What it’s like to have bilateral hip surgery

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Following on from my post about why I needed bilateral hip surgery, I am now going to tell you about what it’s actually like to have hip surgery. I am going to talk to you about the hip surgery recovery, the post op rehab, the effects on mental health and finally all the little things that no one tells you about. About living with restrictions and lifestyle adaptations. 

I will be covering a 3 month period, taking you from the day of my first hip surgery to the second surgery 7 weeks later. Then right up until my return to work 6 weeks after that.

So, what was it like?

Well, It wasn’t what I was expecting. In fact, I found it surprisingly easy. I had been warned it was going to be tough, and being a physio I have seen the struggles post-op patients go through, both mentally and physically. Apart from a few flare ups and some pain at the beginning, I was mostly pain free.

I was also quite a happy person (apart from a two week period, which we will get to). Having physical limitations wasn’t as soul destroying as one might think. I would even go as far as to say I actually felt very lucky. Going through this made me think about how so many people go through much worse. There are medical conditions that are far more debilitating or even terminal. This was just a blip in my life. Something I just had to do and get on with. 

What are the key things I learnt during this 3 month period?:

1. Crutches are fucking annoying.
2. Water is the best therapy. (I mean getting into water, not drinking it. Alcohol works better for that)
3. I will never be a drug addict. The drugs are good, but not so good that I’m willing to be constipated.
4. Don’t cross the road unless you are at a crossing with a green man (this only applies if you have just had leg surgery. Otherwise, fuck the green man).
5. It’s ok to fake use your crutches sometimes. In fact, I would encourage it.
6. But remember, crutches are fucking annoying.
7. Just because you can’t walk much doesn’t mean you can’t be active. Yes, my legs were pretty useless, but my energy found another way to get out….my arms. My upper body got ripped. 
8. What it’s like to be a patient…actually, scrap that. I didn’t really learn this till I went back to work. That’s when things got hard. For the 3 months post op, I was living in a lady of leisure bubble, during the hottest summer we have ever had, going to the pool every day, being waited on hand and foot, with no commitments or responsibilities (other than doing my rehab). 

Final note before we begin

I’ve tried to avoid using medical terminology so as not to confuse anyone.

One thing I do sometimes talk about though is my pain level on a scale rating out of 10. 0 being no pain, 10 being the worst pain ever imaginable. This is something we use in healthcare as a measure of pain.

I also feel I must tell you, obviously it’s subjective to the person but oh my gosh some people just don’t get it. The amount of times I’ve had a guy (it’s always men) that stroll into my clinic, walking and talking and moving about with ease with for example back pain. Who I then ask what their score is and they say 8/10. I then ask them again and specify that 10 is the worst pain ever and they still think it‘s an 8 meanwhile they are bending over freely to take their shoes off. As I’ve said, it’s subjective……and it’s always the men.

Before the surgery – Spring/Summer 2018

I made the decision to get both hips done one after the other. It’s a very long rehab and to go through the whole thing with one hip then have to start again and do it all for the other hip wasn’t appealing to me. 

So the plan going forward was to get my right hip done first, 7 weeks later get the left hip done, then 6 weeks later return to work. Totaling just over 3 months off work. 

No, I did not get hip replacements as most people seem to assume when I tell them I had hip surgery. It’s arthroscopic surgery. 3 holes are made, two for surgical instruments and one for the camera.

I have to say, for the month leading up to the surgery I didn’t give much thought to it. I didn’t feel nervous or feel any kind of emotion to it at all. It was just something I was going to do.

Then 5 days before surgery day something changed. I wasn’t nervous, but rather I felt like I was in some sort of purgatory. I felt like I was just waiting for the surgery to happen. Always looking at the time, counting down the hours, counting down the days…..

Surgery 1 – right hip arthroscopy

Day of surgery – May 10th 2018

My last meal is dinner the night before then that’s it. No more food allowed. No water after 5 am so I woke up at 4:30 am to have my last water, then headed to hospital for 7 am. 

After arriving at the hospital I’m escorted to my room and make myself at home. Put my post-op snacks in the fridge, clothes in the wardrobe, check out my ensuite and see what movies are available on the tv. It felt a little bit like I was checking into a hotel room (this is private healthcare btw, not the NHS).

