Back at It

I survived my first day back to work!  Many of my students were happy to see me, concerned about my recovery, eager to hear about the last few weeks, and completely confused by my MobiLegs.  Other students, like L, who pretended to bump into me about 5 minutes into the school day, were less than impressed and could have cared less.

I had a hard time trying to sit 50% of the time and didn't realize how much I typically walk around my building and within my classroom.  I am NOT a teacher that just sits or stands, so it was tricky getting back into the groove and even harder to ask my students to do some of the little things I normally do simultaneously.  I ordered the bad boy below about a week ago in hopes that I would have it today for work.  Unfortunately it arrived on my doorstep after school.

This is the "B-Cool" Hip Wrap from a medical supply store.  Dr. Ho recommended that I ice during the work day and I couldn't find anything that I liked at Walgreens, Wal-Mart, or Target, so I went all out and ordered this $55 deal which included shipping and 2 long ice packs that fit inside the pouches.  I can't wait to use this tomorrow because I needed it by about 10:30am.  

I lasted 8 of my 9 class periods and left early to go to my physical therapy appointment with Andy.  Andy was thrilled with my progress, answered some of my lingering questions, and adequately worked through my session.  He did check some of my exercises, added a few, moved my leg around a bit (which I was really hoping would be added to my sessions), and massaged one of the entry points to work on the scar tissue.  I am supposed to add these two exercises and beginning tomorrow, the 3 week mark, I can do my exercises on both legs.  

I have a feeling this week is going to be long and tiresome with evenings spent strapped to my ice machine.  Thankfully I can get some of my lessons and grading done during that time and I have found myself efficiently completing my therapy exercises during bedtime stories with my kiddos.  

Old Tricks

Tomorrow I'll be back to work.  I think I am ready, but I fully anticipate being tired by the end of the day and in need of my ice machine, which continues to live in our family room on the blow up mattress that has yet to be deflated.  My principal has been prepped with my restrictions per the doctor--50% of the time I am to be sitting and my walking and standing must be limited.  More importantly, I am to be excused from my hall monitoring duties.  Our hallways can get crazy and despite me being close to 5'9", these youngsters are about my height, especially the guys.  

I've been feeling pretty good and I decided to try out some of my old tricks.  Beginning in October of 2013, I had been swimming 3-4 times a week and would do close to a mile most of the time.  I decided to try out a few lengths with the pull buoy.  This meant my legs and hips were stabilized and I only used my upper body...boy did that feel good!  

 I've continued to be regular with my therapy exercises and definitely see improvements as a result.  Bree gave me more feedback and the few that I believed I was cheating at.  I have gotten better, but will consult with Andy tomorrow.

This is truly an awful picture, but I thought I'd get in at least one pic that includes me.

For some other random information, I've caught up on a few movies during my downtime.  One of my struggles has been remembering if I've taken my medication.  I have a horrible memory, so this was tricky for me each day.  Today I counted my aspirin and had to subtract the number of days I've supposed to have taken them.  I still can't figure out if I took it today or not.

I am glad to be returning to work tomorrow and back to some more of my old tricks.  I've missed my students and my colleagues, but golly, it sure was nice lounging around:)  My posts are likely to diminish since I'll resume all of my normal responsibilities, but I'll be sure to check in when I can.

The Silver Lining

I have been fortunate to be able to recover and relax for the last week before going back to work practically by myself.  It is rare, since having our two beautiful children, that I get extensive alone time.  As I mentioned before, when our kiddos went to hang out with my family for a few days, my husband immediately questioned what we did pre-children.  While I wouldn't choose to have surgery, the last three weeks have rejuvenated me and gave me the mental break from work that will help me positively finish out the school year.

Yesterday and today, I did next to nothing and it was heavenly.  My leg feels the best yet and I am hopeful for what the coming weeks/months will bring.  I continue to improve with the exercises and have been walking up and down the stairs without crutches and with one foot on each step like the normal way to use stairs.  I'd like to reiterate that I truly believe that my recovery has been so successful because my tear was only partial.

Today I had another physical therapy appointment with Bree.  I was honest with her about using the pool and she said I probably shouldn't have done that and should still wait at least another week.  I appreciate her honest approach and that we are able to get along well with jokes in between exercises.  She mentioned that she believes I have a little femoral anteversion.  Bree is the first to have mentioned this to me, even though I have read a lot about other people's stories with this.  I will be sure to do even more reading on this because I was intrigued when she said that this would make my body work a little harder to fire some of the muscles I've been having difficulty using.

Physical Therapy location with Bree

She ran me through a few new exercises and we worked hard to activate the glutes.  She and I both got a kick out of my attempts.  I'm sure she gets a chuckle out of some of the things I say because I am brutally honest with her.."I really suck at this!" or "Wow, I really don't have any butt muscles."  or "Ha, I was really wrong about thinking I could do this!"

Bree is excited for me to show Andy what we've been doing and agreed that Andy is the better fit as a therapist for me because of his running  background.  I look forward to working with him starting on Monday when I return to work.

15 Days Out

Today I tested out the therapy pool at our Y.

Champaign YMCA, therapy pool is in the back corner not seen
source

I had asked Bree if it would be okay for me to try this out and she advised me to wait until I had added resistance to my exercises.  Despite her recommendation, I knew I just wanted to test it out and see what would happen.  I had told myself I would get out if there were problems.  My mom pointed out that I am just like my dad who said the same things when he had his hip replaced a few years back.  

So, for 15 minutes, I walked forward and backward in the warm water.  I moved my leg around in circles and, at first, it seemed to be easier, but then I noticed the resistance of the water and my back began to bother me.  At that point, I decided it wasn't worth it for me to stay in.  

