Yes, I'm screwy!

Here is my right hip post-op xray. I had an osteotomy of the greater trochanter, thus the reason for the screws. These will be permanant unless further MRI imaging of my hip is ever needed or further surgery.

3 weeks post op and my post op follow up appt

Well, at 3 weeks I am feeling....tired, lol! The holidays really took a toll on me and I am definately feeling it. My hip is really sore today but I think that has to do with the 7 hours in the car yesterday for my trip to Detroit for my post op check up. More on that in a minute.
I am doing my 1000 leg reps in good time. I've figured out a good routine where I do 5 sets of 200 reps at a time. I'm really focusing on the ankle to opposite knee exercise now. My incision has fully revealed itself and it will look really good once it completely flattens out. Check out the 3 week scar pic! I'm also getting really bored at home, so to liven things up I do the laundry!!! Lol, a good way to keep the mind sharp:) But I still have to be careful not to push it too much. Today I chilled in my recliner and read a book and napped for a couple hours. Ahhh, it felt good:) I'm able to sleep on my non-op side with a pillow between my knees and on my stomach, but only for short periods of time and it wakes me up if I feel I need to change position, which is a lot so I'm not getting a very good night's sleep yet. It makes for one very tired girl during the day! The leg was aching something HORRIBLE when I first starting sleeping on my non-op side but it's settled down some. Now I'm just dealing with the clicking in the hip with position changes. Speaking of clicking, it's settled down some in the hip and knee when crutching but still bothersome. I've also stopped taking vicodin altogether and will just rely on Tylenol if/when needed.

As for my surgical post-op appt, it went pretty well. I had some post op xrays taken first and then saw Dr. Z. He said he was pretty happy with the way everything went and asked how I felt about it. I told him the pulsing, sharp pain in my groin was pretty much gone and he said that he felt that this surgery should do it for me on the right hip. He thinks I'm good to go. He had me lay back on the exam table and do flexion and external rotation with my hip and let me tell you, it was sore but I was able to get it past 90 degrees!!! I don't know if he was all that impressed, but I sure was! Once that was done, I sat up and we discussed what he expects of me til the next follow up appt which includes keeping on both crutches until I see him again (didn't really expect that), keeping up with the 1000 leg reps, no formal PT yet, I can ditch the TED hose (yay!) and I can start using Mederma cream on my scar now. I was also given the go ahead to drive if I'm off narcotics (which I am) but I don't really feel all that comfortable driving yet because the weather in Michigan is pretty crappy right now.
I asked if going on vacation in early February was going to screw up physical therapy and he said I could just do my home exercises. Then the bummer of the appt was when I brought up the LPAO in March. He laughed and asked if I had scheduled that and I told him March 19th. He hesitated, looked down at his watch for a long pause and then looked at me holding up his hands and said "we're really pushing it close. I might cancel it". I told him it was my goal and he said we could talk about it at the next appt. I think he feels I am crazy, literally. He seemed sincere but matter of fact when he told me that, but we'll see. I know he's just thinking of my best interests and covering his own hide, but it's hard to swallow that when I've got myself mentally prepared for surgery in March and just getting it over with! So, next appt I guess I'll find out if I'm able to continue with the LPAO in March as planned or if I'll have to reschedule it for December 2010.

Tonight Todd and I went grocery shopping and I was so tired that I ended up using an amigo! How humbling! It was really embarrassing with all the people staring at me and wondering what the heck someone my age/healthy was doing using an amigo. That's what's difficult with the hip surgery, there is no visible disability, no cast to point out that I've had surgery and can't walk easily through the store. It was a little fun to drive around in it, no doubt, but not something I'll miss!

2 week update

I'm a day early on this post, but it's almost midnight so it counts...almost:)I don't have a whole lot to report but let's see where I'm at right now.

