First Post-Op Appointment (2 Weeks + 1 Day)

I had my two-week post-op appointment with my doctor today. One thing I LOVE about this doctor is that I never have to wait more than a few minutes to see him. I always appreciate punctuality, and it seems to be super rare in orthopedists. That said, he did sort of seem like he was in a hurry during our appointment, but obviously that's how he stays on a timeline. That's better than doctors who keep you waiting for two hours and then give you five minutes of their time because their time is obviously sooooo much more valuable than yours. Besides, he answered all my questions thoroughly, it's just that he talked reeeaaaalllly fast, like he was on speed. (Okay, I'm not sure why I wrote that, I've never even had a conversation with someone on speed. I bet it doesn't even make you talk fast.)

Anyway, the purpose of the visit was to get my stitches out. Apparently the incisions healed very quickly because the doctor remarked that it was 'good we're getting these out now.' The tissue was healing all around and on top of the stitches, which made for one painful moment when he pulled one of them out. Other highlights:

• The doctor had given a series of photos from the surgery to my mom to give to me 'for my scrapbook.' I guess he explained to her what they illustrated but of course my mom knows nothing about anything body-related. I tried and tried to figure out what was going on, but couldn't (which is embarrassing to admit considering I used to teach anatomy). So I brought the photos in and had him explain them to me. He enthusiastically delved into what he calls 'the show and tell part of my job!' He also said the first time he saw a hip joint through a camera, he had no idea what anything was either. Hopefully that was a long time ago, ha ha. When I was toying with the idea of med school a while back, orthopedics was certainly an area of interest to me, but this made me realize that I did not miss my calling. I just don't think I could do surgery; my brain doesn't work the right way for it. I think that's why organic chemistry was a struggle for me, too. I could never visualize molecules in three dimensions and got turned around and confused very easily. For example, I could never distinguish between enantiomers (molecules that are mirror images of each other) and two molecules that were actually the same molecule, only shown from a different angle (I fell for it every time).
• For more show and tell, visit the Arthroscopy Show and Tell page.
• The doctor asked me about my right leg pain. Of course, the pain was really bad last night but had sort of subsided by the time I got to my appointment at 11:45 AM, then promptly returned after the appointment. Go figure. After doing a few tests and confirming that I was drinking plenty of water and taking aspirin every day, he said he was sure it wasn't a blood clot, which was the major concern he wanted to rule out. He basically just chalked it up to my body freaking out a bit after the trauma of surgery and weirdness of being on crutches, etc. (Note: He never actually used the terms 'freaking out' or 'weirdness.') At this point, I can accept that as an explanation. 
• The doctor said that about 10-15% of people who have a labral tear on one side also have it on the other, so it was possible I might have the same problem on the left side. In fact, he said he had just operated on someone yesterday for the second time in a year to fix his other hip. The funny thing is that we were having this conversation while he was pulling my stitches out, and he was telling me how in the past, this type of repair required surgical dislocation of the hip, and with that type of surgery, there would have been a huge incision several inches long. He then proceeded to trace the path along my hip with his finger to show me where the incision would have been. I mentioned that this was one time where I was glad I had waited 15 years to deal with a medical problem. Then he said, 'Well who knows, maybe in another 15 years we'll look back and think how crazy it was that we had to make two incisions to do this surgery.' So yeah, maybe if I have the same problem in my left hip, I should just wait another 15 years before dealing with it. :)
• I asked the doctor if he had any thoughts on my knee pain, and he seemed to agree with the therapist that it was my quad muscles tightening up. Again, it's just one of those things you hope resolves as you return to normal. He said that people more commonly had pain in their hip flexors and groin area after surgery, but that everyone was different, and in my case my quads were probably just irritated. I actually stretched my quads out last night and I noticed that the pain isn't as bad today, so hopefully stretching can get me through a few more weeks until I'm able to sit like I'm used to sitting. 
• The doctor said he knew PT was pretty boring at this point - 'very conservative,' he said.
• The doctor asked if I had managed to get up my spiral staircase yet, and I told him I had.
• The doctor asked me to remind him when I had to start teaching again. I said August 13th and he reiterated that I'd be fine by then. 
• The doctor asked if I felt like I was generally getting around pretty well. I said I was. He mentioned that if I wanted to, I could try just using one crutch, and gave me a brief demonstration of how this works. (Contrary to popular belief, the crutch goes on your good side, not your bad side.)
• The doctor asked how it was going with my kids. I confessed that I had put my son back in daycare, and that was a bit of a bummer, but that it was better this way. I then told him how I had come to the conclusion that it was carrying my son around that set this whole episode off in the first place.  
• The doctor said that I looked great and was recovering very nicely.

On a different note, I am currently reading the book Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. It is actually for a book club I am in with a couple of other moms from around the neighborhood, but I'm enjoying it. (I'm guessing this isn't a top choice of book for book clubs, but this is what happens when your book club is overwhelming comprised of scientists.) The funny thing is that right before my appointment, and I mean literally right before, I read the part of the book about surgery, and how many of the surgeries that have been tested against placebo (which is not many) are actually no more helpful than placebo. I keep wondering if the surgeon actually did anything, or if he just made two incisions in my hip, sewed them back up, and then showed me pictures of hip arthroscopy from Shutterstock. I don't recall signing any consent forms to be in a clinical trial, but then again I wasn't exactly with it the morning of surgery. Well, whatever, if the pain goes away, who cares if it's just the placebo effect? Mind over matter.