17 Days Post Op

I'm starting to feel like I am on my way to recovery. I still have a constant aching in my left side of my bottom from the hip joint. I'm trying to cut back on the pain meds but use them as needed. Softer things are easier to sit on as opposed to firmer things. I never get completely comfortable and move from my bed to the living room chair. I'm still using the elevated toilet seat as its softer than the regular toilet seats. I, still, continue to use the shower seat as well.

My doctor took me off my hard core meds and left me with some weak stuff. :) I'm still having nerve pain run through my calf. The morning time is when I struggle most as I feel stiff from laying down all night.

My biggest struggle right now is mental. Having already struggled with depression in the past, I know the signs and symptoms when they begin. I always thought that staying home for a few weeks to just chill, watch TV and read books would be great. I'm learning that it is great only if you have the freedom to do other things as you please as well. I'm unable to go outside by myself right now due to not having a chair I can easily sit on but I'm working on that. I'm unable to drive due to still taking narcotics but, also, being unsure of getting in and out of vehicle to use a wheelchair. I dread living the next 9 weeks like this until I can weight bear on my operative leg. I've begun reading the Bible as that will bring hope and comfort. I told the Lord that I would learn whatever He wants to teach me and I know He can speak to me through reading His Word as well as through life.

I have started to get out more recently. My mom took me to the girls' school for Savannah's cheer uniform fitting. Joseph and I also went to a movie! I'm still uncomfortable and have to adjust and move a lot to keep pressure of that left butt cheek. It feels good to get out though!

We have been supernaturally blessed by all the meals. Our friend, Kaleena, set up a meal train on takethemameal.com and we have had meals coming since February 19th and the continue until April 2nd. I had a hard time receiving that and was actually embarrassed by that many meals thinking people would see us a "needy" and that that was too much. However, someone reminded me that I have cooked meals for people for years and that we are "reaping what we have sown". That's one thing I'm learning on the journey....to receive and let the Lord use others' giving to bless them.

PAO--13 Days Post-Op

I am just now where I feel able to sit down and blog my thoughts after surgery. Surgery went well. I have a 5 inch incision across my left pelvic area. I had a bandage over my incision but it was removed before d/c. At d/c, I just had stitches and steri-strips over the incision. The steri-strips came off after a few days.

The first couple of days after surgery were quite difficult in terms of pain. The MD had planned on me having an epidural for pain control but decided last minute to given a long-term pain shot that would last for around 3 days. Here I am in holding waiting for surgery. I was given a very sexy pair of yellow socks and hat!

Surgery lasted around 4 hours. I remember feeling, in PACU, that I couldn't breathe but that quickly subsided. Once I got to my room, I was in quite a bit of pain. I was given a Morphine pump that I could push every 10 minutes. That thing was the BEST! It took about 3 rounds of Morphine to get my pain tolerable. The perk to not having the epidural was having the use of my legs. I was able to get up to use the restroom but that was seriously difficult. Being unable to put weight on my left leg for 12 weeks made learning to use the restroom a challenge. I learned to hold my left leg straight as I sat down on the toilet. The toilet in the hospital was actually very low to the ground, as my toilets are at home. It became very clear that I would need an elevated toilet seat once I got home. I would recommend this to anyone having this surgery because the pain in having to get into a low seated position right after surgery was intense. Here's mine at home:

Also necessary, a shower seat and those suction cup handles in the shower since my shower is not handicapped accessible.

They didn't waste anytime wanting to get me up and moving. Day 1 post-op, physical therapy started coming in to teach me to walk on a walker......while not putting weight on my left leg. Actually, I am toe touch weight bearing. The PT told me to pretend that there was an egg under my toes and I cannot brake the egg. I am to put just enough weight on it to balance myself. Here I am walking while still in the hospital.

I find walking with the walker difficult to maneuver and I have gotten calluses on my hands due to lifting myself up when I put my affected foot down to avoid "breaking the egg". A sweet friend just bought me a walker bag to put on the front and that helps "carry" things with me when I walk.

I left the hospital after a 2 night stay in the hospital. I was a little worried about getting home as we live 3 hours away from where I had surgery. We decided that it would be best for me to sit in the back so that I could prop by affected leg up on the other captain seat for the trip. We also decided that giving me a strong medication before the trip would be good so I could sleep the way home rather than struggle with pain or being comfortable. Here I am in the backseat while my husband drives us home:

The first week post-op was more difficult than I thought. I remained in my bed most of the time, slept after taking medication and took pain meds around the clock to manage the pain. Exactly one week after surgery, I seemed to turn a corner in my recovery. I started getting out of bed, walking around the house and my pain management seemed to be under control.

