Released from PT

I saw my physical therapist for the final time today. I have been feeling ready for a few weeks now and she confirmed what I suspected -- no tender spots, internal and external rotation is almost the same on both my left and right sides. I have pushed myself on many fronts -- biking, walking, rowing, kayaking -- and have had no issues whatsoever in the past 2 weeks. I would say that I am about 90% back to normal. The external rotation on my left side still has some relaxing to do but I think Dr. Philippon says that it can take up to a year to be 100%. I really don't think it will be a year since I am so far along at 6 months but I have now completely relaxed about everything. No nagging doubts that the surgery really didn't work, no more beating myself up over whether I am doing too much or not enough and no more thinking about every single that I do and whether or not I should be doing it and whether or not it will flare up my hip.

The physical therapy place where I go also has a sports performance center. Many of the Indy car drivers use the athletic trainers there to prepare for the season. So, when I was released today from pt, I looked into some strength training classes there. They have a class than runs for 8 weeks starting the end of the month and I am pretty sure that I am going to take it. It has become nearly impossible to see my personal trainer that I have worked with in the past so I am thinking this will be a reasonable substitute. Sharon also recommended that I take a yoga class to help with stretching so I am looking into that too. It feels great to be able to use my body to its fullest potential again!

To all of my "hip" friends -- thanks for your words of encouragement and support! To my friends and family -- I could not have made it through all of this without you so THANK YOU! And, to Dr. Philippon and staff, Lindsey and Lauri at Howard Head and Sharon at St Vincent -- You guys ROCK!! Words cannot express how I feel at getting my life back.

I don't know how much I will actually write about this now. Maybe from time to time when something significant happens or I am feeling especially good or bad. :-) If anyone needs info, email me at almcz@aol.com. In the words of the Grateful Dead, "What a long, strange trip it's been."

Hip Hip Hooray!!

So, I headed down to Austin Texas last weekend for some playtime with my friend, Carol. The Austin City Limits Music Festival was going on and we decided to attend. To say that it required lots of walking would be the understatement of the century. We walked, walked and walked some more. We stood, we sat, we ran and I truly put my newly repaired hip to the stress test. And . . . . drum roll please . . . . . it performed perfectly! No pains whatsoever anywhere!! By the end of the weekend, I had the biggest smile on my face that you have ever seen. I also noticed that my external rotation is improving remarkably. It's not even with my right hip yet but it's really close. I am close to being 6 months out and finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and am pretty sure it's not a train!

After all of the extensive walking this weekend, I feel pretty confident that I have reached a turning point in my recovery. I no longer have the adductor pain or the nagging back pain or any of the miscellaneous aches and pains that have plagued me for so long and have been the source of my angst for so long.

In some ways it seems like forever ago that I had hip surgery and in others, it feels like it just happened yesterday. I guess in the big scheme of life, 6 months is a blip but due to the ups and downs and the uncertainty of a full recovery it has felt so much longer.

That loud noise that you all heard over the weekend was me breathing a huge sigh of relief. I am feeling more confident than ever and ready to once again tackle the world!