My exercises are becoming easier and easier. I find that I can do a set of 100 each in five block sessions throughout the day and I pretty much breeze right through them now. Still working on getting the ankle to the opposite knee but Amy (PT) said it would come slowly. My butt is incredibly sore/bruised feeling on the outter edge, not the part I sit on. The incision is also incredibly painful/tender at times now, when before it really wasn't too bad. There is an area of swelling that is firm but moveable so it's probably nothing to worry about. The incision itself looks great. Another steri strip fell off and I'm anxiously awaiting the rest to come off too. I am getting dressed, including TED's, much quicker than last week and crutching/walking is pretty good too. I'm still dealing with a lot of clunking/clicking in the hip and knee and the knee is the worst. It feels like the knee cap will blow off everytime they clunk. I hate it! The hip does it off and on but doesn't always hurt, just feels unnatural. When it does hurt it just feels like a pinging, like something is catching. It's so hard to explain. I'm figuring it's scar tissue or swollen muscles reacting when I move.

I went to a Christmas party tonight at a co-workers house and it was soooo great to see everyone! I miss them very much. I did really well crutching out in the snow/ice and didn't slip outside. It was inside when I slipped, go figure! But I didn't hurt myself:) Let's see, I also tried "walking" without crutches for about 3 steps (I had the crutches, just didn't put any weight through them) and it wasn't too bad! Most of my weight still went through my left hip but my right wasn't really all that painful when I did step on it. Don't tell my surgeon!!!!!

I also think I am putting more than 45% weight on my hip now, which is what I was at earlier this week. I'll have to check it out again. I go to see Dr. Z on December 28th for my "2" week check up (more like 3 week now) and hopefully will be able to obtain my xrays and operative report too. I'm hoping to hear that I can drive soon and that I'm right where I should be in recovery. It's so confusing because I'm at that stage where I feel good enough to over do it, the "just because you feel like you can, doesn't mean you should" stage! lol! I'm also hoping that he'll be impressed enough with where I am in recovery that he'll feel confident enough to go ahead with the LPAO as scheduled in March. Still a couple months away, yes, but it's my goal.

I have a good friend I've met through the support group that is a fellow Zaltz patient and it's so good to talk to her because she is a sounding board for me. She's been through a few hip surgeries with him and she's right there cheering me on knowing what's in store. She's still having issues with one hip and will probably be facing another surgery in the summer. It's nice to have a good support group. I heart my hippies! :)

Scar picture, a little risque!!!

Here's a photo of my scar at a week out and it's a little on the sexy side ;)
About 4 steri strips fell off and it's about 10-11 inches long but very thin and pretty.

One week post op from surgical hip dislocation

I was just thinking to myself that at this time one week ago I was just coming out of my nightmarish painful recovery from surgery and now, I'm crutching around with as much weight as I want to put down on my leg and doing mad amounts of physical therapy with minimal pain. Can I tell I've had surgery? Oh yes, but it's soooo much better than it was before. However, I've mentioned developing that click? It turned into full blown clunking in the hip and knee. The clunking is sometimes painful sometimes uncomfortable. I think my knee is actually worse than my hip. Anyway, the exercises were difficult to perform and I got concerned enough to call Amy, Dr. Z's PT. She said that she thought it'd be better if I called Dr. Z as she didn't know what to tell me. I placed a call to Dr. Z's nurse and proceeded to continue crutching as normal but take it easy on the PT. I went on another outing today, still scared to death of slipping in the snow but I've got to leave the house! We ended up using a folding footstool to help me up in the truck and it was so much easier to get in and out!!!
Tonight I heard from Dr. Z and he said clunking is normal in the hip and as for the knee it's probably tendonitis and the quadriceps acting up. He said to take ibuprofen and continue with my exercises as prescribed. Whew! I was really afraid of getting weight bearing restrictions or slowing down rehab which would have meant possibly delaying the LPAO.
So, a week has gone by and all is "normal". Sounds like I'm going to have to put up with all the shifting/clunking as things heal and work through it. I can deal with that as long as I know it's normal or what's to be expected from my OS.
My scar is starting to reveal itself. 4 steri strips have come off and the line is so thin and pretty! But, eeeewwww, to touch it is gross. I am very happy with how it looks. It still burns a little, still gets the spasmy jolts and feels tight or painful if I put pressure on it when sitting, but sometimes it's hard to remember not to sit on it as I lean back into my recliner...then the jab of pain reminds me to lean to the left more:)
Yep, things are looking good at a week out.

