One year hipaversary

One year ago today Dr Mayo surgically dislocated my right hip to clean up some damage (torn labrum, remove a sort of spur on the femoral head, and shave down the femoral neck). Five days later he performed a PAO to align my hip socket in order to make the joint last longer.

Much has happened since then, and now it's all done. PT ended in August, and I won't see Dr Mayo again for another year. When I left Mayo's office, I was saying goodbye to new friends.

Everything looks good. I neglected to get copies of the x-rays from my last appointment a few weeks ago, but they look the same as the final x-ray from my cleanup surgery, so here you go: before and after. Notice the cloudiness around the joint is gone.

Before

My range of motion is good--less than before, but pretty good. My hip flexion (bending forward) is still a bit limited, but it does bend a little more than 90˚ so it's good enough. The joint itself feels great, better than the left side (which recently has started hurting), but there is still some tightness to work out. I can sit cross-legged but not for too long. A patch of skin the size of my hand between the incisions is still numb. And thankfully that rash has not returned.

After

I've done quite a bit on my new hip since the cleanup: walked all around the San Diego zoo, hiked 5+ miles in a stand of old-growth fir in the Olympic mountains, and biked a few miles on the road and many more on the trainer. Driving feels mostly normal, but I do have a bit of trouble moving my leg to position my foot when switching between the accelerator and the brake, and I can't sit as long as I used to.

The next major thing I'll do with my new hip is move to Pittsburgh for my new job.

A lot of water has sure gone under the bridge in the last year! Thank you God for taking such good care of me--and Krista!