Post Surgery: Day 2

I was a little worried that after such a good day yesterday, pent up pain would unleash itself on me, but I woke up feeling really good. I have a small amount of pain/soreness, maybe a little worse than yesterday, but it was still very minimal, especially considering the last pain pill I took was almost 24 hours ago. I started trying to move my leg around, and that did hurt a little, but not significantly more than it did before the surgery.

I also FINALLY managed to get some sleep. I have trouble sleeping anyway, and usually toss and turn a lot. Knowing that I will not be able to toss and turn is a mental block for me, ha ha. However, I discovered I could sleep on my good side, and that's a lot more comfortable than on my back, where it is basically impossible for me to keep my leg from flopping out into external rotation (which is another thing I'm not supposed to do). Apparently there are contraptions to prevent this from happening, but I guarantee I'd never be able to sleep like this: http://highschoolandhipsurgery.blogspot.com/2011/08/3-bs.html. Since my hip problem began to escalate, I've alternated between side and back sleeping. On the one hand, back sleeping makes me wake up less sore, but on the other hand, I sleep better on my side curled up (probably because that's how I had to lie/sleep on bed rest while pregnant, so I'm used to it). Now, if I stick a pillow between my legs and roll onto my left side, just like I did while on bed rest, it is pretty comfortable.

Other highlights of the day:

• The crutch pads and crutch bag I ordered yesterday came today, even though I didn't do a rush order or anything. So. Worth. It. If you should ever find yourself on crutches for more than, like, a week, I highly recommend crutcheze.com.
• My husband had an out-of-town meeting and had to leave the house early. I managed to get up, get myself dressed, get the kids dressed, get the kids breakfast, and get them out the door, all by 8:30 (at which point my dad came by to take them to daycare/summer camp). That did tire me out, so I lay back down after that, but then got up about half an hour later and actually did some work. I was feeling that good.
• I was stir crazy for most of the afternoon. I knew I must be feeling really good because I didn't want to sit and read or watch a DVD or do mindless Internet surfing or even take a nap. I ventured outside and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get down the stairs using the many 'how to navigate stairs on crutches' directions from Google. (I like this one, even though I don't have a broken ankle: http://www.upmc.com/patients-visitors/education/rehab/pages/stair-climbing-with-crutches.aspx). It really helped having full feeling in my leg. I was glad I didn't try to go outside yesterday when my leg was still numb and not really capable of moving on its own.
• I felt so good and so cabin feverish that I went to the farmers market with parents in the afternoon, mostly so I could have a drink. LOL. The farmers market is held at an old school that has now been converted into a brewery and a number of other hipsterish type places. (By the way, I have a bad hip, but I am not a hipster.) However, whenever I find myself kid-free on Wednesday afternoons, I like to go buy locally-grown veggies and have an afternoon dose of anti-anxiety medication :). I think my mom was surprised when I told her I was feeling well enough to go. That said, it was VERY TIRING, and instead of 'walking' back to the car, which was only a block away, my parents had to come and pick me up next to the food wagon at the entrance of the market. It felt really good to get out, though.
• Not surprisingly, my left hip (the good one) has started to hurt, to the extent that I actually got confused about which hip was the bad one when I was going down the stairs at the farmers market. (Admittedly, the drink probably didn't help. ;-)). After one step and lots of pain, I realized my mistake. It reminded me that I even though I feel good, I have a ways to go still.
• My doctor called me to check in. He gave me some more details about the surgery, since I'm sure I was more coherent than the last time he saw me. He said that the tear, although not big, was at the very top ('at 12 o'clock, for lack of a better description'), which can make the hip joint unstable. Although he saw no signs of arthritis, he did have to remove some bits of articular cartilage that had broken off, in addition to anchoring the labrum. Then he remarked that he had tested my hips while I was under (trying to imagine this is one part horrifying and two parts hilarious) and added, 'You are soooooo flexible!' Followed by, 'Were you a gymnast?' Indeed. Unfortunately, my stellar flexibility did not make up for my paralyzing fear of the Yurchenko vault.
• The doctor remembered that I had concerns about getting around my house and asked how that it was going. I told him I hadn't even tried the stairs yet and confessed to my fall. Fortunately, he didn't make a huge deal out of it, though he seemed upset I had ruined the DVD, ha ha. He also remembered I was teaching an 8-5 course in August and asked me to remind him of the exact date. When I told him August 13th, he reiterated that wouldn't be a problem and 'We'll get you off crutches and feeling fine by then.'
• I hope he's right. I've heard stories about people who felt 'wined and dined' by their surgeons, and then sort of abandoned once the surgery didn't turn out the way they had hoped. 
• I hope my story doesn't end that way.