Nurse On The Run

Sep 23

Bilateral Labral Tear Repair Surgery – Post-Op Days 26-27

Sep 23

I’m wrapping up my four week post-op, and I feel like I’ve come a long way in the past week! It’s so interesting to look back at where I was the week before and see that I can do things now that I wasn’t able to do before. I also find myself not necessarily thinking about HOW to do things – I just get out of bed, I don’t think about swinging my legs over. Getting into bed is still a little challenging, as the whole lift-legs-and-rotate bit is a little hard. Otherwise, things are moving along!

Wednesday – Post-Op Day 26

After some pretty busy days on Monday and Tuesday, and I was excited to not have to do a lot of things. More studying and reading, hooray! I actually felt really good on this day. Last time, I wrote that I felt like I still bent forward when I walk, but I feel like that’s gotten better, especially if I do more than just walk around my apartment. It allows me to stretch a bit and stand tall!

Workout-wise, I did all my physical therapy exercises and twenty minute on the bike trainer. I feel good biking, and we can start adding resistance soon so that’s great. I also did a little bit of an arm workout with some five pound weights just to get things moving a bit. Nothing crazy because I don’t want to put extra stress on my hips, but just something to break a sweat a little and maybe tone up these arms while I can’t do much with my legs. I will say that doing all this rehab is actually quite time intensive – by the time I do everything, it’s over an hour of exercises! I guess that replaces the time I would spend running, but running is much more enjoyable, so the hour flies by. Ah well, I usually watch TV or listen to music/podcast while doing my exercises, so it’s not all bad. But I do miss being outside. (I hate treadmills and don’t have a gym membership, so I run outside in most conditions outside of ice. Love being outside!) I did get a tiny bit sweaty, so I felt good about that.

And who knew five pound weights could be so hard to lift? So weak, ha.

I showered (old news these days), but I can successfully shave my legs so I consider that to be a huge plus. I also put on underwear without using the grabber, hooray!

I made my big trip of the day out to Staples. We’re a few weeks into the semester, and I had yet to organize things for my classes, so I have papers everywhere. Binders, please!! And I need some new pencils. I made the walk up to Staples, which is about half a mile each way. I thought about going without the crutch, but if I got too tired and wanted to take the subway home (one stop, ha), I would need my crutch for the stairs. Luckily all was well and I felt great! I didn’t move very fast, but I got it done. Staples has stairs to get down to all the supplies, so I was climbing back up those instead of using the elevator (trying to be a normal person), and a man said, “There’s an elevator over there!” to which I replied, “I’m trying the stair thing, but I appreciate your help!” I’m doing pretty good with stairs, but it’s a step-together-step-together type deal. Going up is much harder than going down. Getting there…

Otherwise, not the most eventful day, and I’m okay with that. Of note, two years ago today I did my first (and only…so far) half Ironman. Now I get excited about putting on underwear, ha.

I was SO excited to be out of the swim!

Thursday – Post-Op Day 27

Ah, Thursday. I like this day at physical therapy because it usually means I get new exercises added since it’s close to the “week” mark since surgery. I woke up in the morning and had some coffee while reading some school stuff. Physical therapy wasn’t until 1pm, so I had some time in the morning. I did a little arm workout again and got a little sweaty before physical therapy, ha. I pondered walking over without my crutches, but I wasn’t sure how my physical therapy would feel about that, so I took it with me. I don’t really use it to walk, just a little help with the stairs if need be.

Of note, I put on a pair of shoes and tied them myself! First time since surgery.

We started with the usual massage of my quads and IT band (right side was WAY tighter than the left side) and some range of motion. My right leg feels much looser than it did before, so that’s great, and it seems like my range of motion overall is really much better than earlier this week/last week. Hooray! I have a tiny bit of pain at the end of my range, but the end point of my range of motion is getting bigger and bigger each week, so that’s great.

