What a day for me and my new left hip! We started out with qigong and I was able to do Monkey, which requires a lot of balance and I’ve never done without wobbling on my ankles. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I could do it steady and even for the first time! That inspired me to try Tree Pose.
How cool is that? And I can hold it! That took about 3 months last time, due to the problems in my gluteus medius which couldn’t stabilize me on my right leg.
Marta, Larry and Ray came to visit this morning and couldn’t believe the difference in me this time vs. last time. We drank mimosas to celebrate and watched as the old Chevys paraded by, going into the park for the annual Chevy Classic Car Show.
Then I was inspired to try walking around the block without my hiking poles. I couldn’t do that last time until the 4th week! And then it hurt a lot and I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back. I had to sit and rest along the way. Today, I cruised right around slowly without pain and then marched up the stairs at the end! Last time stairs were the bane of my existence for MONTHS. I did everything I could to avoid them.
I walked in the house, sat down and immediately began to sob tears of joy and relief. I had a moment of compassion for myself, fully realizing how very hard it was last time. Theo hopped up on the table and looked at me with concern. I patted his head and told him not to worry, “These are happy tears.”
Woo-hoo Rhonda!
I’ve been meaning to ask, what does the term hip dysplasia mean? Other than pain and discomfort, I mean…Keep up the good work! Love, Mariellen
It means I had a saucer instead of a cup-shaped acetabulum (socket) and a deformed (not smooth) head of my femur. This deformed head grates away the cartilage in the joint and causes severe arthritis. To fix this, the surgeons have to use a router to drill more of a cup shape into my pelvis in order to insert the prosthetic cup. Then they saw off the head of the femur and replace it with a metal one that has a stem which inserts into the hollow center of my femur. Kinda gruesome thing to consider, really… I’m so glad I am in LaLa Land when all of this is going on!!! I remember asking once about repairing the cartilage and Davis shook his head and said, “We just throw that away. It gets replaced by a plastic liner in the prosthetic cup.”
WHAT JOY TO HEAR THIS! Fantastic news! Now you know it was all worth it……..and onward and upward to complete recovery and a normal life. We are so happy for you!
Me too! Thanks for all your support along the way. I feel like I’m already over the hump of this recovery, which is a miracle after the first one. I’m happy for me, and us, too!
This is so great, Rhonda!! 👍👏👏🎉🎉
Yes, wonderful news! I will look forward to your skilled massage therapist hands helping me break down the scar tissue! I miss you so much!