pics of the machines

My nephew hanging out with me whilst I am on the Game Ready machine. This one freezes and applies pressure to the hip. The millennium crutches are in the back.

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The CPM Machine - Constant Passive Motion

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It is much more attractive with an adorable nephew posing in it...

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The CPM in action. It moves your leg back and forth from a 0' to 90' angle. It also weighs a hell of a lot!

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I just had to add this one of my nephew!

L O N G recovery ahead

Yesterday I had a lovely outing sitting outside across the street at Starbuck's. It was the first time I've really gone out for anything other than to and from a place. We sat out there for a little over two hours which was huge for me as I have not been able to sit in a chair that long since surgery. Unfortunately the fresh air didn't help me sleep any better though. I would kill for a good 8 hours in-a-row of sleep. Again, not so much for the pain, which is getting better on the operated side (unlike the rest of my body which is getting worse), but lack of comfort. I was even desperate enough to try to sleep on my stomach, which didn't last very long.

Today I went for my post-op today and the sutures were removed. They told me that I couldn't shower for a day or two as when they remove the sutures they put a tape with some sort of sticky glue stuff on top and want that to stay put for a while. I wish I had known that as I had thought I would be able to take a shower after the visit, so neglected getting up early to take one before. Oh well.

Dr. Kelly came in afterwards and asked how I was doing and moved my right leg around. He said that I could cut the CPM down to one hour a day, but I asked if I needed to keep it because I would have to pay another $350 for two additional weeks. Thankfully he said that was fine to return it and I've seen the last of that machine - they are coming to pick it up today! He then showed me the pictures they took when they were doing the surgery. I cannot believe how red it was inside, really bright, bright red! He showed where I had a bone spur and where they shaved that off and the other bone that was shaved down as well, and also my psoas before and as they were cutting it. All very amazing to look at. Unfortunately the post op report was not typed up yet, but I was told I could ring them next week and they would fax it over. We went over my PT and he said he actually wants me to go very slow, and that my recovery would take about six months. I was not too surprised from this, but it was still not thrilled about it. The key thing is he wants my psoas to stay slightly tight since I have the laxity issue, but at the same time not scar up completely. It is a very fine line and my rehab is going to be very specific because of my multiple issues. He already told me to change one of the exercises I was told to do as he does not want me to externally rotate the leg too much. He said internal rotation is fine for now. I asked if he could reaffirm this with the PT guys as they were having a hard time believing me about having to do only two hours on the CPM and four. I also asked him why he had to make four incisions and he said that was because they had to get to the other side of the bone to cut it down. Fair enough I suppose. He said also to use the brace as long as I want because he doesn't want me to hurt at all. I am to try to put more weight on the leg but only as I can tolerate, it's very important to not inflame the hip. Regarding the crutches I will most likely be on them for a few more weeks. I kept laughing in my head when everyone kept saying I'd be on them only two to three weeks. I knew this was going to take a long time to be able to walk again without pain. But I don't want to mess up everything that was done so I will do exactly as I am told. The last thing I could deal with is having to go through this all again (poo poo, touch wood, etc.).

After I had been home for a couple of hours I noticed that one of the incision site tapes had liquidy stuff seeping through it. I just rang the office and spoke to Arianna. She said that sometimes the incisions open up after the sutures are taken up and that is should heal by itself, and to keep and eye on it and make sure it stays dry. Hopefully it will do this quickly.

I think that's it for now. I'm tired so going to have a bit of a kip if possible.

Quick PT update

I had PT today at 2 pm. My hip was really starting to hurt beforehand so I ended up taking a pain killer. I can't wait till I can stop so I will be able to finally enjoy a lovely glass of wine.