While I would consider myself to be a definite rule follower, I must admit that I am pushing it.  I am diligently completing my physical therapy exercises, but I am walking around my house with full weight on both legs.  In my defense, however, let me remind that my surgeon said I would be ahead of schedule since I do not have any anchors in.  He did suggest that I would be off of crutches by week 3 (except to use as a precaution while at work), which is just around the corner.  I have not experienced any pain as a result of walking and it has seemed like a natural progression.

I also tried driving today.  Dr. Ho said I was clear to drive as soon as I felt comfortable.  I believe I would have been okay to drive after 1 week, but I did not have a need to attempt it.  I will drive again on Friday because I have another physical therapy appointment and I'll be back to my regular work schedule starting on Monday.  

I don't intend to get back into the therapy pool until POSSIBLY this weekend.  Tomorrow I will take it very easy.  

2 Weeks Post Op

I can hardly believe that it has been two weeks already.  There are things that have gone by really quickly like time off of work, and then there are others that are dragging by like the whole recovery process.  Each day continues to go well, but I am still far from where I would like to be.

Yesterday I sent an email to the therapist I worked with to ask about using the stationary bike.  She gave me the all clear to use it without resistance, which I intend to do tonight at the Y.  I will couple that with the therapy exercises and some added stretching.

I can get around well and do not use my crutches inside my home.  I definitely favor my left leg and walk with a little bit of a limp.  When I concentrate and force myself, I can walk relatively normally, or at least I think so.  I can not, however, lift my right leg well and the psoas continues to be tender.  I use my arm to lift my right leg when I need to stand, get in the car, or something similar.  What seems to be a considerable amount of scar tissue is forming underneath the incision areas (which are nearly healed by the way) and this concerns me.  I take time to massage the area, but I have no idea what I am doing.  I was reading about how scar tissue build up can drastically hinder your range of motion.  I plan to talk more about this with my therapists.

I did my exercises one time already today and, like I said, will do them again tonight.  All seem to be going well except that I do notice my psoas in at least one of the movements and I don't believe I am correctly doing one of them.  I definitely cheat and use my back to try and move my leg forward, which is fine and dandy, but is not what I am supposed to be doing nor will it strengthen the area that needs to be addressed.

For the abductor and adductor exercises, the therapist recommended using one of my son's toy balls and I thought having a little Mickey Mouse on my side couldn't hurt.

PT Day One and Exercises for the Week

Physical therapy began today (13 days post op) with a different therapist than my usual because he is on vacation.  Bree was a great substitute and had even been working with another teacher who also had this procedure done, so I felt like I was in good hands.

The session lasted close to an hour, which I was not expecting since my pre-op sessions were 30 minutes.  Bree spent a good portion of the session asking and answering questions and gathering information.  She recorded a lot of information in the medical records.  

She was very helpful, informative, and supportive.  My psoas is far from healed and it was quite noticeable especially when she had me sitting and asked me to try to lift the knee of my operative leg.  I kind of laughed for a second because I could not make my leg budge no matter how hard I tried.  I put as much brain power into the movement as possible and after what seemed like eternity, I was able t lift it about 1 inch.  She compared this movement to my non-operative leg, which I was able to do with ease.

I was given 9 exercises to try this week.  She would like me to complete 2 sets of 10 and to perform the exercises 1-2 times per day.  It is expected to experience some difficulty and even some noticeable pain, but she reiterated that any pain should be minimal just like if you were working out.  If the pain is sharp or does not discontinue after stopping the exercise, she said that is not okay.  I should then stop the exercise or complete fewer repetitions.  

I am not certain of the order I am supposed to complete them, but from left to right:

1.) Strengthening Quad Set--Tighten muscles on top of thighs by pushing knees down into surface.  Hold 5 seconds.

2.) Strengthening Hamstring Set--With foot turned in, tighten muscles on back of thigh by pulling heel down into surface

3.) Strengthening Hip Abduction-Isometric--Using ball or folded pillow, push outside of right knee into wall.  Hold 5 seconds.

4.) Strengthening Hip Adduction-Isometric--With ball or folded pillow between knees, squeeze knees together.  Hold 5 seconds.

5.) Strengthening Hip Flexion--Bring leg forward keeping knee straight

6.) Strengthening Hip Extension--Pull leg straight back

7.) Strengthening Hip Abduction--Extend leg out from side

8.) Trunk Stability--Bridging--Slowly raise butt from floor, keeping stomach tight

9.) Self-Mobilization--Heel Slide

My leg/hip/back was noticeably sore afterwards within 20 minutes.  I needed a few things from the store, so my mom took me to get the items, which was probably a bit too much for right after the therapy session.  I came home and iced immediately.  

I would like to ask about the hip flexion exercise because I've been reading about not activating the hip flexor for a while after having the psoas released.

Out and About Day 11 and 12

As expected, nothing too new to report.  On Saturday I did test out the YMCA and went on the stationary bike for 15 minutes without resistance.  I did a few pushups, some planks, and some of the PT exercises I had done pre-op.  Everything felt pretty good, but I did notice my psoas quite a bit later on in the evening.

Today I woke up feeling great and we were able to enjoy the warmer weather and take the kids to the park.  I did my fair share of sitting and visiting with my mom who is now in town.

Despite feeling great, I do have pains in my lower back and butt.  I have no idea if it means something is wrong, is typical post surgery, or is the result of compensating.  I am at a point where I believe I could definitely do more, but understand that if I do too much, it will only cause problems.  This is difficult for me to swallow.  I will be glad to meet with my actual therapist, who knows me, and can help me through more of this.