I had my 12 week follow-up appointment with the surgeon today. He was pleased with my progress. He said the bone grafts he did are healing well. The prosthesis appears to be well seated and bonding to my bone. I did manage to leave him stammering with one question. I wanted a concrete idea of what the outer limits of my recovery might be. I showed him a picture of a climbing wall at our local Boy Scout Camp and asked if there was any reason I might not be able to eventually climb it. He was shocked by my question. It seems no one has ever asked him that. He was kind but he really advised against the climbing wall. O.k. I'll find something with less risk of twisting limbs into odd positions while bearing your weight precariously on randomly placed knobs. The list of things I can do is still much longer than the list of things I can't or shouldn't do.
I'm finding ways to work exercise in that is specifically designed to help strengthen my hip and increase my flexibility. I keep the list of physical therapy exercises where I can see them. I try to do a few every day at some point in the day. I walk between 1 and 2 miles 3 or 4 days per week. That's done wonders for helping me regain a natural stride. I'd limped for 7 or 8 years. I don't limp any more! I'm also back to exercising at a gym 3 days per week. Each week, almost each day I go, I get to try some movement or exercise that wasn't possible before.
My doctor indicated, and I agree, that continuing exercise and stretching are going to be important to my ongoing improvement. I still need to work on further stretching and strengthening the muscles in my hip. It's possible that I may never regain the full range of motion. I'm not going to think about that. I don't want to limit myself while I'm still working toward maximum recovery. For now my focus is on making my best efforts a little better each time I try.
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