1 week later and I'm doing really good. There is little discomfort and I haven't had to take the pain pills. Not taking the pain pills makes me feel better since they make me soooo sleepy. I have not had the shooting pain in my leg at all. I wasn't sure if it was connected with the hip or my back. Hopefully it was my hip and the fact that it's been gone isn't just a fluke. I do have some minor discomfort in the hip joint where the repair work was done. I wouldn't really even call it pain though. Most of the time it feels more like there's a catch and I need to pop it. Which of course I can't and wouldn't dare try. Just trying to describe it. The stitches come out this afternoon.
I'm already tired of the crutches. They are a lot of work and tire me out. I get around ok on them I'm just tired of them. I can put some weight on my leg so I'm constantly thinking about how much weight I'm putting on it, is it too much? I also have to think more about where I'm going and make sure there's nothing in my way to maneuver around (like kids' toys) and such. I took walking for granted. I'm probably more tired of not being able to do everything myself than anything. I have to get one of the boys to carry everything for me. I can't even get a glass of something to drink without help. DS7 has been having to put my sock on that foot since I can't bend enough to do it. Then if nobody else is around, he has to tie my shoe. I would just wear flip-flops but my gait is so much better with tennis shoes not to mention the heel lifts that are in my shoe. I don't know what I'm going to do next week when school starts. I don't really want to get up early enough to be showered and completely ready when I take him to school but I may have to in order to have shoes and socks. I'm not sure DS4 would get my sock on and I know he can't tie it. (I generally just throw some clothes on to take DS7 to school and then shower and get ready after I get back. I'm just not a morning person.)
There's just not a whole lot I can do around the house right now and I'm getting bored. I'm very thankful for the friends that came and picked us up and took us to get something to eat for lunch the last few days. It was good to get out of the house. I do tend to get a little stir-crazy after too many days stuck at home and it's worse if I stuck at home out of necessity instead of choice. I think I'm ok to drive now but I want to be safe. So I'm trying to tough it out as long as I can. I even found some great friend to take me to my dr's appt this afternoon. I'm also thankful for the people that are volunteering to bring us food. That is so incredibly helpful. Otherwise it would end up being late when we got to eat since we'd have to wait for DH to get home from work before it even started getting fixed. I'd also have to be sending DH to the grocery store which would take away from the time the boys get to spend with him and give him less time to help out at home.
I'm trying to dwell on the fact that this is temporary and be thankful for that. I was chatting with a friend from college on Facebook who has permanent disabilities. It was a good reminder that I do have much to be thankful for that this (should) be temporary. (No, he didn't point that out, it was a realization that I came to myself. Didn't want you to think he was rude.) It will also be worth it in the long run.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Post-Surgery Update
I am doing really well. I'm hobbling along pretty well on the crutches. It helps that I can put some weight on my leg; it really helps the balance. Yesterday I was finally bored with just sitting around. I didn't take any of my pain meds yesterday and I was ok. It actually helped the way I felt because it made me so drowsy. I've been good about doing my exercises. I made my first outing yesterday. I had mom take us to the grocery store before she went home. It felt really good to get out. I didn't sleep as well last night but I'm don't know why. I woke up one time and my leg was turned out which is one of the ways it's not supposed to go. I sleep with a pillow on that side to prevent that but I guess I'd gotten positioned wrong and it happened. Not sure how long I was like that. But I'm a little stiff/sore (all over) from the night's sleep. Hopefully a warm shower will help that. Overall, I am doing really well. DS7 is really eager to help and be "grown up". I hope that continues.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Surgery
Surgery is done and I am home recovering. As far as I know, everything went well. He said that he did not have to do as much as he thought he might have to. The cartilage had pulled away from the bone and there was a tear in it. He sutured up the tear and anchored the cartilage back to the bone. He even made a DVD of it to give us. I don't think it's the whole procedure though. Pretty fascinating how he can do all that with a little camera and a few small holes to put the instruments through.
After I was released, we checked into a hotel that was just a block from the surgery center. I was very, very groggy from the anesthesia last night and could hardly stay awake for more than 20-30 mins at a time. I didn't have much pain at all, but then I had also been given some pain meds. I slept ok last night. I woke every hourish but then I don't normally sleep that well away from home anyway. Plus I usually sleep on my left side and that's the side that I had surgery on so that may have had something to do with it.
We saw the dr again this morning and he told us a little more about what he did and asked how I was doing. The nurse took the dressing off my hip and put bandaids over the 5 stitched places. Not sure how many stitches are in each spot but not many. Then I went to visit with the physical therapist. That wasn't too, too bad but it wasn't all that fun either. She did help me with the crutches and made it a lot easier than the nurse at the hospital had. So that was good. She gave me exercises to do and instructions to for the next 6-8 weeks with a physical therapist here.
I will go back in a month and see how things are going. I'm a little unsure of exactly how long I'll be on crutches. The nurse at the hospital said 2 months but the dr said 6 weeks today. I'm sure he'll tell me more when I see him in a month.
