Week 13 post op

Happy March everyone! I'm entering into my thirteenth week post op from LPAO and I don't regret a moment of it. I feel this surgery went so well that if I have to do it on the right hip I will welcome it. I looked back on my first few days home from the PAO and smiled to myself because I wrote that if the right hip had to have the PAO I would not do it, as I felt so crappy at that point. Not really pain wise, just overall. I was so sick from the anesthesia and drugs that nothing in the world was right or good.
But the recovery (minus the fall) has been so smooth and manageable that it doesn't seem daunting anymore.

By this point in recovery I am walking well, occasional limping when tired or stiff from sitting too long (or it's too cold) and I have no joint pain currently (knock on wood). The muscles are still painful with certain exercises or movements but daily stretching and gentle ROM exercises will help that in time. I do have some pubic/groin pain occasionally...sometimes just tenderness, sometimes sharp jabs of pain. (Being intimate can be really uncomfortable still, so we're still modifying...) I can stand at the bathroom counter and do my hair and makeup without needing to sit or take a break because of the left hip. I have upgraded from using the stationary bike with no resistance to using my bowflex treadclimber with resistance every day (I'm starting out slow, so only 15 minutes this week, and will increase by 5 minutes each week til I hit my goal of 30 minutes) and then do my leg exercises as given to me by my PT. I am up to 3 pounds now on the weights, whereas I was at 2 pounds before. I can go up and down stairs normally (not one step at a time) and that doesn't seem to bother my left hip at all. I still have no idea how much stamina/endurance I have yet, so going back to work will be exhausting I'm sure.
The right hip doesn't like anything I do. It still feels like I'm walking on a big bruise.

I have been dealing with insurance and disability lately. There's some claims that the surgeon's office is trying to bill me for and when I talk to insurance they say it's not my responsibility but I have yet to hear from either office to tell me which is which. And my disability case worker has contacted me to tell me that there is some confusion as to how much longer they will cover me as they had mixed documentation for when I "should" be able to return to my job full time. I'm hoping I got that all straightened out. I think I'll have to make a few more phone calls this week just to be sure. It's part of the madness of all things hips.