FAI (Femoro-acetabular Impingement) & Karate

My personal experience with FAI and what you should know about this condition

Archive for May, 2013

nearly 3 weeks and doing fine…

Tomorrow will mark 3 weeks from surgery. At this point, there is not much pain unless I stretch past the realistic range and/or overuse my leg. I continue to be careful to operate within the standard limitations imposed upon me by my surgeon.

I have been struggling to get my weight back up. I gained a bit in water weight at the hospital, losing 10 lbs in 4 days after getting home. I’ve only gained back a few pounds since hitting a low that I hadn’t seen since my last hip replacement.  I think the main problem at this point is that my appetite is less than usual because I haven’t been exercising much. I’ve only been doing normal people exercise recently, which is about 1/4 of what I am used to.

Speaking of exercise, I have been going to the gym a little the past week. I hadn’t made use of my YMCA membership for about 6 months. But I went 3 times last week. I put in 5 miles on the stationery bike and spent a little time on the weight machines; low weight on the leg machines and more reasonable weight on the arms. It’s interesting to note how the body is connected…I wasn’t able to do any pushups and a few other exercises for about 10 days after surgery. Now I can do them fine. But for a while it was hurting my hip so I didn’t push it.  This morning, I rode my bike 10 miles on the road at a moderate pace.

I’m spending a lot of time stretching. I’m being very careful about my “precautions.” But I’m pushing toward the limit of what is acceptable to at least make sure I get use of the restricted range that I’ve got to work with.

I’m still feeling a bit lethargic. I’ve taken a nap most days. But then I have trouble sleeping through the night. I’m not sure if this is because I got used to that at the hospital and am feeling some sort of “hospital lag” (like “jet lag”) or if it’s something else. I think that once I am able to exercise more, I will be able to sleep better and not feel so tired during the day.

Oh. And I just took off the bandages.  The scar is healing nicely.

Overall, things are great.

staples came out at 2 weeks

Just an FYI, since I forgot to mention this already… I had the staples removed at 2 weeks. 27 staples and almost no pain at all. The nurse put tape over the scar, which she said would come off naturally after a few days (I pulled it off gently in the shower after almost 3 weeks).

updated at 1 week mark

It has now been 1 week since surgery. As expected, recovery is not a quick process but I see improvements every day. I am now able to walk slowly & carefully without crutches. I will take my crutches with me for a while still when I go out. And I still use one crutch or a cane often while walking inside, to help promote a more natural gait (stepping movement). I have been sleeping a little better at night and have a little more energy now during the day. But it’s still much different than before the operation.

Some more good news: The swelling in my leg has gone down substantially today. And I am no longer feeling the need to go to the bathroom every hour (still more often than pre-surgery, though, but at least I’m not getting out of bed 8 times through the night as I had been…now more like 4). The bad news: I have lost a lot of weight. When I got back from the hospital, I was just over 160lbs. I had been struggling to get back to above 160 for over a year. Unfortunately, it appears the urination and swelling had something to do with this…I”m now down to just 150lbs. That is 10+ lbs in under 5 days. It’s going to take time to get the weight back. But I’ll do it once I’m able to step up my workout routine. Right now, I am just doing a few crunches (can’t do a lot of core workouts due to restrictions in movement to keep me from dislocating the hip), pushups (hurt too much to do until last night) and chin-ups. I hope to start a regular workout plan at the gym from next Monday. I will be careful and pace myself.

surgery+5 days

I just noticed that a couple of my previous posts didn’t make it through.  So I’ll provide a quick update. The night before last, I only got 2 hours of sleep. I did manage to get in a couple naps yesterday, totaling about an hour. Last night, I slept much better. I woke up about 8 times. But I probably got a total of 5 hours of sleep. That’s almost twice as much as I’ve had any day since surgery. My leg is still swollen but elevating it while I’m lying down seems to help. Everything is getting a little less frustrating, gradually. It’s going to take time to recover. But I’m mentally prepared for that. Physical therapy is supposed to come today or tomorrow for a house-call. I plan to review some exercises and discuss timing with them. But I should be set after one visit. I have already started my own therapy.  I can now put most of my weight on the new hip. But I am being careful not to overdo it and to limit my movements as not to violate any of the restrictions imposed on me for the next several weeks: 1) Do not turn leg inward too much  2) Do not put leg past center line (cross legs) 3) Do not bend at that hip to less than 90 degrees.  Doing any one of these is dangerous. But 2 or more at the same time risks dislocation. And I want to avoid that as much as possible!

showered and changed bandages

I finally took a shower this morning. With the help of my wife, we changed the bandages. 27 stitches. Same as last time. Putting on pants is a little challenge. But I actually managed to it by myself today while STANDING!

another relatively sleepless night

In the hospital, there were people in the room on average about once/hour, all night long. I was looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep at home last night. My wife convinced me to take a vicodine to make sure. I slept for about 3 hours and then couldn’t get back to sleep. I finally got another 30 minutes of sleep after the sun came up. Argh. Not all that tired right now but I may take a nap sometime today…

2nd hip replacement done. Recovering in hospital now.

No nausea from the anesthesia. Minimal pain medication. But a few set-backs. My blood pressure was pretty low for the first 24 hours. Twice yesterday I got up and, using a walker and having a physical therapist next to me, walked slowly to the door to my room and back. I was too light-headed to do much more. The PT didn’t arrive until late this morning. It was just before lunch and low blood-sugar probably played a part in my light-headedness. I only managed to stand for a few minutes. After taking a nap and having lunch, I walked around with the walker quite a bit. Still not enough to satisfy me and it did start to hurt a little. But I’m still on pace to be discharged tomorrow.

2nd hip replacement is tomorrow

Just got info from hospital on timing… I have to be there at 5:15am for a 7:15am OR appointment. The actual surgery should take between 2 – 3 hours. I will be unaware of what is going on for about 30 minutes prior and 30+ minutes after, due to the anesthesia. I should be to my room by about noon and laying there for the rest of the day. I’ll be getting up the next morning to take my first steps. On the 3rd day (Friday), I will be walking around the halls and at some point will be given the OK by the doctor to leave for home. Don’t worry…my wife will be driving me. 🙂