Six Week Update

Six weeks later
It's six weeks ago today that I came out of surgery. I'm walking without a cane, and have stopped taking pain meds - mostly. I still waddle a bit when I walk, but it's getting better all the time. I'm feeling great, full of energy, and ready to take up my life! There are so many things I've been held back from because of my hip pain. I'm excited! 

GP Visit
I saw my GP earlier in the week, and she said I'm doing great! I asked for her approval for me to drive. She asked what I thought. 'I'm fine.' I countered. So I'm driving again, which makes getting around much easier! 

My GP, Vanessa, showed me before and after X-rays. It was strange to see the x-ray of my hip and leg with the prosthesis in it. It was like looking at a picture of someone else. Vanessa showed me the X-ray of my hip before the surgery. You could see there was no space. It was, as they say, bone on bone. She asked me to describe the difference between the pain before, and now. 

The quality of pain
I remember it was sharp, I could feel the lack of cartilage. The amount of pain increased directly with the amount of heavy lifting I did - or walking on a hard surface. This pain is different. Rather than in the joint, I feel it in the muscle. It feels like if I could do a looooong held pigeon pose, it would feel much better. Exactly what I can't do right now, with my 3 precautions. 

Not the left hip too??
I also saw the x-ray of the other hip, and Vanessa checked its range of motion. She says I'll need to get the left hip done too, but to wait a bit. I have some ideas around that. I'll share them with you in another post. Can you say 'Lectins'?

Physio
At my physio visit yesterday, John manipulated my right leg. He says there's old stuff from the years of pain mixed up with trauma from the surgery and recovery. But he assures me plenty of movement in the future.

John asked me to stand, then tuck my pelvis under a lot. He had me stand up taller, then untuck two thirds. When I walked forward, I felt taller, and there was less pain. He also had me walk backwards a bit, which was uncomfortable, but switched things up so when I walked forward again it felt smoother. As suggested by John, when I remember to, I float forward from my lumbar, which smooths it out.

Surgeon
All in all, I'm very pleased with my recovery so far. Today I drove down to the hospital to get x-rays for the surgeon to look at before our meeting next Thursday. I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say!