Over the next couple of hours, I’m visited by numerous healthcare professionals. The surgeon, anaesthetist, a few nurses. All of them asking me the same questions….you can’t say that they aren’t thorough. I’m fitted with TED stockings – medical grade compression stockings. 

The marker pen

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The surgeon marks my leg in marker pen to point to which hip we are doing. You may find that funny or even a bit unnerving that they have to do that but I can tell you it’s a real thing getting sides mixed up.

At all levels.

As a physio when I’m with a patient I sometimes stop for a moment to think, is it left or right? When you flip someone over the side you are treating moves and that’s when it can get confusing. Ok, it sounds very simple so I will put it to you like this: Depending on the patient position, their left is your right and your right is there left, or your left is their left and your right is their right. Confused yet? And you have to do this with lots of patients every day.  I know many physios who have treated the wrong side (not me obviously).  There is no harm when that happens, but if a surgeon made that mistake then that would be problematic. 

Oh and lastly, but also most importantly I pick out my meals for the day. That was actually quite difficult, the menu was pretty damn good and it was hard to choose. 

It’s show time

The time comes and I’m escorted down to the operating theatre. I’m taken into a small side room and lay on the plinth to be prepped. This is where the nerves start. I realise that this is it, very soon things will never be the same again. My hip will no longer be pure and un-touched. I start to wonder if I made the right decision, maybe I could have just lived with it. 

I know this is just nerves talking so I suck it up and continue on. What actually scares me the most though is that I will wake up during surgery….I’ve seen the movie. The anaesthetist assures me that will not happen. 

He then puts a foam boot on my leg ready for traction (the leg needs to be pulled slightly out of the socket to gain access to the hip joint). Next, I’m injected with the drugs that will knock me out. He tells me I will have a bitter taste in the back of my throat. I’m watching the clock as I’m waiting for it to happen. The bitter taste comes but I’m not sleepy yet. Then suddenly I feel tired.

Well, that was quick

Next thing I’m opening my eyes in another room (just to clarify, I’ve woken up in recovery, not during surgery. The surgery has already happened). Everything is a bit hazy. I’m lying on my left side and try to move and realise my hip hurts. I know I’m on lots of drugs but I want more. This was actually a huge shock to me. I had assumed the opioids would completely take away any pain, but that’s actually not true, they just numb it. 

I get a very painful injection in my left arm, I can’t say for sure but I think that was anti-coagulants (blood thinners). I’m covered in things to warm me up, I think there might have been some sort of blow heater involved. I also remember feeling quite restless like I wanted to go back to my room, but we had to wait for some of the stronger drugs to wear off. 

Once I’m back in my room I enjoy some coffee and think about how nice my food looks. I’m not really hungry yet so I just admire it. I have some visitors but really I don’t care about them and just want to enjoy my drug high whilst I watch movies. 

I’m paid a visit by the physio

He (or she, I can’t remember) gives me my exercises and crutches. I’m partial weight bearing for 2 weeks. Now that I have my crutches, every so often I get up and walk myself to the other side of the room. Just because. 

The night was the hardest part. Not because of pain, because by this point if I stayed absolutely still there was no pain. It was because I’m not really a back sleeper. I like to sleep on my side or front with one leg up (which becomes very problematic after the second surgery which we will get to later). So I don’t sleep much that night. 

Day 1-3 post op – And so my hip surgery recovery begins 

The surgeon comes to see me the day after surgery and explains what he found and did in my hip. I ended up needing a lot done:

Apart from the torn labrum and CAM impingement, there was quite a bit of cartilage damage and a partially torn and overstretched ligament. We knew these things were there but it wasn’t until getting into the joint that the extent of it would be seen. 

Anyway, I had the CAM removed, labrum stitched up, the ligament was shrunk, the cartilage was tidied up a bit then a technique was used where small holes are made in the bone to try to stimulate new cartilage growth. 

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He tells me my restrictions and also that I need to wear the TED stockings all the time for 1 month (I didn’t end up wearing them for a whole month. If you’ve ever had to wear them you will know). I then check out of hospital. 

The pampering begins.

I get home to find my mum has cleaned my whole flat, the fridge is full of food, my dad makes me a few different salads.

Over the next few days I’m enjoying being fussed over. 

