After hip surgery on January 7, the doc said I needed to rest for two weeks. So I did. Mostly. I mean, I walked a bit, but not far. The kids took great pleasure in snitching on me whenever I moved from the couch to the bathroom without both crutches. I thought their heads were going to burst when I crutched my way to the end of the driveway.
I made it to my two week follow up with no problems. My stitches came out and I was given permission to walk without crutches, but cautioned against significant elevation gain. "Oh? What's 'significant'?" "You know, more than a flight or two of stairs." "Oh. So I guess Mailbox is still out." I wasn't even allowed to start formal physical therapy until six weeks post-op.
I returned to the doctor's office and was given the all-clear to start my actual recovery. FINALLY! I drove straight away to our favorite physical therapy office and started the work. (Yes. I have a favorite physical therapy office. I get hurt a lot.) So after a month of therapy, I'm back to 100%, right?
Yeah... no. My expectations were... adjusted. Hiking in April? Maybe not. May? Possibly. June? Probably. July? 75%! Backpacking in August? YES!
So every day I do my exercises and every day I go for a short walk on the local trail. It's a mile and a half from the house to Fishy Rock and back. Tink is appreciative of getting outside and I almost always have a kid walking with me. I appreciate the company, but I'm pretty sure they're convinced I'm going to fall and not be able to get home.
In terms of pain, there are moments of it. Mostly on the upper end of my hip. For no apparent reason, I managed to pull a muscle on the inside of my thigh so that was a step or two backward. However, Zoom meetings with the camera off and webinars have been excellent opportunities to put in the time or ice. And of course, ibuprofen is always flowing through my veins. (As is turmeric, fish oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, and celecoxib. I can't decide if my motto should be "Better living through chemistry" or "I don't like the drugs, but the drugs like me.")
It's slow going, but I'm hopeful. Just this week I got new exercises that build strength rather than stretch and work on range of motion. That's progress! So if you want to see the hobbled old man on the trail walking slowly with one trekking pole, find me soon. It won't be long before I'll be walking slowly with no trekking poles!
