When I woke on Saturday morning, the realisation of Andy’s absence struck me. Six weeks is a long time and that will only feel quick if I keep busy. Once again there were many visitors throughout the week to keep me occupied, and then there were Eli’s visitors, who inadvertently kept me occupied. Time flies whilst you’re talking and I can talk for England, so I’ll never say no to visitors.
Andy’s step-brother arrived for the weekend and we all enjoyed a pub lunch. I’d lost my appetite again which was most upsetting having ventured out of the house for the first time in while. This was due to the morphine or the multiple glasses of Appletiser that I guzzled. Either way it was nice to get some fresh air.
Andrew’s father, Kevin, had very kindly offered to drive us to Reading on Sunday to see my family. My aunt and uncle were detouring via my dad’s house on their back up North to Durham so the house filled as my family assembled for a chinwag and everyone relished playing pass-the-parcel with my nephew Baby Joseph. It was a lovely morning and after everyone had departed, we even squeezed in a quick catch-up with our neighbours and family friends, Bill and Michele. Everyone has experienced one of those “small World” moments, and had it not bizarrely come to light during conversation a few years prior, Kevin, and my ‘second-mother’, Michele, would have been suspiciously familiar of each other at our wedding. Would you believe that Kevin, his brothers and Michele grew up together playing in the street of their shared residential close. Naturally when this was discovered, we arranged a reunion between the two families and my own, and we enjoyed a delightful day of reminiscing and story sharing.
It was also my mum’s Birthday on Sunday, so the whistle-stop tour continued to Reading Rugby Club to watch my younger brother’s match and see the Birthday girl herself. It was a lovely sunny Spring day so we all congregated around the picnic benches adjacent to the pitch. We armed ourselves with a few pints, bags of chips, hotdogs, and of course an Appletiser for me. I’d taken morphine to combat the impending pain brought on from the day’s events, but the more medication I take, the more ill I usually feel. The half-eaten bag of fries proved it as I reluctantly had to offer them around. Obviously it was still a great day, but now my aim for the week was to reduce the meds to pursue a consistent appetite and state of wellness.
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Andy’s uncle and aunt, Derek and Tina, kept me company on Monday after hydrotherapy. They kindly brought some yummy chocolate biscuits which should have been rationed to last two weeks, but I could only just make them stretch until Friday. Tina had remembered that after the last PAO I’d enjoyed drawing and sketching to pass some time, so she very kindly bought me some pastel supplies to produce some masterpieces.
- I spent Tuesday drawing these beautiful flowers from friends in Abu Dhabi
Eli’s mum kept me company on Wednesday afternoon and then in the evening, Kevin Eli and I continued to watch the series House of Cards. We’ve fallen into a routine each evening of dinner, a board game, House of Cards, and a Horlicks. I say ‘fallen into’ but maybe the creature of habit that I am has forced them. Either way, I look forward to the evenings :)
- The Stass family love a game of Rummikub!
That evening was my first cold turkey attempt regarding the modified-release morphine. I had successfully reduced my day meds and could bear the pain so I figured I needed to test the night time routine... It was my roughest night to date post-op and I was wide awake from between 3:00am and 5:00am. I could not get comfortable on my back, so I endeavoured to try on my side. There was no initial discomfort, but gradually I could feel a stretching pain and deep ache in the joint. As it wasn’t horrendously uncomfortable, and just nice not to be lying on my back, I stuck it out. Eventually though, I caved in and resorted to knocking back some morphine, just so I could get some shuteye. This crappy night’s sleep could well have psychologically manifested by not taking my usual meds, hence why I was determined to persevere the following evening. I know that I would sleep better taking the medication, but I can’t do that forever and need to wean myself off sooner than later.
Possibly due to the dodgy evening, and the limited meds, Thursday was one of my most painful days. I decided to take some fast-relief morphine, especially with hydro in the afternoon. The first 20-minutes in the pool and I was struggling pain-wise with every attempted exercise. After varying it up, and persevering, the pain disappeared completely and I accomplished heaps regarding strength and range of movement.
Thursday evening was a better night’s kip, but I did wake for a couple of ten minute stints. I drifted off easily enough and experienced less pain when lying on my side in comparison to the previous night. Since then I’ve been fine too and have slept right through. Two disrupted nights but eventually, mission accomplished.
Friday evening I had a long Skype with Andrew, who was fulfilling his babysitting duties for friends in Abu. Little Sheridan was wiped out following an evening of cuddles and Peppa Pig, so we were able to have a long catch-up. Then Jenny arrived for the night with sushi supplies and Gone Girl for us to watch. Despite the House of Cards episodes in the evening, and the ITV playings of TOWIE that I watch on my phone in bed, and the remaining five episodes of the Pretty Little Liars series, I haven’t actually watched much TV since the op. So in my typical addictive ways, I treated myself to the whole two series of Sherlock between Thursday and Saturday. I’m overdosing on Netflix and I don’t care.
Back to the hip, seeing as that is what this blog is about. Most days the pain is bearable and I’m only taking medication when it’s not. There are different types of pain to contend with too: Wound pain; Inner thigh pain, which I feel when I attempt to sit down or stand up and believe to be tendon pain; Deep joint achey pain; Deep joint sharp pain; and a nervous sharp pain along my thigh when the nerves are knitting together.
Hydrotherapy is amazing and I’m progressing every session. In Thursday’s session I even discovered that I can achieve minimal weight-bearing ‘walking’ if I go onto my knees in the pool. The water comes up to my neck and it’s as close to walking as I can get for now which is good for motor skill development.
My appetite is back and I’m scoffing my face with chocolate and cake (it’s Easter after all…).
My dressing changes occur every five days and the last time I checked, my wound was looking ace:
- From this
- To this
In terms of progress, I would say I’m currently ahead of schedule and this week I did a few miles on the stationary bike: even managing 40-minutes on Saturday; which was sort of by accident as I’d got carried away whilst on the phone.
Lastly, and I’m not sure if other PAO patients would agree, but once you’re over the first couple of weeks and everything else is generally getting better or easier, the one thing that irritates me most, and it will last the longest in the recovery is the numbness of the thigh. I can’t really explain why but it’s the most uncomfortable feeling when the entire front of your thigh is numb. When objects brush passed it and you can see it yet not feel it touching your skin; or sitting with something on your lap and you can feel it on one leg and not the other; or when you’re shaving or moisturising the area. It’s so unpleasant. To touch it feels disgustingly weird as you can’t feel the superficial layers of skin, but I’d still feel a prod or a stab deep into the thigh. It took two years for my right thigh to improve to where it is now, which is slight numbness on the top, outer side of my thigh, about the size of a rounded beer mat. It’s obviously a slow process for the nerves to reunite and I should see a steady improvement on a monthly basis. There’s no guarantee the feeling will come back but I’m remaining optimistic that my left will recover as good as my right.
- I thought I'd leave you with a comparison of my screwed up hips and my floaty pubis ;)
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