There is a constant low level ache of 3/10, but the main pain is when I try to get into bed, so I use my other leg to carry it in. 

I’m not able to remove/put on my TED stockings because my hip doesn’t bend that far. So when I want to take a shower, I call my dad to come over and do it for me (take off the stockings that is, not shower me, ugh). 

I also have to say at this stage I was actually enjoying the TED stockings, they felt very…..comforting. They even have little openings at the end so your toes can breath…and for people who have long toes.

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Being on crutches I realised that small tasks are actually very difficult……your hands are occupied. So I adapted. Sometimes I would use my mouth to carry things, but then I learnt the more practical solution would be to use a little bag. All my food and drink would be put into a tupper wear box and keep cup to take over to the sofa. I have never sat at my kitchen table to eat and I don’t intend to start now.

Post op rehab

I have my hip surgery exercises to get on with. Basically, I’m only allowed to move my hip around…but not too much. Then there are the bum squeezes. I do this 4-5 times a day. 10 reps of each then I finish off by icing my hip for 20min.

I am completely unable to take my hip backwards. It doesn’t hurt to do so, it just wont go. If I lift my leg up, it likes to shake when I then lower it down.

Day 4 – The pitfalls of drugs 

The pain meds are great but I stop taking them today. The hip still aches a bit in the morning and evening, or sometimes if I move it, but it’s quite mild. This isn’t why I stopped the drugs. I stopped them because they (opioids) constipate you…..and I just want to poo.

Now that I’m not on the drugs I get bored more easily so I go outside for the first time.

Day 5 – Finally

I poo.  

I also don’t feel very well today….but at least I pooed. 

I don’t like sleeping on my back, so today I start sleeping on my side with a pillow between my knees. This becomes a habit and for about a year after this, I continue sleeping with a pillow between my knees.

Nb. At this same stage following the second surgery I also woke up feeling unwell. Must be a surgery thing.

Day 6/7 – Leaning new skills

The pain is continuing to reduce. I no longer feel like I need crutches but I continue to use them because I’m supposed to.

The crutches can be a pain so I leant the shimmy. To do this you need to be wearing socks on a slidey floor.

Disclaimer: I advise against doing this. And if you copy me and injure yourself I will not be held responsible. 

I decide I will learn Spanish so I subscribe to Rosetta Stone….As I publish this blog post (over 1 year later) I have yet to open it. 

And I’m still paying for it.

Day 7-9 – Progression

I go to my first physiotherapy session and progress my exercises. Finally, I can do a bit more than just hip movements and bum squeezes. I have 4/10 pain later that day. From now on I have weekly physiotherapy sessions until I return to work. This becomes a pattern, a slight increase in pain later in the day every time I add a new exercise to my routine. But just for the first time.

Day 10 – No more pain

I wake up today for the first time with no pain. I’m pain free after the exercises and for the first time have no pain in the evening. Within 10 days of surgery, I’m completely pain free. Well, that was a surprise to me. 

It’s a pain having to rely on someone to dress me with my TED stockings, so I start to do it myself. I am definitely bending my hip much more than I should be but it doesn’t hurt and I want my independence. 

Day 11 – Stitches removed

Stitches are removed. Finally. I didn’t mention yet that you can’t get them wet so I’ve only been showering one half of my body. They are a bit scabby, so I keep dressing on them so they don’t catch on my clothes.

Day 12 – Surgery is fucking exhausting

Not much to say except I continue on with no pain. These past two weeks have gone by pretty quickly, I suspect because for some of it I was high on drugs and the rest of the time I slept most of the time anyway. Oh yes, I didn’t mention, I slept a lot. During the day, out of nowhere, I will be hit by this feeling of extreme fatigue so I will take a nap. This happens a couple of times every day.

Day 13 – First time in water

I start hydrotherapy today. I wanted to get a session in, to practice walking before I come off crutches tomorrow. Crutches aren’t considered safe by a pool, so I have to use a zimmer frame to walk around. I have a 2/10 ache that evening. From here on out, I do hydrotherapy twice a week (minus two weeks after the next surgery) till I return to work.

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Day 14 – Crutches be gone

I come off the crutches. I’m supposed to wean off them but I’m impatient so I don’t.

