FAI (Femoro-acetabular Impingement) & Karate

Day 5: I slept relatively well, having gone to bed around 10:30pm, shutting off the ice-pad around 2:30am and otherwise only waking up a couple times before getting up at 5:15am. I had the low-imapct exercise machine on all night. I felt noticeably better at the start of the day and it only got better. I did a few of my exercises while at my desk and used most of my lunch break on a visit to the gym. I spent 20 minutes on the stationary bike and did a few upper-body exercises, since I have been neglecting my workouts in general recently. Then, after work, I did more exercises & stretches at home. I am feeling like I really could put at least half my weight on that leg without any pain or other negative repurcussions. But I am not going to push it…

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Day 4: I worked a full day at the office today. It took a lot of time getting around on the crutches and I asked people to come to my office in many cases where I would normally go to them to discuss something. My situation has improved considerably. I still felt plenty of discomfort but it has been more apprehension than anything else today. The pain level has definitely decreased markedly. After work, I went to my first physical therapy session. I road a stationery bike for almost 15 minutes to warm up. I started out slowly but gathered more speed as the time passed. We then went through many stretches and a few strengthening exercises. Mostly, we focused on testing and improving the range of motion. The PT could tell that I was doing a good job following what she was doing and the points of each exercise. So she left me with plenty of homework (about half of the things could be done independently but the other half required help in some way) and we set up 2 appointments for next week (doctor prescribed 3x/week but next week they are closed 2 days for the Christmas). The way things have been going, I would be surprised if the doctor does not tell me on my next visit (Jan 3) that I should start putting all my weight on that leg and step up the physical therapy. I am already looking forward to having my other hip done.

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Day 3: I got a little more sleep than the first night.  But I was still half-awake most of the night.  I went to bed around 10:30pm.  I turned off the ice-pad machine at about 2:30am and turned off the exercise machine at 4:45am. I got up a little after 5am to get ready to work from home.  I didn’t get as much work done as I would have liked. But at least I made it through the day without having to take a nap or pop another pain-killer.   I know that I am ready for work at the office tomorrow.  My hip is feeling better and better.  I still can’t/shouldn’t put any real weight on it.  But I am getting more range of motion and strength in that hip/leg.  I set up an appointment with a physical therapist for after work tomorrow.

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Day 2: The pain got worse today, I think.  I put the ice-pad back on and attached myself to a slow exercise machine they had given me at the hospital.  At the post-op Dr visit, they told me the good news; I only need to be on crutches for TWO WEEKS, because there was no labial tear (they had thought the surgery might be a little more involved than it turned out to be).  I am strapping myself back into the ice-pad and exercise machine to use in my sleep. Let’s hope I get more sleep tonight than I did last night…

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Surgery took less than 2 hours this afternoon. The staff at Stanford Hospital were very professional. The surgery time was delayed slightly and it took me longer than I had expected to recover enough to leave the hospital. And when I did I was in absolutely no shape to go watch the karate seminar I had organized to take place that evening 30 minutes away. I did call the instructor and the person hosting him to let them know that I was still in the hospital while they were getting ready to begin. They were understanding. I was in quite a bit of pain but, due primarily to all the medication I was on, what bothered me most was the nausea. I threw up. It was probably just the 6th time I had thrown up in the past 25 years. I am going to bed with a special ice-pad wrapped around my hip & leg.

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