The Tendinitis Trifecta

I  had my 3 month post op appointment with Dr. Ho on Friday morning.  Typically I have been seeing him at his satellite clinic, but due to his schedule, I had to go into the city this time.  This proved to be extraordinarily inconvenient on a number of levels, but I was able to squeeze in some visits with my family.

I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, Naperville, and my parents and sister still live there.  So, I drove up with the kids on Thursday evening and headed into the city by myself Friday morning.  I wasn't sure how bad morning traffic would be, which ended up being fine and I made it to my 10:15 appointment around 9:50.  Dr. Ho is ALWAYS behind schedule at his satellite clinic, so I wasn't sure if it was his MO or just the site. So, when I was called back to the room at 9:53, I was shocked.

After not too long, I filled out my 3 month post op questionnaire that is part of the research study of which I am a participant.  A very confident and comfortable resident came in to complete an assessment and gather some information.  He was a bit pompous, in my opinion, and said a few things that rubbed me the wrong way.  He informed me that I would never fully regain strength and flexibility in my operative leg and it would always be "different" than my other leg.  While he is probably correct, I just didn't like hearing it from him and nobody else has pointed this out.  After hearing of some of my current pain locations--hip, psoas, lower back, and up into the neck area, he confidently stated that no back pain could ever be related to something going on in the hip.  I am no doctor, but I really disagree with him.  It is all connected for pete's sake!

Anyway, I waited a long time to actually see Dr. Ho and started taking some pictures to pass the time.  Excuse my inability to take a selfie.

Here I am annoyed that it is 11:03 and I've been in this little room since 9:53.

Tapping my toes to keep from falling asleep!

In between yoga sets, I tried tree pose along with different warrior variations.

Finally I saw Dr. Ho.  He was pleased with my flexibility, but concerned to hear that I wasn't sleeping well again.  After some manipulation and poking, he determined that I have tendinitis in the iliopsoas, iliotibial band, and the piriformis.  This is not actually uncommon post surgery, but it was something we were hoping to avoid.  I asked him how you are supposed to make progress recovering from the surgery, yet heal the tendinitis and he highlighted that physical therapists should be able to figure that out!  So, hopefully Andy will have the magical formula for a good balance of rest and exercises that will help me.  Dr. Ho mentioned that if I am still having trouble sleeping and if the tendinitis does not seem to heal within the next few months, then I may want to consider an injection.  He extended my physical therapy for at least another 6 weeks and although the script calls for 2-3 sessions per week, I am sure Andy and I will continue the once per week that we have been doing for at least a month now.

I came into the appointment not expecting much because, despite this setback, things are going relatively well.  I was glad that Dr. Ho acknowledged my soreness with a medical term of tendinitis.  I will have a 6 month follow-up in September and hopefully I'll be in less pain.  I will back off on the idea of running any and focus on my cardio from things like the bike and elliptical.

Before leaving the University of Chicago Medical Center, I had to meet with a physical therapist so he could take some strength measurements to use in the research study.  The testing indicated that my right leg is nearly back to the same strength as my left leg.

Getting back out of the city was much more hectic and it took me 2 whole hours to get back to Naperville.  This should have been about an hour long drive, so I will be sure to avoid going back to U of C for future appointments.

Too much traffic---not used to this in Champaign.

11ish Weeks?

Last I had checked in, things were going very well.  I was fairly painfree and pleased with my decision to have the surgery.  I have had a bit of a setback in the last two weeks, though.  This may be as a result of me trying to wear my wedge heels to the promotion ceremony or re-introducing running into my life.  Now, before you go assuming that I did something crazy, the re-entry program is very minimal.

My strength progression and other areas of improvement indicated that I was ready for this.  I do not believe I tried something too early.  Further, in the last two weeks, I "jogged" for a grand total of about 10 minutes on 3 different attempts.  Each time, I walked for about 4 minutes and followed my walking with approximately 1 minute of jogging.  This was not painful.  The day after, and two days after, and three days after, though, have been a different story.

I am no longer sleeping well and have put myself back on a NSAID regimen.  Currently, I'm icing my hip while writing this blog and prepping dinner.

Photo courtesy of my 6 year old daughter, Macy

BBQ Turkey Meatballs

I contacted my therapist last Tuesday, the day after my appointment with him, and informed him of my increasing pain that mimicked pre-surgery stuff.  He encouraged me to rest most of the week, which I did and we resorted to plan B today, which consisted of many manual techniques during my session.  I left feeling beyond relaxed because I basically got a 30 minute massage on my ass.  Now, however, I am in a bit of pain, which I believe is just as a result of poking around and the release techniques they used on me.

I'm a bit frustrated and will interrogate my surgeon on Friday when I see him for my 3 month appointment. Someone recommended that I see if they will prescribe a more serious anti-inflammatory to help.

While I began this post saying I did not believe I tried things too early, I may be willing to admit that maybe it was ambitious.  However, both Dr. Ho and my therapist encouraged this progression and I guess the only way to know if my body was ready for this was to try it out.

To those who are reading--thank you to the two of you and I wish you the best as you continue to recover.  I will keep you posted and will continue actively living my life running around and doing things the best I can, just without a formal running workout:)