7.5 week follow up

Yesterday was my follow up with Z, at 7.5 weeks post op. I went for xrays first and then spoke with a resident training with Z. He is interested in orthopedics as his field of work and he told me that my history was really interesting and fun reading. He pulled up my pre-op, immediate post op, and just taken post op xrays to compare side by side. We all looked at them and I asked if it looked like the bones were healing. He thought they were. He also went through ROM on both legs, asking how they both felt, making notes on the chart. I gave him a list of questions, and he said he'd give them to Z to answer when he came in to see me.

Z came in a little later and asked how I was, looked at the xrays and did ROM also. The left hip rotation is great, he's happy with the way it's feeling/looking. He had me show him how far down I could put my  leg in the "figure 4" and was satisfied with it. Then he checked the right hip and some of the rotations were uncomfortable and I was resisting them.

He first talked about the right hip briefly. Aside from the fact that it feels a lot better without the screws in there, I told him that it was popping and catching more, and it's a lot achier, especially at night. While he was concerned that it was hurting more (again saying it's shallow, it'll probably need the PAO) he also thought we should wait to discuss it until the next follow up when it will have had time to "calm down" since it will no longer be the sole weight bearing hip. I was ok with that.
Then we discussed the left hip. He pointed out the xray, made a new measurement on it and I found out that my new angle of coverage is 34, and it used to be 5! He said "I like this hip. It's the perfect hip. I was able to get it to do exactly what I wanted with it and it looks perfect." I was ecstatic to hear that and also that the bones are healing well enough to begin weight bearing as tolerated. I have to stay on crutches for another month and I can also begin outpatient PT now. His instructions were that I need to stay on 2 crutches for 2 weeks, then drop down to 1 crutch for 2 weeks and then try to walk unaided after that as long as I don't limp. If I limp, then I need the crutch til the limp is gone. I can also do abdominal exercise if I want and I can actively flex/use the left leg muscles now with no worries. This is all fantastic news! I also told him the screws were bothering me. He asked me to point to him where I thought the screw heads were. I pointed to the offending area (where the little lump is at the top of the incision) and he said while palpating it "Ok, yeah, that's the screws. I use bigger screws now because the ones I used to use were breaking off when I tried to take them out so the heads on these ones are bigger and tend to bother people more. They can come out but I don't like to take them out until they've been in for at least 6 months. We can talk about removing them later." Then he also looked over the rest of my questions and answered them accordingly and explained the snapping on the side of my left thigh was probably bursitis and not the IT band. Keep an eye on it. Also I asked about the labral tear in the left hip and if it would be an issue later on. He told me it shouldn't be a problem because of the location of it before the PAO and now that it has been moved to a new position (off the weight bearing zone) it shouldn't bother me.
Then the kicker of the appointment was when I asked about riding roller coasters at Disney World in 2 weeks and he grinned and said, "You're going to Disney? Well you won't be able to stand in line so I'll write you an excuse to bypass all lines" I smiled back and said "So, next time I go on vacation I can just call you and get another pass like this, then, huh?" He laughed and said "Yeah, I don't think so!" I promised I'd get him something cool from Disney. But he never did answer whether I could ride the roller coasters. Must be it's ok since I'm getting a pass to cut all lines!
Once all the questions were answered then he asked if I had any questions, what my feelings on everything were. I told him that I thought that I was doing a lot better in terms of strength and pain with this recovery at this time than I was for the recovery last year at this time. He was really surprised to hear that. He said that was really unusual to have a PAO recovery be easier than a SDD recovery. I told him "Well I guess I'm weird" He laughed and told me, "I don't let my staff use that word here!" So then I said "Ok, I'm different, an anomaly..." He laughed again. He told me that I would probably get pretty sore the first few days putting weight down since the muscles haven't been used in so long. What he doesn't know is that I've already started on that, so it's already beyond that stage. Oops. Then he told me that I'm doing exceptionally well, and recovering better than most. That was nice to hear. Once all that was out of the way he told me that he wanted to see me in 6-8 weeks and see how I'm progressing then.
So my next appointment is March 3rd, 6 weeks from now. Hopefully I'll be strong enough to be given the ok to go back to work without restrictions then. My coworkers need me back!!

When the appointment was over, my mother-in-law and I headed to Trader Joe's for groceries and then to Panera Bread for lunch. It was in Panera Bread that the wildest thing happened! While standing in line, a woman came up to me and asked about my crutches and asked if I'd just had hip surgery and was it a PAO? I said yes to both and asked if her doctor was also Dr. Z? She said he was and she'd had her PAO in July 2009. Then it dawned on me that I should probably know who this person is and I asked her what her name is...she told me her name and it is "D", the author of "Hip Endeavors" one of the very first blogs I followed and she is one of the first people I corresponded with regarding hip dysplasia and PAO's when I first found out about my diagnosis!! We hugged and chatted for a few minutes and it was so nice to be able to see how well she's doing! (D, if you're reading this, you look great!! Thanks so much for all your inspiration and encouragement!) It is such a small world, running into her at Panera Bread of all places, with neither of us being from the area. She gives me great  confidence that the PAO will be the right thing to have done. Thanks, D!!

So as of today, I've made my PT evaluation appointment for next week and also am in the process of trying to get all my ducks in a row to tie up loose ends with insurance premiums I owe and time off work. I'm extending my leave beyond the 12 weeks of FMLA and will have to use at least 10 days of the 30 day personal leave to cover me for work. I think I'll be ready to come back by the 2nd week of March, but 6 weeks is a long time and I'll just have to play it by ear.