Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Today after pool therapy my therapist took me over to the "cold water" pool. I swam laps in the pool for the first time since surgery!! I was so excited and I think my smile went all the way to my ears. I did one flip turn and was ok swimming freestyle, breast stroke, and back stroke! I didn't try butterfly because I need to be in way better shape to do that! haha. I can't wait until I can start working out in the pool again! Its going to be soon!!!!

On the road to recovery....

I am miles ahead of where I thought I would be at this point. Speaking of miles...I walked ONE MILE yesterday!!!! I walked to entire mile with a cane and actually felt pretty good! Today I had physical therapy and it kicked my butt! It felt so good to actually be able to kind of work out. My muscles are still really weak in my hip and I still have a long road in front of me. However, I am feeling so great!

Right now my goals are to be able to walk without a limp and without a cane. I don't think that it is too far away! 

NO MORE CRUTCHES!!!!

That's right! Today I got the OK from my PT that I do not need crutches unless I am going long distances! This may be the most exciting news I have had in 2 years!!!!! I have been on and off crutches for the past year and been constantly on them for the past 3 months. I feel like I have my independence back!! Today is such a huge milestone in my recovery process. However, like I have said before I really need to be careful and not do too much. This is the time where I can get ahead of myself and get injured.

On the other hand, last night I had the first dream where I wasn't on crutches (foreshadowing maybe?). I didn't need them at all and I was in a race where I was biking for 26 miles! And I finished! I felt so accomplished in this dream and had the support of all my family and friends there to cheer me on. I think this was a good sign. One day I will complete a Triathlon! It may not be for a few years but one day I WILL FINISH IT! That is my goal right now.

I can finally see the light at the end of this long, dark, dreary tunnel!

Learning to Walk Again...

I thought I would start out this post with a quote by Abraham Lincoln:

"I walk slowly, but I never walk backward."

I think this quote is pretty appropriate considering the fact that I went to the surgeon today and officially am FULL WEIGHT BEARING! Yeah that's right, I can walk!!!! Obviously, I am still using crutches and strengthening my muscles. However, this means that I am in the next stage of my recovery. The stage where I progress to lose my crutches and start on a cane! I can't wait! 

I think that I really need to be careful during this point in recovery because this is the time where I can push it too far and hurt myself. I need to be conscious of everything that is going on. 

Here some pictures of me taking my FIRST STEPS!!!

I'm putting weight on my leg for the first time! Yay!

 "He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Bye bye crutches! (just kidding...still need them for now)

My other hip chick also turned 15 years old this week! 

We celebrated my first steps and her 15th birthday together <3 

FUNDRAISER for HIP DYSPLASIA!!!

Last month was National Hip Awareness Month!!!!

Due to the time of my surgery and the intensity of my recovery, I wasn't able to organize anything. However, it's never to late to give money to charity! I decided to start a fundraiser for hip dysplasia awareness. One Hip World has done a great job at getting people together to raise money. So far they have raised $11,172.61!!!!!! Isn't that awesome!!! So now I would like to add to the pot!
ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO DIRECTLY TO THE INTERNATIONAL HIP DYSPLASIA INSTITUTE!

So please help me raise awareness as well as money for HIP DYSPLASIA!!!!

If you would like to donate please email me at myjourneythroughhipdysplasia@gmail.com or send your donation to:

The International Hip Dysplasia Institute
83 W. Columbia St.
Orlando, Florida 32806 




For those of you who know me personally, I will be selling the hip dysplasia awareness wristbands at my parent's garage sale for $1 donation! Please come by and help raise some money :)

Disability, deformity, problem? I call it an OPPORTUNITY!

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what to consider my hip. A disability? A handicap? A deformity? A problem? All these don't seem right but they're hard not to think about.

DISABILITY/HANDICAP:
The first terms that comes to mind are disability and handicap. I have a disability/handicap pass. To be honest, I don't feel like I have a disability. Obviously during recovery I am going to have some disability. Using crutches makes it hard to do anything. Also, I've noticed people think just because I can't put weight on one leg I can't do anything for myself. Like I not only can't use my arms but also can't use my brain! It's frustrating. I also get self-conscious about using a wheelchair. I now have my own wheelchair (since most stores unfortunately do not provide them to their customers). I feel like because I have my own, more people look at me in a "disabled" way. You know, the "what's wrong with her?" kind of look. Or, even worse, the sympathy look. I do enjoy the "VIP" treatment from people helping open doors, offers to carry things, or helping me up and down stairs but I can't wait until I can blend in with the rest of society.