My PT watched me walk and said I looked a lot better. She commented that I don’t swing my arms, which I think I’ve been told before…especially when someone is watching me walk. I think I swing them in normal life…

Since I’m at four weeks post-op, I got some new exercises. So we’re up to this:

Flat back/pelvic tilt. Laying on my back, pushing my lower back into the table. Hold for five seconds, repeat thirty times. Helps core strength.
Quad set. Legs flat on the table, push back of knees into table. Hold for five seconds, repeat thirty times. Helps activate quads.
Quad stretch. Now that I can lay on my stomach, I lay on my stomach and pull my foot to my butt. Thirty seconds x 3 on each side.
Hamstring curl. I stand next to the table and put a lot of weight on my hands (because of my weight bearing status), then bend at my knee to bring my foot to my butt. Three sets of ten on each leg with ankle weights.
Resistance band wrapped on one foot and held with hands, point toe. Have someone hold resistance band on foot away from your foot, flex toe. Repeat 30 times, each leg.
Sit on edge of table (reclined because although I can sit at 90 degrees, it’s not the most comfortable) with knees hanging off table. Lift foot to create a straight leg. Three sets of ten on each leg with ankle weights.
Quadruped hip rockers. Video here. I got on all fours (like table top position) and slowly rock back, bending at my hips. It’s like aiming toward child’s pose, but definitely not that deep (yet?). Thirty times.
Ball between the knees squeeze. Lay on my back with feet flat on the floor, ball between my knees. Squeeze and hold for five seconds, thirty times.
Oblique twist/wood chopper with resistance band. Video here. Keep core stable while pulling across the body with the resistance bands. 3 x 10 on both sides. Ab work!
Straight arm lat pull downs with resistance band. Video here. Keep core stable and pulling down with straight arms bringing hands to hips. 3 x 10. Ab work!
Side lying hip abduction/leg lifts. Video here. Lay on your side, lift up your top leg! I’m not supposed to go very far (only a few inches), but it’s exciting to do something involving lifting my leg. 3 x 10 on each side. Works the glutes.
Side step. It’s very basic – I just step one foot out to the side, then bring the other foot to match it. Walk back and forth three times.
Walk backwards. Out and back three times.
Standing hip abduction. I stand, point my toe slightly in, and move it out to the side. 3 x 10 on each side.
Prone leg lifts. Lay on stomach, left and extend one leg up, squeezing butt at the top. (Video.) 3 x 10 on each side.
Bridges. Double leg. Squeeze butt at the top. Three sets of 10.

The new exercises are 12-16, and it’s exciting to move my legs in new directions (exercises 12-15) and to engage my hips/quads/abs/butt together (bridges). I joked with my PT that I wasn’t able to walk backwards very well before surgery because I’m not coordinated, but I did just fine in therapy. The prone leg lifts are probably the hardest new exercise. I feel a stretch in the front of my hip when I do them, but still no pain so that’s great. Bridges were easy and made me feel like I’m actually doing some work like I used to.

My PT said that at week 6 we can really start adding more things, so only two more weeks until then, hooray! I believe that’s because your joint should be much more healed from surgery, so you can start to stress it a little more. Until then, it’s really about letting the area heal without doing anything to cause pain or hurt the area.

When doing bridges, my PT asked if I had done strengthening prior to surgery. I had been taking Refine Method classes and doing the PT exercises I had been given before (although not as much as I should have, oops), but I did feel somewhat strong going into surgery. I’d also been running a little bit so it’s not like I was sedentary. I told her about Refine Method, and I think that’s one of the reasons why PT is going so well – I strengthened before, so I didn’t have to totally rebuild after surgery. (I also had a good surgeon, I won’t discount that!) But if you’re reading this and have surgery coming up – strengthen your abs, butt, and quads beforehand! It’ll help! I was told this before my surgery and I definitely think it’s worthwhile.

Anyway, my PT said something like, “So you want to get back to doing that, right?” to which I said yes, it would probably be good for me to get back to doing that, but I really want to run again. Maybe now I’ll take all the cross training a bit more seriously…

I finished up all my exercises (they take a long time, as you can see from the growing list) and went on the bike. Climbing on the bike should maybe be more difficult since I had both hips done, but I always use my arms to lift my body up and over onto the seat. My PT always comments on my upper body strength, which I think isn’t that great, but maybe compared to a lot of people it is! We added some resistance and I did two miles in ten minutes with RPM’s in the 80’s. A little ice and I was out of there!

