Collateral damage

My hips are GREAT! In fact, I have been working out with a personal trainer for a few months now and am gaining some great muscle tone back into my legs finally!! I still have some remaining weakness in my left side that needs work but I can do anything! No hip pain, no back pain, no psoas pain . . . . . NO pain. This is the first time in my life that I am completely and totally without hip pain. I cannot even describe the feeling. It's marvelous. HOWEVER, about a year ago, I started noticing that I had some pretty severe pain in my left foot -- especially when I tried to wear any sort of heel at all. I, of course, ignored it and simply carried on. :-) I finally went to see about it shortly before my last hip surgery. After an x-ray and a brief exam, my podiatrist announced that I was suffering from hallax rigidus (stiff big toe or turf toe) and proclaimed that I needed immediate surgery. HA!! I said. I have to have hip surgery, recover from that and then there's all the work that I will be missing. I simply don't have time. Bye. It did feel better -- I didn't walk on it after hip surgery for awhile -- and I thought he was wrong. :-) Not so! As my hip recovery progressed and I began to be more active, the foot pain came back with a vengenance. I finally caved in, scheduled surgery for December 5 and had it fixed. Interestingly enough, the joint where my big toe joins my foot was almost unsalvageable. He ended up doing microfracture because most of the cartilage was gone. If I had waited even another month, I might have had a fusion instead of a repair. YIKES!! The good news is that the surgery was completely successful and I am currently in a very big ugly boot waiting for the bones to heal. While he won't really speculate on the cause, he did agree that the wear pattern and the extent of the damage on my joint suggested an irregular walking pattern. Hmmmmmm . . . . let's see, I have had hip problems for all of my life, my right hip was the first to really be painful and was painful for about 15 years before I had it fixed. Think I might have shifted most of my walking to my left side?? Yep -- and it's my left foot that suffered. Ugh! I am very glad it's over. . . . a hip surgery and a foot surgery in one year is more than any person should have to endure. I think I am happy to see 2012 end and I look forward to a new beginning in 2013 with NO surgery, good hips and good feet!! Happy New Year to all of my fellow hippies and I wish all of you the same good hips that I now have. april