Day 124

It’s wild to consider I am now 124 days post op from my hip replacement. All things considered, I’m pretty amazed at the whole process. Although I am not 100% better, I have managed to get back roughly 85% of my range of motion, and hope as time goes by and I continue to heal, that eventually I’ll be able to put my socks and pants on without having to put my leg in place with my hands. 

Pain has diminished, save for the incision hyper-sensitivity, and my inability to roll over on my left side. Yet. hopefully in time that will change too. 

These days I limp because of my problems with my feet, and this week I found (yet another) specialist who has a real plan (or “recipe” as he calls it), and today I start therapy with him for my feet and get cast for yet another pair of orthotics. 

Hopefully this will be enough to diminish my agonizing foot pain enough where I won’t be entertaining surgery on my ankle. The ankle has some soft tissue damage from my Mexican Adventure in 2019, but right now besides an occasional uncomfortable POP!, and instability, I don’t have pain. My pain issues are all on the bottom of the feet, bi lateral  heel spurs and plantars fasciitis. 

As I told the doc, I had the hip replaced to diminish pain and increase mobility, yet because of my feet, I can’t walk more than 3000 footsteps a day without losing countless days after, due to the resulting pain. 

So yet again, I start yet another journey of a thousand miles with a new specialist, and today I take those precious first steps. 

Day 112 Post-Op

Not much to report here, as things continue to trundle along on its own trajectory. I was discharged from PT on 10/25/2022, with glowing details of "excellent" compliance post-op. I'm still struggling a bit to cross the leg and do the external rotation necessary to put on my socks, but I guess that will all come back to me in due time. Follow-up with ortho is set for January 2023.

10/10/2022 was a duo of appointments, nephrologist and a neurologist. Nephrologist was usual six month check up for my blood pressure and I'm being monitored for CKD. Neurologist was a long-awaited EMG which didn't bear much fruit beyond median neuropathy of both wrists, mild to moderate neuropraxia (mild left, moderate right) on both sides, as well as left ulnar neuropathy at the elbow/cubital tunnel syndrome. 

Physiatrist is on maternity leave until January, so I guess at this rate I won't know what the next course of action will be. Maybe I can schedule my follow up with the ortho and my follow up with the physiatrist on the same day?

The only appointments in December are my annual appointments with both, my cardiologist, as well as the neuro-ophthalmologist. 

Still masking and COVID negative, and anxious as hell about both.

Started speaking with a trauma therapist/clinician three weeks ago, and had 2 appointments with a psychiatric NP to help navigate and identify an Rx to help support me while I "right my sails." Still waiting on authorization from insurance regarding genetic testing to find the optimal Rx--however, it's been 3 weeks, and I wish we just settled on Prozac so I would be on SOMETHING in the interim, as I'm still sobbing daily, and having anxiety attacks.

Still avoiding people--which is easy because at this point most people are avoiding me.