Wow. My leg is so weak. I have no pain but I feel a bit like Bambi. I’v never felt anything quite like it. As the day goes on my strength improves and I am no longer limping. 

I got a little bit overexcited and went to the supermarket with my mum without the crutches. I don’t get very far before my leg can’t take the weight of my body, so I lean myself over a trolley and walk around half lying on it. That evening I have 4/10 ache.

Being mostly housebound, I got excited by little things. If my mum was going to the supermarket I’d ask her to come and get me. A trip to the supermarket was like a day out. One might even say an adventure.

I really feel for people who have to spend longer on crutches. You cant get anywhere quickly on them and they really hurt your hands. 

Week 3 – Learning to walk without crutches…and then fake walking with crutches 

I’m now fully off the crutches and after each hydrotherapy sessions I leave the pool feeling stronger on my feet. Pain this week is almost non existent.

I’m only allowed to walk for 5min at a time. Basically pottering around the flat. 

I discovered that there is a gym with a pool about 5 min walk from my flat. Honestly, I had no idea it was there until now. So I joined it….and from here on out, I basically lived in the pool.

Because I don’t have the crutches or pain anymore, I keep forgetting I’ve had surgery and that I have limitations/restrictions. I keep doing things I shouldn’t. I ran down the stairs a few times and would crouch to the floor. All pain free. After doing it I’d realise my mistake and tell myself not to do that again….then I would do it again. 

I learned this week that when you come off crutches you should not try to cross the road unless at a crossing with a green man (for all you Americans, jaywalking is not illegal over here). If the lights change and you haven’t made it across (remember, you can’t run yet), then the cars just come at you, not giving a shit.

Fake it till you make it

Following on from that point, I learned that I need to take my crutches with me and fake use them when in crowded places. I actually already know this and it’s what I advise my patients, but it didn’t register with me until I found myself in situations where people walk into you/expect you to get out of their way not realising how fragile you are. 

It also means you will always (in theory) be offered a seat on public transport.

I fake used crutches in crowded places for about a week before I got fed up of them.

Another thing about fake crutch usage. If you do it, you have to commit to it. Sometimes I would fake use them, then stop and people would notice. 

Week 4 – The first big flare up

I have my first big flare up. At the beginning of the week, I leapt out of bed landing heavily on my right foot whilst it was rotated in. I felt immediate pain. The pain starts mild but increases to 6/10 by the next day.

For the rest of the week, my right hip is very irritable and stiff and hurts with any hip rotation activities ie. putting socks on, changing direction when walking.

I have to scale back on my rehab. By the end of the week it settles again and I’m back to normal. 

note to self: don’t jump out of bed

Week 5 – Too much walking

I start to wonder how much I’m walking. I have no idea. Am I walking too much, can I walk more? So I start wearing a Fitbit to see. 

My daily step count ranges between 8000-13,000. I’m not supposed to be walking more than 5000 steps a day.

At the end of the week, I see my surgeon who tells me I’m doing too much. At the end of that day, my step count reads 14,000. Oops.

I’m confused as to why my step count is so high, it doesn’t feel like I’m walking much at all. I spend a lot of time at home and when I do go out, I walk for 5 or 10min max (if you exclude the day I went to a food market or the time I accidentally walked non stop for 30min). Where are all these steps coming from? Do I walk in my sleep? 

I then figured it out.

After spending a whole day at home, as in, I didn’t go outside once, my daily step count came to over 6000. That‘s 6000+ steps pottering around my flat. I’m not really sure how I can resolve that. This is walking I don’t even realise I’m doing. It’s not like I’m sitting down then suddenly decide I must get up and pace.

I then decided to abandon the Fitbit. There was no way to keep my step count as low as I was told. To keep it that low not only would I have to stay at home all day, I would have to tie myself down to a chair. 

Disclaimer: you must always follow the advice of your surgeon.

Week 6 – Second flare up

I have a hen party to go to. I have just been told I walk too much so I decide to take a crutch with me to take some of the load. I’m very well behaved at the party. This isn‘t where I flared my hip up.

Later this week I have the flare up. This one comes from walking in a crowded place which involved lots of sudden stops/changes of directions to avoid people. So I start fake using my crutches in public places again.