Yesterday was a two sided coin

I had both a good and bad day yesterday and I'm still trying to make up for it today.
In the morning I showered 1st thing, and then, get this, I put on BOTH my TED's by myself! It took a long time and quite a trick to get the right one on but I did it. I also had a small and non-painful bowel movement!!! My appetite improved and I actually ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner, albeit very small meals. But as I was feeling so pumped throughout the day, I think I may have overdone it on exercises, crutching around and only one short nap. By evening I was in pain. I could hardly do my knee to chest exercise, my TED's were killing me and I begged for Todd to take them off me (so I regressed by having him remove them). My right foot around the 4th and 5th toes felt fat/not quite right and my ankle ached so badly. My incision felt like it was burning and like it was going to split open. Of course, a look in the mirror revealed it was just fine, not going up in flames or bursting at the seams. But hell, I was done in. I took 2 vicodin for bedtime (I felt so ashamed). Good news is, I slept from 11 pm til 5 am but today I am in an "in between" place. Good but not good. I'm exhausted again, I feel I can do the one exercise ok, but not the knee to chest, the foot/ankle still aches terribly and I can't stand to put the TED's on right now. My incision feels ok but every once in awhile gives me a jolt like a flash burn or a muscle spasm. I realize it's just nerves regenerating or a muscle spasming, but it's disturbing anyway. I thought I'd be much more positive than this, but, I'm documenting my "journey" exactly as I feel in the moment. On the flip side, I will be going on an outing today with Todd after I shower and put my TED's on (by myself:)). I do look forward to getting out of the house. I have also been planning a get-away to the Riviera Maya in Mexico for February, woo-hoo! I'll still be on 1 crutch at that point, but who cares, all I'm doing in laying on the beach in the sun:) The vacation will be right in between my 2 surgeries if I still plan to have my LPAO in March. We'll see, I kind of miss work already, but I don't want to put my life on hold for another year to wait to start my family either. Big decisions ahead!

Post-op day 4

Well, I've been home since Thursday and I've slept a lot and whenever I'm awake I try to do my exercises or keep up with facebook:)
My appetite is still really low. I haven't had a bowel movement yet and I'm dreading when I finally do. I'm on colace and drinking lots of water and trying to eat fiber one bars to help me go, but so far I've gone 6 days and only passed a little gas. I don't even feel the urge to go, great.
On another note: I have minimal pain, have already been able to decrease my vicodin from 4 hrs to 6 hrs. I'm hoping that I'll be able to switch to tylenol or motrin soon. I use my CPM machine all night at 90 degrees and can't wait til it's gone! More for the money aspect than anything. It's $25 a day and I should have it for 2 weeks. Being that I'm only getting paid 60% of my wages (not including call time) it's a bit of a wallet cruncher. I'm also wearing my sexy TED hose (thigh highs, no less) but at least they're warm. My ankle and foot on my op leg are pretty swollen yet, so can't get rid of the TEDs til the swelling is gone.
My scar is "lovely". 10 inches long on the side of my hip along with my old scope scars and a new drain scar. Plus I have 2 really bad skin tears from the surgical tape. Ouch! They almost burn worse than the incision. The scar is a plastic surgery closure though, so it will heal beautifully. Hopefully some bio-oil will do wonders on it when I can use it. The thought of rubbing it though makes me shudder. I remember how bad rubbing the key hole scars was and they're only 1/2 inch long!
I can already dress myself (except putting on the right TED hose, Todd still has to do that for me) and I am able to shower alone too. The shower bench is my friend :)
The exercises I have to do consume most of my awake time and I'm motivated to getting them completed b/c my PT told me that Dr. Z expects me to be able to raise my knee to my chest and start lifting my ankle to my opposite knee by my 2 week follow up!!! I want to please him and prove to him that I can do it and get ready for my LPAO in March. It's easier than I thought it was going to be, although no walk in the park.
I have developed a much more noticable click in my joint with every movement now and it's discomforting but not painful. I think someone said it's a tendon and hopefully when the irritation goes down the clicking will stop.
I'd say the worst part about the whole thing was waking in recovery, still trying to figure that one out. But I may change my mind when poop day comes, we'll see! ;)

