happy healthy hippy
A blog following my Triple Pelvic Osteotomy in January 2016
I think I'm doing well - I'm certainly feeling well and surprised at how much better the pain is compared to in hospital. I'm taking paracetamol and dihydrocodeine every 4 hours and morphine for "breakthrough pain" (usually only a couple of times a day). I am definitely not pushing myself. I'm giving my body the rest it deserves so I'm having lots of lazy days!
I'm spending a lot of time lying flat in bed to give my hip flexors a good stretch. I can also do my exercises regularly in this position. I tend to sit for meals and in the evening for a few hours. I seem to get a lot of tightness in the front of my thigh and my inner thigh after sitting for a while - I'm still figuring out the balance between rest and movement. On Saturday, Stef took me out for a spin in the wheelchair - just down the road and back twice. I had to navigate down 5 deep steps and I needed help lifting my operated leg as my hip flexors are weak. It was good to get some fresh air but it was a lot of effort to get outside so won't be doing it regularly yet - maybe just a couple of times a week to get out the house! I'm generally sleeping well but it takes a while to get comfy. Mum is trying different pillow combos and arrangements each night. Last night, I had an orthopaedic neck pillow under my buttocks haha! Seemed to do the trick as I didn't wake up with a numb bum for once! I'm definitely missing my monkey pole that I used in hospital to help change position! Dad actually offered to construct me one in the bedroom (god knows how- he's a DIY King) but I've assured him i can make do! It's frustrating waking up in the middle of the night and needing the toilet. I'm trying to train my bladder and force myself to doze off again as its way too much effort to crutch there half asleep without any pain relief in my system! My main complaint at the moment is I'm getting intermittent tingling and burning pains in my calf and foot. I am satisfied this is normal as there will be a lot of swelling around my nerves but it isn't very nice and it seems to be getting more frequent! If it doesn't settle, I might ask my GP for some nerve pain relief. I'm also getting some clunking at the back of my pelvis when I do certain movements, for instance when transferring my weight from side to side as in shuffling to the edge of a bed. It feels deep and isn't painful- it's just a bit minging (technical term haha!) Again, I'm pretty sure it's normal as my body adjusts to the new hip joint position. I feel very lucky to have a caring family that are feeding me up! Before my surgery, I wrote out a list of meals and snacks based on the research I did into diet and fracture healing (see surgery preparation). I did insist these were just ideas not requests ha! I'm enjoying eating lots of nutritious food and not feeling guilty about portion size or calories! It's not a time for weight loss. Today I've had, for breakfast two poached eggs with smashed avocado (with chilli and lime) on 1 piece of toast, for lunch salmon fillet with salad and sweet potato, and for tea pork chop with asparagus tips, spinach, broccoli and mashed potato. Snack wise, I had oat cakes with coconut peanut butter (it's soo delicious) and berries with live natural yoghurt. I'm helping with food prep where I can so I'm not totally useless. My advice for if you don't have someone with you 24/7, is if friends ask if there's anything they can do to help, say you would appreciate a home cooked meal. I'm also drinking 3-4L of water a day to help with the wound healing. I'm using a tracker on my iPhone (FitBit app) and have a litre water bottle on me at all times! Currently I have minimal swelling and no bruising. Big success is always the result of many small successes so I've set myself a couple of short term goals. I think this will keep me motivated as my long term goals seem a million miles away right now. I want to be able to get into bed on my own with no difficulty (currently I'm only needing a little bit of help with my op leg but it's very awkward) and put my slippers on without using my hand to lift my leg up. Keeping it simple for now! I'm taking each day as it comes and celebrating every tiny victory! Andrea x
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