How I felt after the First Surgery

6 Days to go for the second surgery!

My first surgery went really well. I forgot my phone when I had my x-ray, so I didn't get a picture, but it looks something like this. When I do get a picture I'll swap it out.

Not My hip. Mine only had one screw, also I believe this is a woman.

My right leg is doing so well that my left leg is screaming like a detainee in GITMO. I had to stop my PT, because what the right one was doing was killing the left one. I'm going in Monday night for the second surgery (Tues morning). I'm still going to have the left knee to deal with, but the drop in pain from having my right hip done is amazing and I'm hoping that some of the pain in the knee is actually radiating down from the hip, because it sure feels that way.

I've got a great surgeon and don't think I could do better anywhere. Recovery was textbook, couldn't have gone any quicker. The worst part is the first three days, it hurt bad, the second that ice pack would melt or I hit the end of my meds, it was glory hallelujah! That smarts. I wished they'd just knock me out, but it does get better every day.

When I first woke up, It was a tie for the worst pain I had ever felt. Nothing, but nothing, is going to beat pushing out that baby. Kidding, kidding, I kid. I got hurt diving and I had to get my shoulder rebuilt. When I came out of surgery, the pain was so bad I couldn't focus my eyes. But that pain, was a much smaller area and shorter duration than the hip. So I'm not looking forward to waking up, on Tuesday, after the surgery, but on the other hand, I really can't wait to wake up, on Tuesday, after the surgery.

They told me my pain would be down by half the next day and it was really true. I didn't believe them. I thought they were lying to me like I was a child. The second day was like the second worse pain I ever felt, but it was honestly half of what it had been the day before. By Thursday, the pain cut in half again and as long as I had an icepack on the wound and kept up on the meds, it was fine. I was incapacitated for about a week, then I got steadily more mobile, until I pushed to far and then my left leg put me on my back, I was in bed for three days and I'm still having a lot of trouble getting around. I have to stop taking my anti-inflammatory 10 days before the surgery and I really needed it. Without that, once my hip gets really inflamed, several days of bed rest is the only thing that helps.

They could have taken the 28 staples out at ten days, but I didn't get around to it until two weeks. The nurse that took them out, said they were really tugging because the wound was completely closed, so my incision healed perfectly. I was driving after that. The nurse who took off my first bandage (They leave it on for two days.) Told me, he had seen incisions twice as long as mine.

Every one at the hospital just worships young Dr. Young. Kidding, his name is really Sadani. The guy could play a doctor on TV though. Very professional, at the top of his game. At one point, he said, the severe cases like mine were surgeries he really liked doing. That gave me a high degree of confidence, because it told me this man really enjoyed his work. I was definitely pushing the boundaries. Usually he just pulls the femoral head (ball at the end of your femur) out of the socket. He had to chisel mine out. The bone shards had dug into the ball and the socket, welding my hip together. So every time I took a step, those bone points were digging deeper into the surrounding bone. It is stunning to me that I don't have pain in that hip anymore.

This all makes me feel confident about the second surgery. Everyone at the hospital was really nice. The room is large and I can take my laptop with me and watch Netflix, because post surgery all I want to do is veg. The less I move the better. I was bummed when they took the catheter out. Then I had to deal with that up spout urinal, with legs that wouldn't separate. It was so much trouble that I really had to cut back on the beer I brought with me. Kidding, I kid, I'm a kidder.

Here's to one on the left like the one on the right! I'll post from the hospital next week.