Hip Surgery: Day 2

According to Dr. Dworsky, days 2 and 3 will be the worst. After that, the pain should decrease. I'm holding you to that, Dr. D!

Day 2 started off rough. At 1:00 am, Shawn's alarm went off, and he made sure that I took my Vicodin. Since we were up, I figured I better hobble to the bathroom. Just a few hours ago, I could swing my legs over and off of the bed. Now it wasn't happening. Shawn had to help me move my leg, which now is super stiff and achy. That nerve and muscle pain that I had in the recovery room was back, and I knew that fastest way to alleviate that is by moving position. So I crutched to the bathroom and took a lap around the house and felt a bit better. I made my way back to the bed and sat at the edge of the bed. Pain. Shawn suggested I try sleeping in the recliner. I agreed. So he set me up there by bringing out my ICEMAN, a warm blanket and pillow and my water bottle.

I was awake for awhile until the Vicodin kicked in, then slept until about 6:30 am. Shawn helped me get out of the recliner, and I moved around. My right ankle feels sprained. I know they put me in traction for the surgery to give the doctor room to move the scope around the joint. I don't think he completely dislocated my leg, and I don't know how they hooked me up to the traction, but I'm guessing my sore ankle has something to do with that. My leg is still completely stiff, but once I move around a bit, it feels better. It's a double-edged sword: you want to sit and rest, but sitting and resting eventually leads to pain, so you move around to rid the pain, and risk over-doing it. I'm trying to find the proper rest to movement ratio that works for me. 3 hours of rest to 5 minutes of movement seems ok.

Shawn did a fabulous job of getting the kids up and ready for camp. He even got all four showered and was ready early! I helped as much as I could, which was basically cuddling with the little girls when they first woke up, and brushing hair after showers. My breakfast consisted of a little ice cream for my sore throat and a half cup of coffee.

Since then, I've been updating this blog all morning. Shawn's been working in his office and checking on me frequently. I think he's grateful that he can get some work done. He is swamped with work. Having the kids out of the house, and me being "not as bad as he expected" is allowing him some time to get things done. I'm trying not to bother him too much. I am struggling with getting up from a seated position, sometime I can do it, other times I can't. I can't bring a cup of coffee from the kitchen to my recliner while crutching. It's the little things...

I see Dr. Dworsky on Friday for my first follow-up. We set up PT and I get my bandages off. I can't shower until my bandages are off. I won't feel human again until I get a shower! It's the little things...

EVENING UPDATE: Shawn and the kids went to Bridget's softball game after dinner, so I was on my own. I was able to get myself up to walk around a bit, but from 6-7 pm was rough. That nerve pain down my thigh is really...unnerving! I had my 7 pm Vicodin but that really didn't offer any relief until about 8:30. I got a little sleep probably from about 9ish to 11:30ish. Then the pain woke me up. Shawn refilled my iceman, and helped me walk around a bit. I wanted to try laying in my bed. That was a very bad idea! My leg is pretty much dead weight. I can bend it backwards, and stretch it backwards, but I cannot lift it up or bring my knee up to a 90 degree angle in front of me (like when you're sitting down). So you can imagine how difficult trying to get into bed might be. All the movement just did me in. No sooner did Shawn get all my gear moved into the bedroom, and I was asking to be moved back to the recliner. I did take the Vicodin early, and got some sleep, sitting straight up in the recliner because laying down was just too painful.