And now the other one....

So the left hip is great.

The right one is starting to hurt.  And now that I know what that pain is, I feel it more acutely.

It's not nearly as bad as the left one was right before surgery.  That one hurt so bad I couldn't put on socks, and I was walking so funny that my lower back was all twisted up and constantly in pain.  I'm not even limping...yet.

However, after a long day or a tough week, I can feel it starting.  It's getting harder to put on the damn sock, and once in a while I have to adjust my sleeping position.

I was told that they'd both have to get done eventually, based on my initial x-rays.  It was just a matter of time.  But I'd really hoped I could at least A) pay off this surgery first (I've got about $2500 left), and B) save up some more sick time.

It's been almost a year since the surgery.  I'd like to wait another one before going under the knife again.  But I really don't want to let the right hip get as bad as the left one was before getting it fixed.

I have my yearly follow-up appointment on July 17th, so we'll see what they say then.  Joy.  

Honeymoon!

We took our honeymoon in April.  We went to Hawaii, and did all the touristy stuff that you do when you're in Hawaii; hiking, swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, walking on the beach.

Once the majority of the pain went away after surgery and I returned to work, the new hip became something I don't even thing about anymore.  I did have some muscle pain when I started teaching swimming lessons again, but I've since adjusted and it isn't an issue anymore.

I don't update this blog much anymore because there's nothing new to say!  And really that's a good thing.  Life plugs along, and I don't really think about my hip much anymore.  But some things remind me how far I've come, and what I can do now that I couldn't have done before.

The only time I was even remotely uncomfortable was in the kayak, because the seat pressed right on my scar.  But the two-mile hike?  No problem. Walking on the beach?  Awesome.  I swam in the ocean, scrambled over rocks by the waterfall....it was epic.  

I haven't had any range of motion problems, or ever felt like I needed to back off my activities because of the hip.  I know there's a larger risk of dislocation after having a hip replacement, but I honestly don't even worry about it.  I'll have to get it fixed eventually, as there's no way this is going to last me the rest of my life (hopefully another 50 years!) And that's when the risk will go up again.  However, it's possible that I'll be in a different career at that point, and won't have to worry about climbing hills or shimmying my way into small exhibits.  

Back to swimming lessons

After the surgery I stopped teaching swimming lessons.  At first it was because I physically couldn't do it, and then it was because I got used to not having a second job.  But starting in the new year, I went back to the pool.

Teaching lessons has been rough on my hip muscles.  I think it's all the squatting I'm doing when I teach in the shallow pool.  Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to bend the hip more than 90 degrees....oops.  But when the water's only two feet deep, and you have to be down at the level of a three-year-old, I either squat or sit on my butt.

After a long week, I can feel pain around the front of my hip.  My husband thinks it's my IT band, which it very well could be.  A lot of stuff was messed up in that whole area before, and I'm sure this new activity is dragging up old stressors.  

I don't think it's bad enough to stop teaching. I'm sure my body will get used to it again.  But it's odd to go for months without even worrying about the hip, then be smacked with pain that I haven't experienced in half a year.  Apparently my PT didn't prep me 100%.