So this is where I'm driving and working and it's all back to normal, right? Wrong!! From various comments from other people it seems a lot of us thought this would be the point it became plain sailing but it doesn't quite work like that. There's still a lot of work to do and in the form of new exercises. Clamshells I've never liked and now that feeling has gone up a notch. Leg lifts can be a killer. Even the bridge has become something to dread rather than accomplished with some ease. Honestly to see me doing/attempting them you'd swear I'd not been in a gym for 20 years.
It really is pathetic where I'm desperately trying to justify how I can skip a few repetitions on the basis that it can't be good to work through pain. I must have a lot of thigh muscles that have been lying dormant and are now being kicked into life and God they are screaming at me. I feel like my quads are going to burst out of my skin at times. And that's on top of continuing niggling from the other pain I get from my groin into the very top of the front of my thigh.
I would actually be OK just walking around. There's a lot of 'don'ts' when I'm walking. I don't use any walking aids (though do carry fold-up walking stick just case. It's purple, it's allowed). I don't limp. I don't waddle. I don't hurt. I really don't hurt in my hip at all, well most of the time. Today I had a bit of twinging round the scar area but nothing to interfere with my walking. It's just occasionally like tiny needle pricks then settles, and seems to be a sign of overdoing things. Obviously not my exercises! No, walking is fine and most of the time I really enjoy it.
But when I'm not walking around I notice the thighs much more and it's not fun. I feel if I rested until they eased up it would mean I've stopped doing all my exercises as it seems continuous. So I'm carrying on and hoping they'll just get used to it and not throw a total hissy fit at me for being mean to them when they're tired and achey.
And the other thing is swelling which frankly is bugging me big time now. They warn you swelling can happen so when I ballooned on my operated leg a day or so after coming home from hospital I was ok with that. I rested, elevated etc and it settled. Apart from one little puffy patch below the incision area but otherwise it was fine. But then a week or so back I started getting the feeling that my skin was too tight. And it's both legs, most noticeably around knees and downwards. And elevating seems to do bog all. I did notice at first my calves also felt pretty achey but it was at the time I was first going crutchless so put it down to that. But today I woke up ok, then during the morning they started feeling tight and when i went for a walk, achesville again.
What also bothers me is that the tight feeling came on after being sitting at my desk to work. I ended up taking my laptop back in the bedroom and working from there with legs on the bed. It's a pain as I would rather be able to use proper keyboard, mouse and monitor. It's also a pain as I'm due back in the office next week and there's no back up bed I can work from there.
So I ended up calling Liz, Mr Hoad-Reddick's head nurse. She rang back this evening and was great as always, said it's not as common as the initial swelling but still happens quite a bit. She said sitting at the desk makes it worse so I need to be moving very regularly. So be warned if you see me round the office, I'm not skiving, just working on fluid reduction!
I'd actually got quite down by lunchtime today. I'd had a walk but wondered if I should be resting up. But with the weather being nice I want to be out. I was so pleased when she said I was fine to carry on walking so promptly headed out. For the first time since the op I decided to do the canal path. It's a short walk to some steps down to the water. They were quite steep which was interesting, a little nervy. Then luckily the path itself was resurfaced a while back so it's proper hard surface and not a mud track, and I felt nice and secure. I did a circular route which was 1.7 miles, my longest crutch free and took just over half an hour so I'm picking up my pace too. On the way home I yet again got unnecessarily freaked out by my fitbit buzzing for hitting 10000 steps. I must learn to ignore that. I'm hoping to do the walking challenge thing at work this year where we aim for 10000 every day.
As well as walking I also popped into the local leisure centre where I have gym membership which I thought was due to run out. Turns out it's not going to do that until May and then they have new cheap membership fee to reflect it being a bit rubbish! It suits me, I have simple tastes in gym equipment and I don't use the other bigger gyms nor swim so using only that one which is small and often empty in evenings is perfect for me.
And I'm successfully back on track fasting. Saturday was a little bit of a let down as I weighed in at just 1lb less. And that was not only having done 2 fasts in the week but also having done one the day before. But now I have the perfect excuse. I'm not fat, it's just fluid with my swelling. Oedema is my get out clause :)
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