DEFORMITY:
Physically speaking, yes, I guess you can consider my hip dysplasia being a "deformity". My hip was not formed correctly at birth, thus it is a deformity. However, I hate thinking of it this way. The word deformity has such a negative connotation to it. You think of someone being deformed as being really ugly. I will be honest though, it crosses my mind every once and awhile. I feel broken at times. I know that no one is perfect but I feel that this just shows the imperfection more. Most of the time I try to ignore this part of hip dysplasia as it is hard to think about.

A PROBLEM:
This word may not be the first word that pops in my mind like disability but it is the most frequent. Going through this entire process has shown me the problems with many different things, not just my hip.  

1. Problem #1: It has shown me the problem with handicap accessible public areas and stores. You don't realize how difficult things can be until you have a wheelchair, crutches, and no hands available to do things. Store aisles are too small for wheelchairs, doors don't have buttons to open them, restrooms have papertowels/hand dryers/soap not easily accessed, and most stores don't even provide wheelchairs to their customers. For me, this is a short lived experience and thank god! I would hate having to deal with this stuff for more than a year. I feel so much sympathy for the people that deal with these problems their entire lives.  
2. Problem #2: The organization of hospitals. It is amazing how disorganized the healthcare community is. I am going into healthcare and have been dealing with this a long time but being on the client side of healthcare is completely different from the employee side. I am so glad I had this experience to show me what the patient is really going through. I never knew how little different departments talk. One says one thing, the other says the opposite! What is the patient suppose to think? No wonder people hate doctors. The constant hospital bills in the mail doesn't help either. Even though my insurance/ financial assistance pays for most of my bills they still send me one before the insurance even processes it. I am still getting bills for last year...
3. Problem #3 and most important: My hip. I have to be so careful right now. My bone is healing and I can't do anything wrong right now or I could seriously mess it up. I worry about sleeping on it wrong, slipping while crutching around, stepping on it without thinking, etc. The pain and discomfort also is not pleasant of course. I have actually gotten to the point where the pain isn't what bothers me most, its all the stuff I can't do on it. I know I shouldn't think about it but I can't help it at times. I can't drive, walk, run, bike, swim, play....the list goes on and on. I am proud of where I am in recovery and I feel very confident that I am doing better than they thought I would. However, I can't wait to start getting back to normal. I see someone run by in my apartment complex and I just think to myself how much I really want to get out there and join them!

But what it all comes down to is that the good in the situation out weighs the bad! There is no disability in the fact that I am learning and having experiences that no one in my OT field will have. The ones that are disabled are the ones without this type of experience.  Also, I may have had a "deformity" in my hip since birth, but I have accomplished so much on that hip. I have been on cross country, swim team, swing danced, walked around the entire city of New York and Chicago (with a cyst), trained for a marathon (on a stress fracture and multiple cysts), and I plan to do so much more! And as for calling it a problem...I call it an OPPORTUNITY! An opportunity to learn, to experience, to educate others, and to grow. One of my favorite quotes (as seen in the photo above) is that "Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength." I feel like this is such a good quote for my situation.

Feeling coming back

Yesterday started the new wave of pain. It feels like a sin curve. Up and down, up and down. It has been like this for the past year. Obviously right after surgery was the peak. The pain has been going down since then. Until, yesterday it went right back up. I have been numb in part of my hip since surgery. I couldn't feel anything on certain parts of my skin and I was starting to get that feeling back the other day. The nurse told me that the nerves had to rebuild themselves. Well, I found out that it wasn't only my skin that was numb. I'm gaining feeling back in my pelvic bone as well. It HURTS! Unfortunately, I had to start taking my pain meds again. I know that this is a good sign though because everything is healing. Regaining feeling is a good thing, I just wish it wasn't regaining pain. I'll work through it. This experience is definitely a difficult one. One of the other hip chicks described it perfectly. This surgery is "not one for the weak". It tests all your emotional and physical limits. After this experience is over, I know that I am going to have gained so much strength not only in my hip but also emotionally.