Mallory Runs This

In January, I had surgery to fix a labral tear in my right hip. Going into it, I had read too many horror stories online about people whose pain got worse, not better after surgery. I was terrified to do it but also terrified to avoid it because I was seriously miserable.

If you happened to interact with me over the past year you may have picked up on the fact that I was most likely depressed because of  my hip injury. Chronic pain is no joke and I have so much more empathy for people who have to deal with it for their entire lives. 

What made it worse is that I tried all the things people say to try to avoid surgery: I went to physical therapy, acupuncture, ART, the chiro, deep tissue massage, pilates, yoga, bought an acupressure mat. I tried exercising more. I tried exercising less. Nothing helped and everything got worse. 

The pain in my hip took up so much mental space that there were times when I could barely get through the day to day. I stopped reaching out to people, avoided doing anything except laying in bed and thinking about how much it hurt and thinking that I could not live this way.

I am happy to say that I have not regretted my surgery for a single moment. I’m not back to how I felt before this all started happening but things are undoubtedly getting better instead of worse.  

Six weeks ago I was cleared to resume regular exercise as long as I didn’t go into it all at once. Shockingly, it was easy to resist. All my habits and schedules have fallen apart. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do: get back into the habit of exercising. My schedule is erratic and I’ve only been to the pool to swim once 

but

I was on a walk this morning and then got a call that my handyman was on his way and so I had to basically run back home so I would be there before he arrived.

So...I ran a little bit. Just a little. It wasn’t super fast and yes, I had to walk up the hill to my house but...running! And it didn’t hurt in any other way except holy crap I am out of shape.

Hello! Reporting from five days after hip surgery from my new-normal place: the guest bedroom. 

It’s only been a few days but I am happy to say that at this point, I am doing pretty well. I am not in pain which is shocking. Like, I have not taken any painkillers since Saturday night and I was basically only doing that because everyone kept saying the pain would come. So far, it hasn’t but I know better than to say it will be pain free all the time.

That is not to say that I am taking nothing. I have been prescribed meloxicam for inflammation and asprin to help prevent blood clots--both are pretty standard.

The downside at this point is just the lack of mobility. I am 30% weight bearing on my right leg for two weeks so I crutch around everywhere. The cats are very confused by the new, slower me. I also can’t sit in a chair or bend my hip 90 degrees or less so I lay around a lot which has caused my back and glutes to ache. Do you know how sad it is when you can’t even roll on your side while sleeping? VERY.

I go in for a post-op appointment tomorrow where I’ll find out a little bit more about what actually went down during surgery and any additional guidelines for recovery. Then I have my first PT session on Monday I really don’t know what they’ll have me do, to be honest. But I am definitely looking forward to doing SOMETHING. I’m going a little stir crazy right now.