I'm a PT graduate!

Yesterday was a stepping stone day! I was officially discharged from physical therapy as there really is no more that my PT can do for me that I already can't do for myself. She said that technically, I could come back for another 2 weeks if I felt I needed to, but we both agreed that I was to a point that I can continue the exercises at home and gradually build up the weights on my leg reps through the coming weeks. She told me that I could call her or visit her anytime though, if I felt like I was hitting a plateau or just needed a little encouragement. I will miss Liz very much, but we do work in the same hospital and I will be going back to her after the LPAO, so I will get to work with her again. However, she said in order for PT to be a success and help keep me strong for the LPAO, I need to continue my leg/hip exercises every day for the next 6 weeks, and then after that I can take 2 days a week off from the exercises until the LPAO. Also, about 6 weeks before the LPAO, she recommended that I start doing the leg/hip exercises on the left leg (with or without weights) to get it ready for the surgery. So, after 2 months of intense PT, I am done with the outpatient part and it is up to me to continue on my own. I am so happy to have made it to this point and really feel as if PT has made a huge difference in my outcome. I saw leaps and bounds of changes in my strength when I started outpatient PT.
I am still having issues with catching and a painful "something is stuck in the joint" feeling. Just a few days ago, getting into my car this happened pretty severely, and I was trying to maneuver my right hip until it felt like that "stuck" feeling would go away, but it took awhile and when I finally worked out the feeling, there was a very loud crack and bad pain that followed it that lasted for a good 10 minutes afterwards. I was able to walk fine when I got out of the car, thankfully, but something is definately not laying right inside that hip. Whether it's the acetabular cartilage or the femoral cartilage, something still isn't right. It's fortunately not causing any constant, daily pain like it used to, but still. Oh well, in June I'll talk it over with Z and we'll go from there.
I also took my first on-call for work yesterday since I left work on medical leave. I worked my normal shift, went to PT (was d/c'd) then went home and in the middle of dinner, got called in for 2 laparoscopic appendectomies on a 15 year old and a 9 year old. Poor kids! Anyway, worked 5.5 hours and did great! Right hip is holding up beautifully. I have some firm swelling around the incision, it's still sore/tender in the trochanter area. The left hip...well, it's achey, it's throbbing, it's going to get it's dysplastic ass kicked! :) The point is, I'm strong enough to do call now on top of working a normal shift at work too. Good things to report:)

Oh, and I only have 9 weeks until I go to Austria!!!!!