Did they send you home with that knee movement thing? Maybe coskater knows what it's called -- I'm sure she had to use it too. I don't like to take pain meds, and I found that basically sleeping with my leg being moved around by the thing really, really helped with the pain. And are you on crutches? Make sure you're using them correctly -- don't let your free leg/hip swing as you normally would, because it will hurt A LOT!

Your right my doc was Philippon, so you just had the cartlidge repaired right? In a few days they should give you a transcript that tells you what you had done. Philippon puts you on a bike about 1-2 hours after you wake up from surgery. I had to wear this ghastly brace that attached to my waist, thigh and knee that stopped me from break 90 degrees of flexion at the hip, I also had that fun little knee bendy/hip bendy machine for 8 weeks and these little fun things that poofed on my feet. Did you get any of that stuff? Are you using regular underarm crutches or forearm crutches? Forearm are easier for longer periods of time especially if you have good core strength. They also let you move a little easier and you can accessorize them. Do you have to wear TED's I hated those things, 8 weeks. It's good that you are getting out, driving will be a while all the doctors have different protocols. Just make sure to follow them...

Take care, heal well!!

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

To ibreakhearts- off topic. Thanks for letting all of us know on a previous post about Carrie Jones skating dresses. My next dress will be through her. I have already spoken to her regarding the fit and Carrie was VERY nice.

Hope today was better for you!

i had the cartilage repaired, but i also had some bone removed. i'm not sure what the details on that are, but he had to take out some bone to keep my hip moving properly. man, i can't imagine being put on a bike a few hours after surgery! luckily i'm not stuck in one of those braces. i asked him if he braced, and he said he hadn't found one he liked (or something like that). i don't have the machine either (i think it's called a CPM or continuous passive motion machine). i just have the thigh high TED hose. i'm using underarm crutches. i thought about asking for forearm crutches, but, oh well, these work fine.



i got out a little bit today. i went to the house of Lindy Z to pick up a jacket. I'm so excited. It's nice and warm Then i crutched around a couple stores for a bit. Didn't buy anything, but it was nice to get out. I was wiped afterwards, and fell asleep in the car on the way back. Then i got home and slept some more. that pretty much summed up my day lol.

the pain is still kinda bad, but i also haven't been taking much when it comes to pain meds. i'm still pretty nervous to take anything after my night of throwing up. i'm mostly trying to manage the pain by icing. i have a really high pain tolerance, so i can get away with not taking meds. i know it would be better for me to not be in pain, but i cannot take another night of throwing up. i don't think the throwing up was even caused by my pain meds, i think it was from a different medication, but i still can't help but be scared.

i'm hoping to stop by the rink tomorrow and say hi to everyone. being stuck in the house is so boring!

__________________
Youtube Videos

Oh man, that puts my 2 week wait to get back on ice (summer holiday) in perspective.

Hang in here girl, and remember that by giving your body the time it needs to heal, you are going to come back even stronger! Don't rush things, you're worth it!

__________________
Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Gosh, you have real pirate crutches?! I'd love to see them... here, elbow crutches are the norm and have been for at least the past 45 years.

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

That's really interesting. I used the crutches that go under your arms; I've never seen any other kind than those! I'm off to find pictures of elbow crutches so I can see what they look like

ETA: I just found pictures - I have seen elbow crutches before, but only used by people who need them for very long periods of time (like people with lifetime walking disabilities). I wonder why...maybe they're more expensive than underarm crutches...

Elbow crutches are much easier than "pirate" crutches, I broke my outer metatarsel in college and had a cast and "pirate" crutches, in college, in the winter in Missouri. Not fun...I remembered them and went for the elbow.

It sounds like you had an impingment, a small bony growth that was causing an issue with the range of movement. From what I understand -- not that uncommon, the bike is not hard especially if the spinal block from the surgery is still working. My block stopped about 10 minutes into my 20 minute bike ride so it was only partially easy.

You will get tired easily for about a month, sleep a lot, drink lots of water and even if you aren't hungry try to nibble on healthy foods. I learned how to eat those little oranges during the first surgery.


Sounds like you are doing well, be careful and follow your doctors directions.
I have heard the MKwan is back to 100% after her surgery with Philippon even though it took a while to come back, she had the labral tear as well. She had her surgery the same day as a judge I know, late August of last year.

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

I had pirate ones too with my broken ankle this summer.

yeah, i had a mixture of CAM and pincer (ok this is a mouthful) femoroacetabular impingement. basically the ball of the joint wasn't shaped properly so it rubbed and the socket covered too much of the femoral head, leading to the labrum being pinched and torn. so i think he shaved down the socket and reshaped the femoral head. or at least that's what the plan was.

i can't believe your block wore off so quickly! i had a nerve block put into the front of my hip, in the groin area, and 4.5 days later, i still don't quite have full sensation. my thigh was totally numb about 2 days. the inside of my leg is still a little numb.

