is well on the hip front.  Recovery is going okay.  I am doing my PT exercises that I was given in hospital twice a day, plus a stomach strengthening exercise that is my own doing (dates back to ballet and gymnastic days!), but I had a flat tum before surgery and I intend to get it back!  It’s just a be squewiff at the moment!  Yesterday and today I went to the swimming pool and did my hydro exercises, then ‘ran’ in the water for four lengths using my aqua jogger – I am much slower than before the op, and taking it steadily but it doesn’t hurt and it is nice to get a bit of movement out of the old leg!  Can’t wait for the hydrotherapy pool. which is just up the road, to open – it will be soooooo much warmer!

The only discomfort that I get is a dull ache at the bottom and to the left of my coccyx, and a tightness in my groin, around the psoas tendon area.  I do get the occassional popping or cluncking within the hip, which doesn’t hurt – you are just aware of it.  The physio up in London said that was normal, so I am not worrying. 

I managed to hoover the ground floor of our house – took me 45 minutes and I was very, very careful, but I did it.  Back was a bit more sore later, but I was able to do it.  I can also push the wash basket, using my crutches, to the rack to then hang it out.  It is carrying stuff that is the hardest, although I do have a long handled bag that came with a magazine that a friend has bought me, which I use, but when you are talking about the dog’s dinner, or a bowl of cereal, that is not so easy!  I am going to see about getting back to driving, as Mr Witt said 2 – 3 weeks in the automatic, so I shall call the insurance co tomorrow and see what they say.  I certainly feel okay to do it. 

Sunbathing has been good this week, and I can even do my back, which I hadn’t expected to be able to do for a while.  Shoes and socks aren’t a problem either, which is great, as now that the sun has gone in my feet are getting cold!  Sleeping is probably the only thing that I find a pain – I wake up to turn from my side to my back and vice versa which is rather sleep disruptive, but I am sure that will improve – I have stopped the sleeping tablets so I sort of battling that one out, as I am sure they would help me get a much better nights sleep, but I don’t want to feel dependant on them.  So it’s grit and determination at the moment!

All in all I am so far very happy with the way it has all gone, and if it continues to go like this then I will definitely contemplate doing the other hip in November.

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