Hey, everyone. Today marks me being 12-weeks post op. I am feeling pretty decent - but I know I have a ways to go!
I was off all meds at 6-weeks which felt good, but I do still take Tylenol on days when I feel "crappy." My biggest complaint right now is that I still can get that "knife in the back" feeling on my low left side. It's not constant, but it can flare up when I don't really know what I've done to aggravate it. When that is hurting, the pain will radiate to my left thigh. Since it radiates, I worry that it is sciatica, but it's more of a muscle pain than a nerve pain, so I think the pain is in the low back muscles that go down and attach behind the knee. My back pain is in the exact same spot where my rib hump was, so do you think that those muscles and tendons are still healing from being pulled back during surgery??
I had TERRIBLE thigh pain after surgery. It hurt like crazy if I even slightly touched my thigh. It is finally fading away. It's still there, but not near as intense as it was in the beginning. I shed WAY more tears over that pain than I did over any back pain after surgery! Totally unexpected!
I also struggled with hip bursitis on my right side after surgery - I was walking WAY too much. Once I cut back on long walks and did several short walks, it went away. But, before my surgery I had bursitis in my left hip from my hip being out of whack. I hadn't been able to lay on my left side at all for months before surgery and even after surgery. But, I can tell that is starting to get better and I'm able to lay on my left side a lot more than before. Hopefully someday I can sleep all night on my left side.
Insomnia - FINALLY I'm getting better sleep with no sleep aids. I thought the insomnia would never end! I did resort to taking Valium 3 nights in a row at one point - I just needed sleep so bad. I tried Tylenol PM and that didn't really help. But, I guess with feeling better and just being patient, I'm slowly getting more sleep. Still not as much as I'd like, but enough to function on. I do still take Tylenol (not PM) at night thinking it might help some ache or pain and help me sleep a little bit.
Exercise - I walk 30-minutes 3 times a day. If I feel like it, I'll do another 20-minute walk at night. I have added some hills (I live in a hilly neighborhood). But, I will admit, there were times that my legs were killing me and I had to cut back on the hills and my pace. (The competitive runner in me just had to try it!!) I've learned to be patient with my body and if it means walking slow on flat ground to have less pain, then I guess so be it.
At my 6-week post op check up, I was cleared to ride my stationary bike, do the Pilates ab exercises that I was doing before (laying flat and just raising one leg), and my weight limit was up to 20 pounds. I learned that because I had anterior approach - my stomach muscles were NOT ready to any sort of exercise! I think I won't even try those until I'm 4-months out. When I came home at 6-weeks, I felt weak and too skinny. I had lost weight that I didn't really have to loose. But, in these last 6 weeks, I have gained the weight back and I feel WAY stronger than 6 weeks ago. I can tell that the walking has given me back muscle tone in my butt & legs.
This might be too much detail or too personal, but I was thinking of Misty's recent post about her 6-week check up. For me personally, there is a big difference in how I feel now at 12 weeks versus then at 6 weeks. I too, was athletic and had to give some of that up. But, like Ed, I had to give it up before surgery, so I am already mentally past that. You will get there. And, you might be able to go back to some of your previous exercise habits. I have definitely been on the "see saw" Ed mentioned and have been on the down side many times. As I sit here saying I feel pretty good, I'm embarrassed to admit that just last week one day I literally cried myself to sleep. I was just sure that nagging pain on my left side was NEVER going away. I don't usually act like that, but this surgery definitely brought on weird emotions!
I'm anxious to get through the next 3 months. I'm hoping that by 6-months post op the pain on my left side will be mostly gone. It is a nagging thing that sometimes scares me.
But, all in all - at this moment - I am happy that I had the surgery and am happy to be "on the other side."
Ed - Can I also email you with exercise questions?
Kathy
I was off all meds at 6-weeks which felt good, but I do still take Tylenol on days when I feel "crappy." My biggest complaint right now is that I still can get that "knife in the back" feeling on my low left side. It's not constant, but it can flare up when I don't really know what I've done to aggravate it. When that is hurting, the pain will radiate to my left thigh. Since it radiates, I worry that it is sciatica, but it's more of a muscle pain than a nerve pain, so I think the pain is in the low back muscles that go down and attach behind the knee. My back pain is in the exact same spot where my rib hump was, so do you think that those muscles and tendons are still healing from being pulled back during surgery??
I had TERRIBLE thigh pain after surgery. It hurt like crazy if I even slightly touched my thigh. It is finally fading away. It's still there, but not near as intense as it was in the beginning. I shed WAY more tears over that pain than I did over any back pain after surgery! Totally unexpected!
I also struggled with hip bursitis on my right side after surgery - I was walking WAY too much. Once I cut back on long walks and did several short walks, it went away. But, before my surgery I had bursitis in my left hip from my hip being out of whack. I hadn't been able to lay on my left side at all for months before surgery and even after surgery. But, I can tell that is starting to get better and I'm able to lay on my left side a lot more than before. Hopefully someday I can sleep all night on my left side.
Insomnia - FINALLY I'm getting better sleep with no sleep aids. I thought the insomnia would never end! I did resort to taking Valium 3 nights in a row at one point - I just needed sleep so bad. I tried Tylenol PM and that didn't really help. But, I guess with feeling better and just being patient, I'm slowly getting more sleep. Still not as much as I'd like, but enough to function on. I do still take Tylenol (not PM) at night thinking it might help some ache or pain and help me sleep a little bit.
Exercise - I walk 30-minutes 3 times a day. If I feel like it, I'll do another 20-minute walk at night. I have added some hills (I live in a hilly neighborhood). But, I will admit, there were times that my legs were killing me and I had to cut back on the hills and my pace. (The competitive runner in me just had to try it!!) I've learned to be patient with my body and if it means walking slow on flat ground to have less pain, then I guess so be it.
At my 6-week post op check up, I was cleared to ride my stationary bike, do the Pilates ab exercises that I was doing before (laying flat and just raising one leg), and my weight limit was up to 20 pounds. I learned that because I had anterior approach - my stomach muscles were NOT ready to any sort of exercise! I think I won't even try those until I'm 4-months out. When I came home at 6-weeks, I felt weak and too skinny. I had lost weight that I didn't really have to loose. But, in these last 6 weeks, I have gained the weight back and I feel WAY stronger than 6 weeks ago. I can tell that the walking has given me back muscle tone in my butt & legs.
This might be too much detail or too personal, but I was thinking of Misty's recent post about her 6-week check up. For me personally, there is a big difference in how I feel now at 12 weeks versus then at 6 weeks. I too, was athletic and had to give some of that up. But, like Ed, I had to give it up before surgery, so I am already mentally past that. You will get there. And, you might be able to go back to some of your previous exercise habits. I have definitely been on the "see saw" Ed mentioned and have been on the down side many times. As I sit here saying I feel pretty good, I'm embarrassed to admit that just last week one day I literally cried myself to sleep. I was just sure that nagging pain on my left side was NEVER going away. I don't usually act like that, but this surgery definitely brought on weird emotions!
I'm anxious to get through the next 3 months. I'm hoping that by 6-months post op the pain on my left side will be mostly gone. It is a nagging thing that sometimes scares me.
But, all in all - at this moment - I am happy that I had the surgery and am happy to be "on the other side."
Ed - Can I also email you with exercise questions?
Kathy
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