__________________
Youtube Videos

Do you mean you don't have sensation when you touch the skin? That's common after surgery and not part of nerve block. I don't remember ever getting it with my hip, but I got it with my knee surgery, and honestly, it never went away. It doesn't bother me -- when I touch the skin over the incisions, it just kind of feels like it's asleep. Is this what you're feeling, or is it more like when you get numbed up at the dentist's? I can't imagine a nerve block given for a relatively short surgery would last that long!

CoSkater -- mine wore off before the bike! The nurse basically had to force feed me a vicodin.

no i mean the whole leg. i couldn't fire my quads for about 36 hours. i was totally numb from the hip to about the ankle. even now, if i touch along the inside of my thigh down toward the knee, the sensation isn't completely back.

i don't think it's that abnormal tho. the surgical nurse told me that no matter what surgery they did (repair/debridement), i could not put any weight on my leg for at least 4 days because of the block. also, the post-surgical instructions said the same thing. i guess it was just the type of block and where they put it in? i know my block for my ankle lasted a while too. it lasted like 36 hours

__________________
Youtube Videos

guess i'll do a daily update since i seem to have a few interested readers

so i stopped by the rink today. that was really nice. i was only there for about 45 minutes, but it was great seeing everyone. it was really sweet, my coach had planned on driving home and bringing a puppy to the rink for me to play with (she has a bunch of puppies that she's adopting out), and she lives like and hour each way from the rink. i wasn't able to stay, but she was even thinking about bringing the puppy to my house for a bit (and i live 30 minutes from the rink in the OPPOSITE direction). she didn't end up coming because it's pouring rain, but it made me feel good that she was even willing to think about doing that for me.

being at the rink also made me kind of sad tho. its just frustrating for me. i had a knee and ankle surgery previously (soccer injuries) and was off the ice for about 2.5 years. i fought really hard when i came back in august to get better, and i'm just so scared that it'll all be gone again when i come back. but, then again, it's also comforting to know that if i could get back to double axels in a few months after being off the ice for a few years, being off for a couple months shouldn't hold me back too much. also, my skating in the past few months has been hampered by my hip. so hopefully skating will be a lot less painless. i still have a bad left hip (same condition), but my right was the really painful one.

so i came home from the rink, napped for a couple hours (as usual) then got up. the pain flared up really badly around 7.00, so i took to the couch, covered my hip in ice packs, took a codeine, and watched my scrubs dvd love that show. now its like 11.45 and i'm bored out of my mind i could always go to sleep, but hey, what fun would that be

tomorrow i'm gonna go visit a couple friends in the hospital (eating disorder unit ) and maybe go to the mall with my sister. we're both injured, so it's perfect, neither of us could last long anyways.


thanks again for all of the kind words

__________________
Youtube Videos

It sounds like you are doing well, while I have done all this it has been mostly by myself, I didn't have any family nearby but I did have help.

That sounds painful, the pinching of the labral...

One of the things I have learned over the last few years is how different circumstances equal different outcomes. Some doctors use a larger block, my surgery was only supposed to last 2 hours, it lasted 7 so my block was probably appropriate for the smaller surgery. I was very lucky in having little nausea and little pain in both surgeries, until the end of July 07 then I started to have massive pain and when I stopped taking meds all together about 3 weeks prior to the second, wanted to see how bad it really was...bad.

It sounds like you are doing very well, around 3 weeks people usually get some depression, don't worry it's normal. You just have to look to the future and having a hip that works.

You should look for an FAI or Labral tear forum, that might help you get a better idea of what to expect from a variety of different view points. I read a forum called surface hippy and it lets me see what can be a warning sign of something major or just a pattern of behavior I want to avoid.

I also got the e-mail of my doctor's nurse and I e-mail her about 2 x a months and she gives me advice on what to keep doing and what isn't a good idea. I did the same with Dr Philippon's staff.

Take care, nap heavily!!

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

i'm sorry you had no family around, that's really rough. if i were around, i would have helped, just so ya know

i've been looking around a little bit for some forums. when i was having knee issues i was part of kneeguru.co.uk, which is brilliant. the email is a good idea too.

