β¦since the checkup in the hospitalβ¦
For three weeks now, Iβve been practicing my walking again. No more crutches. Unfortunately I canβt say βno more painβ yet, as Iβm still partially bruised in the right hip area, with some edema swelling here and there (including thicker ankles than usual, still, unfortunately).
The hospital visit was a bit of a trigger for me, as the surgeon tried to make light of the things that had happened to me (because he didnβt change the hip ball to fit the cup betterβ¦ π€). More of that I shared here: βJust a little bit of bad luckβ.
I will share part of the fit journey in my monthly fitness blog post. But Iβll include more stats then. Now, itβs just me babbling about the last three weeksβ¦ πΆ
I was a bit scared to walk without crutches outside the first few days. I was wobbly, my muscles were stiff and sore, and I was just afraid of falling and injuring myself. Having been through the worst injury imaginable, I definitely didnβt want to do anything that would risk this happening again. So I wobbled slowly, not too far, hoping things would improve soon.
My checkup was on Tuesday, and mum and Bas went home on Thursday, so on Wednesday, I still abused Sir Little Noiseβ’ to go out for little walks. On Friday I had to motivate myself to go out for a few walks. It felt weird, useless and lonely in a way, because I didnβt feel like my walk had a purposeβ¦ π€
All these years, especially since I recovered from the worst depression after my divorce, whenever I was walking, I was walking with a purpose, with a goal. I was letting Arwen out to do her things, get her sniffs, and also to get her exercise (playing with the ball, swimming, or just walking). Or I was walking to/from a store or an appointment. Or, I was walking with a friend or maybe enjoying a hike while on vacation.
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I did several hikes alone while on vacation, which was a bit intimidating at times, as there was always a chance of things going wrong (and especially in the areas where I was, cell coverage or seeing other folks wasnβt always guaranteed to happen). But still, seeing a challenge of getting a walk done, seeing nature, exploring the sightsβ¦ It was worth it and I usually loved it. But, I had a route, I was prepared, I had a purpose.
Now that Arwen has passed away, I find that I lost a lot of joy in going out for walks. I have been trying to get my exercise walks in, sometimes playing some Ingress on my mobile, so I would have βsomething useful to doβ. But walking for the sake of βjust walkingβ (I know itβs a very useful exercise for my body at the moment, to recover from the two recent surgeries), I find it hard, very hard, and I keep feeling a bit lonely without my silly furball at my side. π’
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If I walk with a friend or loved one, I donβt mind, as itβs nice to chat and get some fresh air and exercise and all that. But if I only have my music, which does help a lot, itβs a bit lonely to be out and about. Walking to the store is OK enough, as thatβs the only thing that I can really walk to from my house. For other things, I need Skoosh nowβ¦ And on wet and cold days, I do have my treadmill.
So, when I donβt need to go out for a doggyβs business, then I will take the treadmill and walk on that. It may seem more boring, but it also has several advatages, especially when it comes to my recovery. It is more challenging, as it just keeps going on the same speed (if you donβt change it) and incline (if you want to use that). On the streets, you need to stop for traffic, there are more difficult pavements or roads, there are people that start talking to youβ¦ You have more βlittle stopsβ here and there, making a 30 minute walk βless productiveβ than the same 30 minutes on the treadmill.
My physical therapist (PT) has instructed me to walk on the treadmill with a 2% incline. The little upward movement should help my leg with the recovery of certain muscles, as you need to lift the leg a little higher when taking the step.
I could not find much info about how it helps the hip area, but there are benefits to the lower leg for sureβ¦ π
Increases activation of lower leg muscles
Your lower leg, which comprises your calves and shins, is home to several muscles, including:tibialis anterior
peroneals
gastrocnemius
soleus
These muscles are activated when you change from a flat surface to an incline.
Research shows that walking on a medial incline ramp also activates the peroneal muscles significantly more than walking on a normal or flat surface. This may be especially beneficial for people with weak ankles.