Week 7 – Shit starts to get real

This week for the first time I start to waiver mentally. My second surgery is coming up. It’s not the surgery that bothers me, it’s what comes after.  The restrictions.

I’ve gotten myself a nice little routine, I’m progressing in my rehab, but now I will have to start again. After the surgery, I won’t be allowed in water for 2 weeks. Oh, I haven’t mentioned, once I was allowed in water after the stitches were removed, I was in the pool twice every single day. I don’t mean I was swimming, sometimes I would just float. Honestly, floating was amazing. Or I would arm swim and do leg exercises. 

I would be on crutches again and my right leg isn’t strong enough to take me places so I would be even more restricted than the first time round. 

For the few days leading to surgery, that feeling of being in purgatory returned. Just waiting for surgery. Not really sure what to do with myself. 

I tried to make the most of my last days of freedom but I lacked motivation. I just didn’t care anymore. 

Surgery 2 – Left hip arthroscopy (and 7 weeks post op right hip)

Day of surgery – June 28th 2018

Same routine as the first time around. Check into hospital, make myself at home, order my food, get visited by lots of healthcare professionals. Only this time my left leg was marked, obvs.

As I go down to the theatre, I don’t feel the same nerves as last time. I’m a pro at this now. I get anaesthetised, there is that bitter taste again, I watch the clock and start to feel sleepy. Next thing I’m opening my eyes in recovery. 

I wasn’t cold when I woke up from the first surgery. This time I was freezing. I’m covered with things to warm me up. I have a sore throat. Once the serious drugs have worn off enough I’m taken back to my room. 

I have to say I was pretty miserable. I was so over the whole thing, I didn’t want to be there. My mum was there when I came out of surgery to make sure I was alive, then she left. After this, I had no visitors. It’s funny because after the first surgery I had visitors but didn’t really need them. This time I had no visitors but did need them. I felt alone. 

The physio came to see me to make sure I knew my exercises. After I showed him (or her) I could do them, I didn’t do them again. In fact, I avoided moving at all. If I needed the toilet I held it in till I was really desperate because I couldn’t be bothered to even get up. 

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I was pretty sure the pain was worse this time round. I didn’t sleep at all that night. 

The thing is, you can’t actually remember pain. You can remember that you were in pain but not the feeling of it. A few days later, when I was less drugged, I realised that the reason my pain felt worse was because of my mental state. My depressive state of mind would have had an impact on my perception of pain ie make my pain feel worse. Pain is a very complex topic, way too complex for me to get into but basically, your mind controls the pain you feel. 

On a slightly more joyful note, this time around I pimped my sticks. If I’m gonna be stuck with them again then I’m gonna pimp them up. 

https://youtu.be/a8rE8cP-Fww

Day 1 post op – Hip surgery recovery, back to square one.

My surgeon comes to see me and tells me what he did. Same as last time, except this time the labrum didn’t need stitching. 

I check out of the hospital today. I actually asked to be checked out after lunch (so I could get lunch because the food there is so good). I’m feeling a bit more optimistic, maybe when I get home I will feel happier.

I was wrong.

Once home that feeling is still there. I lie in bed and put Netflix on but I’m not really watching it. I have no motivation to do anything so I just take my drugs and sleep.

Day 2 – The pain stops

Today I wake up with almost no pain, quite low for day 2 post op. I take my meds, the pain goes then just doesn’t come back. Well, that’s a surprise. I have no pain and I’m 2 days post op. Where did the pain go?

Day 3 – Which hip did I have surgery on?

Now that I have no pain I keep getting confused. I’m still on crutches, but because I’m used to being protective of my other hip I keep getting my hips mixed up. I find myself walking using my crutches for the wrong leg. I have no pain as a cue to remind me. 

Given my lack of motivation and the fact that I have no pain, I slack on my rehab. I loved doing my rehab after the first surgery, but now it just feels like a chore.

Day 4 – I stop wearing my TED stockings (not advisable). But there is a fucking heat wave. Give me a break.

We are going through a heatwave in London and I have no fan or air-con. I’m quite restless in the night, and in the mornings upon waking I find myself lying on my front with my left leg up (my favourite sleeping position). My hip definitely shouldn’t be in this position. Oh well. 

I sunbathe outside and take off my TED stockings (those things I’m supposed to wear everyday for a month).