Post op, day 2 (Dec. 10th)

The night passed by easily and quietly for me. I woke up about every four hours and pushed my PCA button and the CPM was on the entire night. Dr. Z came in at about 5:30 to check on me and wish me luck and told me that I'd be seeing him for a follow up in about 2 weeks and that he planned to discharge me today. Then his resident that was in on the surgery came in and pulled my hemovac drain and changed my dressing. When she pulled the drain out she asked if it hurt b/c I didn't make any noise and I told her that it burned a little, but nothing bad. She laughed b/c she said that everyone else who had the drains pulled yelled out and she was like "it's not that bad". I agreed, but then again, has she ever had a drain pulled from her before???? I asked her how long the incision was and she said long and showed me the length with her hands. 10 inches...hoo boy, longer than I thought it was going to be. Oh well, it's not like I have anyone to impress in a bikini anymore:) Plus, it is a battle wound I'm "proud" of.
Once the dressing was changed and the drain was out, my nursing assistant helped me up to the bathroom and then I walked in the hallway (all before 6:30 am). Todd came in about 7:30 and was happy to find out today was discharge day. I had a nursing student as a nurse along with her preceptor nurse (who was also my nurse) and she was sweet but very slow. The actual nurse started quizzing me about my dysplasia symptoms b/c she started having hip problems recently and a resident told her it was probably dysplasia. I told her what I knew and thought it would benefit her to at least see Dr. Z. She was thankful for the info. I think it is so cool to meet with people that are going through some of the same stuff and to be able to help them as much as I can. Another staff member (nutritional services) came in to give me my tray and she saw Dr. Z's name on my board and said she had both her hips done by him too and was excited to meet another of his patients as we normally aren't on the 9th floor.:)

I got my final PT lesson of the hospital stay, learned how to do stairs and was told "good leg up (to heaven), bad leg down (to hell)" when trying to remember which leg to lead with on stairs. It's helped b/c it is a bit of a mystery to me which to use first! OT came in after that and taught me how to dress myself, how to sit on the toilet easier, and how to shower with a shower bench. By this point I was full of energy even though I hadn't eaten in awhile. I called my nurse in and asked her to d/c my IV line and start me on my oral pain meds. She did and I waited a couple hours before deciding I was ready to go home just to make sure the vicodin worked. As I was getting discharged, I got another roommate, and guess what? She was a yeller just like my first one!!!! I am soooo glad to be going home:) When I was wheeled out by the hospital volunteer, I finally got a good look at the hospital...gorgeous and huge!!!! It's all decorated for Christmas and looks so pretty. Getting up into the truck was a challenge but surprisingly easy considering how high up off the ground it is. This was one thing OT worked on with me as well, but putting the bed up in the air as high as she could get it and having me back up onto it like I was getting into the truck.
The drive home was another story. There was a huge snowstorm, the roads were really bumpy and there was black ice on the expressway, which made travel very treacherous. We saw a 2 mile stretch of at least 12 cars (including semi's) turned over and in the ditch...that's not comforting! We slipped a few times, but made it home safely after 5 hours (normally a 3.5 hour drive). I was feeling horrible at this time though. Sick to my stomach and in some decent pain. Plus, I think the anesthesia is still coming out of my system and I was crying about everything. My crutch slipped out from under me on my bad side and my op leg slid out with it and I was a mess after that. I got into my recliner and slept for a good 4 hours before going to bed and sleeping the rest of the night. Oh, the CPM machine was delivered to us at about 5:30 and the guy who set it up was awesome.
Todd has been so great through this all. Not complaining once and he knows he's got a long journey ahead of him too. How I'll ever thank him enough is beyond me. He's the absolute best and must have missed his calling as a nurse:)
I was able to get myself out of the CPM at midnight and 4 in the morning to go to the bathroom and I was pretty proud of myself.
So I survived, although this is the "easier" of the 2 surgeries I will have. Not at all looking forward to the LPAO. I'm kind of scared about the anesthesia, not really sure what's going on with that? I also can't imagine ever having the energy back up to normal at this point. I'm falling asleep typing half the time and still the thought of food is not happening. I know I need to eat to keep my energy up, but I've got to poop first or it's just going to be ugly.

