On the Road Again.....

I am DRIVING again (after 5 months of not being able to drive)..which is FREAKIN FANTASTIC news for me , maybe not for everyone else on the road, but I am not going to worry about that! ;)
I was so excited to go on my first car ride in 5 months that I didn't at first notice the unusually weird noise my car was making, but when I got to my first stop light reality stepped in when I went to push down on my brakes and realized that they were hardly working and that unusually weird noise seem to be tied to them. So after sudden fear struck me I got my car cruising at 10 miles an hour to be safe while I was still on the road (the other people on the road loved me for this.) After an "emotional" talk w/ my mechanic I found out that my rotors on my car were totally rusted due to inactivity..just like myself..my car doesn't like to rest for looooooong periods of time. So lesson learned..If you can't drive, get someone else to drive your car around a bit, so it doesn't rust on you..good times! It wasn't exactly the way I envisioned my first "drive about" but now all is good and fixed and I can drive again and in the end that is all that counts!:)

So I had my 3 month post surgery apt w/ Dr Fabulous yesterday so the brief version of where I am at is as follows...
-I can now drive (yes I know this fact was already stated but I am excited so it is being stated again ;) )
-I can be "hand's free" =no more cane!!!!! (unless I go for a long walks)
-I need to work on my Gait...pretty much I am walking a little funny.. (no laughing at me)due to the fact I haven't walked w/out either crutches or a cane since feb 17th
-My nerve/tendon pain may take a year to go away..ugh!
-I can start slowly doing the bike and the elliptical machine at the gym (yay.. nothing like hip surgery, bed rest and inactivity for 5 months to make you feel totally out of shape))
-Dr. Fabulous wants me to try Celebrex since the Diclofenac made me super Ill
-I am going to have to get a hip replacement in the near future no matter what..."what what", you say..I know, I know..I can't even speak about this component right now myself..

But the news I want to end this post w/ is that I am WALKING and DRIVING..yay..I have waited 5 months to write these words so I am going to enjoy the moment!

A couple of Thank Yous
To J- Thanks for taking me/waiting at the Dr's w/me and being brave or maybe "stupid" for letting me drive your car the moment we walked out of Dr Fab's office

Thank you to Roz, KK, Jax, and JL for taking me back and forth to work every day for the past 3 months ..I will be at your service for rides forever!

Thank you Mama for taking me back and forth to PT every week!!!

Thanks always to my family and friends for your love and support that you give me each and every day and for all the car rides as well:) xo

and a very special shout out to my sister ....THANK YOU for always listening/Love YOU xoxo

WOW I feel like I should be handing out awards w/ all this praise and love! Till next time..

A Cane of a Different Color

For this post, and my "3 month post surgery anniversary" I am focusing on CHANGE! Starting first w/ the obvious change....I got a new cane, thanks to "special K" who was tired of looking at my "granny cane" or maybe she was tired of hearing me complain about it, but whatever the case may be I am now more fashion forward w/ my black and gold hound's tooth color cane. Even though I am not very fond of having to use a cane at least the new one blends into the scenery more, so it is less noticeable (I can't believe how people just stare at you when you are walking around on a cane..it is just plain weird and quite uncomfortable), and since I wear mostly black it blends well w/ my clothes. I prefer not to stand out because I am on a cane...not that I don't like standing out.... just not that way ;)

Last week I had a really rough week...lots of pain (had to go back on my pain pills) and I started feeling extremely depressed and frustrated at what I felt was a never-ending cycle of pain, discomfort, aggravation, sadness and stress due to my hip. Though if I really reflect back to the past 3 months of bed rest, crutches, and staying in ,then I would have to say I have made many great strides in the past few weeks which I should feel is great change and progress..sometimes I have to remind myself of that! I also decided today that I will finally give in and try the Anti- Inflammatory/Arthritis Pill Dr. Fabulous prescribed to me last month (I am not a fan of meds), but now I feel it's worth a shot if a positive pain-free change will be the outcome from taking it ..so let's fill me up a glass of water and....."cheers"!

As a new week is now here I am now also looking forward to hopefully the other changes that hopefully will be coming soon . Which would be A. getting off my cane and B. driving again...not sure if the other people on the road are ready for that day...but's that just to bad ;)

Other Positive Changes: I went for a walk last Monday w/ my cane and my friend J, which was my first real walking around experience since my surgery! Yay!

(above pics of my first "walk about" since surgery :)

Seriously, can I be done w/ this!

Ok from my title I am sure you can see where my mood is at. Seriously though, can I please be done w/ this! I am 2 1/2 months post op and I am still in a fair amount of pain, still cannot walk on my own, and still not driving yet, and I am getting very frustrated!

I don't like to complain..I actually find it is not a productive solution ,because dwelling makes you focus on the pain ,but for the blog I do want to mention that dealing w/ chronic pain is extremely tough on anybody's mental well being , and when you have surgery to feel better and 2.5 months later you are still dealing w/ a lot of pain..the frustration can start to become as unbearable as the pain.

I do constantly remind myself that things could be worse, and I do think it is important to appreciate all the good things I do have (which are a lot), but knowing the most pain relief I am going to get is 75% is still quite a hard pill to swallow, and I am angry that this happened to me! Wow that felt good to say it..I am ANGRY! I am angry that my hip hurts so much, I am angry, because I can't be active like I want to be, I am am angry I have to ask for so much help(because I can't do certain things on my own), I am angry at our health care system does not provide better care and services for people who have health issues, I am angry I have wasted sooooo much time "recovering" , and I am angry that I am constantly worried about my hip( that I will reinjure it or that it will never get better, these two thoughts truly scare me). I would love to have one pain free day at this point, I forget what that was like. Well that felt good to get that off my chest, but enough of that!


Well on to happier things..I have been working more, and I have had very wonderful people in my life giving me rides (since I still can't drive) so I can get back in forth from work, go food shopping, and just getting me out and about so I don't go stir crazy,..THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY PEEPS WHO HAVE CARTED ME AROUND ..I GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You all will have a personal driver once I am better! xo

I also got to get out to Boston last weekend for my friend's N's b-day dinner....cane and all! Unfortunately I never got to add pink sparkles to my cane, and of course one of the a guys who was in the band at the Beehive had a fancy wooden cane from Ireland for his broken foot, so my cane just looked so boring next to his and I hate to be boring ;) . The only thing I had going for me at that point was my cane is gray and silver and I was wearing a black and silver dress, so at least my cane matched my outfit ;)

Side note: I just realized that this is my 2nd post mentioning me going out to the Beehive..maybe they will want to sponsor my blog..since they are getting quite few shout -outs from me....but it is a fab place and I do highly recommend it as a fun place to go out if you are in Boston, plus they are very kind to woman on canes and crutches ... added bonus in my book!!!!

Pic at beehive! (also wine tends to take away pain..see smile on my face..that's a "I had 2 glasses of wine so my hip is not killing me smile"..not that I am promoting drinking as a cure....just saying a couple of glasses of wine can be helpful to dull pain when you are out and about w/ your friends and don't want your pain to ruin your time....but once again I need to say I am no Dr.)






Well that's it for now..going to go rest my hipster..Peace Out!

PS. I did finally get to watch the Movie "Sicko" by Michael Moore this past weekend and I think it is a movie everyone should watch..especially if you are dealing w/ any sort of health problem.