My Journey Through Hip Labrum Recovery: Entry 2 - Post Op

My day started off at 7am when I got up, packed for the weekend and took what would be the only shower I could take in the next 3 days. I had made the decision earlier in the week to stay at my awesome in-laws' home to avoid the 3 sets of stairs at our home in the Heights. We arrived at the Ironman Institute promptly at 10am, signed a 5" stack of paperwork, swiped my debit card for the 10th time and then waited for about 15min before being called back to my pre-op room. My attending nurse, Debra, was a lovely and energetic person who was a believer and wished me good luck over and over again. She was also a runner and had backpacked through Europe, so her stories were entertaining and consuming.

Dr. Adickes was behind schedule for the day by over 4 hours, so the nurses brought me a DVD player and I was able to watch Argo while we waited. The best part of the waiting came when the anesthesiologist came by to prep for the spinal tap that I had pre-approved to aid in the recovery process. A few drops of magic into the IV and I was in an alternate universe with no recollection of what happened in the movie. Is Argo the name of the movie or the name of Ben Affleck's character? No clue. At approximately 230pm. the anesthesiologist assistant, Terry, came by and administered another dose of juice and the anesthesiologist, John, came by and stuck 2 holes in my back and my leg started twitching uncontrollably. I felt nothing, but heard him say "perfect." 30 seconds later I was being wheeled back into the operating room and transferred to the table.

I can remember one of the nurses asking me about Ironman and telling me that she was just starting to begin running as a hobby, and the last thing I remember was me telling her to "pick a different hobby." Probably not my best moment, but at least I was being honest...Oxygen mask on, lights out.

When I woke up, I immediately pulled down my gown and blanket to see how many incisions I had. The attending nurse came over and asked what I thought I was doing and I told him I was checking to see how bad the surgery was. He told me it was the best case scenario: that they had only been in for 1.5 hours and that the repairs were successful. After chugging 4 glasses of water (hadn't had anything since 9pm the night before and it was 630 pm), I was wheeled out of the post-op room and fitted for my crutches. The Breg brace was handed over along with a bag full of meds, and I was wheeled out to the car. Quick and easy.

The night was long and painful. My leg was slowly coming back to life from the spinal tap and all of my muscles were twitching simultaneously. Since everything from the belly down was numb, I felt like I had to pee all night. Getting out of bed and onto the crutches was a chore and I needed help lifting up my foot because I had no strength (or feeling) in my upper leg. The vicodin and valium regiment kept me comfortable and I was able to make it until it was time to leave for my follow-up appointment at 745am the next morning. Traffic was typical for Houston and we made it just in time to make the 945am appointment. Here are the pics from the surgery showing the torn labrum being trimmed and the metallic spacer being put into the adductor:

Dr. Adickes has to be one of the nicest and most direct doctors I have ever encountered. He explained exactly what he did, went through all of the pictures and told me the causes of the injury. Hip was impinged through riding bike in aero position, stretching the hip adductor and then immediately lengthening the adductor by running afterwards. The injury should be avoided by the repositioning and stretching that the doc did, along with minor adjustments to the bike setup and a through stretching regiment when racing/training. Made an additional appointment for two weeks out to have the stitches removed and then left to meet the CPM salesman at the house.

The CPM machine is terrible. Imagine 6 hours of buzzing noises and your knee moving up and down, over and over again. I have to do this everyday, for 14 days. Here is the a-hole at work:

Physical therapy begins immediately, which for me means Tuesday since that is the earliest I can get in. I have been instructed to ride the stationary bike everyday and begin water running after two weeks Total therapy time is 3x/week for 4 weeks. The anticipation from Dr. Adickes is the utilize the crutches for 21 days, remain home from work for 1 week. Swimming with pool buoy and water jogging after 2 weeks. I was told to not even think about running until March 2014....

So as of this first entry, I am in a good place. I'm sore but I am confident. Having my red raiders on TV right now and being able to watch full coverage of the Ironman World Championship in Kona has helped to alleviate some of the worry.

Special thanks to my mother-in-law who is "supermom" for driving me all over town. Special thanks to my wife for waiting on me hand and foot. Special thanks to all of the doctors and nurses at the Ironman Institute. Special thanks to Dr. Adickes. Special thanks to mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law for prayers and texts. And last but definitely not least, thanks to countless family and friends who have emailed and called to wish me luck and check in with me. Especially Jamie and Nikki who dropped off the most amazing care package one could ever imagine! I am truly blessed!

Now back to my coconut water, football games and IM Kona. Follow-up blog on the way...

Kelly