I was ready to have surgery on Tuesday, but still--- surgery is scary. The IV goes in, the sedative, and after what seems like seconds, you wake up, but hours have passed, during which a team of medical professionals have done a series of things to you that you have absolutely no recollection of. Perhaps they encountered a minor emergency. Perhaps they encountered a big one. Perhaps they had a question that only you could answer-- is this the hair transplant guy or the hip surgery guy... or the transgender patient. The point is-- you're gone, out, and you can only hope they do the right things. Before going under, they gave me a pen and asked me to sign my affected hip-- extra assurance, but it only made my mind run wild as I waited my turn.
I was in surgery for 3 hours. My doc was very upbeat when we talked the next day. He showed me lots of pictures of what he did-- various shots of instruments cutting, shaving, grinding into bone, cartilage, it's hard to tell-- I call it arthro-porn. I could sense genuine pride in what he'd accomplished. What I call the "money shot" was a before and after x-ray of the femoral neck-- distinct bumps before grinding, no bumps afterwards. The labrum looked good-- the repair from a year ago had taken. The entire 3 hours of surgery was spent grinding on my femur-- osteoplasty. How boring that must have been.... This is to fix my femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) which wasn't quite fixed in my last surgery.
I'm not sure what that means for my recovery-- it would make sense that grinding on some bone wouldn't require much recovery when compared to labral repair. And 3 days after surgery I'm already able to walk without pain. I'm still using the a crutch to get around some, but I can tell that it won't be long before I toss it. I've been riding the stationary bike also-- 15 minutes last night. For comparison, I was 3 weeks post-surgery before I could do these things a year ago. Everything looks and feels good. They even used the same holes in the side of my buttock from last time, so no new scars on my ass, not that I'm concerned or anything.
But to be honest, I'm afraid to get too excited.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Day before surgery, part deux
As I mentioned in the last entry, I was thinking about getting another surgery. Well, I'm about to get on the bus that will take me to Houston for surgery tomorrow.
When I started this blog and chronicled my first surgery about a year ago I expected that my torn labrum and hip surgery was going to be a 6 month setback. Back in July, things were looking pretty good-- I wasn't where I was before surgery, but I was able to bike and run without pain. Now, the hip hurts even as I sit here and type, and I haven't exercised in weeks. So, in summary, I got hip surgery and wound up worse off than I was before-- yet-- here I am about to get more. What makes sense to me is that there is something mechanically wrong with the hip-- something inside the joint is irritating the cartilage-- I can feel it. And it makes sense that if it's mechanical, it can be removed, neutralized, whatever, and my hip will be "fixed". We'll see. Maybe the state of the art in arthroscopic hip surgery is partly hit or miss. My doc told me after my first surgery that it would be about a year before I knew for sure that the surgery was a success-- I think this is what he meant. So, a year from now, I'll know if tomorrow's surgery is (was?) a success.
What is my goal? First, no pain. I don't like to feel pain when I bend over or when I sit. Second, I want to be able to do some kind of cardio exercise pain-free, preferably not swimming-- ie, biking or running. No running is something I can deal with-- I've been dealing with it, but I need to do something-- so I hope the bike can work for me. Third, if I can get back to running, well.... obviously I'd be very happy.
This surgery will be a pain in the ass for me (pun absolutely intended) and everyone in the family. It makes me feel good that Christina understands how important this is for me and is willing to add more chaos to our lives by giving me the green light to re-cripple myself. My mother-in-law is flying down from Jersey to give us a hand. My uncle-in-law is going to host me in Houston. I know they don't read this blog, but I'm thankful.
When I started this blog and chronicled my first surgery about a year ago I expected that my torn labrum and hip surgery was going to be a 6 month setback. Back in July, things were looking pretty good-- I wasn't where I was before surgery, but I was able to bike and run without pain. Now, the hip hurts even as I sit here and type, and I haven't exercised in weeks. So, in summary, I got hip surgery and wound up worse off than I was before-- yet-- here I am about to get more. What makes sense to me is that there is something mechanically wrong with the hip-- something inside the joint is irritating the cartilage-- I can feel it. And it makes sense that if it's mechanical, it can be removed, neutralized, whatever, and my hip will be "fixed". We'll see. Maybe the state of the art in arthroscopic hip surgery is partly hit or miss. My doc told me after my first surgery that it would be about a year before I knew for sure that the surgery was a success-- I think this is what he meant. So, a year from now, I'll know if tomorrow's surgery is (was?) a success.
What is my goal? First, no pain. I don't like to feel pain when I bend over or when I sit. Second, I want to be able to do some kind of cardio exercise pain-free, preferably not swimming-- ie, biking or running. No running is something I can deal with-- I've been dealing with it, but I need to do something-- so I hope the bike can work for me. Third, if I can get back to running, well.... obviously I'd be very happy.
This surgery will be a pain in the ass for me (pun absolutely intended) and everyone in the family. It makes me feel good that Christina understands how important this is for me and is willing to add more chaos to our lives by giving me the green light to re-cripple myself. My mother-in-law is flying down from Jersey to give us a hand. My uncle-in-law is going to host me in Houston. I know they don't read this blog, but I'm thankful.
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