Rehab or Physical Therapy as I like to call it.

I hope you guys are doing well. I am getting stronger by the day and getting more used to my new hip every time I use it. Not only is my hip beginning to feel stronger but also I am beginning to get stronger physically. The past few days I have spent several hours up out of bed as opposed to short 30 minute times out of bed. I have started physical therapy and my mom is currently helping me. I am doing hip abduction, heel slides, hip rollouts, quad squeezes and buttock squeezes. They are fun. I am doing 15 reps 2x's a day.

My mom has decorated my house for Christmas. It is pretty fun. We are doing pretty well. I have had several visitors and tomorrow I get to go to the doctor and get my staples out. I hear you feel some better once the staples are removed. I hope so.

I'M BACK

Ok so all those people who told me great stories about hip replacement left out a few critical details. Like how hard the first few weeks of recovery are. I am getting better by the day but it has been very very hard. It is just hard when you can't get out of bed or off a chair on your own. I thought it was going to be so much easier than it has been but we are making it.

Surgery went well. Here is what I remember, they put me to sleep, I think I remember them transferring me to the operating table then waking up and telling them I was in a lot of pain. That is where the fun began. They put me on a morphine pump but that was bad news. I got extremely, extremely sick and had a real rough day. They switched me over to hydrocodone which seems to be doing the trick. The Next day they got me out of bed and I began the tough recovery process. On monday they sent me on my way to recover at home. I got motion sick on the way home but I am feeling much better, walking more, and figuring out the whole getting out of bed thing.

Keep praying and I will keep updating. I am getting ready to eat lunch. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

See you in January!! (not you my faithful blog readers-read on to find out who)

So today was my last day at school for the rest of the semester. As my kiddos leave I usually tell them to have a great day and that I will see in them tomorrow. However today I had to say have a great day and I will see you in January. It was kind of hard. As much as I am looking forward to a little break from work I love my job and love seeing my kiddos everyday. I assured them that I wasn't going to be off partying while they were working hard and the thing that would make me feel the best would be for us to all score extremely well on our semester test and beat the other Algebra 2 teachers. We will see how that works.

I might possibly have the greatest co-workers on earth. Today they threw me a good luck party. I was slightly teary eyed but it worked out ok. They have officially made my mascot hippie the hippo. That's right they made my new mascot a hippo should I be offended. Just kidding it made me feel really really special that so many people were concerned and cared for me. It was fun times. At that party I heard about a million more hip, knee, shoulder, and other replacement stories. I found out things about people that I never knew. It was kind of crazy. It never ceases to amaze me how many people have a hip replacement story (you know my dad, my aunt, my sister, my brother had hip replacement and it was the best thing that ever happened to them).

Well we are on the two day countdown. I am off work to relax, get rest, and get ready for the big day. My mom and dad are moving in tomorrow. My dad is going to be here off and on for the 6 weeks and my mom is here to stay.

Keep praying for me and I will update as soon as I can after surgery. I am expected to be in the hospital until about Monday so it will probably be at least middle of the week before I can update. Thanks for reading, caring, and praying.

quick update

Ok so it is 10:30 and I am tired but here is a quick update before I forget. I got a phone call from Dr. Tkach's office today. I was worried that maybe something didn't look so great on those tests from last week but instead it was Dr. Tkach's scheduler. She wanted to let me know that Dr. Tkach had been deciding on what components to use in me and had come to the conclusion that ceramic was the only option for me because yes that's right I am so young. The only problem is apparently ceramic is an upgrade and your insurance won't pay for it. So we were going to owe the difference. Thanks to the best MOM and DAD in the world who are helping me with my medical expenses I am getting the upgraded ceramic hips which should last longer and be better for me overall. I believe I have a great Dr. who took the time to search out the best option for me and was willing to find the ceramic parts. Only about 10 days until this new ceramic is installed. Hey on the bright side maybe I have a chance of being a spokesperson like Coach K after all since they are using ceramic. Keep praying and I will update soon.

Time for the countdown to begin.

I went to my pre-op appointment yesterday and it kind of put in to perspective that this hip replacement thing is a lot closer than I ever imagined. That is right only 2 short weeks from tomorrow and I go under the knife. For a complete discription of the actual procedure please see one of my earlier blog posts. Yesterday I got to have a blood test, chest x-ray, ekg, and a physical exam to make sure I am healthy enough for surgery. Ok first of all I have a chronic illness known commonly as RA does that make me healthy. I think not. Second of all they perform this surgery on many people twice my age and beyond every day and they question whether I am healthy enough for surgery. Oh well. I guess I passed because I didn't have any phone calls today that they were cancelling surgery. Not only did I find out that I am healthy enough to have surgery but other fun things happened at my appointement yesterday. My favorite being meeting with the pre-admission nurse who started our conversation with this question. "What do you understand is going to happen to you?" To which I replied I am going to have total hip replacement on my right hip. Sorry Nita I didn't use the official medical term Total hip Arthoplasty. I didn't want to sound too smart and I was a little shocked at the question. I also did not respond with the technical discription which might have been fun you know to say I am going to have my hip bone sawed off and a new one put on. I also got the phone call about how much it was going to cost which wasn't as bad as we estimated. I also got this fun video which teaches me things like getting on and off the bed, getting out of a chair, and getting in an out of a car. (yes i have already watched it and have started praticing). I am actually going for the all star rehab award. Those little old men and women better watch out I am going to be racing them to see who can get up on a bed the fastest using our new hip precautions. I bet they haven't been practicing. Oh well. Keep me in your prayers. Thanks for reading and keep reading for updates.