Did you just call my tissue.......FAT??????????!!!!!!!!

Well I am officially 3 month post surgery as of tomorrow and 2 days ago I had my 3 month check up w/ Dr. M and here is what he had to say...

My swelling seems to stem from a collection of fatty tissue, scar tissue, and muscles not molding back into place yet because as he said to me .."Sarah, I did do A LOT of work in there ..it's going to take some time..." So it is causing swelling in a few places in my hip and that in turn is putting pressure on my sciatic nerve..which is causing pain radiating down my leg and into my foot. Also I do have bad arthritis in a section of my hip..in the "already to much damaged part" which may also be causing me pain..plus one of my major muscles hasn't fired up yet..so the big thing at this point is PT!! Need to get my hip and leg stronger...ASAP! So Dr. M graduated me from visiting PT to outpatient PT (yay another milestone..I like those). I am going to do a mixture of aqua therapy/and land therapy which should be interesting since this will be a new "hip" experience for me. It looks like I will be able to start back to work part-time in July (YAY), and no driving until I am off all pain meds and walking w/out any crutches or a cane...need a strong right leg to be able to hit the brake when needed. So I have been approved by "The Ride" to transport me and my hispter around when needed..which I am sure will make for some "interesting "rides ....especially when I don't have any pictures of my "grandchildren" to share w/ my fellow passengers..lol ;)  Currently I am using a mixture of one crutch or a cane inside my apt and two crutches for outside adventures..which I have been having more of..YAY!

Thank You soooooooo much Jaxson for making a hospital experience as fun as it can be (I am jealous ..I think Dr. M is starting to like you more than me..lol) and thank you for a really fun post hospital day..what a great way to celebrate my 3 month anniversary..You're the Best!! xoxoxoxox

Also some other sidenotes:
Thank You Ellen for a great lunch outside in the BEAUTIFUL sun..so nice, fun, and invigorating for me and my hipster....I had an awesome time xoxo
Thank You again Dad for my stationary bike ..I am up to 22 minutes on it and I am going for 25 minutes before the end of the week..GOALS! xoxo
I had a FABULOUS time celebrating your birthday Mom..it was a nice and fun dinner, and I also enjoyed being w/ Karen, Maria, and Marla ..Wonderful ladies/Wonderful evening  xoxox
What all this means is that I am also starting to be able to do more, sit a little longer, and walk farther on my crutches..which is all major improvements in the past few weeks :)

To my fellow hipsters I guess my one negative thought currently is Pain..I am so tired of it....I just want to feel some relief ..I mean I am obviously better than I was 3 months ago, but I am still in enough pain for the pain to get through my pain meds and be w/ me almost every minute of every day which is disheartening, so that is what I am waiting for to improve most of all....pain is extremely draining....pain meds are extremely draining as well....but hopefully I will start to see some major  improvement w/ that soon. I have been going to a Pain Clinic to help w/ this part as well.

Well that's all Folks.....for now ;)

Clot or No clot...That Is the Question....

Well on the positive side I made it two weeks w/out going to the hospital...
So on Friday my PT dude was nervous about my swelling that seemed to have gotten worse on my hipster and I also had pain in my calf so he thought I should give Dr. M a ring- ring to see what was up (and to also ask him how his time in Hawaii was..Not ;))
So I followed my Pt guy's "orders" and rang Dr M...his advice was as follows:

This surgery has a high risks for blood clots...this is not something you take a risk w/..if your swelling has increased and you are having calf pain GO TO YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY ROOM...like now (well he didn't actually say" like now" but you get the idea)

So I did....after waiting 8 hours for my ultra sound I was Clot Free...next week when I see Dr M. hopefully he will get to the bottom of why I have so much swelling in my hip...well he better get to the bottom of it..because it is truly a pain..literally!