I feel like I'm doing good. The pain is less than it was before surgery and actually the only pain that I do feel is at the incision spots and it's not that much.
After I was released, we checked into a hotel that was just a block from the surgery center. I was very, very groggy from the anesthesia last night and could hardly stay awake for more than 20-30 mins at a time. I didn't have much pain at all, but then I had also been given some pain meds. I slept ok last night. I woke every hourish but then I don't normally sleep that well away from home anyway. Plus I usually sleep on my left side and that's the side that I had surgery on so that may have had something to do with it.
We saw the dr again this morning and he told us a little more about what he did and asked how I was doing. The nurse took the dressing off my hip and put bandaids over the 5 stitched places. Not sure how many stitches are in each spot but not many. Then I went to visit with the physical therapist. That wasn't too, too bad but it wasn't all that fun either. She did help me with the crutches and made it a lot easier than the nurse at the hospital had. So that was good. She gave me exercises to do and instructions to for the next 6-8 weeks with a physical therapist here.
I will go back in a month and see how things are going. I'm a little unsure of exactly how long I'll be on crutches. The nurse at the hospital said 2 months but the dr said 6 weeks today. I'm sure he'll tell me more when I see him in a month.
I feel like I'm doing good. The pain is less than it was before surgery and actually the only pain that I do feel is at the incision spots and it's not that much.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Can you come tomorrow?
I got a call from the hip dr's office last Thur and we scheduled the surgery for Aug 25. That was the earliest that our schedules would work together. Then this morning a little after 11:00 I got a call from them. They had a cancellation for tomorrow and did I want it? Um, let me make a few phone calls. So I called DH to see if he could get off and I called my mom to see if she could come keep the boys. After I got that all settled that I was going to have surgery TOMORROW, I started freaking out just a bit. What do I need to have done before I'm incapacitated for a few weeks? Who all do I need to call/email? It was a crazy, crazy afternoon. I'm thrilled that I will have the surgery done so soon and that I should be able to drive again before school starts so the stress of worrying about how the boys were going to get to and from school is no longer a concern. I don't have to fret over the surgery for a month now.
It truly was an answer to prayer. We prayed that something would open up before school and it did. I know God always answers prayer; it's just always the way we want or as quickly as we want. I always try to pray that He will change my desires to match His but it's not always easy and I don't always comply.
It truly was an answer to prayer. We prayed that something would open up before school and it did. I know God always answers prayer; it's just always the way we want or as quickly as we want. I always try to pray that He will change my desires to match His but it's not always easy and I don't always comply.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Hip Appt
Today was my appt with the orthopedic in Nashville that specializes in hips. It was a long day but a good one. We left here at 7:15 and got home about 5:15.
We got there early since we had no traffic delays or other problems. I actually got to go back before my appt time. They did an xray and he evaluated my hip. We talked a bit. Pretty much we had come to the conclusion that he would do surgery (hip arthroscopy) but he wanted to do an MRI to see if it showed anything. It doesn't always but based on what the previous dr said and what he evaluated he said he would still recommend surgery.
My MRI was supposed to be check-in at 12:30 and it was 11:00 when we got done with the dr so we had some time to kill. The nurse told us we could go get some lunch or we could go over and see if they had had any cancellations and could get in early. (And there's a cafeteria over there.) The building is right across the street from the hospital so we didn't have to drive anywhere. We went over and she called back and said no, they were completely full so we went to the cafeteria to eat. It was good and there were lots of different kinds of things to choose from. We went back and finished registering. By then it was right about 12, I think. They call me back after only a few minutes and I barely sat down in the next waiting room when he called me for the MRI. Turns out that he had had two patients in a row back out because they were claustrophobic. So I got done before my appt was even supposed to be. (It was check-in at 12:30 for a 1:00 MRI). We got the films and went back over to the dr's office to WAIT! He had surgery all afternoon so we had to wait on him to get finished with one and come back over. It was 1:00 when we got there and it was 2:30ish when he finally came back.
He reviewed my films and came in and said that I did indeed have some damage to the cartilage in the hip joint. He showed me but I really couldn't make sense of the MRI. He said he can't tell from the MRI or xray what caused it but there's possible there's a bump on the bone or something like that. He won't really know until he got in there. If that's the case he will scrape the bone down and fix the cartilage. He said several times that he won't know how much he'll need to do until he's in there and can look. He will also have a CT scan done before the surgery as a guide for him. He said it was up to me when to do it. He didn't think it was an emergency and I could wait or I could go ahead. Of course I said go ahead. I told him I'm tired of the pain even if the injection has been helping. I also told him it's hard to keep telling my little boys that mommy can't do that and so forth.
