Post op follow up

2 week post op follow up

So, after waiting awhile in the office to be called back, I was sent for xrays. I saw Dr. Z in the hallway on my way to xray and he grinned and said "How's my friend?" I told him I was doing alright, and he looked concerned then, saying "are you sure? You're really doing alright?" I smiled and assured him everything was great. Off to xrays and first set was standing...without crutches....It was a little challenging for the second position the tech wanted, which is the captain Morgan pose, modified. Fortunately there is a block for the foot to rest on while the leg is up in the air. Then I had to do a set lying down. That was really uncomfortable as the table is hard and I'm not used to lying totally flat without cushioning of some sort. The tech did put a pillow under my knees which did help.

I was led back to my room then to wait for Dr. Z to come in and it wasn't long before I saw him. He had a resident with him also, whom I recognized from my hospital stay. He wasn't actually in on the surgery, but did check on me in the hospital. He was very nice then, and had a really nice bedside manner today too.
Z shook my hand with a smile, and we joked around for a few minutes. He pulled up my xrays on the computer first thing while asking how I feel. I coudn't get a good look at the xrays because the resident was in the way of the computer but I got just a glance at the screws. I really wanted to see the coverage though! Z said he would email the xrays to me so I could post them on my blog. He seems really interested in the whole blog/hip support group. I think it's great that he is so supportive of it. So, now I have to wait for my images...hopefully I'll get them soon!

Z had me lie back on the exam table and he looked at the scar, and was pleased with the way it's looking. He said it's healing really well. He asked me to bend up my knee as far as I could get it without using my hands and then use my hands to pull it the rest of the way to my chest to show him how much range of motion I have so far. I wasn't able to get very far yet and he had to help me with grabbing my leg so I could pull it up. Then he had me show him how far out I could externally rotate the leg (like a figure 4) which was "okay" but he said I really needed to work on that particular movement. We discussed my butt pain and he said that would persist for a while. I was given the okay to use a recumbant or upright bike with no resistance to get the back and forward motion with my legs but he warned it would really hurt my butt....

He also asked about my right hip and how it was doing. I told him that it did have some sharp pains going across the joint already and that it did give out on me just a day ago and hurt too much to stand on it. He said that it is shallow too and that I should only walk when necessary (bathroom, etc) until the left hip can start bearing weight and sharing the load. Hopefully then the right hip will settle down and not act up anymore.

What I found really endearing was how proud he was of how well his patients do with this surgery. He is very proud of his stats and he says he'd like to take credit for it all but knows it's all due to us, his patients. He says that Michigan women are a lot stronger than any others!! lol! I thought that was so cute.

~He said I only lost 100 ml of blood during surgery (which is great! no transfusion needed)
~I do not have a numb spot at all
~the hospital stay is typically only 3 nights for us, while most others stay a week
~we talked about how this surgery compared to the SDD; last year I was already asking to drive, going stir
   crazy wanting to get out of the house, doing some light house work, pain not so bad at this point, while
   this year with this surgery I am not ready for any of that and pain is bigger issue. Only thing "easier" with 
   PAO is the incision placement. Not as painful as the SDD incision. Z agreed with that point.

I was in trouble though, when T told Z he caught me trying to do laundry a couple days ago and yelled at me. Z told him good job and to keep after me. He then said to me, "don't worry, we have a big list for you in about 6 weeks...we've been working on it" I laughed and promised I'd behave.
So for now it's still full restrictions, which means no weight bearing on the left leg still and no active flexion at the knee (think of kicking the lower leg out) because this could tear or detach the quad muscle that was taken off during surgery and reattached. It needs time to heal and fuse back to the bone before being actively used. I am allowed to do heel slides and use my hands to help the leg up when needed. Then he told me that he'd like to see me again in 4-5 weeks for another check up and we could discuss outpatient PT then and my job til then is to find a PT and have it set up and ready. Good thing I already have Liz, from last year, on board!