We cabbed it to PT and the drive surprisingly did not take too long (we thought it might with all the big shots at the UN this week). I have been walking better and definitely much improved in moving around since a week ago, and the boys at PT noticed. This of course meant that they had to go and give me harder things to do. I was amazed at how much more I was able to tolerate this week, it being only a week. My left hip has been popping on the outside a lot when I walk on crutches, so I've been trying to move without it doing this by taking smaller strides with my left leg. I started today with the bike, and was to do it between 10 and 20 minutes, as much as I could tolerate. By minute 9 I was buggered and both hips were hurting but I kept going till minute 13. Probably should have just stopped at 9 but I was trying to push through it. After that I was given a few new moves, such as turning my leg on a chair to stretch it out and kneeling on all fours then going to a squat position. I wasn't able to do a complete squat but was told that I was doing better than anticipated. I am sort of the "guinea pig" at the PT office since I have so many things wrong, they are always having to come up with new ways for me to do their exercises that will not hurt me more than help me. It always seems to be slightly comical. After that I did all the other exercises from last week and then iced for 10 minutes. I was there in total for almost 2 hours. I told my PT that all the time I banked before surgery should somehow be able to cancel all this out and I should have been able to walk out of the operating room in perfect condition. I know it's not possible but it's a bit old and tiring that I've been in PT since the end of December and now have at least another three months of it to "look forward to". ARGH. Sorry for the whinging, they are all very nice there, but it does get redundant after a while.

After we left the cabs were all off duty already, so we rang a car service to pick us up. This was much more civilised and definitely easier on my legs than last weeks nightmare of trying to get home during rush hour. I also made next weeks appointment for earlier in the day so hopefully we will not have any trouble finding a cab after the session.

I am knackered so will say good night here.

Spoke too soon

The last two nights I have been getting about 4-5 hours sleep and then waking up and not able to go back to sleep. It's not so much pain, as I took some pain pills before, but the fact that I just can't get comfortable on my back or on my side with a pillow between my legs. I am a bad sleeper to begin with and lack of comfort with sleeping positions is just exacerbating the issue.

Yesterday we came back to the city. Thankfully I wasn't queasy on the drive back; I thought I was going to be so ill on the way out to the island last week. I did the CPM for two hours and when we were taking my leg out of it, I must have twisted or turned a bit too much one way as my hip started screaming in agony. I was so annoyed as I hadn't needed to take a pain pill since I went to be on Monday night. After this incident the pain just got worse leading me to cave in and take a pain pill. I was quite a grump the rest of the night. (Until House came on - I LOVE HUGH LAURIE!!! I've been watching the complete set of Jeeves & Wooster - I put it on when I have to spend the time on the CPM - and I absolutely love it. They don't make television like they used to, for the most part. Anyway, I highly recommend watching this series, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are completely brilliant!)

Haven't taken a pain pill yet today, trying to get on without it. I'll see how I'm doing before PT, may take one just to avoid the after effects of the torture. So not looking forward to this outing. Then again, at least it will get me outside for a bit.

Yay I finally got some sleep

Well it wasn't a complete night but at least 6 good hours so I'm quite happy about that. I was so desperate for it and it was desperately needed as well. Once more I didn't have to take a pain pill when I woke up, waited until about 10 am today! My parents think my walking with the crutches has gotten better too. Improvement all around methinks!

Today was a very busy day. I had a dentist appointment this morning. Yes you would think I had enough pain inflicted last week, but it was a long overdue visit. Thankfully I didn't have any cavities, and the cleaning wasn't too bad as the lovely lady numbed my mouth up first. I do have to go back next week to have some bonding done on 3 teeth as I have a few very sensitive spots and this seems to help them out, but thankfully it's not painful.

After the dentist I went for my eye exam. I hadn't had one in almost two years so thought it best that I got that out of the way whilst I am on the island as well. My eyes haven't gotten worse, and I got to get new glasses as well. All very exciting, considering my level of excitement has been nil. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my parents, but at least in the city I had some visitors. I'm going a bit mad being trapped out here in the boonies! Thankfully we will be returning to the city tomorrow and not back here till Saturday. I am completely wiped from the appointments though. The crutches, though much better than typical ones, still irritate my shoulders and hands, and it's quite tiring dragging yourself around with them as well.

I have another PT appointment on Wednesday afternoon and a post-op appointment with Dr. Kelly on Friday morning. I hope my stitches will be coming out and that he will tell me I can stop using the bloody CPM machine. It's not that I mind using it that much, it's just going to be another $350 for another 14 days, and am not looking forward to the additional cost. Bloody unbelievable the cost of these things!