An Ice Pack Is Like Magic

I spent most of Monday with the familiar feeling of a 'rock' being inside my hip about the area I would guess the real femur is trying to grow on or around the new hip. I am not sure how much is metal or how low it goes on the femur. Advil wasn't working and I did not want any more muscle relaxers since my lower back had improved. In late afternoon it hit me ... try an ice pack on the side of my hip like I have before .... it was like magic in about thirty minutes time.

I also applied that ice pack while I lay in bed a few hours later and woke up with a hip with zero pain or soreness. I was almost shocked as the hounds and I walked down the hallway around 3:30am. Heidi has a new habit now that I really like, she stops right by the bed and does a full body shake to wake me up. So far that has worked 3 out of 3 times. We came back and slept till 6am and my hip was feeling really good. A little stiff at the start but really good.

This is Stella hearing me say, "no breakfast until 7am" ... I gave in and fed them at 6:30am.

As you can see it was a sky show early this morning. I couldn't stop taking photos of the sky. Can you tell which camera I am taking these photos with? iPhone, Nikon D3200 or the Canon G7 X ??

After breakfast Stella was still on the lookout for food. Just two nights ago she remembers the smell of two thick steaks being grilled next door. She is thinking there might be some scraps tossed over the fence for her.

With the daytime temperature being much cooler, Heidi is spending more time outside exploring the yard. That does not mean the sun is cool, just the air temp. The sun felt hot enough to me that I thought it was in the 90's.

Stella jumped up out of her nap on the patio ... an unfamiliar sound. It sounded like a tractor was passing by pretty close to the fence. I missed it as it passed but I could tell looking over the fence they were mowing as much brush as they could. Too bad they didn't get right up next to my fence.

Once I am in better shape I will take my pruning shears with me and walk to the end of the block then curl around onto the path behind me where I can cut all of these down to ground level. All the dogs that bothered us walking this way the first week we moved here are no longer living in the neighborhood.

I had a feeling the brightest color of the vacant land in back was not going to last much longer.

Once Stella figured out the noise was just a tractor just like back in Indiana she resumed her afternoon siesta. That coffee spill will be cleaned up once the doctor gives me his approval to bend more then 90° ... otherwise it will remain. I guess Stella doesn't like coffee that much.

I was right, the second lap took out the yellow daisies.

Once it gets too hot, which doesn't take that long ... Stella is ready to go back inside.

With Fry's Market delivering my grocery shopping online I had to bribe the hounds with dog treats to get them outside on the patio while they moved the groceries to their car to my kitchen counter. I ordered 53 items and they didn't make any mistakes.  Well worth the fee of $9.95 plus a tip ... especially when you can't walk.  LOL The hounds were left outside for less than five minutes.

Well the answer to the camera question ... including the photo right above of Heidi ... all but one of these photos were taken with the Canon G9 X. Some of them had the dark spec from inside the camera and others were perfect with nothing to edit. I guess based on the cost of the camera and owning it for only 10 months I might as well use it and edit the black spot off of the photo as needed.

I did a 10 minute walk today around the backyard. It was slower than I normally go but I did not feel any kind of pain in my hip or groin. I do know that sitting in a chair for longer than 30 minutes put that 'rock' feeling right back inside my hip. Even if I just stand up to watch the game or take a break from the computer, that also works.

I feel much better than yesterday in the hip ... thus my attitude has changed for the better. I'm back to feeling positive about this healing process. Seven days until my next follow-up appointment with the surgeon.

Cabin fever is overbearing right now here in the Wild West.

I Was More Than Bored Today

Today was like any other day but for some reason I couldn't settle on anything to do. Siesta, Mahjong, reading books, tried a movie and didn't finish, sat outside, tried watching taped ballgames, read some online stuff about AVS, not much interest in anything. I was able to drag the box from Chewy from the front porch to the kitchen. I lifted the 40# bag of kibble with nothing but my arms and felt no signs of pain or stress on the new hip. Some different soreness on what I would call the top of the femur so I haven't tried to walk. I assume it's the bone attempting to grow onto the new hip. Just a blah day ... so I listed some photos below.

There will be better days than today in the Wild West.

