Week 13

It’s been eleven days since I saw Debs and up until four days ago, I hadn’t been able to replicate the crutch-less walking. I couldn’t believe that it took an entire week for the intense hip pain to subside enough for me to take more than ten consecutive steps without limping. Despite the walking pain, I religiously completed all of my physio exercises two-three times a day and I’m pleased to say there was progress.

In the last four days, I’ve managed to walk around the flat without using crutches but most of the time, I’m either limping or I’m in a lot of discomfort. I still have to grit my teeth and concentrate really hard to walk properly, or, as I discovered on Friday, I just need enough wine in me! Who would have thought aye?

After the turning point four days ago, not only did walking improve slightly, but so did the apple and pears; if anything, I find walking up and down stairs easier so I’m happy about that. I’m also off all medication again as I’m really not a ‘pill fan,’ and I like to gauge my pain and progress on a day-to-day, level playing field. It occurred to me the other day that my current position is not too dissimilar to before I went under the knife. Obviously, I’m a lot less mobile now, but the common denominator is that I still can’t walk easily.

These past eleven days gave me adequate time to truly analyse the ups and downs of my hip, so I was half looking forward to passing this info onto Debs today. I say “half,” as I concluded that something is still wrong with my hip. I’ve just returned home from physio and my suspicions have turned out to be correct. The good news is that I didn’t have to convince Debs that there is an issue; she came to the exact same conclusion herself after some assessments. The bad news is that the pain is hindering my rehab and it needs investigating. Debs believes it could be either bursitis or a tendon issue, and that it’s completely separate to the ‘popping’/subluxation. She has requested that Banksey examines both matters on Thursday and reports back so she can tailor the rehab accordingly.

In a way, I’m glad the NHS failed to provide me aftercare, as I have the utmost faith in Debs and see logic in everything she says. This is very complicated but I’m going to try and explain her opinion and thoughts:

In the last two and a half weeks, Debs has prescribed me exercises to improve my strength and motor patterns, which in turn should decrease the pain. Sometimes, especially after surgery, certain muscles don’t function optimally, so rehab is all about retraining and reprogramming muscle stimulation. Due to a lifetime of sport, I’ve always been relatively strong and therefore had a good base prior to surgery; however, my glutes have never functioned efficiently because of the dysplasia, so I’ve been attempting to re-educate my stupid bottom muscles during these past thirteen weeks. The body tends to adapt the movement when you’re in pain though, and therefore the correct muscles don’t function. So in my case, it’s literally been a right battle to get my arse in gear.

After assessing my movement patterns today, Debs concluded that there’s been a big improvement in my gluteal strength, and they finally engage when I walk. It is because of this progress that she has eliminated underactive glutes as a contributor of the pain. Apparently, it’s common for PAO patients to experience pain during the transition from crutches to walking, but this is the first time that Debs hasn’t seen the pain dissipate after successfully rehabbing the glutes.

Although it’s not ideal that something else appears wrong with my hip, I haven’t been upset with the bad news for once. Possibly because I’ve cried enough tears recently; or because I was a little preoccupied staring at Sir David Attenborough in the physio waiting room; or, most likely, it’s due to the preparation and anticipation of bad news. Everyone knows their own body, and just like I knew there was something initially wrong with my hip last year, I had strong reason to believe that something else was up. I didn’t have to persuade someone there was an issue this time around and I’m so grateful for that. Hopefully, the next stages will be relatively hassle-free and Banksey will locate and rectify the issue quickly. I’ve been through the most painful hip-related procedure there is, so even if I require more treatment to get this right hip fixed, it will be a doddle in comparison.

At the end of the physio session, Debs wanted to do one last experiment so I could supply Banksey with more information on Thursday. She carefully taped a big triangle on my hip/bum to see if it alleviates some of the pain and told me to monitor it for 48-hours. Taping is a common physio technique that is designed to facilitate the healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints. It’s frequently used with professional athletes or footballers and typically bright blue in colour so if you haven’t seen it already, keep an eye out. Mine isn’t quite as lairy, but it seems to be doing the job so far. So much so, that I managed to walk back to the waiting room unaided before realising I’d forgotten my crutch. That made me chuckle. Debs did say if I think it's helping then she'll tape me up every week. I think I might wait until after Abu Dhabi though...

So, the big day is fast approaching, and I have a lot to get off my chest with Banksey. Let’s hope he takes me seriously. In the meantime, I need to get things washed and packed for our holiday next week, and we need to continue packing for the big move. We’ve received confirmation that we have to vacate our beloved flat so for the first time in almost eight years, I’m moving back home. The vast amount of belongings that have accumulated during this time is crazy, so I’m biding my time with the World’s biggest declutter-thon.

The Bio-oil is working it's magic as the scar is looking a little better i think: