Patience is a Virtue.

Hi all!

I know in my last post I quickly breezed over my appointment with Dr. S last Thursday. I figured it deserved a little more attention. So, I'll describe it in better detail here and also some thoughts on PT, etc.

So, I had my 12 week post-second-op appointment with Dr. S last Thursday. Overall, it was a good appointment.

He checked my ROM and strength in both legs (to have something to compare surgical leg to). He said my ROM is really good, but certain muscle groups are still really weak. I already knew this. He wasn’t at all concerned about it; he knew my iliopsoas was giving me a hard time. We talked about working more directly on those muscle groups (my rectus muscles and hip flexors) at PT. We also talked about my snapping hip syndrome and the groin pain I still sometimes have. I was feeling a bit down about it…I’m 8 months post PAO now and I’m sometimes feeling like I’ll NEVER get back where I was, strength-wise. He assured me (several times) that I will get back there (if not BETTER) and my weakness is completely normal. He kept telling me “Danielle, I cut that whole muscle group off your ilium and moved it down, cut it off!…moved all around in there cutting your bones, and then I sewed it back on. Of COURSE you’re still weak in those muscles.” Well…when you put it like that. 

So anyway, we talked about timelines and as all my hippy’s know these things are ever-changing. He said he’s thinking that it’ll be closer to March before I’m feeling back to completely normal, and he wants me to continue with PT until I go back to see him for my one year appointment in October.

It’s amazing…when you’re planning something like this and you talk about all these timelines you really have no idea what to expect. In your mind, it never plays out that it will ACTUALLY take as long as the surgeon says (and it certainly never takes longer). I remember thinking to myself “I’ll be back and in action by early spring. I’ll be fine! I’m healthy and active and athletic. It’s all rainbows and butterflies! Weee!” 

I’m such an idiot sometimes.

In my defense, I’ve never been through anything even close to this…but really? How naive can you be? This recovery has been really humbling...it really teaches you what limitations the human body can have, and how long it can take to come back from something of this caliber. I really thought that by now I'd be hiking and line dancing, maybe even biking, all sorts of normal people things. 

Yeah. Right. What a SLOW process this has been. It's sometimes very infuriating because it's hard to not think that you're doing something wrong. It's really hard to be THIS patient!

Anyways, to keep on task with discussing the appointment, I’ll tell you that he also cleared me to go back out in the field at work. He said that he still wants me to be very careful, and to know my limitations. As long as I’m honest with myself as to what I can and can’t do, and I voice my limitations as I feel them, then he is okay with me being out again. That is fantastic news! Honestly, I kind of pushed for this one. As much as I know that I need to be careful (believe me, no one knows this more than I do! The last thing I want is to have a setback!), field work is a part of my job description and I have been worried recently about lack of workload because of my inability to be in the field. Especially since I now won’t be going back to him until October. I really can’t wait that long to be cleared. 

He also cleared me to go back to my volunteer duties at the zoo. Also fantastic! I am excited to go back this weekend and re-acclimate myself and spend time with zoo friends!

Well, before I close I’ll just touch on a couple more things:

I still have my numb patch and it’s just as big as it always has been. The past couple days it’s been (infuriatingly) itchy deep inside and I can’t make it stop no matter how much I itch/scratch/punch (yes, I’ve even punched it). I am hoping maybe this means that it’s waking up a little bit? Tom (PT) seemed to think maybe? I also think he’s just trying to make me feel better. 

I am sleeping comfortably on my right (surgical) side now…and it feels phenomenal! No pain at all and I’m so glad. 

We really upped the ante at PT last night. I went up in all my weights, added in new “sumo-lunges” and side steps with resistance.

Sumo lunges look like this:

http://www.modelinia.com/blog/5-minutes-to-a-better-body/9531#.UcmpTJxMRhE

We also added in these fun new things called Pike Planks. They look like this, and they are HARD. 

http://ninja-fitness.com/meals-workout-day-30/

I was slightly giddy when I did a set of 10 last night because it was honestly the first time I really felt like I completed something normally challenging…as opposed to let’s say…a leg lift (which are still hard for me!). Yay for me!

I have PT again on Wednesday, I’ll keep you posted on my progress as I go. 

Thanks for reading,

Talk soon,

D