At this point, 13 days after surgery, I'm so much better. I'm able to decrease my pain meds during the day. I notice that I hurt more in the morning (4/10 pain scale) and in the evening (6/10 pain scale), especially if I have been active all day. At night, my legs and hip joints tend to hurt significantly. Usually, around 6:00 pm, I go take my pain meds, lay in the bed and ice my legs and hips. I have found that icing helps tremendously at night. As the pain meds kick in, the ice relaxes my legs and hips and allows for me to relax before bed.

More to come......

Suck It Up, Buttercup

I'm not sure why, but my pain level has really increased since the day after Christmas. Before Christmas, my pain level stayed at a consistent 2/10 and would intermittently shoot up to a 5/10. Now, I'm experiencing a consistent 5/10 pain level with it, very often, rising to a 7/10.

I consider myself to be a tough girl but geez....this is a little hard to bear. I've tried icing, heating, resting, medicating and some of that helps but not for long. I inquired with my hip specialist about getting another steroid injection before surgery but he nixed that idea. Long-term steroids decrease the immune system and prevent healing so, with surgery coming up soon, I need to hold off on that. They are calling me in an anti-inflammatory so I'm hoping that will help.

I could do surgery sooner but I held off because I have a cruise scheduled with my mom, SIL and MIL. My MIL, affectionately known as "Grissom", is 82 years old and has traveled very little in her life. Joseph and I have tried to take her to as many different places as possible while she can still travel. We've done the beach and the mountains....but a cruise to Mexico....YEAH! I told my doctor that I couldn't do surgery until after the cruise. I'm not sure I will have another time to take her while her health is good.

Until then, the doctor's assistant said to rest my leg. Ha! Yeah right! With 4 kids....that's funny.

Family Update

(Left to Right) Savannah (11), Sadie (6), Sarah (10) & Shelbe (8)

Last time I was blogging, Joseph and I only had 2 girls....toddlers at the time. Since then, we have moved on to 4 girls! Yes, 4--they weren't all planned and we had them really close together (they are all less than 2 years apart) but they are all wonderful and so much fun! Its amazing how they can all be so different, in looks and personality.

Our oldest is Savannah. She's almost 12 and is incredibly strong and determined. There's quite a bit of attitude these days when it comes to her but I'm so encouraged because I know God is going to reign that in towards doing great things for His kingdom! She will be a great leader in God's time. She's a smart girl and school comes very easy for her. Areas that don't come very easily for her at this time include getting along with her sisters, knowing when to listen rather than talk, and feeling mercy for others. She has a very compassionate heart though and can, at times, be very considerate. I can see such growth in her these days.

Next, is Sarah who is 10. Sarah has the sweetest spirit of all my girls. She is very sensitive to other people's needs and feelings. She is also our rule follower and expects that everyone else should follow the rules as well. School is a little more of a challenge for Sarah but because of that, she has had to develop very disciplined study habits. I believe Sarah is the one that will be the most sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His moving. She's intuitive and senses things in people and her surroundings. I think she's the most likely to stay close to home as she grows as well, but, who knows.

Shelbe is our free spirit. She is 8 years old and if she was allowed, she would be naked.....all the time. Shelbe is not afraid to be in a crowd and not know anyone. Her comment is, "It's ok. I'll make friends. I just walk up to people and say, Hey! Wanna be my friend?" I love that about her! She's also unafraid to be alone. She can play by herself for hours. Shelbe will be the one that will be unafraid to leave home and go somewhere for the Lord. She also finds happiness in all situations and is not scared of anything.

Sadie is the youngest and is 6. We all thought she was so cute when she was little that we all catered to her. It was cute until she turned into a monster and we had to quit treating her like the princess she thought she was. :) Sadie is a giver, always finding ways to help people. She's always making a craft or drawing a picture to give someone. Her middle name perfectly describes her character....JOY! She wants everyone to be happy and to have everything they need and she is happy to be the giver of all those things. The Lord will use her to bring joy and smiles and happiness wherever she is because He made her a giver.

I may have all of this all wrong. They may all end up in different roles and doing different things than I imagine. This is just what I see in them now. It's so fun to imagine the things the Lord is going to do in their lives as they grow and learn to serve Him. I'm so thankful for these girls. They bring me happiness and purpose. I love being their mom!