-----------------------

so today started out well but ended not so great. i visited two of my friends in the hospital, and it was nice seeing them. it makes me sad to see them struggling (both are patients on the eating disorder unit), but i love them to death and am happy to give them any support i can. one of the girls has had a really rough few years and doesn't have any family support, so i know how important it is to visit her. getting to the hospital was a little difficult...i had to crutch up-hill slightly. but it was nice to get a little exercise!

so i came home, watched some figure skating and napped

when i woke up i went to a friends house, but ended up leaving pretty quickly. my leg and hip were really bothering me. since then i've been home and i've been in pretty bad pain. i'm a little nervous, because i think it might be nerve pain. i still don't have full sensation along the inside of my leg. there are even a few patches of total numbness down closer to my knee. now i'm having pretty bad burning, stabbing pain down my outer-thigh and into my knee. i'm trying not to think about it too much, but it's definitely nagging in the back of my mind. my mom and i decided that if i still have numbness on monday we'll call the doctor.


well, my dad is coming tomorrow! i'm really excited. he's lived in new york the past 4 or 5 years and i only see him a few times a year for about a week. i haven't seen him since september or so. he's moving out for about 6 months! also, a friend is coming over and we're just gonna hang out and watch movies. i think i've been on my feet...well, foot...a little too much the past couple days, so maybe that's why my hip is bugging me. i'm just gonna rest tomorrow.

school starts monday...not quite sure how that is going to go. sitting in the car still gets me pretty sore, and classes are 1.5 hours. hopefully codeine will get me through it, because i'm not quite sure how attentive i'd be if i had to take percocets LOL

__________________
Youtube Videos

Hope today you are feeling better! And hope you do not have long days at school. That can be grueling. I didn't have what you are going through but when I was in college (1000 yrs ago) I herniated a disc in my lower back. (Hence my online name ) Anyway, I couldn't move my right leg at all, had to call an ambulance - from the dorm- . I couldn't go to class for about two days and then I was on crutches. And in agony. Don't know how I did it but my teachers were great giving me time to make up work ect. I even had a dance class!! The teacher was great though, I still got a good grade even though I couldn't dance for about 4 weeks.

that does not sound good. is your back doing better now?

teachers at my school are great. we're a very--sports orientated school. la times once called us a sports camp with a school attached. so the teachers are very used to dealing with injured students. also, a few years back i was in the hospital for a number of months and they were all incredibly sweet. but yeah, i'm also in a dance class (well musical theater, but half the class is singing and half dancing) and the teacher has been great. she'll just have me do some written work to make up points.

-----------------------------------------------
so i had school today. woke up bright and early (for me) and got ready. well, in the chaos of returning to school, i forgot my pain meds! by about 20 minutes into first period my hip was not feeling good. i got through the day, but it was not fun.

still having weird pain. but i'm going to physical therapy tomorrow so hopefully we can figure something out. i'm also going to try to get an appointment with the surgeon because i still have so much numbness

__________________
Youtube Videos

Yes. My back is muuccchhh better. I don't have a herniated disc anymore now they are degenerating!!! Fun. The discs can reabsorb over time and with age. Also with age most people have denerating discs. My back has gotten better with A.R.T technique. I talked about it in previous thread. Thanks for asking. And, am glad school is sports oriented!! Feel better today and good luck in PT.

It sounds like you are doing well, do you have a large bruise from the surgery. Mine was HUGE, on the front of my leg, jet black from side to side on the front about 6" down the leg, it took months to heal. I didn't have much numbness, I found Indomethacin to be a good medicine, and if I wanted to veg out I would take Vicodin. Percocet did nothing for me, don't forget your medicine again, it sounds like you have a good situation with your school.

Keep up the good work!!

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

i actually have virtually no bruising. i have a little brusing next to the incisions, but that's it. i expected a lot, especially since they did work with the bone. neither percocet nor vicodin do much for me in terms of pain, but vicodin has made me sick to the stomach the last two times i've taken it. that may actually be coincidence (the first time was a larger dose than i had been used to, and the second time i may have actually gotten sick from my rls meds), but i'm not too anxious to find out. percocet just makes me dopey.
--------------------------------------------------------

well i havent updated in a few days, mostly because i kept hoping things would improve. i've been having a lot of pain down my leg, but it seems to be nerve pain. my physical therapist said that sometimes the nerve reacts to the nerve block negatively and becomes hyper-sensitive. it sure has! even just wearing pants can be excruciating. the slightest touch is super painful. also, extending and straightening my leg sends horrible burning pain down the inside of my leg into my knee. also, not sure if this is a nerve reaction or soft tissue damage from the traction in surgery, but the inside of my leg is also super sensitive to pressure. there doesnt seem to be much i can do about this though--narcotic pain relievers don't generally help with nerve pain. i do think i'm going to call the dr tomorrow to see what he can do.

