Day 4 Post-op
Home PT came today to asses my hip. There was a bunch more lymph swelling than with the left surgery. My P.T.- Maria, was great, she showed my lymphatic drainage massage that helped decrease the swelling. She also addressed the large bruises I developed down my surgery leg. It is a common condition; blood thinners can contribute to post-surgical bruising. Dr. Vail encouraged me to walk as much as tolerated, the muscle contractions in the leg, circulate blood flow & will massage the bruises away. Maria, the PT did her Pilates training with my mentor, Madeline Black. Maria was also a Feldenkrais teacher and was a great person for me to work on getting out of my previous bad movement patterns. We worked on hip and pelvis differentiation; single leg marching, neutral pelvis stabilization and good ole abduction. I am able to over in bed to sleep on my side or belly. I use a foam pillow and squeeze the inner legs as I roll over. This isometric squeeze also is strengthening my side hip muscles at the same time. Can start to feel stronger in the hip.
Day 5 Post-op
I am working on walking heel to toe with the walker and lifting up off my new femur bone and stretching up tall as I walk. PT-Maria made my walker taller so I wasn’t so hunched over, this helped better my gait & posture. I started doing more and more lateral hip work in flexion (and attempted extension). The leg becomes more of a lever and is a whole lot heavier in extension. I will be working up to this.
Just laying on my side feels so good on the side hip area, not only cause it was so stiff, tight and sensitive, but also cause the fascia is getting stretched too. I also really feel the posterior aspect of the hip socket. Lying down with my knees bent feels so great on the back of that hip.
The bruising has resulted in Dr. Vail discontinuing the daily blood thinner injections that I had to administer to myself. YEA! I guess the blood thinning was working too well. I am taking about 6 painkillers a day, trying to space them out as much as possible. The pain is more of a dull ache and sitting on the sitzbone area/hip joint is sensitive. I tend to shift to various positions every 2 hrs or so, sitting, laying down, walking/standing, etc.
feeling good, moving well.
