I am eight days away from an operation on my left hip. Same operation as the left, a total replacement, anterior. It has been a long and often painful journey (and boring too) but finally I got into that operating room and here I am, eight days later.
Lately I have perused my notes from my first hip replacement, to remind me how it went. It was not a case of immediate pain relief. I did not expect that it was, but my memory was that it was so much easier than the hip replacements that it seemed instant.
Today I drove for the first time since the op. I had been taking some narcotics (oxy) so could not drive even if I felt up to it, and I did not feel up to it. I stopped the oxy yesterday afternoon and today I felt ready. In fact, there was quite a change between yesterday and today, both in the level of swelling I see and in the pain I am experiencing.
Here are my feet yesterday. Notice that the left foot is very puffy. My leg was similarly puffy.
And here are my feet today. They look almost identical. You can't see my thigh, where the swelling from the operation is most noticeable. But the difference in my feet is reflected in how much better I feel.
I had the hip operation because the hip is worn out. The doctor thinks that the hip was causing the knee pain I had in my left knee for the last few years. I have been cautiously optimistic. It is still too early to tell for sure because I still do have pain and swelling to work on, but I am gaining in hope. I met with the physical therapist today and he had me climb some stairs. He said just to try stepping up with the left foot, just see if it hurts too much. He didn't want to pursue it if it did hurt too much. But it didn't. In fact, I think it may have been less painful than it was before the operation. That's what is giving me hope.
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