Day 5 – Stitch itch begins

I wake up feeling run down, just like after the first surgery. So I spend all day in bed. I do my rehab once. 

My stitches start to itch. I decided that it’s normal and just ignore it.

Day 6 – The pain returns 

The pain returns from hiding and radiates down my leg. My own fault really for slacking on my rehab….so I start doing my rehab.

I spend the day sunbathing and take off my TED stockings again.

My stitches still itch but I continue to ignore it.

Day 7-12 – Should have paid attention to the stitch itch. (Graphic photo coming up)

The pain settles, so I get lazy with my rehab again…then the pain returns. It settles after doing more rehab. Maybe I need to be more consistent with my rehab.

I continue to sunbathe every day (which also means not wearing my TED stockings). I can’t do much, so if I’m going to be lying/sitting down all day then I’m damn well going to get a tan in the process. 

My stitch itch definitely doesn’t feel normal but I decide that it is normal because I can’t be bothered to deal with it.

My stitches were removed on day 12.  Yep, the itch wasn’t normal. This I realised was a result of the sweat from sunbathing.

One thing I want to say is that since I stopped taking the pain meds on day 2 there was a small part of me that wanted to continue taking them. After the first surgery, those first two weeks were a breeze. There was the drug high for a few extra days, then after that, I was so tired I slept most of the time anyway. This time around, I didn’t have that same fatigue and coming off the drugs on day 2 meant I was fully lucid.

With my mood being so low, and just not caring about anything I wanted that high. I wanted to sleep my way through it. I didn’t take the drugs though because that is a slippery slope I don’t want to go down. Plus in my mind I just had to stick out these 2 weeks, I was so sure that after 2 weeks things would get better.

Also I like to poo.

Day 13 – Things get better

I finally get to go in water and I start off with hydrotherapy. Oh my gosh, it feels so good to get in water. I feel much better already. 

That evening something feels a bit off. My vision is a bit hazy and I have chest and upper back pain. I have had stomach issues in the past so I attributed the pain to that.

A bit of background – with my stomach issues I’m not supposed to ever take aspirin or anti-inflammatories. However, after surgery you have to take aspirin every day so it makes sense that my stomach is playing up. 

Day 14 – Then I think I’m about to die

I wake up still feeling funny. My chest feels really tight and everything is still a bit hazy.

Now I start to wonder……pulmonary embolism?

A pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blood clot in the lungs. It’s a very serious condition and could lead to death if left untreated. 

So, you know the TED stockings I have to wear and the aspirin I have to take every day? Well, those are to help prevent blood clots. Following surgery, you are at higher risk of developing one, especially lower limb surgery.

My mind starts putting things together. I have had two hip surgeries in less than 2 months. I have been lying down sunbathing almost every day for the past two weeks (lying still is also another risk factor). I have not worn the TED stockings. I have also forgotten to take my aspirin a few times.

You need to go straight to a&e for something like this, but I wasn’t sure if I was just over reacting so instead went to see my GP that morning. We found that my heart rate was elevated, and my blood pressure was crazy low. Both of these could mean a PE. My oxygen saturation was normal however so we weren’t panicking at this stage. My GP sent me for a blood test to see if I had a clot. She told me that if everything was fine I wouldn’t hear from them till late afternoon.

I go home and I wait.

I’m sitting there alone thinking, I could just drop dead at any moment.

Not the most comforting feeling in the world.  At about 1 pm I get a call from the GP. Shit, they weren’t going to call me till much later unless the test came back positive. It turns out all was ok. They were just very efficient today and called me early. 

Given my low blood pressure, I should have stayed home and rested. However, I was determined to come off the crutches and I had my mind set on going in a hydro pool one more time before fully coming off them. You should definitely not go in a hydro pool with low blood pressure as the pool itself will lower your blood pressure. 

I went to a hydro pool anyway. Walked around for a bit then came out sans crushes. 

Yay, I’m off the crutches. This time around was so different to the first time, as I had spent the day weaning off them I didn’t feel weak at all and could walk normally without a limp…..then I fainted. 

Well, that was always going to happen.

Week 3 – First big flare up.

