Again, overall, its a lot better than I thought it would be. My hip feels stiff, and my leg is starting to wear off the nerve blocker. I still have the air/water pads on which I had to change the ice about every 6 or 8 hours, as long as the water was cold in the machine it was fine. The compression on my calves felt good, and believe it or not, the compression on my hip feels good too.
My leg has about 2 liters of water in it from the surgery, so it looks and feels huge. It actually feels like a water balloon. I should absorb or urinate out the extra water in 2 days or so.
I just got back from my first Physical Therapy appointment, less than 24 hours after my surgery. Getting in and out of the car is somewhat difficult, but ok with help. We didn't do much which is what I expected. They gave me 3 exercises to do 3 times a day at home. Foot tilts and pelvic raises basically. Nothing extreme. It hurts to sit in a chair straight up (my top and bottom half at 90 degree angle) and I was noticing some more tenderness/pain in my groin area when I first got there. If I slouch even a little bit, then its ok. I really was scared to death about sitting on a toilet, even to the point I bought one of those 4 inch raised toilet seats the day before my surgery. I haven't had a bowl movement yet and i probably wouldn't NEED it, but I'm still glad I got it because it will help. We didn't do enough movement at therapy to cause any pain and for the first month I'll only be in therapy for one time a week.
Now as I write this I'm at home back in my CPM machine and wrapped up in my ice/compression wraps. My doctors assistant called earlier to check up on me and let me know that it is normal for the swelling to increase tomorrow or the next day.
Walking with crutches seems pretty easy, though its awkward because of the hip brace sticking out so far. I have noticed the brace really is for aesthetics as it doesn't prevent much movement, if any. The doctor even said it's more of a reminder for me and others that I've had surgery and don't do anything crazy.
About to finish of the night. I haven't been all that tired, not bored yet, and my 2 yr old has been awesome and super careful around me so I'm glad for that, and I can't forget about my wife who is catering to my every need (even more than before the surgery). My mom is also our sitter so when my wife returns to work I will still have plenty of help. I'm blessed to have my family around to help, I really couldn't imagine having to do this alone... It would be impossible.
Before I actually go to sleep I'll do my PT exercises one more time, another 30 minutes on the CPM, then off to bed!
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