Week One Complete!

It's hard to believe that exactly one week ago Dr. Ellis was finishing up the last stitches and staples of my PAO and Femoral Osteotomy! Yes, they ended up chiseling away at my femoral head too! What an amazing week this has been; much to my amazement it has FLOWN by.

The surgery was a success according to Dr. Ellis and everyone who was in the OR with me. Since the surgery I've talked to Stephanie (Dr. Ellis' PA) and Dr. Ellis himself a number of times. I was out of surgery by about 7:30 pm and in a room about an hour later. I spent 4 1/2 days in at OSU East (checked out at 11:00am Monday following a Wednesday afternoon surgery) and am currently rehabing at my parents' house! I am getting pretty darn good with a walker and find myself chanting "Walker, Bad Leg, Good Leg, Walker, Bad Leg, Good Leg..." as I travel from the bedroom to the family room!

I am not terribly comfortably sitting here in my parents desk chair so I will make this short tonight. I will spend some time over the next few weeks catching everyone up on my progress though! I am even going to try and post a picture of the incision (it's vertical and very anterior (to the front of my body, not at the side or on my "hip").

My hospital stay was rather uneventful. Thank goodness my mom stayed with my at night though, as I had one night nurse who just simply did not have a clue! She brought me the wrong medications, pull on my leg to "help" me out of bed and was just an overall dingbat. I had a number of PHENOMENAL nurses though, the good far outweighed the bad (Thank you Jennifer, Lawrence and Barb!). The Patient Care Assistants were great too. Anyone who is willing to wash someone else's feet gets a thumbs up in my book! (Thanks Megan!) The doctors and nurses worked with me to regulate my pain constantly - I am amazed at how little pain I feel. I am fully aware of how bad this could be and am so grateful for the attention from Barb and Dr. Ellis to make sure I was comfortable after I left their care!

TO CHERYL - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me a direct email! I would love to talk to you about Dr. Ellis, the surgery, the hospital, why and how I made the decisions I did, just everything! Best way to reach me is at this address: psmb (at) vzw.blackberry.net and I will reply quickly, I promise!! I am so excited to have a hip sister to share Dr. Ellis with! :D He is THE BEST, hands down! You should hear the staff at the hospital go on and on about him. Everyone, nurses, PCAs, PTs, even doctors took the time to tell me how much they respect and enjoy Dr. Ellis. It's obvious that they think the world of him!

I have a follow up appointment this coming Tuesday with Dr. Ellis (or Stephanie) and will start water therapy after talking with them. Whee!!