Hippy Chick: Post-Op Seven Weeks

Great news today! My surgeon said he couldn't hope for a better recovery and was pleased with my progress, my new x-ray and the way I was walking. I am approved for swimming, biking and the elliptical machine! I can take a bubble bath! I should aim for a 30 minute walk every day!

I explained that it was harder for me to do exercises and stretching with my "good" leg than it was for the "op" leg. In reviewing the non-bionic side of my hip x-ray, he said "well, it's shot so it's up to you when you want to replace that one. We just need to wait at least three months to reduce the chance of infection."

Wait. What?

He thinks my "good" leg (which is now my bad leg) is ready for replacement already? I was hoping to get three more years out of it, not three more months. So that was disappointing. But since we've already met our deductible for 2014, maybe it makes sense to do replace it later this year. That's a big decision I'll have to think about for a while though. I'm not in as much pain with that hip, but it's not flexible (making exercise and shoe tying more difficult) and it probably won't get better over time.

To be continued...

First Class Scout

Jacob continues to progress through the ranks of Boy Scouts. He just earned the rank of First Class ... which is about the half-way point to becoming an Eagle Scout!

Girl Scouts: Thinking Day

Sarah's troop participated in Thinking Day for Girl Scouts. Kind of a multicultural celebration where each troop teaches the others about a country. We chose India (because France was taken, and because one of the girls is Indian). The Indian family has three girls in it, so between those three girls and the mother, they had enough sizes of "salwars" that each of the girls in the troop had one to wear.

We prepped over several meetings; researching and creating our display, making SWAPS, animal masks, learning some Indian dance steps, and doing henna. The girls did a terrific job with their presentation, and were the only troop to dance! At the end, other girls were asking them to teach them some of the steps!

Special thanks to Tonya (who was visiting from San Antonio and got dragged to the event) who took all these pics!

100 Days of School

Lucas had to create something with 100 items for the 100th day of school. He wanted to use crayons and started to glue them haphazardly to a sheet of flimsy copy paper. The paper was soaked with glue in 30 seconds. So we switched gears and moved on to cardboard! I'm not proud to say that most of these crayons came from restaurants - maybe we eat out too much? We did recycle the 100 days of peace t-shirt that Ethan wore for the 100th day of school in Kindergarten!

Hippy Chick: Post-Op Weeks 3 & 4

This was not the return to tennis I was hoping for ...

The good news is that I was able to graduate from my walker and move on to a cane. Mark sent this pic from Walgreens with the choices. Can you guess which one I picked?** Which CANE! Not which box of condoms in the background! LOL!

Had a huge breakthrough in PT recently! I was really struggling to raise my op leg knee up while standing. And one day this week, it was like the hip flexor muscles came back to life! I can comfortably raise my knee 20+ times! It's still much harder to do it lying down, but I'm getting there!

**I ended up with the pink cane. It's actually covered in hot pink roses and is pretty ugly, but it was adjustable height, and had a cushioned handle. And it matched my sneakers! I don't need it to walk around the house much, but I will continue to use it for a while if I'm limping, sore from PT, or going to walk for a long distance.

Hippy Chick: Post-Op week two

After Mary left, I was home by myself during the day. Mark came home with lunch Monday. Pam came over with lunch Tuesday. Saushan came over with lunch Wednesday ... and I forgot to tell Mark ... who also came home with lunch that day! Whoops! It was nice to have everyone looking out for me. No "I've fallen and I can't get up" scenarios played out. I napped a lot and had PT every other day.

At the two-week point, I had a follow up visit with Matt, the physician's assistant to my surgeon. They removed my bandage and said I could shower normally in two more days. The incision was healing nicely and they were pleased with my progress.

Before:

After:

Matt confirmed I would be able to drive at four weeks post-op, and that they'd see me again for a six-week post-op checkup.

Pinewood Derby 2014

Aunt Mary was Ethan and Lucas' good luck charm! She got to attend the Pinewood Derby for their Cub Scout Pack at the Texas Motor Speedway just before she went back to New Jersey. 

Lucas took first place for the Tigers!

Ethan took second place for the Bears!

Hippy Chick: Post-Op week one

On Tuesday, I started to feel nauseous. By Wednesday, I couldn't even keep my medicine down. Turns out, I was having a stomach reaction to the hydrocodone! So at exactly one week post-op, I was off pain meds cold turkey. And you know what? I didn't really need them!

I spent the rest of the week huddled in my room with my barf bucket. I couldn't handle the meals being brought over - or even some of the smells. I subsided on water and Ritz crackers. My PT was very easy at this point, so I was able to get though that - even on a bad tummy.

Friday was my 42nd birthday. Prior to my surgery, I thought I'd be well enough by then that we could go all out to dinner ... my first post-op outing! But when the actual day rolled around, I was happy just to eat a little pizza and birthday cake with the family.

By Sunday, I felt like I was normal again, and my PT declared I was "like a totally different person!"