Finding Purpose in the Pain

I gave up on this blog about 7 years ago. Life got busy. We had more kids, totaling 4 girls. It was just one more thing to keep up with. Now, at a uncertain time, I find myself needing to talk my ideas and worries out. At the ripe old age of 37, I just was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia. Yes....like found in dogs. (insert eye roll)  I've always had pain, especially after running. My left hip has also always popped...like a really, really loud pop. I remember, 10 years ago, Joseph and I were living in Northport, AL while he was graduate school. He would drive to Birmingham and I would drive an hour to Columbus, MS to work. Before waking up my 2 oldest (& only at the time) girls for the drive, I would get up and run on my treadmill for 30 minutes. On many occasions, I would limp through the day not knowing what was causing such pain. We thought it was that I wasn't stretching enough and was then cooling off in that seated position in the car on the drive to work. Fast forward to the last 4-5 years, I have run 6 half-marathons. They were not easy. I've always carried more weight than I should so I figured that was the reason. However, no matter how much stretching and no matter how much I worked on my running pose, I always hurt.

hip xray

My last run was in August of 2016. I went to the riverwalk on a beautiful day....by myself. Being by myself was the best part. :) I made it about 2 miles but was struggling. When I headed back, I felt a pop in my left hip but it was different than usual. From that point forward, I literally limped and cried back to the beginning. I was able to make it to a park bench, lay down and stretch my left leg enough to be able to walk to my car. I, almost, got my husband to make the 15 minute drive from home to come get me but my pride wouldn't let me. My husband quickly got me in with a local orthopedic MD. Honestly, from my research, I thought that I had bursitis. An x-ray proved otherwise. "You have hip dysplasia, Amanda." I had no idea what it was or that it would interrupt the flow of my life like it has and will for the years to come.

"Hip dysplasia means that the hip joint is the wrong shape, or that the hip socket is not in the correct position to completely cover and support the femoral head".

http://hipdysplasia.org/adult-hip-dysplasia/

I was referred to a hip specialist at the Campbell's Clinic in Memphis, TN who actually specializes in hip dysplasia. He sees mostly pediatric and young adult patients because that is the age in which hip dysplasia is diagnosed. I pushed through the pain for way too long. I should've listened to my body better and not been afraid of going to the doctor.

I really like my doctor in Memphis. He spent a lot of time with us and educated us on everything. One of the most important pieces of information he taught was degrees of femoral head coverage, which is basically how much does the hip socket cover the femoral head. Coverage of 25 degrees or

less is considered to be hip dysplasia. Coverage of 16 degrees or less is considered to be severe. As of December 2016, I have 4 degrees of femoral head coverage on my left hip and 15 degrees of femoral head coverage on my right hip. (SIGH) I was presented with 2 options: hip replacements or a hip perseveration surgery. Recovery from a hip replacement surgery is much easier and quicker. However, there are activity restrictions to make the replacement last as long as possible and, due to my age, I would need at least one revision. Recovery from hip preservation surgery would be tough but it would allow me a more active lifestyle afterwards and could, possible, prevent a hip replacement in the future. My doctor's words were, "We are going to carefully ignore the right hip while we take care of the left hip first." Great....2 hip surgeries.

I've chosen the hip preservation surgery. The fancy name is periacetabular osteotomy (PAO). The doctor will cut part of my pelvic bone out and re-align it over the femoral head and insert screws to hold it in place. After surgery, I will be toe touch weight bearing only for 12 weeks while the bones grows where it has been cut. Walkers, crutches and wheel chairs will be my transportation.

Here is a link to a video (animated, not actual surgical footage) of the PAO surgery.

http://hipdysplasia.org/adult-hip-dysplasia/adult-treatments/hip-preservation-surgery-for-adult-hip-dysplasia/

Surgery will be February 16, 2017 in Memphis, TN. I'm not worried so much about me. My Heavenly Father knew this diagnosis long before I found out about it. I know He uses situations in our lives to draw us closer to Him and strengthen our faith. The sermon this past Sunday was for me.

A few points that grabbed hold of me:

1. My response to what happens is what is important. My response should be to look past the pain for the purpose.

2. Instead of praying what I want, ask God, "What's next?" and "How can this be used for your glory?"

3. God doesn't cause problems but He does permit them and use them to grow us in our relationship with Him and to show the world His faithfulness to His children.

I'm ok. I don't like to rely on others to take care of me but I will to be well for the future. My concern is how do I manage a family of 6 from the couch or bed? At times, it takes myself, my husband and my mom all going in different directions to get these kiddos everywhere they need to be. Also, how do I wash clothes, get them ready for school, and do all the other things required of me while on crutches and unable to put weight on my left leg? My husband and I have told the girls that they are about to have to pick up some of the load. He's actually said that this will be good for them in transitioning them to becoming more independent.

It will work out. The Lord has it planned out, I know, but I'm nervous. I suppose that's human nature. I'm ready to learn what it is He wants to teach me. In the midst of having to slow down, I'm yearning to hear His voice and learn what the next step is.