Friday, July 8, 2011- Day 36

WELL...we have arrived at 5 weeks post op! I feel as though I'm where I should be. I have a bit more pain still than I did last time. Although Dr. Millis constructed more and there are 5 large screws so I am assuming that's the issue there. But overall I can't complain.

Sleeping is still pretty crappy. I wake up a lot throughout the night, every time I need to roll I wake up. Sleeping on my side isn't 100% pain free unfortunately, but I can still fall asleep like that for a while. Getting in and out of bed isn't a chore anymore, but lifting my leg by itself is still pretty difficult...that muscle is taking a while to come back.

Yesterday I went into the pool again. I walk a few laps with water up to my waist, then I hold onto a noodle and kick around, then I stand and hold onto the side and do my standing exercises. After that I just move my leg around to get it loosened up. Moving my leg forward and backward are pretty easy but lifting it out to the side is very sore and it stops quick. I think it may be the screws keeping me from moving too far that direction. But walking around with no aid in the pool feels so good!

Next week when I start work I'm also thinking about starting back at the gym to use the stationary bike. I can only start with 5-10 minutes at zero resistance just to get the joint moving around and then increase the time from there. I am allowed to also to upper body so that I don't go to the gym just for 10 minutes. So we'll see how I feel and go from there.

Today is rainy, so I won't be going in the pool which is a good thing because I need to rest up and I def don't need to get any sun today. When I sit in my chair I can flow my leg towards the other one and sit comfortably. I can pull my leg up and sit with my knees bent. Basically, the muscle in the front of my hip is the only one causing some issue, as well as the muscle that's in my inner thigh/groin area...it doesn't seem to be there at all. So I'm keeping my eye on that and helping to get that back.

I've been putting Mederma on my right incision...so we'll see if it was worth the money to see if it decreases the scar at all. I've also put a lot of sunblock on both incisions otherwise it can easily get sunburned and turn purple and we don't need that. I took some pictures of my scars, they aren't great pics but better than nothing. RPAO is done, screw removal and all, LPAO is 5 weeks post.

Here's a picture of my RPAO at 4 weeks for comparison. I only had pictures of 4 weeks and 6 weeks.