Surgery Diary: First Two Weeks

If you didn't already know, in January 2019 I injured my hip training. Thanks to Covid-19, it's been a long wait for surgery, but on the 14th of April, it finally happened! I know when I was waiting for surgery, I read a million blog posts on peoples surgery experiences, so I thought I'd make my own.

I had surgery on my left hip for CAM impingement and a liberal tear on my left hip after two years of chronic pain. It's a relatively straightforward (but reasonably major) arthroscopic surgery, involving dislocating my leg to get a camera into my hip to get a good look at the damage and remove the CAM lesion. It is meant to be a day surgery, but I wasn't cleared to go home so ended up spending a night on the ward which I was actually very glad about!

Week One!

After my exciting night in hospital I was cleared to go home after being assessed by a physio on some stairs. Honestly, I was absolutely exhausted as I'd hardly slept that night and was in a reasonable amount of pain after physio. Because of covid, no one was allowed to come onto the ward to collect me so a nurse walked me to the main corridor and I made my way to the lobby (very slowly) to be collected. Once I got home, I struggled up the stairs, got into bed and stayed there for the next 48 hours. 

It wasn't until day 3 post surgery that I attempted going downstairs again! It was nice to have a change of scenery and say hi to my dog, but getting back upstairs was absolutely exhausting. The more I did it though, the easier it got and it meant I could enjoy Netflix from the sofa as well as from my bed!

Over the weekend, I started going on small walks up and down my street, with my sights set on making it to the pub at the end of the road ASAP. To start with it was so tiring and painful just to get halfway round the road, but I could see improvements everyday. Despite this progress, this is the point where I entered what I call "The Crying Phase" of recovery. From this point on, I cried nearly constantly for maybe 5 days. I think more than anything it was pure frustration at my inability to do anything for myself.

But despite all the crying, 6 days after surgery I had my first private physio appointment. Due to Covid restrictions, NHS physios aren't able to see patients face-to-face once they leave hospital, so I decided that for my own peace of mind it was worth paying to see someone in person. The physio was very hands on and assessed my body's symmetry as well as if my pelvis was level and sent me home with a list of exercises to do. The next day, I had my first NHS physio appointment via video call, where we discussed the exercises I'd been given the day before as well as the surgeons recovery protocol. 

Then, to celebrate 1 week post surgery, I made it to the pub! It was the furthest I had walked since leaving the hospital and it was bloody freezing but I'm so so glad I managed to do it. 

I've been very, very lucky with my first week of recovery. Because I had been in so much pain for so long before surgery, I felt instantly better. While I was in some discomfort, my pain was at a much more manageable level than it had been for months. I really cannot complain!

Week Two!

Week two has felt a lot less linear than my first week of recovery. I definitely had good days and bad days, but even on the bad days I was in much less pain than I had been waiting for surgery. 

On Thursday, I attended my first university lecture over zoom since surgery and although I had nothing to add to the discussions, it definitely felt like a step in the right direction recovery-wise. Like all good students with online university, I joined from my bed. So, it was only after my class ended and I finally got up I noticed my left foot had gone a strange colour and was freezing cold. I decided the sensible option here was to go take a hot shower and see if it warmed up, which worked for a few a bit. 

However, when I woke up the next day and it was still cold and a bit swollen I called my GP who called me into the surgery to have a look. Thankfully it wasn't a blood clot or anything sinister, it just looks like I have bad circulation! I was advised to wrap up warm and take it easy, so I headed back to bed with a bar of chocolate for the rest of the afternoon. 

By day 10 post op, I was desperate to get out of the house. Thankfully the sun was shining and I managed to make it out for a coffee and catch up with my friends in the sun. I felt so much better after some sun and socialising, which thankfully brought the crying phase to a close!

Honestly the rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Between doing physio 3 times a day and all of my university classes, I didn't really have time for much else. But pain was totally manageable and I was taking next to no painkillers, which is a huge improvement on my life before surgery! I'm down to taking 15/500 co-codamol once a day, whereas before surgery I was consistently taking 8 30/500 co-codamol tablets every day. So I'm feeling very very lucky that this soon after surgery I'm able to manage pretty much completely using ice.

Day 14 involved getting the stitches taken out by the nurse at my GP surgery. It really wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! The nurse was super friendly and put me totally at ease. It was a little uncomfortable getting the stitches removed but I really felt like I was in safe hands - even when a broken bit of thread had to be dug out of my leg. I'm so thankful to the nurse for making it such a positive experience! 

Obviously I had to reward myself for being such a big girl and not crying while the stitches were removed, so I treated myself to a white mocha and big slice of chocolate cake at Caffe Nero!

If you want to hear more about my recovery, I'm posting regular updates on my skating Instagram!