No news is good news people. I haven’t been M.I.A. the last
three weeks due to wallowing in self-pity. I’ve actually had a taste of my old
life! It sounds crazy but I’ve finally had some good luck come my way…
When I saw Debs a few weeks back, I was still experiencing the
deep pain in my groin. When I gave her Banksey’s verdict she seemed more devastated
than me. Debs explained that in her 15-years of physiotherapy she had never known
or heard of someone having to have labral surgery after a PAO procedure. Banksey
himself admitted it was rare, but it can happen to those real unfortunate
souls, (*sob sob*). She was even more surprised when I told her that Banksey
wanted to operate on both hips on the 1st July. Her opinion is that
after labral surgery I should only be partial weight-bearing and therefore it’s
not really possible to do both at once. However, if the “boss” was confident it
could be done then she wouldn’t argue.
I returned the pelvic brace to Debs, while explaining I wasn’t
a fan, and she agreed that it doesn’t agree with everyone. The remainder of the
session involved more soft tissue work around my hip, during which Debs stated
that she didn’t believe she could do much more for me and that I should save my
money. Debs believed that I was capable of doing my own exercises and
self-massage from there on out and that she would be at the end of an email if
I needed her. She also gave me permission to return to the gym and we discussed
which exercises I could and couldn’t attempt. Then, we said our “Goodbyes” (for
two and a half months) and I’ve been left to my own devices since. On my way
out I asked the receptionist what my total cost was for rehab so far… £660!
Crazy aye. I’m not going to go down the route of complaining about the NHS
again, but if they’d pulled their finger out, I could’ve at least halved my
costs. And I have another round of rehab
to pay for. These damn hips of mine will be my most expensive possession.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday came and went, and I had the usual
intense pain, then Monday brought a delightful change. I awkwardly walked into
the gym with the pain, and hobbled
out with quite a few aching muscles but minus the pain! Since that amazing Monday morning, the intense pain hasn’t
returned either! I mean, I’ve always liked going to the gym but I didn’t
realise it could perform miracles! I honestly can’t believe the difference and
I am so relieved that I won’t have to live with that horrible pain until the 1st
July. (Touch wood).
I still had some pain in my groin but it was minimal and
bearable, and proportionately improved with gym visits. I’ve been going four
times a week and it has virtually cleared up now. Certain movements will aggravate
my hip and I still get daily pains, but they’re very different to the constant
ache I had, and I’m sure these are much more in line with usual recovery pains.
Three months later than initially expected but my goodness am I glad I’m out of
the dark tunnel!
Debs instructed that I take it easy at the gym but after five
months of being cooped up, I did not and have not been holding back. Obviously
I haven’t made my hip do anything that it really didn’t want to do, but there
was a fair bit of trial and error during the first week to identify my limits. The
treadmill and rowing machine have been out of bounds, as well as squats, lunges
and certain abdominal exercises. Nevertheless I can almost do everything else
and my hip is getting stronger and stronger. So much so that I’ve managed a
shopping trip, my social life has returned, and I spent a weekend decorating a
friend’s house. If you saw me in the street, you wouldn’t know that I’ve had a
relatively recent hip reconstruction. I actually have to stop myself from
running at times: for instance, when I’ve been crossing a road and car is fast
approaching; or when it starts to rain and I want to find shelter quickly; or
while ascending stairs – something that I always used to do. If things remain
this good, I hope to be able to run in June before the second PAO. The
professionals say you can’t run until 6-months post-PAO but I need to find out
if that applies to me or whether I have to wait for an extended period due to
my prolonged recovery. I’ll email Debs to check.
For those who are interested, I’ve devised my own gym programme.
All of my cardio is on the bike and cross-trainer and it’s mostly interval
training. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how quickly my fitness has improved
and how well my hip has coped with the increasing resistance. I can use all of
the resistance machines except for the leg press. – Debs and I thought I would
be able to manage it but during my trial and error period it aggravated my hip
too much for the time being. I mainly use the machines for leg abductors and
adductors, chest, back, bi’s and tri’s, and continue to do my glute and
hamstring rehab exercises.
Since this miraculous improvement I’ve been debating with
myself whether I still require the double hip op. I would hate to say no to the
keyhole, and then be struggling down the line if the intense pain returns. On
the other hand, if you don’t need
surgery then you should avoid it. I’ve drawn three different conclusions: 1; it’s
still too early to definitively say. 2; Banksey will have an opinion on it so mine
may not matter. And 3; I need the screws out anyway so even if I have the
keyhole and he feels there’s no immediate cause for concern, he can take the
screws out and the right hip is done and dusted. I’m seeing Banksey on the 7th
June so I’ll debate it with him then.
You will recall that I was really inconvenienced by my 1st
July date. Now that I’m relatively pain-free I see the silver lining; I have
two months to live my life to the max!
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