Six months, really, yes really!

The Big Six month update.

It has been quiet on the blog because there is not all that much to report. Not much has changed but I have had the six months check up with Mr Hutt so an update feels to be in order. It is not an overly cheerful update because I am still frustrated but will try for an upbeat mode.

So, sports massage, brilliant idea, has sorted out my back. Fabulous! I have found a good masseur through work, she is close and reasonably priced. My rock hard calves have settled down which is brilliant. I suspect this is no longer a luxury but a necessary to help my body along as I try to sort this walk. Loosening muscles seems to help a fair bit and maybe it will help with the thigh pain I have having.

Thigh pain. A frustrating new thing along with a knee that is a bit sore and audible in its crunching! The thigh pain is from tip of the implant in my thigh bone, it is deep and ranges from nothing, a bit achy to quite sore. I rarely take pain killers for it but it is not something I want to live with. Mr Hutt has explained some of the issue comes from me being a dainty wee thing, well, short (153cm) and the stem being reasonably long. It tends to get sore when I put pressure on it from exercises etc. It is deep, under muscle pain. It was intermittent when I first got the hip done then disappeared and then came back in June and has not disappeared. Yet. There is hope as it all beds in that the pain will disappear and things will be peachy. The pain is such that I am bit wary of trying to run, even for a bus because I think that will be a nasty sharp pain. Mr Hutt, thinks in 12 month we will know if it is going to be an ongoing issue.

Sadly, if it does not go in that time, the only option maybe a revision and new hip. I want to avoid that. So much. So much. So at the moment lots research happening and exercising to gentle persuade the tip to bed in and the bone to become less sensitive! I just hope it is all worth it.

The knee could be muscles pulling on the knee cap which I will get my masseur to look at that and if that does not help, off to the GP! Frankly dodgy left knee is in the bad books because I would like the body to give me a break for a while.

Needless to say all the above it a bit tough to deal with and digest but recently finding someone with similar issues with the same implant and put in by the same surgeon has helped a lot.

Exercise. I hate the gym. But I am doing static biking, leg weight machine things and cross trainer. Not too much swimming lately but I am doing a fair amount of that, not quite cracked the 1 km in 30 minutes mark but hoping to soon. At some point there will be leg presses and rowing soon, if I can work out how to use the rowing machine!

The bloody walk. I have new sneakers but they are being rapidly destroyed by my twisty left foot. I am still hip hiking and a little bit of the waddle, a throw back from the old walk and also a bit with the thigh pain. Mr Hutt felt that perfection will not happen on its own and there are some terrible habits of a lifetime break. The skeletal foundation is the best we can hope for, we think the hip has settled about 1mm down which is not much but could have been the angle of the x-ray or a result of normal settling or a major collision I had with the floor 3 months ago. He is very pleased (as am I) with the movement I have. I can sit cross legged like a primary school child, this is something I have NEVER been able to do even as a child. The range of movement is very good and smooth. The muscles are building nicely but could do with some more building.  So, this means some more gym work and locating a physiotherapist to help with the walking. There is more in this than weak muscles, there are old habits and I do not really know what a proper walk feels like.  I think this is clincher, the past physio expected I would know what a normal walk would feel like. I really don’t I have never walked like a normal person, my gait has been awkward since I learned to walk on a dislocated hip as a two year old!

I am walking fair distances and with speed, I can keep up with Mr Gin pretty well and now there is no longer any forward planning for going out, I walk my local high street easily and climb two to three stories of stairs, although a bit puffy, quite well. My overall fitness and weight leave a bit to be desired but that is the story of my life and not really to do with the new hip. I could do with losing a good 30 kilograms and that might help with the overall fitness. Sadly, I find gym boring and rather like food and booze, so this is always going to be a struggle.  I have been walking more because of all things, Pokemon Go, it drives Mr Gin bonkers but gets me out and about. I am trying to catch buses that require more walking and generally not take the lazy way out. I have to try and cut down on the red wine.

Work is a stressful which makes cutting the wine down hard. We have a trip to Australia booked, I am sure that I will set some sensors off! I have also got it my mind this new hip is going to do some driving, a lot of it. I am looking forward to a holiday.

