Coming up on six months…(Hip Replacement #19)

At the end of October it will have been six months since my hip replacement. Rather than cover all that time, which I’ve done, perhaps exhaustively, here on Statrix, I’ll just let you know where I stand (ouch) these days.
My hip is fine. Really. Oddly that’s what everyone asks and me, the wise guy, usually replies, “The hip is fine, it’s brand new. The rest of me is the problem.” And you know, that’s not too far from the truth. If only the rest of me were as spiffy and new as my hip. Wishful thinking.
So what’s the deal?
I can walk just fine now. In fact I proved it a few weeks ago when I walked about 85 miles during the week. I’m not doing that again, at least not unless I’m on vacation and hiking (something I haven’t really tried yet). But I am walking several miles a day at an increasing pace.
I’m losing weight because I’ve changed my diet and my exercise patterns. In the past, with the bad hip, I would bike, mostly in the afternoon and sit around the rest of the day because, frankly, it hurt too much to do anything else. Now that I have my freedom back, and I do mean that, I’m walking regularly, moving when i feel like it, and generally have stepped it up a notch or two. In fact I’ve headed back to our gym at work and am working on my upper body. I figure my legs are getting plenty right now. I don’t weigh myself regularly but I’m down about 25 lbs with plenty more to go.
Biking is more fun than ever. With a bit less weight to carry around I’m a lot lighter on my pedals. That doesn’t necessarily translate into speed, I still like a nice steady pace, but I’m more comfortable and hills are getting a lot easier. I can tell because I’m taking them in gears I couldn’t before.
My incision is completely healed and I could go swimming if I wanted. I just haven’t wanted to as yet. Though now that I’ve mention it, it does sound pretty good. I’ll have to look into that. Hmmm…
I’m just might impressed with my recovery. Of course I owe most of it to the great medical team including my PT guy, but I’ll cough up that I had at least something to do with it – I cooperated.
That’s it for now…time for a walk.
 
 

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