Week 15 - 17

Apologies if you’ve been eagerly anticipating this blog post. I returned from my wonderful holiday just under two weeks ago and I’ve been too busy to write until now.

I left you a few days after my steroid injection and I’m pleased to say that 97% of the bursitis pain has disappeared. Just as Banksey predicted, it vanished after a week so for the entire holiday, it was fine. It’s returned mildly in recent days but it may have been aggravated with the house move...

From the moment we landed, it’s been go go go on moving all of our possessions back to Reading and into my dad’s house. Four car trips and a van load later, and I’ve officially moved home. - Something that I never thought would happen. I know that unforeseeable circumstances have resulted in this, but the reality of it all is pretty demoralising. At the age of 25: I’m half way through my double hip surgery so I can’t return to my practical-based job; therefore I’m on benefits; which means my partner and I can’t afford to live together; so I’ve had to move back to my childhood home and he’s living with his brother and sister-in-law in Clapham. Not an ideal scenario but there’s no logical alternative.

Initially, we thought this would be a temporary arrangement until after I’ve recovered from my next op in May, but I called the hospital on return from Abu Dhabi and the date for my left hip PAO is now 1^st July! Therefore the earliest I can resume work is the middle of August. That’s almost five months living away from Andy and almost nine months off work. The surgery has to be performed on a Monday for inpatient care, there are a few bank holiday Mondays between now and then, and Banksey has booked leave, so unfortunately the date isn’t going to change. These buggered hips of mine have really screwed up a lot of things and continue to interfere with my dad’s life too. Everything has been put on hold and I’m really annoyed that there’s nothing I can do about it. I do feel like Banksey lured me in under false pretences and then continued to give me false hope. When I first met him, he explained that I’d have had both ops by February/March, and ok, I wouldn’t have been ready due to the complications I’ve had after the first op, but then I was told it would be April, then May, and now damn July. Oh well, moan over. This is the hand that life dealt me so if I keep playing and fighting, eventually I should come out on top. If it wasn’t for the amazing holiday we just had, my mood may be very different.

Andy and I thought we were going to have a really chilled out holiday by the pool for seven days, but Andy’s family had other ideas…

Andy’s uncle, Trevor, surprised us at Heathrow and announced that he was “hijacking our holiday.” He and Rachel (Trevor’s daughter and Andy’s cousin who we were staying with) had pre-planned our holiday itinerary and there was a lot of sight-seeing on the list.

We got an upgrade on the way out!

It was a pretty good surprise as we had the best time and couldn’t have done a lot of it without Trev. He took us to Dubai for the day and we drove down the palm, had a coffee near the Burj, went in the Dubai mall and saw the Burj Khalifa. He also took us to the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Formula 1 track and we cycled around the course. - This is up there with one of my best experiences and not just because my hip could hack it. He was our tour guide around the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the Emirates Palace, and took us to the beach. Everyone needs a ‘Trev’ when they visit Abu Dhabi or Dubai!

 We all went to brunch one day and had all you can eat and drink. It was here that I discovered I need to rebuild my alcohol tolerance up… Rachel force ‘fed’ me too many mojitos ;) We all went to a pub quiz, went to the Westin Hotel to watch the rugby, watched Rachel play netball, went to a driving range, went to loads of nice hotels and generally ate our body weight in nice food.

Unfortunately though, it wasn’t all fun and games as a few days into the trip, I developed an intense pain deep in my groin. It was completely separate to the bursitis pain and felt more like the old pain that I used to experience before surgery: only much worse! Every day the pain got more and more intense so I had to resort to using a crutch. Then, during our day trip to Dubai, I was forced to rent a wheelchair in the mall as I literally couldn’t take another step. After a few days, I worked out that getting in and out of the car aggravated the pain and holding or carrying things also made it worse. Despite the immense pain and negative emotions associated with it, I didn’t let it ruin our holiday!

I had a feeling that I’d overdone it and my hip was in desperate need of complete rest. However, I couldn’t rest until we’d packed up and cleaned the flat. It hurts constantly and certain movements make it worse, so I was dying to see Debs for some physio and a diagnosis. She was fully booked until today so my dad drove me from Reading.

Debs couldn’t believe that I’d had more bad luck and after a thorough assessment she concluded that I had a pelvic stress reaction caused from repetitive overloading. A stress reaction is similar to a stress fracture, with the only difference being the severity of the bone disruption. The treatment is pretty much the same; rest and non-weight bearing. So it’s back on the crutches and ibuprofen for me. Debs performed some soft tissue work on my inner thigh and strapped on a pelvic brace which I have to wear at all times except when seated.

It is pretty upsetting to have another hiccup in this lengthy recovery, but the main thing I’m feeling after today is relief. When the pain didn’t go away and got increasingly worse, I was worried that something was seriously wrong and I would require further surgery. The pain that I’ve experienced in the last two weeks outweighs all the pain that I’ve been through thus far. Usually I can just sit or lie down when I’ve been in pain, but with this time around, once it’s at its worst, that’s it and nothing relieves it. I’ve literally felt sick with this pain. Now that the move is done and dusted, I’m ready to put my feet up and do nothing for a while. – Except for Friday when I have another check-up with Banksey. Then I’m putting my feet up for a few months!