There is not much else to report besides a little six month celebration but that will get its own post!

Discharged from Physio. 4 months gone!

Physio is over.  I had my final session with the Whipps Cross team.

The Physio is happy with how things are going. There is still a long way to go in building up the muscles in the operated leg but oddly one set were stronger than the good leg.

I am in two minds about being discharged. I am not happy with my walk at all. I am over extending my knees because my body thinks this the most stable position which is not what normal people do. Hypermobility is proving, once again a challenge. My joints really don’t behave in a normal fashion and what feels right is not necessarily the best for the joint. My knees are not happy with the over extending but it difficult to stop. I need more strength in both legs and my balance needs improving to push the knees into a less stressful position. I know what to do but really not sure how to get there.  I am trying to concentrate on not over flexing my knees.  My back is feeling this quite a bit as my gait moves between limp, over flexing and looking like I’m drunk, lots of the muscles I am either not used to using or changing the old movement. It has been painful but I am not going to stop. I am trying to do planks to get my core strong but of course I cannot feel when I am wonky!

I am going to get there and if I don’t see an improvement in the walk in the next couple of months I will be seeing a private physio because I am not going give in. Also some new sneakers because the ones I have are all wonky from my old walk.

The Whipps Cross physio said that I may have to settle for a strange gait. I am not sure I want to settle. My legs are the same length, I have more movement than I have ever had and Mr Hutt has given me a hip that is much more natural than the one I had. I don’t think I’m asking too much to want a walk that is close to normal.

I will be trying to do the five exercises I have been given, a lot of walking, some swimming and a bit of bike riding. I may even try to lose some weight!

I have just passed the four month mark and I have celebrated this by having a really normal night! I went to a friend’s birthday party all dressed up including my heavy black heeled New Rock boots. I have not worn them since last October, with a lot of tramadol. Saturday night was great fun, I was dressed up, there were lots people I knew and new people to meet as well drinking and… wait for it… dancing! Yes, dancing.  A friend’s band played at the party and I got up and had a boogie. I had been sensible and pulled up a barstool so I was sitting and able to see. I got up, had a boogie and even a bit of a bounce. I can jump, in New Rocks!
This was a surprise to me and my friends very welcome surprise, it is a big step towards normal. I figured I would pay the next day but no, I had the normal slightly bruised feeling in my toes. This was the biggest surprise. For this me this means I starting to move away from ‘safe’ shoes and into outfits I have missed!

Six weeks!

Six weeks this time I was sitting up in a hospital bed with Mr Gin and Mum chatting away. I had a very numb, wooden leg and the bruises had started to rise.
Six weeks is the sweet spot with hip replacements. You get rid of TEDs, you can drive, some can go back to work, you can road test it in intimate moments and you have a check up with your surgeon. A lot of the dangers have gone, dislocation, although still a risk for a month or so longer is less. You can start to experiment with going over 90 degrees and generally try and get your new life going.
It has been an interesting time, it has been eye opening how amazing my body is and how crap my brain chemistry is.
I have more movement and mobility than ever. I have even legs which means when sorted I should not have a limp. I have never walked without one, it has been always there, from a small one right through to a full hip hiking ship rolling pirate walk. My muscles stop me before the joint, again a new experience.
My brain has suffered a bit. There have been some very flat days. Sitting and crying because bed to drawers was hard work. Struggling to see the point of getting out of bed. Losing days to Minecraft because then l don't have think about much more than killing zombies and long straight tunnels hunting for diamonds. And then amazing highs, feeling like I could take on the world and then taking a step and everything goes ouch. At least I knew how screwed my brain was going to be. I knew I could be crying over silly things and struggling with feeling useless.
My rock, Mr Gin, has been amazing, through thick and thin. Being caring and carrying most of the house hold duties. And just his presence pretty much limited my mood.
It certainly feels a lot longer than six weeks, the improvements so swift. I'm able to shower myself, almost get socks on like a normal person, walk with one crutch, waddle without any and be pretty much pain free. Still taking naproxen but don't miss the grinding and gripping pain of bone on bone.
All it has been an amazing ride and it can only get better.
Tonight, I will have some drinks with good mates and celebrate this exciting new chapter.