I had my final visit with my surgeon regarding my replaced hip. The appointment went well. I had been assuming I was out of the woods on my recovery. Well, somewhat.
As usual, Xrays were taken and my surgeon had to take a look at my healing progression. My leg is healing up, but still slowly. He asked about pain I experience. Honestly, the only pain I have is right near the surface of my scar and sometimes it's if I've been standing too long. At any rate, that pain level is minimal (to me). It never really made me think "I'm hurt," ya know?
The last month has been spent going REALLY SLOW in my rehabbing. I've continued with yoga and exercise. Just really, really gradual though. I found that in "warrior" pose of yoga, I'm unable to get deep in the pose as I'd like to or even hoped I'd be able to. Don't worry, I don't push it, but I did notice the limitation. I also notice that when i stand on my left leg only, it hurts juuuuust a little. There's a reason for that.
Warrior II pose in yoga. Image credit Wiki Commons
Well it hurts because the implant still hasn't fused into my femur. Basically, my femur (thigh bone) hasn't fully grown around the implant yet. This was evident in January and why I was told to sit my behind down. The Xrays showed the progress of bone growth, but it's evident that it isn't fully seated. Here's the Xray from January 2013. Look at the implant position and the "dark outline" around it.
Now let's compare it to my current Xray. You'll see the "outline" is a little less defined in some areas. It's not as dark. I added some notes to better illustrate the situation.
So every time I stand on one leg and feel a lil' bit of pain, this is why. That implant isn't as stable so it sends a lil pain. The reason I can't do Warrior pose as deep as I'd like is because the IT muscles (iliotibial band) are still wounded and trying to heal.
Going forward I am to continue "chillin" with my leg work. I need to be easy on it for another two months. Fortunately, I can get back into doing my other upper body workouts as long as I feel I'm not affecting my core muscles and hip too much. I'll keep doing ice, but now I can do ice and heat as daily treatments to help with healing not only the bone growth but also the IT band.
I will be back at work full time Monday. I've been cleared medically to do my IT work. I just have to be careful not to do deep squatting, jumping or running around. None of which are in my job description.
Thank you to everyone that has continued to support me in this process. The thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. I've seen some true geniune concern and care from folks and it means a lot to me. Thank you.
-RAP, II
