Tuesday, 23 April 2013

What the hell happened!?!


Jesus!! I was absolutely out of my tree last night. A combination of an adverse reaction to Tramadol, Phenergan to settle that down, Morphine and bugger all food and sleep all contributed to me being as ripped as I have ever been.

In no particular order:
·      I fell asleep on the phone talking to my 11 year old daughter;
·      I was talking to an old school mate on the Gold Coast about God knows what;
·      I chewed the wife’s ear off for hours while I nodded off intermittently;
·      I scared my 7 year old son on the phone by talking to him like he was a 70 year old;
·      I resisted my wife trying to take my iPhone off me; and
·      I was talking to a mate on FB about goths.

Considering I didn’t get to sleep until late as I was so wired, and I was woken up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) by a nurse who wanted to take my vitals, I’m feeling quite good this morning. I am really, really stiff in the hip as expected but the pain is not too bad.

Here’s my left hip. It looks a lot worse than it is. The black writing was put there before the surgery so they didn't do the wrong side. It reminds me of Krusty the Clown and the plastic surgeon.

"Krusty, your plastic surgery is complete. Now, when I remove the bandages, don't be alarmed at the total stranger staring back at you."
"AAAAAAAAHHH! I LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME, YOU MORON!"
"Oh, nonsense, Krusty. You look at least 10 years younger. Plus I did your breasts."
"Does anybody hear me complaining about the breasts?"




I was surprised by how little information about what went on in the surgery I received from the surgeon. He said there wasn’t as much damage as expected and had performed a labrum debridement and removed a CAM lesion on the femoral head/neck. I’m not sure what I expected. Somewhere between an written report and a reassuring description I suppose.

The lovely physios came in to take me through what I need to do between now and next Monday’s second surgery. I liked the idea of getting off my feet and resting as much as possible.

The basic gist of it all was:
·      Avoiding having my leg raised at or above 90 degrees;
·      Use my crutches until I can walk without a limp;
·      Sleep on my back or side with a pillow between my legs; and
·      Keep up the anti inflammatory and pain medication.

I was also given a fact sheet with advice and exercises, including isometric quadratus muscle contractions where I need to lie on my stomach with my ankles raised to 90 degrees. I need to open the operated leg slightly then push the heels together.

Here is the fact sheet.



Apparently the quadratus muscle is the equivalent of the shoulder cuff. It holds the hip in place and gives the joint stability.

The pharmacist eventually turned up and gave me a showbag full of medication. I have Meloxicam which is a heavy duty anti inflammatory and Nexium which apparently stops the Meloxicam causing ulcers, bleeding, or holes in the stomach or intestine. I also got Endone which is for severe pain relief.

Monday, 22 April 2013

Immediately post-op


Howdy. I’m bloody tired. Didn't get done until 12.30pm after arriving at the hospital at 7am. I am extremely groggy but the pain in the hip is really good so that's good.

I had a bad reaction to Tramadol when I woke up. It’s a powerful pain reliever but I had rashes and felt hot. They gave me Phenergan (an antihistamine) and along with the Morphine I have been off my trolley!!

Wooooo!!!!

Here we go!!



I’m waiting and I’m tired and hungry and toey. Caroline and I have been here since 7am. We left home at 5.30am. I’m not nervous about the op but I am about the recovery. I want these hips fixed!

Last night I had pain in the upper hip/illiotibial band area of the pelvis. This happens especially when I'm lying down or trying to sleep. Hopefully the surgery will settle it down.

I got new boots!


And a shaved and painted leg.



Ready to go.

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Last run before surgery. You idiot!!

That was stupid. Ouch! I have been feeling quite good and wondering if surgery was the way to go. The whole "Boy who cried wolf!" scenario again. At least I'm sure now though.

I believe I will have left the surgeon in no doubt now. I'm an idiot. He's going to carve me up like a Christmas turkey on Monday.

I ran a tough hilly 6.75km run in 35.47min.



Thursday, 4 April 2013

Easter holiday running


In theory I was hoping to be quite fit before surgery and therefore recover more quickly. Unfortunately, I reckon I have gone overboard.

I have been training for and playing cricket as well, and I have been bowling a lot. Especially  over the middle 3 weekends of March where we played a Saturday-Sunday Semi-Final then a Saturday-Sunday-Saturday-Sunday 4 day Grand Final.

Not ideal.

I found it very difficult not to get out in nature in the beautiful Grampians National Park over Easter for a run.

April 1, 2013

Very sore left hip, right knee and right ankle. 3.16km run in 20.46min. 


April 3, 2013

Not bad. Sore hips. 3.59km hilly run in 20.18min. 


April 4, 2013

Hips sore. Might be time to stop. 4.09km hilly run in 22.56min.