Recovery starts here

I had my hip operated on 2 days ago, but I've been too hopped up on heavy painkillers to write anything until now. OK, the surgery-- they scheduled me for pre-op and operation the same day. I'm not sure how typical that is... They kept on jacking around the surgery time while I was in the pre-op area and I ended up waiting 2 hours in those freaky gowns, which was plenty of time for me to invent new ways to freak out. They kept on asking me if I wanted something to relax, but all I really wanted was coffee. Regarding the gowns-- who invented those things? They have ties on the back that are impossible to tie without someone's help, but you don't really want help because your backside is completely exposed.

The surgery building is directly across the street from Rice University, so I had an incredible view at 15 stories high. The IV went in followed by some drugs that they referred to as the "margarita". The stuff in the syringe really did look strawberry-like, with a touch of mango. They were asking me questions and I remember feeling more relaxed, as if I had had a beer. That lasted about 5 minutes I think, and that's all I remember.

I woke up after what seemed like 15 minutes but was actually 3 hours. Strangely, my feet were killing me. They had bound them in some kind of elaborate velcro contraption that I keep trying to free myself from, but some diligent nurse was always there to bust me. It turns out they want my feet slightly rotated internally to open up the hip socket so it will heal better. Also during surgery they attach a 50 pound weight to your foot to help pull the hip socket open so they can more easily work on it. I think that's why the tops of my feet felt like I had run several miles in shoes that were 5 sizes too small. Tons of papers were signed and they gave me a 20 page instruction booklet on what drugs to take when. I have 6 prescriptions I need to take over the next couple weeks, including a self-injectable that prevents blood clots from forming. Something about a bad hip, crutches, and a half dozen drugs that makes you feel like you've skipped middle age and wound up on the other side.

I got dressed and tried not to notice the 6"x6" bandage on the right hip-- dang, why is that thing so big?? While dressing, I noticed that my right leg was completely numb. The anesthesiologist had administered a nerve block to my hip which made everything on that leg numb except for my foot. At any rate it made everything very difficult. I've been on crutches before and developed some good crutch skills, but when one of your legs is dead, it gets in the way and makes it really hard to get around with that thing dragging. Legs are heavy. I fell over once and nearly gave my wife's aunt and uncle a heart attack. I hadn't eaten for 20 hours. I was weak and really dang hungry.

I talked to my doc before I left and he showed me the pictures that he took inside my hip socket. It looked pretty messed up in there. The labrum was really frayed with feather-like stuff hang down and, I'm guessing, getting in between the femur and the acetabulum. He also said the acetabulum had started to pull away from the bone. Yikes. So he cut away the damaged labrum and ground down some of the pelvis behind the acetabulum so he would have a firm foundation to staple the healthy cartilage to and keep it in place. He also did some reshaping of my femur to get rid of the bony "bump" which was suspected in causing all this. As he was describing this, I kept expecting him to put his hand on my shoulder and say something like "son, it was a real mess in there. I did my darnedest but unfortunately you'll never run again", but he never did, and when I asked about my prognosis, he assured me that everything was fixed and I should expect a full recovery.

The day after surgery, I met with my doc again. He re-dressed my bandage. The bandage looked gruesome, full of all sorts of stuff-- I won't go into detail. But underneath it all were 2 small incisions on the side of my right buttock, each maybe 1/2" wide with 2 stitches each. Another doc I talked to during my research phase described 3 incisions, including an incision in the front of my thigh. My doc, the doc I chose, said that the 2 incision technique is relatively new, less painful and doesn't require as much recovery. No complaints there.

At day 2, my hip doesn't feel that bad. My right leg is no longer numb, and I can move it easily, especially forward and backward, side to side is painful. I get to wear a hip brace-- the kind of stuff you see serious athletes wearing. Cool. I'm skeptical that it does much, but it sure looks cool. And it complements the whole hip injury ensemble, which includes some sleek looking crutches. I only have to be on crutches for 4 weeks instead of 6 as I thought before. And at 2 weeks, I can do water jogging and stationary biking. OK, this is sounding easier than I thought, at least now...