happy healthy hippy
A blog following my Triple Pelvic Osteotomy in January 2016
I had my 5 month review last Tuesday with Mr McBryde. I got the train from Liverpool to Birmingham and then a bus to the hospital on my own. He seemed happy with my progress when I told him about my journey (I didn’t mention that I had a foldable stick in my bag!) My X-Ray showed that the ilial cut has healed completely and the pubis and ischial cuts are healing well (see photo below). I said I am not getting any deep joint pain now but still have a lot of groin discomfort more superficially. He said he thinks we made the right decision in opting for the osteotomy surgery over the labral repair and explained my discomfort may be due to the metalwork as it lies underneath the psoas muscle (one of the hip flexors).
Apparently it’s likely I will plateau soon and not feel “normal” until the plate and screws are out. Unfortunatley, he will only remove them at earliest 1 year post op. I guess it’s reassuring to know the likely cause of my discomfort but I also feel a bit deflated that I might not improve much more for another 7 months - it seems a long time to wait! I asked him about the labral tear but he said it’s too soon to know whether I’m getting symptoms from this so we will discuss it in September at my next check up. Anyway, hooray for excellent healing 😄 For 10 days now, I’ve walked without any walking aid pretty much. My average daily steps has been about 7,000! (To put this into perspective, that is triple what I averaged for April when I was still using 2 crutches 😱) I bought a foldable stick (for a fiver on eBay!) that I’ve used once or twice for longer distances but generally it's been hiding in my bag just incase! My pace is still slow as if I try to speed up it feels really awkward and more uncomfortable, then my limp starts creeping back! Thankfully, I’m not getting any discomfort or pain at rest, its only when I walk, which is a big difference to pre op. As well as walking each day, I’ve got into a good routine now with my exercises. I could easily list 30 different things I work on over the course of the week but this is what I’m focusing on at the moment. I do my stretches 4 or 5 times a day and the strengthening work twice, each time repetitions until I feel fatigue (usually about 5 mins for each exercise): 1. Adductor stretch 2. Hip flexor stretch 3. TFL/ITB stretch 4. Lunges 5. Squats with a bias on right leg 6. Stairs 7. Backwards walking 8. Clam shells 9. Crab walk 10. Bridges 11. Hip abduction and then extension with an ankle weight in standing 12. Hip adductor lifts 13. Hip flexion with trans abs/core activation I usually have one day a week where I feel over-tired/sore/fed up so I have a day off exercise and get my hot water bottle out instead. I’ve also started a clinical pilates class at my gym. I can’t wait to get back to my hot pilates but for now I want to make sure I have perfect form and this class is ran in a small group and lead by a physiotherapist who can give me 1:1 hands on guidance. My first session made me realise how weak even my “good” left leg is since the op. 5 months of doing little physical activity has obviously made me very de-conditioned. It should be onwards and upwards from here as I’m finally fully weight bearing and doing more and more each week. Andrea x
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
June 2017
|