so i also had my first physical therapy appointment. i've been seeing the same therapist for over a year now for various injuries, so i know how the place works. my ROM is slightly depressing, but i know it'll get better. i am happy to learn that i don't have any ROM restrictions, just weight bearing ones. i haven't been put on the bike bc i am on absolutely no weight bearing, and even the bike puts a little pressure on the hip as you push the pedals. instead, i'm going to be doing pool therapy, which is nice. i did pool therapy with my knees, and it's great. they have a pool at the rehab center, and it is nice and warm also, i'm hoping that i'll be able to do these exercises in the pool at home.

they used a very cool machine on me at PT. it's called InterX. it feels like stim, but this machine is actually able to read where the pain is worse. the therapist "paints" the general area (strokes it in a linear-type motion) a couple of times, and then it'll get "stuck." this means it has reached a hot spot. then it applies stim and actually gives a number representing the pain. i'm not entirely sure how it works, but it is AMAZING.

unfortunately, i will not be doing pool therapy tomorrow because i am a big fat idiot. so i had a nasty looking mole on the left side of my upper back, basically where the shoulder blade meets the ribcage. well, it was probably just irritated from the crutches rubbing it, but we have a family history of melanoma, so we got it checked out. the doctor removed it and 2 other moles. now, look back at the sentence "it was probably just irritated from the crutches rubbing it." that thought registered, but its significant didnt. now, instead of a mole, i have a gaping wound. OW! so i think i'm going to have to buy a pair of forearm crutches. the armpit part rubs too much. but yeah, the spots where the moles were removed are still going to be open wounds tomorrow. just getting water from the shower (not shampoo, just water) hurt, so i don't think i will be able to handle the chlorine. i'll still go to regular PT i assume.

do have one happy story to tell tho. ok, so there is this guy i like in my math class. he happens to be an amputee (bone cancer). well, i get into the elevator at school (only for injured/handicapped people) and there he is. hopefully we will continue to overlap. all i could think of was the line from grey's anatomy "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it's just...um, where I come from...elevators tend to be this kind of aphrodisiac. You know?" Well, the quote actually goes on a little more, but i'm not sure i should post the rest lol. anyways, i probably sound like an idiot right now, but there is something fun about sharing an elevator with someone you really like and who seems to like you back.

__________________
Youtube Videos

bah still waiting for things to improve.
don't get me wrong, they're not terrible, but i am definitely not feeling so hot.

the pain has still been really bad. whatever is going on with my nerves is not fun. certain movements, like anything that stretches the front part of the hip flexor sends horrible nerve pain down my leg into the top part of my calf. the pain isnt just a quick shooting pain, it stays until i move my leg. it isn't so much of a problem now with the crutches, but if i'm still having that same pain when i start to walk, i'm gonna have some issues.

also just not feeling too well in general. right now i feel super nauseous (and its not meds this time). i did stop by the rink today which made me feel a lot better. i got a call from my coach at like lunch time so i called her back after class and she actually picked up the phone! so we talked for a couple of minutes and she said that i should stop soon. my coach is not really the type to tell me she misses me and all of that, so it made me feel good to know that i am important to her/the other skaters. i actually got my mom to take me to the rink right after school, so i got to hang out for a while. it was great seeing everyone. one of the girls (an 8 year old) was so happy to see me! it was really cute because i was watching her as she came in, waiting for her to notice me. her face literally lit up and she came running. i know all of this may sound silly, but it is really important for me to know that people care about me. so yeah, that was nice.

i'm hoping to get an appt with my surgeon soon. all of this pain is just not ok with me. i know there isnt that much that can be done for nerve pain, but hopefully he can recommend something or at least treat the pain from where he took out bone.

still crossing my fingers that things will get better quickly, but i'm feeling a little discouraged. the fact that i am suuuper stressed about finals and everything doesn't help, i'm sure. i just want to feel normal again. not happy, just normal

__________________
Youtube Videos

It's not silly to want to know that others care about you. It's being human. And by the way when you were describing how nauseous you are feeling ...I started to feel really nauseous myself . Is that called empathy? I am usually a very nauseous feeling individual normally. Bleccchhh!!

Hope tomorrow is a better day.

Talk to your doctor he can tell you what your body might be reacting to, it's hard to know how the body will react to arthroscopic surgery, so if at all possible...stay calm. I had really bad hip flexor pain that radiated down to the outside of my knee. My experience wasn't pleasant but it wasn't bad of course I took very strong anti-inflammatory medicine for a long time.

I get ocassional odd tingles and just strange sensations, I am told it is my body healing, I certainly hope so. You are probably still recovering and in general sharp pointy things inside us just don't make the body happy.

If you can, seriously look into elbow crutches, really so much better and won't irritate those moles.

Take care and just remember you will get better eventually.

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

ibreakhearts - you OK? You haven't given an update in a few days.

She signed on to the Board today. Maybe she doesn't feel like posting.

Hope you're doing okay!

__________________