I headed over to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things. I set a five item limit so I wouldn’t be carrying a lot of stuff. Despite having my crutch with me, a couple people still managed to run into me, so that wasn’t so great. (It wasn’t even that crowded! Geez people.) But at least I did it.

Headed home and that was that. Cleaned up around the apartment a bit. I had a terrible time sleeping last night – not sure if it’s nerves (school + maybe having to move + life in general?), but I was still awake at 1:30am and wasn’t tired at all. I ended up taking a Benadryl because I didn’t want to be up until 4am like I was last week. (Mostly interesting because I never took anything to help me sleep when I worked night shift- I was very against that for some reason.) I think I was asleep just after 2am, so I guess that worked. And here we are!

Highlights: Putting on shoes with laces and underwear without assistance! New exercises at PT! Feeling better walking around.

Downsides: Not sure if my sleep problems are related to all this – maybe inactivity? I used to do so much more in a day activity wise, so maybe my body just isn’t tired. Hmmm.

Sep 21

Bilateral Labral Tear Repair Surgery – Post-Op Days 24-25

Sep 21

I now have to look back at previous posts or count on a calendar how many days post-op I am, which means we’re getting further and further away from surgery day and closer and closer to recovery! So exciting. I’m still not doing too many overly exciting things, but getting back to normal in daily life (and running, eventually) is high on the list, so sometimes you have to celebrate those little things. I’m getting around pretty well with one crutch, and I don’t use it when I’m walking around in the apartment. For the most part, I feel like I could go without a crutch, but stairs are still a little touch-and-go. If they’re short stairs, I’m okay, but tall stairs are harder and I lean more on the crutch/handrail. Of course, most subway stations have stairs and you never know when a restaurant is going to have a bathroom downstairs, so I’ll keep it with me for now. It keeps people away which is good! I feel like I’m cheating people when I momentarily pick up the crutch to walk through the subway turnstile, but I do still need it at times, so it’s fine.

My walking seems to be going pretty well, although I feel like my hips are rotated forward and I’m not quite standing up straight. I know before surgery my hips felt rotated forward and I would practice tucking my hips under (hello to anyone who has ever taken a barre class!), but it feels exaggerated and harder to get out of now. I’ll have to ask my PT about that. But those are the major updates…

Monday – Post-Op Day 24

I had physical therapy bright and early on Monday morning since I have class in the afternoon. It seems like exercises get added on a weekly basis, usually on Thursday since that’s closer to my “week” mark. (I had surgery on a Friday.) She massaged my quads, something near my hip bone, my hamstrings, and my butt. Right still feels a little tighter than the left. She also did range of motion with my hips (hip and knee both bent at 90 degrees, rotate in and out), and I didn’t have the pain that I had felt last week, so that was good. My right hip definitely feels more stiff and hits a point where it can’t rotate more, but I wouldn’t say it hurts. We also noticed that when my legs are straight and turning in and out, my right hip would rise when my left leg was externally rotated. I wasn’t trying to do it, it just happened. My physical therapist held my right hip down and externally rotated my left leg, and it eventually went away – just needed a stretch, I guess?

Otherwise, my exercises were all the same. A PT aide was helping me with them, and I heard him asking a physical therapist about why I was doing these exercises. She was explaining that I’m fairly limited in what I can do, so we’re building up all the muscles around the hips to get them ready for when I can do things. That sounds about right.

I finished up on the upright bike – 10 minutes with a tiny bit of a resistance. I hit around 80 RPMs and did 2.3 miles in ten minutes while working up a little bit of a sweat! Trying to balance NOT pushing too hard with trying to move a little bit, so that was good. Hardest workout in awhile. Wrapped up with some ice on my hips and headed home.