This week I had my first left hip flare up, almost identical to my first right hip flare up. Getting up very quickly from sitting, I forced a lot of weight through my left hip whilst it was rotated outwards. Immediate pain followed and for the next 5ish days my left hip was quite irritable. During this period my right hip hurt a little too. 

From here on out my mood is significantly better. 100% sure its because I can go in water now. Getting into water is all I wanted to do. The pool felt like home to me, and honestly no joking, I absolutely felt like a mermaid every time I got in, wearing my rehab flippers……a bit down the line, someone stole my rehab flippers 🙁 

The tube disaster

This week I fake use my crutches in public places. As I’ve mentioned before, if you are fake using them you need to commit to it. I found myself in a bit if bother once whilst on the underground. Everything is a bit slower when you are on crutches, a bit more planning and preparation is needed. For example, start getting yourself ready before you arrive at your stop on the tube. 

The train arrived at my stop and only then did I realise. I quickly got my shit together, backpack on, crutches up and walked my way to the doors. 

I wasn’t fast enough. 

Instinct is to run to get out of the train before the doors close. But I was committed to being fake. The doors started to close as I arrived at them, so I stuck my crutch between the doors to stop it closing. 

They partially open, great, I go to walk out but they try to close again before I can get out.

I stick my crutch between the doors again. 

They partially open. I try to walk out but I’m not quick enough to get out before they try to close. 

I repeat this process of sticking my crutch between the doors a few times before realising it’s a lost cause and go back and sit down accepting I have missed my stop. 

Week 4 – I discovered the wheelchair

I found out that at museums and galleries you can borrow wheelchairs and mobility scooters. I’m not allowed to walk that much, but I am allowed to sit. 

https://youtu.be/UBCgOBcJbfU

TATE Modern –

Here I’m not allowed a scooter because I’ve never used one before so I take a wheelchair. I discover that I can actually use my legs to power along, like the Flintstones. It’s a great hamstring workout, however, I can also feel my hip flexors working harder than I should be letting them. I continue on anyway.

The following day my hip flexors are huuuuurting. Oops. The pain only lasts a day.

TATE Britain –

They don’t give a shit and let me take a scooter. The mobility scooter was fun, but slow. I discovered it actually moves faster backwards. That was the fun part. 

The V&A –

They only have wheelchairs, and I have to say, of the 3 places the V&A wheelchairs were shit.  They are uncomfortable and you can‘t do Flintstone legs on them……so someone pushed me around. 

Upper body workouts

Another way I get all my energy out (other than arm swimming) is upper body strengthening. I use free weights but I do it sitting on a gym ball so the ball absorbs the weight rather than my hips. 

But balls roll.

Holding my weights, I went to sit down on the ball behind me….but the ball was no longer there. I stumbled and, well, you get the picture. I was flared up for a few days after that. 

Week 5 – Life is good.

Over the past few weeks, we have continued with an insanely hot summer in London so I spend a lot of time laing out in the sun. I get a lot of people saying to me it must suck that you had to get this in the summer. 

Well, actually no. I planned it this way. 

It was in winter that I made the decision that I would be getting surgery. However, I held off until summer. I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk much after the surgery and is it not a better idea to not be able to walk much lying in the sun rather than sitting indoors whilst its raining outside? 

The answer is, it is a better idea. See I’m smart. 

All in all, over these past few months, I haven’t had much pain on a day to day basis. Apart from the beginning, and any flare ups I have mentioned, I am pretty much pain free. I’m pretty sure its largely down to how much time I spent in the water. Hydrotherapy twice a week, swimming pool daily.

Whilst I’m here, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the girls at London hydrotherapy. Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. Hydrotherapy is the best thing I did for my hips.

I’m now letting myself walk up to 10min at a time, with the occasional 15min thrown in. Everything is going right. I think about how I was told how hard this was going to be, well, I am yet to see what they are talking about. 

This my friends is called the honeymoon period.

Week 6 – Planning for the future

I love my matching scars. I’m sad to see them fading.

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I see my surgeon for my post op follow up. He tells me that I’m not allowed to do any plyometrics until next year. We are currently at the beginning of August.  I am, however, allowed to start plyometrics in hydrotherapy at 3 months post op. That’s 6 weeks away. 

As it turns out things didn’t quite go to plan and the honeymoon period ends……

Part 3 – Returning to work after bilateral hip surgery.

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