4 months/October Post Op

I hiked Bolinas Ridge Trail in Olema, Ca in West Marin today with Sean and Uma. It was 4.6 miles and it took us about 2 hours. It is a wide fire road with lots of cow herds. We saw a coyote that Uma was very interested in, however, she wasn't so keen about the cows, preferred to hide behind her dad.

I've been working with Jack Burns,  a Sonoma County horse trainer, rehabilitating  rescue thoroughbred horses at a facility named GEVA in Glen Ellen, Ca.

http://www.jbequine.com/
http://www.glenellenfarms.com/geva/index.htm

Riding feels very good to work the muscles that are needed to ride with skill and sensativity. The gelding I'm riding is "Chunky" a chestnut thoroughbred 15.1 hands who has had some mistreatment or rough handling. He gets scared when going to the right on the lunge line, and while he like to be groomed, you have to approach him softly and gently as you start to brush him. Ive just started working with him so we are just getting to know each other. We are working on very basic Dressage techniques as well as getting Chunky comfortable out on the trail.

My riding feels much more balanced and I can give the horse a correct leg aids, cause I can move in my hip much easier. Feels really great to be back in the saddle!!

I've also, been trying to increase more cardio...life long challenge. So its swimming laps at the outdoor pool for 1 hour with flippers, the stationary bike for 20 minutes and the "Gauntlet", which is a  continuous stair climbing machine for 10 minutes (taking to breaks to catch my breath--it's hard!!) I am also starting to teach Mat Pilates class at Club One 1 x a week. Trust me... lots of abs and LOTS of hip work... :)

Hiking is sill part of the program... I hiked around Ross Lake for 3 hours. That was A LOT... need to stretch the hips, back and quads or else I get super stiff. I  have been shoveling mulch, weeding, so if i overdo it (which I tend to do) I will take an Aleve ( 1x a month) and get in the hot tub more.

12 Weeks/September- Post Op from Hip Surgery

I'm walking, hiking with Uma the Border Collie WITHOUT the cane. I still am a bit weak on standing. The sitting to standing movement has been a bit slower to recover than i expected, but it is getting better. I've been working on using my adductors (upper inner thigh muscles) more, since I know they were weak to start with from the OA. I also, to continue to stretch my psoas muscle. I also started to stretch the back of the hip in a figure 4 stretch for the piraformis muscle. I am trying to go slow, so i don't feel it in my knee, but rather to feel it in the posterior of the hip socket.  In a very gentle and kind way, i am working on the exercises that are hardest for me.... Straight leg raises, Marching in a neutral spine position.  For release and the flexibility of the hip, low back and the Quadradus Lumborum, I sit in the hot tub and aim the jets around the trochanter and the scar and get a wonderful tingily, itchy, deep massage....feels great! Massage also breaks up scar tissue, so that full mobility and range of motion is restored.

Week 8- August 2 months Post Op.

I've been walking a lot at our hilly regional Park Helen Putnam, mostly without my cane. It feels really great on my hip, it gets a little "itchy" indicative of blood flow into the surgical site replenishing the tissue and healing. I try to keep in mind, to walk with an even stride of my gait.

 I've also been doing Side Leg lifts from my Pilates Mat work. This strengths the Glute Medius and Minimus...all the side hip muscles, which stabilizes the hip and helps with balance and gait.

Week 6-Post Op.

WEEK 6.-Post Op.

I had my 6-week follow-up with Dr. Vail http://orthosurg.ucsf.edu/Thomas.Vail and I saw my 1^st x-ray with both hips resurfaced…crazy! Everything looks good. The stem of the Wright medical Conserve Plus device is a bit longer than the left Johnson & Johnson Depuy XLR  device, but essentially they look very similar.

Dr Vail was happy to know that I’m being active, and getting stronger. He says that the glutes are still weak, so I need to keep working at what I am doing. I see him again in 6 months. He said that the surgical healing period is till about 3 months on average.

I also gave my ok to be a part of the American Joint Replacement Registry. UCSF is creating a research study to establish a California state and nationwide joint replacement registry. In the U.K and in Australia they have joint registries, but not in the U.S. until now. Since I have been researching hip resurfacings, I have been amazed that there was no U.S. registry. It is being created to have a national data bank for safety and quality control over joint replacements. I think it’s long overdue.

This week:

Monday: PT

Tuesday: 1.25 walk with stick

Wednesday: PT

Friday: I swam & water walked in the pool for 1 hr.    Felt Great!

Saturday: I walked for the 1st time up our local hilly regional park- Helen Putnam Park. 1.25 hrs. The park has lots of un-even terrain, hills and paved path. I went with Sean and he took the dog. I used my stick for about 1/3^rd of the time.  I felt really good in my hips! strong, itchy from blood flow to surgery site….and then I did some yard work for about 1.hr TOO MUCH.

Sunday: Friends from New Mexico visited and we had a raw oyster picnic in Tomales Bay (we saw a red fox!) and then walked along Pt Reyes North Beach for 1.hr. I used my stick. I was sore and really feel like I NEED my stick.

