Tomorrow it will have been four weeks since I received my
new right hip. I know it’s not as
glamorous as Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner’s surgeries…not as ground breaking as the
first face transplant…and not as obvious as a well done face lift…but it’s made
a big change in my life.
I came home from the hospital in less pain than when I went
in. The first week I admit I felt rather
fragile, wobbly and exhausted. By the
middle of the second week that had begun to change, and I found myself
challenging the 6 to 8 week recovery estimate.
After pushing too hard and discovering the surgery may have been on my
hip, but it still had the upper hand, I backed off and allowed my body to manage
this recovery at its chosen pace. My impatient
nature had whispered to me if recovery for everyone else was six weeks, I’d be
back on a bicycle in two. If most
patients used a walker for up to eight weeks, I’d be rid of that contraption
much sooner. My silly nature didn’t know
what the heck it was talking about….and not for the first time, I might ad.
If you are facing joint replacement you need to know that,
at least in my case, it has been accompanied by very little pain. You also need to realize that being nearly
painless does not mean being a cake walk.
I was amazed by how much the surgery drained me. As I reach the four week mark I am now back
to a normal energy level, but I still cannot push my body too far before it
reminds me that four weeks really isn’t all that long.
I visited my surgeon’s office last week, x-rays were good
and I’m progressing well. I will be
allowed to drive soon, and they told me I could begin to use a cane instead of
a walker. That was music to my
ears! I went home and immediately, put
the walker away, grabbed my cane and took off.
By days end I was uncomfortable, experiencing pain and muscle
spasms. As I swallowed a pain pill and
headed off to bed I realized I was going to have to think things thru a bit. Now, a few days later, I am still weaning myself
off the walker, allowing my new hip to experience full weight bearing a little
slower, and using the cane as long as it is comfortable.
I know there are some of you who read this blog who are
facing joint replacement, and that’s why I wanted to share my experiences with
you. Being the personality type who has
to make all the mistakes before she learns anything, I thought there might be
some valuable information I could pass along….so here, for what it’s worth, is
what I’ve learned:
Don’t let your fear of surgery keep
you from reclaiming your quality of life.
Just do it…..
Don’t expect to be running a 5k two
weeks after surgery….but know that you will very likely be able to do that in a
reasonable amount of time.
Let your body be your doctor. If you’re tired, lie down….if it hurts
stop. There is no glory in joint
replacement martyrdom.
Take this moment in time to delete
junk from your laptop…read the books series you’ve been saving in the back of
the closet; do whatever it takes to relax and allow yourself the time to heal. Give yourself permission to invest the time
necessary to regain your health!
Remember when it comes to recovery that slow
and steady wins the race…and it’s not a race.
From here on out my recovery will hopefully be a matter of
graduating completely to using a cane, then putting that cane into the back of
the closet where it belongs. I look
forward to gradually increasing the distance I can walk outdoors, maybe even being
able to enjoy some late fall days on the bike trail if the weather holds
out.
Like everything else, this has been a learning experience. Just a year ago this cane belonged to my
mother. She hated the darned thing,
always retracing her halting steps to find it hanging on a drawer pull or door
knob. I had no idea that less than a
year later she would be gone and I would be looking for that same doggoned
cane; at this very moment I believe it’s hanging on the dishwasher handle.
My healing ritual continues to be quite simple…sunshine and coffee in the porch
swing, with a side of thankfulness.
Life is Good
No comments:
Post a Comment