Class was fairly uneventful, but I did take the subway both ways. I also listened to Lindsey Hein’s podcast, I’ll Have Another, as she interviewed Jessie Sebor, who is the Editor in Chief at Women’s Running Magazine. She had put a call out for questions to ask Jessie, so I asked, “How do you differentiate between content for women vs content for all runners? Is there a difference?” I was so excited when she asked my question, and the answer was really awesome – listen to find out!

I had to swing by the program director’s office to pick up scrubs – obviously I have a crutch with me, so he asked what happened. Told him hip surgery, and he asked about what anesthesia they gave me. I told him and he said, “And do you remember anything?” “Nope!” “That’s how you do it!” Exactly what I’ll be learning over the next two years!

After class, I crutched into Trader Joe’s with lofty aspirations of buying spinach and bananas, but the line stretched all the way around the first floor, so I immediately left. Maybe at a less busy time, TJ…

Eric, however, did go to the grocery store and picked up stuff for dinner, and then I made dinner! Woooo yeahhhh! I made spaghetti carbonara from Runner’s World Meals on the Run cookbook, and it was delicious. (You can see the recipe here, or buy the book!) It was quick, easy, and delicious…and has made for great leftovers! Exciting to be able to do some things for myself, although I think getting the full grocery haul is a bit out of reach for me right now.

So delicious!

Then we watched the Bears lose, what else is new?

Tuesday – Post-Op Day 25

Tuesday is a long day at work! Two three hour classes plus an hour review session- oooof. I always say it’s never good to have nurses sitting for too long because we don’t sit too much at work, ha. But anyway. Our first class is new and interesting because it’s our first anesthesia class! So that was good. During a break, I walked to the bathroom without a crutch, being bold these days.

We have an hour for lunch between classes, so I headed to a nearby outdoor area and sat down on a bench. (With my leftovers and a book!) It’s a quiet park, and a guy sat down next to me talking to someone on his phone. I kept giving him the side eye because it’s a quiet park and he’s talking loudly on his phone…I understand it’s a public area, but still. I guess I gave him enough side eyes that he asked if he was annoying me, to which I responded, “I don’t want to be rude (I think I already was, maybe?), but kind of.” He said he didn’t mind getting up to walk around and saw that I had a crutch and couldn’t move easily. So that was nice of him. Of course, five minutes later, another woman sat down next to me and was Facetiming with someone…so much for that. Oh well. I walked past him on my way to class and he said he hopes I feel better, so that was nice.

Afternoon class was fine – learning more about action potentials which I think I’ve learned about seventeen times in my life, but at least it’s quite familiar. Wrapped up with a review session and headed out.

I found an ice cream place I wanted to check out, so Eric and I made plans to do so after school/work. I took the subway to the West Village and hung out on a bench until he got off from work. Eric carried my backpack for me, so that was great! We had dinner first at Keste, which is delicious pizza if you’ve never been. Mine had butternut squash, zucchini, and peppers, while Eric’s was marghertia pizza with sausage. So good. I made moves to go to the bathroom without a crutch, panicked when I thought it was downstairs, realized it was not, and life was good. This is how exciting my life is these days.

After dinner, we headed to I-CE-NY, which is smashed and rolled ice cream! You pick your ice cream flavor and mix-ins, then they prepare it in front of you and it ends up rolled in little cylinders with toppings on top! (Video on the website if you want to check it out.) Eric had a berry-inspired one and mine was vanilla with some banana and chocolate things mixed in. It’s an interesting concept and was fun to try (and take pictures of, ha) – Eric said it was some of the best he’s ever had, and I thought it was just like ice cream. Either way, worth trying out for something different.

Hers and his rolled ice cream!

We headed home and I still needed to do my PT exercises, so I did those and my electrical stimulation and called it a day. My brain was tired from all the school stuff, so I watched some Gossip Girl and hit the hay! I’ve putting wearing my FitBit when leaving the apartment (since you don’t get many steps in a 550sq foot apartment anyway…), and I got just over 8,000 steps – whoa! I felt good so I don’t think I’ve overdoing it.

Highlights: Getting to explore a little bit – walking around enough to get to places (that aren’t too far) is going well. Still no pain!

Downsides: Kind of wish I could ditch the crutch, but not quite there yet.