Post op, day 1 (Dec. 9th)

Today was a good day, considering the pain I was in the previous night. I met the daughter of my roommate and she was super nice, but felt really bad that I was in the same room as her mother. We developed a pretty good relationship and had fun talking back and forth. I found out the reason I was on the 9th floor and not the peds floor was because the peds floor was full and Dr. Z had done several ops that day and 3 of us (all surgical dislocations) were put onto the overflow floor. The PT specially for Dr. Z met with me this morning and explained that normally I'd be on the peds floor and the nurses on the 9th were very inexperienced with Dr. Z patients so she was the first to actually do anything active with me. She got me up on crutches and had me walk out in the hall and then sit in a chair for a while and taught me my 2 exercises that I have to do 500 of each, every day, non negotiable!!! Whew, they're a tough crew:) She also had me increase my CPM settings to 90 degrees which feels pretty good. I still haven't eaten much, nausea is still hanging around, mildly. Reglan has been a good friend. The dilaudid is on a basal (continuous) rate in my PCA along with my pushes of the button, so it's going to do a number on my bowels:( Double boo for that.
I'm also on my period (started yesterday, just before surgery). Go figure.

Amy, my PT, promised me that things would get easier and better if I move, move, move. Every 2 hours she said I should be doing something to move the hip, whether it be the exercises or the CPM machine or walking in the hallway. I know she's right, I feel good when I move but it's hard to get the motivation to do so. Everything exhausts me, even the thought of eating. I haven't had much in the way of food. I've mostly offered everything to my husband. It helped cut down on money spent for the food he'd need while staying with me! Most of the day was spent sleeping or "exercising". I still was having fitful sleep d/t the roommate, but late afternoon came and the nursing staff came in to move her to another room and told me I probably wouldn't be getting another roommate for the rest of my stay. Later I found out that Todd had suggested I had gotten no sleep and maybe a room change would be a good idea (what a nice hubby!!). I spent the rest of the evening in the CPM and dozing on and off in my quiet room by myself :)

The pain is really well controlled now and I have only been pushing the button every 45 minutes or so. The nurses seem quite surprised by how much I can do and how well things are working. Oh, foley came out today and I'm peeing on my own, woo-hoo! The drain is going to stay in until tomorrow morning along with a dressing change. I'm wondering how long my scar is? I'll find out tomorrow! I also got a really nice basket/bouquet of cookies from my hipster friend, Jen, which was so cool! Got some flowers from other visitors as well and I feel bad that I can't take pics and post them, but they are all appreciated:) Can't wait for a full night's sleep.

By the way, as a side note, remember me saying that in a previous post my sister in law had gone to a hip doctor and found out she had hip issues too? Well she met with the actual surgeon after her MRI/arthrogram and he told her she has dysplasia as well and would need to be referred to Dr. Zaltz!!!! She said that he mentioned a PAO was in her future most likely, how crazy is that!!! So now she's been asking me about my experience, and I totally understand being as obsessed as I was beforehand:) I feel bad for her though, b/c she has a 19 month old son at home. It'll be a tough road for them, but probably better in the long run. Hoping the best for her!

