Left Periacetabular Osteotomy

Now that I am about six weeks out from my left periacetabular osteotomy I think it's time to write about my experience and share some pictures :)

On December 15th, 2014 my dad, boyfriend and I flew out to Salt Lake City Utah to have the surgery done. Unfortunately there are no doctors in New Mexico or any of the surrounding states that could perform this particular surgery so for my RPAO and my LPAO we had to go out to Salt Lake for them. We got to Salt Lake and met with my PAO family who reside in Salt Lake and have been through the process like I had with the same surgeon. It was so nice to meet up and talk to people who really understand what I'm going through and can sympathize without me having to explain much.

The next morning I went to the hospital at 6:30 am and got checked in and started the pre-op process. I was in my awesome gown, hair net and socks when the nurse came in and started giving me the talk, my surgeon then came in and asked if I was ready, I said "as ready as I'll ever be." I then asked him if we were also doing the screw removal on the right side and he looked confused but said no problem. I was ready to go when his PA came in and told me, "unfortunately we won't be able to do the right screw removal because it wasn't cleared with your insurance so you'll have to do it another time. We are also not doing the epidural like you had last year which means you won't need the catheter." Well you can understand what I was feeling at this point, 30 minutes before surgery getting told everything you planned for isn't going to happen the way you hoped. My dad and I were pretty pissed off, but Noah did a great job at calming us both down and making us realize there wasn't anything we could do at that point. The anesthesiologist then took me back and started the spinal block which was pretty painful and next thing I know I was waking up in the recovery ward. I didn't feel too much pain and was pretty wide awake considering I had just had anesthesia. I was then wheeled up to my room where my dad and Noah were waiting, funny enough we were in the exact same room we were in last year which was pretty cool.

I was in great spirits and was enjoying being taking care of. The first day I got up and went to the bathroom and made sure to make a big deal about how much I could pee, I wanted to set a record :P it was really important to me to make the nurses laugh and enjoy their time so they'd be happy when they came in my room :) They had me on dilaudid as well as oxycodone and I started to feel pretty nauseous and wasn't sure which medication was making me feel that way. The nurses took me off the oxycodone and kept me on the dilaudid because it was controlling my pain really well and they also had me on nausea medication so it was controlling my nausea fairly well. The food was really great and the company was even better, I had amazing nurses and PT staff who took such great care of me.

After feeling ready to be discharged and not really wanting to be charged an arm and a leg for the hospital room my dad, Noah and I decided to head back to the hotel and then head home the next day. Well that night in the hotel was pretty horrific, the hospital had sent me home with 120 pills of dilaudid and that was the only medication I had to control my pain so I was forced to take it. Well it turns out that's what was causing my nausea. I projectile vomited everywhere that night at the hotel and felt really sick the day we were going home so that sucked to say the least. Finally we arrived home and my mom made the decision to get rid of the dilaudid and put me on hydrocodone which I had from last years surgery as well as tramadol. That worked great and controlled my pain really well.

So there's the first week, I'll write the next part in a few days as I don't want to bore you with six weeks of hip crap in one blog :)

TO BE CONTINUED :)

Thanks for reading :)

<3 B

PAO recovery: How to stay sane!

IHey all,

I am going to be undergoing my second PAO (periacetabular osteotomy) in about 19 days and wanted to share some of the things that really helped me get through my last PAO without going absolutely bonkers. Obviously everyone is different and some people are going to find different things to help them cope, but this is what helped me, so here goes:

• Honestly, the thing that helped me get through this surgery and recovery was my family and boyfriend, without their constant support and entertainment, I really don't think it would have been as successful as it was. If you're preparing for this surgery and are under the impression that you can do everything without any one's help, unfortunately you're going to learn a hard lesson. It was a hard pill to swallow when I had to give up my independence, but once I did it was much more enjoyable, for everyone. Being stubborn and not letting anyone help you is not the way to go! 

• Comfy outfits were a must after surgery, I didn't like wearing pants too often, especially right when I got home so I got some cute nighties :) It took a lot of the pressure that pants put on your skin off and lets face it, putting pants on when your hip is immobile is not happening so these nighties were the best!

• Buy some candles before your surgery and when you're home have friends or family bring you flowers, having something bright and alive in the room with you will help improve your mood. Who doesn't love flowers and candles?

• Make your bed nice and comfy and get lots of pillows, you're going to be spending a lot of time in your bed so might as well make it as comfortable as possible. The pillows help with keeping you comfortable, I had to sleep on my back for quite a while after surgery so putting a pillow under my knees and calves really helped. When you're ready to switch to your side (opposite side of your op hip) put a pillow between your knees to help keep your hips stable. I also love having stuffed animals around. My boyfriend buys me a new stuffed animal every time I have surgery and writes the date of the surgery on it's foot. I have two so far (arthroscopic surgery and RPAO) I'm looking forward to seeing what he gets me this year :)

• This walker looks so fun, the one I had last year was not this sturdy. Using a walker was my favorite way to get around, especially in public, because if I needed to take a break and sit down, I could :) Crutches also wear me out so I definitely preferred the walker. 

• This shower seat was a life saver, I don't think I was fully weight bearing until about 6 weeks after my RPAO so showering wasn't going to happen without this seat. This is another one of those times that you have to accept that you can't do everything yourself, Noah had to help me shower, shave my legs and all that fun stuff, because I couldn't bend over to do it myself. 

• Most people may not have access to one of these, I'm not sure if you can buy them and attach them to your shower somehow, but this thing is awesome too! It allows you to shower without getting your incision wet and when you're seated in one position and can't move much it helps you get clean while sitting.

• Staying hydrated is so important all the time, but it doesn't hurt during recovery too. I got a water bottle that has measurements on it so that I could track how much water I'm drinking throughout the day. It also helps so you don't have to make multiple trips to get a cup of water and it has a lid so no need to worry about spilling! :)

• Of course it's important to stay entertained while laying in bed for weeks on end so I've decided to share some of my favorite ways to stay entertained! Smallville, Gilmore Girls and Halo are some of my favorite shows to watch and video game to play! Some of my other favorite series and movies that are on Netflix: Prison Break, Supernatural, Ink Masters, Silver Linings Playbook, Troy, Once Upon a Time. If you don't have netflix or some other avenue of watching TV shows on, I suggest you get it, it helped me a ton during recovery!!

These are just a few things that really helped me get through recovery successfully and I'll definitely be using them all again in about 21 days time!! Sending all my love to my fellow PAO warriors and remember you're not alone! 

:) Thanks for reading 

<3 B