After he left his nurse came in and we talked about when. She said there's a slight conflict because she doesn't really know his schedule for a few weeks. He is the team dr for the Tennessee Titans and their football camp starts on the 25th. He will have to be out there at some point each day of practice but they haven't given him that schedule yet. We could schedule something Aug 11 or after or wait and until he gets that schedule and see what he has available. I decided to wait and see what comes open. She hopes to have that by the end of the week but she doesn't have control over that. She sounded frustrated that she didn't have it yet. (Boy can I relate to that, lol)
I also have two options as far as follow-up. It is an out-patient surgery. Since we are relatively close, I can either come home right after and go back in a week for a follow-up and get the stitches out or I can spend the night after and go back to see him the next day, have the dr here remove my stitches, and then go back to see him in 6 weeks. I'm leaning toward the later option right now.
Recovery will just depend on how much they have to do. It could take up to 3 months to really start to see results. I will be on crutches. How long just depends. It will likely be 4-6 weeks. I will also have therapy. I'll learn more about that when I see him the day after surgery or the week after.
Of course there is no guarantee that the surgery will work but it should. He says about an 85% chance. I feel like he was being conservative on that which is fine. You have to leave room for the rare case and since I seem to be a rare case in everything that has me a little concerned but still excited about the possibilities.
I think that about covers it. I'm glad to finally have an answer to a pain that's been bugging me for almost 1 1/2 years.
We got there early since we had no traffic delays or other problems. I actually got to go back before my appt time. They did an xray and he evaluated my hip. We talked a bit. Pretty much we had come to the conclusion that he would do surgery (hip arthroscopy) but he wanted to do an MRI to see if it showed anything. It doesn't always but based on what the previous dr said and what he evaluated he said he would still recommend surgery.
My MRI was supposed to be check-in at 12:30 and it was 11:00 when we got done with the dr so we had some time to kill. The nurse told us we could go get some lunch or we could go over and see if they had had any cancellations and could get in early. (And there's a cafeteria over there.) The building is right across the street from the hospital so we didn't have to drive anywhere. We went over and she called back and said no, they were completely full so we went to the cafeteria to eat. It was good and there were lots of different kinds of things to choose from. We went back and finished registering. By then it was right about 12, I think. They call me back after only a few minutes and I barely sat down in the next waiting room when he called me for the MRI. Turns out that he had had two patients in a row back out because they were claustrophobic. So I got done before my appt was even supposed to be. (It was check-in at 12:30 for a 1:00 MRI). We got the films and went back over to the dr's office to WAIT! He had surgery all afternoon so we had to wait on him to get finished with one and come back over. It was 1:00 when we got there and it was 2:30ish when he finally came back.
He reviewed my films and came in and said that I did indeed have some damage to the cartilage in the hip joint. He showed me but I really couldn't make sense of the MRI. He said he can't tell from the MRI or xray what caused it but there's possible there's a bump on the bone or something like that. He won't really know until he got in there. If that's the case he will scrape the bone down and fix the cartilage. He said several times that he won't know how much he'll need to do until he's in there and can look. He will also have a CT scan done before the surgery as a guide for him. He said it was up to me when to do it. He didn't think it was an emergency and I could wait or I could go ahead. Of course I said go ahead. I told him I'm tired of the pain even if the injection has been helping. I also told him it's hard to keep telling my little boys that mommy can't do that and so forth.
After he left his nurse came in and we talked about when. She said there's a slight conflict because she doesn't really know his schedule for a few weeks. He is the team dr for the Tennessee Titans and their football camp starts on the 25th. He will have to be out there at some point each day of practice but they haven't given him that schedule yet. We could schedule something Aug 11 or after or wait and until he gets that schedule and see what he has available. I decided to wait and see what comes open. She hopes to have that by the end of the week but she doesn't have control over that. She sounded frustrated that she didn't have it yet. (Boy can I relate to that, lol)
I also have two options as far as follow-up. It is an out-patient surgery. Since we are relatively close, I can either come home right after and go back in a week for a follow-up and get the stitches out or I can spend the night after and go back to see him the next day, have the dr here remove my stitches, and then go back to see him in 6 weeks. I'm leaning toward the later option right now.
Recovery will just depend on how much they have to do. It could take up to 3 months to really start to see results. I will be on crutches. How long just depends. It will likely be 4-6 weeks. I will also have therapy. I'll learn more about that when I see him the day after surgery or the week after.
Of course there is no guarantee that the surgery will work but it should. He says about an 85% chance. I feel like he was being conservative on that which is fine. You have to leave room for the rare case and since I seem to be a rare case in everything that has me a little concerned but still excited about the possibilities.
I think that about covers it. I'm glad to finally have an answer to a pain that's been bugging me for almost 1 1/2 years.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Sleepy
I'm going through a phase again where it's hard to get to sleep. Once I get to sleep I want to sleep forever, it's just getting to sleep. Mostly pains here and there keeping me awake.
Right now my ear is hurting more than it was from the splint. I don't know if it's an adjustment to getting used to it or if it's not fitted right.
My leg and back are hurting more from scrapbook weekend. I've gotta learn to tear myself away from the people and scrapbooking to stretch out some.
Right now my ear is hurting more than it was from the splint. I don't know if it's an adjustment to getting used to it or if it's not fitted right.
My leg and back are hurting more from scrapbook weekend. I've gotta learn to tear myself away from the people and scrapbooking to stretch out some.
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