Healthline Incline Benefits
I always loved walking, when the conditions and/or company were pleasant enough π. But after a surgery, or after a surgery, a dislocation, and another surgery, the recovery is a lot harder, or so it seems. Iβve never been bruised so long before, not did I ever deal with so much edema (and for so long as well). Itβs been three weeks since I have been given the OK to start things again. Itβs been ten weeks since my last surgery. Some of the extended restrictions were set for three months, so I am slowly getting to the point where Iβll be allowed to start doing more things (carefully) again. Yay! πͺπ»
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I really hope to get back on track, health wise and otherwise. Finding a routine that works for me. Slowly getting in more steps, faster steps, less wobbly steps. Adding some other exercises to the fitness nights, hopefully rebuilding some of my lost musclesβ¦ And maybe it will also help me to shed a bit of weightβ¦ π€π»
I will keep sharing the monthly βFit In 2025β blog posts, where I will summon up all sorts of stats and details about my progress. Some days, I struggle to get the right motivation to put in the work. But then I think about being able to loo and feel better again, being able to enjoy longer hikes again, and that is worth some of the spoons at least. So, I will keep going. πͺπ» Thank you for joining me on my journey!
To be continuedβ¦
Thank you for your interest in my blog. I really appreciate your visit. If you like my posts and you want to share them on your social media, please, feel free to do so! Iβd be honored. If you donβt want to miss a thing, press the follow button (youβll need to be a signed in WP user) or you can follow me though the FediVerse with the link below, or scroll down and leave your email below this post. If you are a WP user and you would like me to know you liked my post, press the star/like button please. You can also comment when you see this post as a Toot on the Fediverse, and Iβll be notified of that as well. Thanks ever so much! Of course comments are welcome, but spam wonβt get shared, so donβt bother with thatβ¦
Please be wise and stay safe! I hope to see you back real soon again, feel free to drop in anytime! Wishing you all the best. With love, Cynni πΉ
flic.kr/p/2qCtAEn
I am living on a disability income and donβt generate an income with my blog. If you would like to support me and my work, Iβd greatly appreciate it. Every bit helps me tremendously. For more information and a donation link, please check out ko-fi.com/PlaystationPixy
If you prefer to use PayPal, thatβs also a possibility: PayPal.me/CynniPixy
Thanks ever so much π
Β© Eva Elaborate alt text: Cynni is walking down a forested slope on the N70 walking route near Beek-Ubbergen in the Netherlands.
Flickr
βJust a little bit of bad luckβ
β¦sure, letβs start by calling it that and set the toneβ¦ π€
As I write this, I just had my check-up at the hospital. Two x-rays were taken and then we had a chat with the first surgeon (a different one attended me after the dislocation and she did the second surgery). He started the convo with asking how things were going now, as I started off with a little bit of bad luckβ¦
Well, that triggered me before I had even had a chance to respondβ¦ π£
Some form of disclaimer, before I continue with my story (and some ventingβ¦):
I am not looking for sympathy. I donβt need people to feel sorry for what happened to me. It happened, nothing can change that fact. I experienced something I never wanted to experience, but I have now, so I can write about it, about how it was for me and how I tried to make the best of it. Itβs my experience, and I share things from that point of view. So others may (and most likely will) have way different opinions, which will be based on their experiences. So just a heads up that this post is me, telling my story, and not something thatβs a rule or guideline for everyone whoβd be/whoβs been in my positionβ¦
After 45 years on this globe, Iβve experienced quite a few little accidents, and some bigger ones, and then the surgeries that I got due to my congenital hip abnormality. Iβve had my share of pain and discomfort, and Iβm not one that easily cries out in pain. So I can tell you with a 100% guarantee by Cynni stamp that the 5 hours where my hip was out of the socket/bowl, that those were the 5 most painful hours Iβve ever experiencedβ¦ π’
The way the health βprovidersβ were annoyed that I could not βhop on the brancardβ and/or βlift my leg upββ¦ The fear I had while waiting for them to do something against the painβ¦ The anxiety I had after the surgery, with huge fear of me not daring to do anything, not even sleepβ¦ π I was so afraid that I did something to mess it up, that I was the cause of the hip βpoppingβ out of itβs socketβ¦ And a thing that really bothered me is that they never really explained to me βwhat made it happenβ.
