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.