Just goes to show….Listen to your body. And don’t do too many things without a rest in between days.

WEEK-5 Post op

With feeling better comes over-doing it. I did some yard work, moving pots of dirt around, without stick. Nothing sudden or a fall, but just increased pain in my hip and low back. This is good, cause I need to know my own boundaries. I need the stick, but it gets in the way and I try t give it a go without it. Everyone keeps telling be “be careful”.

Besides, PT and swimming 2-4 a week. I have been adding Pilates work in as well. Some exercises I have been working on: 

CADILLAC: rollbacks, push thru w/ side bend, articulating/neutral bridges (working up to singles), clams, side leg lifts.

REFORMER: foot and leg work, (working up to single leg) straps, standing butt blaster, kneeling arm work with yoga block, frame pull in neutral!

CHAIR: standing balance, VMO pump, side stretch.

MAT: adductor stretches, supported table top, marching with pelvic differentiation, psoas stretch, prone leg lifts, quadruped- leg lifts, and knee to chest, Childs pose!

WEEK 4- Post Op.

I am driving! 

I have a clutch, but my surgery was on the right. No problems getting foot off gas and on brake. Getting in and out of the car is challenging due to the space between wheel and seat is too short. The flexion in the hip, along with the internal rotation of the hip is a bit uncomfortable. I have to push the seat back and then forward to drive. An easy fix. Freedom feels good. I can get around on my own easier and walk, with and without the dog.

I am continuing to work on aqua therapy in the pool, swimming for 1 hr. Not like used to do it (1 hr with flippers), but working on resistance, balance, stamina, mobility and strength for a full hour. It feels great; I don’t want to get out! I am also increasing my walking. I can walk flat track for 1 hr with (and a little without) my stick. Feel the glide of the hip joint! The freedom of un-impinged hip extension!!

I have started Physical Therapy http://www.postwellnessbydesign.com/ in Petaluma. And I am working with Mitch, the owner 2 times a week.

 I get a great soft tissue massage as part of each session. This helps to break-up scar tissue around hip &  ITB. 

We are working on very functional gait work without the stick, and of course…. lots the glutes. Glutes on hip flexion (squats), glutes in extension (pushing off and weight transfer, as in walking), glutes on abduction (getting into my car), glutes on adduction (getting out of my car & being in hands and knee position). Most of the lateral glute attachments have been super stretched or excised and sewn back together. 

POST has a reformer, chair and a move-able mirror! I would like to get one like that.  It’s been good to have someone spotting me in different foot & legwork exercise. I started some leg strap work this week too. Feel the glide of the hip joint!!

I have weak glutes on the R; rather, the glutes have a hard time firing correctly. I have to REALLY think about working them. It takes a few times of really focusing on using them, then they seem to turn on.  I think is is from having the OA, (or maybe they got weak and this started causing OA??). Anyway,  this patterned evolved. 

I am most focused on not going back into my old movement patterns. This takes work, cause I think if there is a issue before surgery, it will be most likely (or weakness & dysfunction) there after surgery as well, and needs to be addressed before it gets to imprinted into the nervous system.

A short walk in Petaluma's Shollenberger Park at 4 weeks:

Some areas that I need work on are: R-adductor tight and weak, R- Quadradus Lumborum- tight weak, Deep rotators tight and weak. Piraformis- tight, weak. R-Illiacus & psoas tight & weak.

My Hip resurfacing -2-3 weeks Post Op

Day 8-Home PT has been great. We are walking around the yard and gardens with the cane. I have a bit of psoas tenderness as I am using the hip a bit more. We have been gently stretching it and strengthenin it by doing a few knee folds  (precursor to Marching exercise).

Day 14

2 weeks post-op

I got my stitches out today. I am off to wash my hair in the shower and start aqua therapy tomorrow. I remember most of the water movements from my prior PT sessions in 2007.

Home Pt has challenged me to be walking with only the cane by the end of this week. I love a challenge! So today I walked around the house, Pilates studio and gardens with the cane. It really takes all my focus to think about how I am walking and keeping the pelvis neutral and move from my hip, not my back muscles- as I was so used to doing. It feels good, and I can get a sense of the strength, but it is tiring. When I get too tired I am relying on the walker as a back up. I feel the inner hamstring group & adductors as a weak link, mainly because I have avoided the whole inseam of the right leg for a number of years.  I will working on those in next PT session.

Day 20-post op

Went to the Petaluma City pool today and did my aqua therapy in the 90 degree heat. It felt great. I did a total of about 50 minutes including; 10 minutes of water walking in about 4.5ft; working on hip extension, straight leg kicks, adduction/abduction (side stepping), easy crawl swimming with flutter kicks, and bicycling in the deep end. We went to run 2 errands before and after the pool, and I was wiped out! , but I came home took a rest and then watered the veggies in our yard. I rested and iced my hip as I watched TV and rested.