One Month Down...Two More To Go!

At BI Hospital/Awesome T-shirt is a gift from my friend Nancy

Had my first outing two days ago..unfortunately it was to the hospital. I had my 4 week post surgery check up with Dr. A! The first question Dr. A and his Physician Assistant (who the majority of my apt was with)  was "How are you?" My answer was "a million times better than last time you saw me." They also agreed I look a million times better than the last time they saw me.
So Upgrade:
4 weeks ago: Felt like actual death
Now: Just feel like hell ;)

I was told that all my pain is quite normal and it will probably be this level of intensity for the next two months (first 3 months are the roughest). They said my incision looked great and that I can now start putting Vitamin E on it. They want to see me start making the transition from at home physical therapy to outpatient in the next few weeks.
I have 1 week left of giving myself blood thinner injections,
4 more weeks left of wearing compression stockings to reduce the risk of blood clots,
and 8 weeks left till I can stop my restrictions (this really sucks to be quite honest..restrictions are a true pain in the butt, especially having to sleep with a pillow in between my legs which makes sleep for me virtually impossible, so one month down two more to go)
It was not that exciting of an apt. to be quite honest, they watched me walk with crutches, looked at my incision, gave me more details about my surgery now that I was more coherent, and told me they were pleased with my progress. They also reminded me that I am going to be on the longer side of recovery due to all my previous surgeries, so not to be hard on myself that progress is slow, and that it was a MAJOR surgery. They also reminded me that I have a bonus of youth being on my side..with my 37th birthday approaching next week and being in bed with a hip replacement I am not feeling that totally youthful feeling..I mean my 91 year old grandparents walk faster than me!
I was given the OK to start venturing outside my house for small adventures to help strengthen my body and hip. The two hours in the cars to the Dr's apt., and the two hours in the hospital in turn led to a 3 hour nap when I walked in the door, so I found one way to make sleep happen with precautions...get out of bed! ;) I did ok with my adventure except for the last 1/2 hour.. that was pretty  torturous in the car due to swelling and nerve pain from swelling, but all and all it went better than I expected.
I did tell Dr. A that I watched a hip replacement surgery videos online..he was like, "What are you crazy"..and I said crazy would be watching it BEFORE surgery..this was just curiosity! So if you want something scary to watch for Halloween tomorrow definitely Google "Hip Replacement Surgery"! From those videos I had a much better understanding why I am in so much pain..quite informative and disturbing footage! ;)

Steri Strips Off...Ta-Dah!

My steri -strips finally came off and now I can see myself that my incision is healing pretty well. I am glad that went through my SDD incision instead of adding on a new scar.

I also found out my Bionic parts are as followed:
"Stryker Trident PSL HA cluster acetabular shell 52-mm E secured by a single 20-mm bone screw. Trident X3 10-degree polyethylene insert 36-mm E. Stryker Accolade TMZF standard ofset 132-degree neck shaft angle V40 hip stem size #3 x 35mm neck length and a Biolex delta ceamic V40 femoral head size #36mm by +2.5mm necck length"

Not sure what that all means, but I thought I would share ;)  They said my new Bionic hip was a nice, tight, and a perfect fit, so that sounds good to me! They also did something with my piriformis muscle/tendon/capsule (a detaching, lengthening, reattaching) and that is why it hurts to sit currently.

I go back to see them in 2 months and they said hopefully by then I will be on a cane instead of crutches.


Where I am now at home:

Chillaxin in Bed

I am moving around the house a little faster on my crutches now which means my walk is getting a little stronger. I am doing more exercises for physical therapy now that I have a new physical therapist (side note: I realized I wasn't getting proper care with original Visiting PT person and spoke up, and now have a person who is doing the right program for me and my hip. Always speak up if you feel like you are not getting the correct treatment for your health, so glad I did. You have to always be your own health-care advocate to get the best possible health care treatment..always! :) My new PT woman set up my wheelchair in my house with a pillow, so I have a comfortable seat that also follows my precautions in my house or for when I venture outside of my house. She also helped me to set up other comfortable areas in my home with pillows.
Icepacks are still my #1 source of pain relief I have them going in constant rotation (as I type now I have one large ice pack under both of my butt cheeks)...seriously it hurts to sit! I am having friends over to visit the past week which is great, because it definitely helps with my mental health ;) and it means I am improving, because I really couldn't do that the first few weeks.
I have my moments of sadness and frustration due to pain and being in a recovery situation again(sometimes it feels never-ending), but I am lucky I have a great support system that helps me refocus when that happens. I still can't believe I have a new hip... it's strange that it still hasn't hit me yet. I feel I will believe it when I see it..well ok I seen the X-rays but I guess when I feel no pain then it will feel real. I know slow and steady wins the race..so cheers to the champion of slow and steady: The Turtle.. I strive for your strength and determination! Until next time Hipsters  xoxo!

Having fun with my iPhone apps in bed..and look I am actually smiling :)

My Halloween gift to you! Links the two THR videos I watched online..if you dare..haha! Thanks Nicole for helping me find these ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJyd8NiKvjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTIrdGU175A