Surgery day - right hip SDD (Dec. 8th)

I woke up to hear my phone blasting out Beyonce at 7:18 am so I pretty much figured the hospital was calling me and I was sure I was going to be told come in earlier than 12:30...nope, my scheduled time had been pushed back by 1.5 hours, so they didn't want me in until 2 pm, surgery to go at 4 pm...(Insert disappointed scream, silently). I was at least told I could have clear liquids until noon since I was nothing by mouth since midnight. I took advantage of that!!!
So, with a small pity party for myself, I threw myself down on my bed and whined how I had to wait even longer to eat, and get this surgery over with already.
Todd was a champ, rubbed my back and told me it would be just fine. And you know what? It was, I survived:)
My friends suggested going to the Detroit Zoo to pass the time, since we had time. It was fun surprisingly considering it's December! Lots of animals were out and very active.
We got to the hospital at ten minutes to 2 and I was checked in. No nerves at all, just ready!
Admission was a breeze, the IV insertion was smooth, and upon talking to the anesthesia team, we agreed no versed because I wanted to "tour" the OR suites! They were good sports about it and showed me around as much as allowed from my stretcher. That place is HUGE! 75 OR suites in the hospital...16 for ortho alone! My room was quite large and the whole staff was laughing with (ok at) me about my "tour". They said I was the only one who'd ever requested that, but could understand why since I am an OR nurse too. Still no versed on board and I was trying to get a good look at the instrument tables, but didn't get to see much. My circulating nurse and anesthesia nurse wanted me on the OR table:)
I was hooked up to monitors, given an oxygen mask, and told to enjoy the ride. I woke up 2 hours later in recovery room and it was scary for me. I was in the absolute most ridiculous pain I'd ever been in my life and I was hyperventilating so badly I couldn't tell the nurses what I needed, which was something to kill the pain. It felt like my hip had a grenade go off in it. They kept saying they had to call for "something else" and shoved the PCA button in my hand but I was still so consumed by pain that the PCA didn't register with me until later. It turns out that I am morphine resistant, so all the morphine they had been pumping into me had virtually no pain killing effect AT ALL during surgery or after in the recovery room...nice. Dilaudid was the 4th and final pain medicine they tried and the only one that works for me via IV, so that's what the doctor ordered for my PCA along with a basal rate (continuous rate) to help catch up with the pain. Apparently Todd was accidentally allowed back into recovery while I was still being treated for my pain and he said he was pretty scared for me when he saw me. He said I didn't look like me at all. My whole face and eyes were pretty swollen and I was gasping in huge lungfuls of air but nothing was coming out. He thought I was delirious at that point but now realizes I was pretty lucid as I remember quite a bit of being in the recovery room. I thankfully don't remember it lasting 1.5 hours which is how long recovery went.
About an hour into being transferred my pain started to settle down and I was able to convey my needs. My nurse was an angel! Very patient and kind. She worked with me throughout the night to get me feeling better, and she did great. My pain scale went from 10/10 to 7/10 which was sooo much more comfortable for me even though she said that was still too high. Throughout the night I was unable to pee on the bedpan (due to the dilaudid) and I had to be straight cathed then eventually a foley cath went back in. Good thing too, because I was making quite a bit of urine! She also set me up on my CPM (continuous passive motion) machine and put SCD's on my legs (keeps me from getting blood clots).
The time came for Todd to leave for his apartment and just an hour later I was given an elderly roommate. Never got a wink of sleep because the poor thing fell and broke both arms and her hip! She cried and yelled out all night, so I was inable to rest at all because I felt like I needed to use the call button for her to get her help.
Pain was definately more tolerable now, probably about 5/10 and I was much more comfortable overall.