They never answered me if it was something I did wrongβ¦ The only thing the second surgeon told me was that they needed to place a bigger ball into the socket, because there was too much tolerance between the old ball and the new socket. And during the talk at with the first surgeon last Tuesday, he mentioned that the new ball was 4mm bigger in diameter! This may sound like a little bit, but I guess that in medical terms, it is a huge difference! According to my app, 4mm converts into 0,15748 inch. So maybe that will tell the folks that donβt use metric something about it as well. But I would have liked to know that earlier, I would have liked to know what could have been the most likely cause of the hip popping outβ¦
I was so scared that I had done something wrong! When I got home after the surgery, I was afraid to do anything. I didnβt even dare to sleep the first two nights, and those were Arwenβs last two nights, so my fear for the hip dislocating again got made worse by the fear of realizing that I was going to lose my soulmate. After Arwen passed away, I took a sleeping pill, as I desperately needed to sleep without my brain staying in trauma mode. It helped, a bitβ¦ But after a few days (I only used the sleeping pill for two nights though), I had been so scared to move, that I was getting a sore on my right heelβ¦ Even though I had a special mattress that was supposed to prevent themβ¦
The more I have been learning about hip replacements, and hip dislocations and hip renovationsβ¦ The more I started to realize that this was not something I did wrongβ¦ It was something the surgeon did wrong. Although I canβt judge why the surgeon opted out of changing the ball when he changed the socket, especially when the other surgeon opted for a 4mm bigger ball. That sounds like there should have been some tolerance before the replacement, with the small old ball.
But of course the surgeon would never admit that he may have made a judgemental error. He will not say out loud that it could have been prevented if I would have gotten the bigger ball during the original surgery. And of course, there is no guarantee that this would not have happened if I would he gotten the bigger ball to begin with. But to brush it off with me having a little bit of bad luckβ¦ That just made me feel angryβ¦ I never expected a comment where he would apologize for making this misjudgement about the ball and socketβ¦ But I was angry that he diminished the trauma and pain that I had to endure for about 5 hours, followed by a painful night and another surgery, which was followed bt 6 very painful recovery weeksβ¦as βjust some bad luckβ.
So yeahβ¦ If I would need to get another hip surgery, I guess I would try to get an appointment with the second doc, the female one, who helped me in the ER, who was honest with me, who explained things to me, and who told me that she had replaced the ball because the one I had appeared too small, according to herβ¦
I just donβt get how surgeons can demean your experience with just a few stupid words, especially when the cause of that (bad) experience was caused by the way they (mis-)judged things during a surgery. A surgery where you put all your trust in the ability of the surgeon. And then they make a bad judgment call, or even a mistake, and then things go bad, and they justβ¦. π
Ah wellβ¦ I try to stay positive and well, I have crossed off another βexperience to have before I dieβ off the list, although it was not on there when I went into the OR the first time this yearβ¦
I just wish some medical professionals would use their words more wisely. That they would be more honest and that they would give you better info. Itβs my life I trust them with, itβs my future that they have in their hands, and I want to be sure that I am receiving the best care. And that I know what this care will be so I can prepare for it allβ¦ But I guess, in the world weβre living in now, with people finding reasons to sue others for this and that, that surgeons will never openly admit to bad judgment or mistakes, because they fear it may cost them too much (never mind what it may have cost the patientβ¦ π).
Wellβ¦ Hopefully someone in the medical expertise area will come across this post and maybe take something useful from itβ¦ π
Thank you for your interest in my blog. I really appreciate your visit. If you like my posts and you want to share them on your social media, please, feel free to do so! Iβd be honored. If you donβt want to miss a thing, press the follow button (youβll need to be a signed in WP user) or you can follow me though the FediVerse with the link below, or scroll down and leave your email below this post. If you are a WP user and you would like me to know you liked my post, press the star/like button please. You can also comment when you see this post as a Toot on the Fediverse, and Iβll be notified of that as well. Thanks ever so much! Of course comments are welcome, but spam wonβt get shared, so donβt bother with thatβ¦
Please be wise and stay safe! I hope to see you back real soon again, feel free to drop in anytime! Wishing you all the best. With love, Cynni πΉ
flic.kr/p/2qCtAEn
I am living on a disability income and donβt generate an income with my blog. If you would like to support me and my work, Iβd greatly appreciate it. Every bit helps me tremendously. For more information and a donation link, please check out ko-fi.com/PlaystationPixy
If you prefer to use PayPal, thatβs also a possibility: PayPal.me/CynniPixy
Thanks ever so much π
The image features a person and a chocolate Labrador Retriever. The dog is positioned on the left side of the image, with its mouth open and tongue out, appearing happy and relaxed.
Flickr
Ello sweet and lovely (gaming) Friendos 
ugh... While scrolling through the timeline, I had a very weird thought...
π
Ello sweet, lovely, and maybe also sporty Friendos 
JJ
in reply to cobalt • • •cobalt
in reply to JJ • • •