Wednesday, July 24, 2013

First PT appointment after hardware removal

I've been having a lot of hypersensitivity on my hip lately. It hurts to touch. I've also been unsuccessfully trying to come off of crutches. He said the hypersensitivity is from fluid collection in the tissues, the exercises I am supposed to do will help move it all out. At 5 weeks out from the glute repair he does not think I should be coming off of crutches yet and thinks I need to wait a little longer. My OS had said start weaning off around now but clearly my hip has a mind of its own.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

4 weeks since HWR and Glute repair

Well, I can say that this surgery has certainly thrown me for a loop, which I should have expected, but was trying to be hopeful. It has most definitely not been my easiest surgery, as my OS assured me it would be. At 4 weeks I am still on 2 crutches. I tried using 1 yesterday and I can walk well with it but there is significant pain in my glute and I paid the price later in the day. I have had horrible bruising, it is finally going down and fading now. I have my first PT session next week so we will see what my PT wants me to start with. At 4 weeks I don't feel better than preop but I am sure it will come soon. I am still really sore on the greater trochanter and really swollen. Ice is my best friend because I have completely stopped pain meds because I was so sick a few weeks back. I am still occasionally battling dizziness, headaches, nausea etc, but less and less every day.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

2.5 weeks post hardware removal

I have a few complaints to make... The first is that my OS said this would be easiest surgery out of the 7..... It has not been. Also, I was expecting a 3" incision. We are at about 9" or 10". As usual, my post op period has not gone as planned. Initially I was in so much pain from swelling. I developed a large bump at the top of my incision. My OS told me it was probably a hematoma and not to worry. My massage therapist showed me how to do lymphedema work on it. The next day it was a lot smaller but my leg looked like it had been through a war. I've never, in my personal and professional life seen bruising like this. It is slowly resolving. About 6 days post op I was sitting at my computer trying to work and I became extremely dizzy. I moved back into bed and basically stayed there for days. I was so sick- weak, dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, headache etc. I've never felt so sick before. 4 days later I was still sick and could barely pick up my head off of my pillow. I asked my OS what he thought and what could be causing this- he didn't know but suggested I go to urgent care if it got worse. At urgent care I was seen by a nurse practitioner who felt that I had decreased breath sounds and sent me to the ER to rule out a PE (pulmonary embolus). I was really hoping urgent care would give me IV fluids and send me home!! At the ER they did give me IV fluids and some Reglan, ran a million labs and did a CT to check for a PE. Everything came back negative but once I had the IV I felt so much better. I spent the entire week following the ER in bed (again) slowly recovering. I am finally feeling a lot better, which I attribute to my acupuncturist who I saw 2 days ago. The day I saw her I felt worse but I woke up the next day feeling great. I am still on crutches and hope that when I see my OS this week he will let me go down to 1.