No pics this time of my Hospital trip..I think I have enough to last me a lifetime..It looked liked any other hospital visit so you can use your imagination for this post ;)

Thank You Carrie for taking me and keeping me company xoxoxo
and Thank You D for taking the 2nd shift xoxoxo

On another note. I have made it to 10 minutes on my stationary bike this week..Yay! I have graduated from visiting OT and have stronger arms because of it..Yay..If this surgery doesn't work I can take up female arm wrestling for a living..Thanks Neil;)
I got my cane in the mail..so hopefully my new cane will bring me no more crutches karma soon...The cane is staring down the crutches in my room as I type this ;) Also I had a outdoor adventure this weekend as well....Thank You for a fab lunch on the ocean Dennis, Nicole, Scott and Abby..much needed for my mental health!
So it looks like all my bases are being covered.
Peace Out for now Hipsters :)

!!!?&?%$#@!!&*!!!!! and more

Seriously back at the hospital again..%$#@!!!
Trying to keep my blog "clean", so I will refrain from what was really going on in my mind when my Dr's office said I needed to go to Children's Hospital emergency room to get checked out.  So to back track a moment I have been making some progress w/ weight bearing and physical therapy, but then there started increase swelling next to my incision ...like a tennis ball lump...that was warm to the touch..so off to Children's I went.  After an ultra sound, 3 Dr's, iv fluid, blood tests, meds and 8 hours in a room in the ER  I was released w/ a mummy leg..see picture ...  No infection..yay, but swelling isn't probably going to disappear for awhile so they thought some good old fashion compression would help..but to compress this swelling it would take 7 ace bandages ,because it needs to be compressed from my toes to my belly and this is the only way along w/  resting it. After 4 days of compression and ace bandages falling off constantly...my PT guy, and I decided to give it a break for a few and just rest it and I will be seeing my surgeon in a few weeks (he was in Hawaii during all this at a "medical conference"..aloha Dr M) so I think I will see what he has to say....since my white cell and red cell count wasn't bad I am deciding not to stress over the swelling until Dr M says there is something to stress about...not that I am giving Dr M permission to stress me out ;)

So w/ all this swelling and "visiting" hospitals..I am still dealing w/ the fact my hip is causing me a great deal of pain, and my pain meds are not cutting it and the swelling is just making the pain worse so Dr M at my 6 week apt told me he wanted to go to a pain clinic because w/ the increase PT there would be increase pain..maybe he had ESP about the swelling that would be ahead..hmmmm...well that aside I did have my first apt (as well as my 2nd and third..loooong story) at the pain clinic this week. Had some difficulty getting paperwork all settled..I mean THEY had difficulty getting the paperwork settled, then they prescribed me and had me take meds that were WAY TO STRONG but now I am on a 12mg Fentanyl patch..it is strong, but no where near as strong as the 25mg..I am definitely in a lot less pain at the moment (actually I can't feel my hip at all), but I am having some icky side effects currently,but they told me that would take about 5 days or so to subside..I will have to get back to you all on that.  So on that note that is what is going on right now and if this blog doesn't make sense blame it on the patch, because that is what I will do ;)

Thank You to my "hospital entourage" Dad, Ellen, Dennis, Jessica, Carrie, and Pete for keeping me company during a really stressful night ..greatly appreciate it!xo
Thank you Nicole for the beautiful flowers and for cheering me up..you are an amazing friend!!xo
Thank You Nancy for coming over and making me forget the hipster w/a fun movie xox
Thank You Mom, Dennis, Nicole, and Dan for a fun first afternoon out...much needed for my mental well being which is also important! (also a shout out to "Lee Harvey" for great entertainment on my first afternoon out)
Thank you to Dennis, Mark, Liz, and Carrie for helping me out through my rough day/ night on the 25mg patch...so glad you guys were there ...xoxo

Thank you to my "little" bro Sammy for visiting me and cheering me up ..it was sooooo awesome seeing you (and I do remember..LOL)

ps. Thanks to my hip twin MP who gave me a tip on these great sneakers (see pic on side) that feel absolutely amazing on my hip and foot!!! Love Them!

 

 

 

 

 

Fentanyl Patch is used for Managing moderate to severe chronic pain in patients who need continuous, around-the-clock narcotic (opioid) pain relief and whose pain cannot be managed by less powerful pain medicines.Fentanyl Patch is a narcotic (opioid) analgesic. It works by dulling the pain center in the brain.Read more: http://www.drugs.com/cdi/fentanyl-patch.html#ixzz0nOGaCjzz