It Was A Day Of Improvement

I checked online to see if it was safe to take Cyclobenzaprine and Ibuprofen at the same time. I found my usual medical journals to confirm it would be okay. I didn't see why I couldn't since both do different things. Numerous studies had found combining the two had better results. Whereas if you take Advil and Aspirin after you have had  a heart attack or stroke, they have found that it decreases the effectiveness of the Aspirin. I decided to check when my time alerted me at 6 hours if I need more Cyclobenazprine.

While the hounds slept in the corner while I did the morning post, I wanted to see if the sun was up yet since it was a little past 6am. I could tell when I stood up at the chair that my lower back was much better, no signs of pain in my groin area and only the everyday soreness from the hip healing.

I opened the door and felt a rush of cold area that was hitting around 54°. It felt colder. It was nice to stand outside in the cool breeze taking some photos. I still had time to lay in bed for 45 minutes until the hounds wanted their breakfast. Football and rest were the only two goals today.

That cool breeze was pretty strong this time of day.

It was a little strange that the hounds had not followed me out to the patio. Normally they would be trying their best to get me to pour their kibble but so far this morning not a word from them.

In fact when I turned slowly to go back inside ... no hounds in view. That had to be a first.

Only as I laid down in bed did the hounds wake up and move into the bedroom. I thought I'd have about 45 minutes of rest before I needed to pour their breakfast kibble. Stella had other ideas. Like standing right by the side of the bed where she could make sure I would hear her whining or the wagging tail banging against the chest of drawers.

They win ... I got up. She was pretty proud of herself after she got me to feed them. They both took a short trip outside and during that time I washed both of their food dishes, which I do after every meal.  I saw in my email that my Amazon order for another pair of Russell Athletic gear gym shorts had been delivered in yesterday's mail. Would I be able to walk that far today? Would I need to?

Of the three seat cushions I have bought in the past 34 days, this one has turned out to be the most comfortable. I basically carry that with me when I am going to sit in a different chair in the computer room or at the laptop on the kitchen table.

One big difference from satellite tv service and cable, I have a lot more opportunities to stream ballgames or movies. I am not a big streaming fan because I like watching movies or ballgames on my large tv in the living room ... but today I was desparate. I knew before I moved here that I would only have one BTN channel and there would be times I would not see the IU games if they were being shown on the BTN Alternate channels. I had those with DishNetwork but not with Cox Cable.

So I did some online searching and figured out what I needed to do. Download the app for the phone but with the iMac I just needed to go to Foxsportsgo.com I had my IU game live on my iMac.

They show mostly food or automobile commercials during football games. You can see that Heidi has no interest in going to Wendy's to try all of those sandwiches. With that cool breeze blowing through the house from the direction of the patio, she had found the perfect place to sleep.

Stella must have smelled the sandwiches on tv but it wasn't long after that commercial was on, that she came wandering out from the computer room where I left her in a deep sleep. It's takes her a little while to decide what to do when she wakes up. She always looks confused when she gets up.

By mid-morning I was feeling better than I had just two days ago. The times I walked inside the house with the walker or the cane I did not feel any kind of pain in my groin area. The soreness on top of the thigh was hardly big enough to feel. I still did not feel as strong as I did on Thursday morning but felt much better than I did just 24 hours ago.

Stella likes to look out the front window to make sure her neighborhood is okay.

I didn't do a lot of walking but I did what I said I would not do. I sat in a chair while I watched the IU game on the computer. I DID get up during commercials and halftime. With the new seat cushion I could sit longer in the chair than I did yesterday.

By 12:30pm my lower back felt good, my right thigh was much better when I walked and I was almost back to the normal feeling of 'the rock' feeling in my hip, which feels like it's on the side of the hip. The times I walked inside the house to the kitchen, bedroom living room or patio I thought I could make it to the mailbox and back at a slower pace. I finished the walk at a 42 minute per mile pace which was about 10 minutes per mile slower than normal.

I had to go to the mailbox because I knew the small Amazon package would fit inside my narrow box in the mailbox cluster. They would stop mail delivery until that package was out of the way. Plus it included a new pair of gym shorts that are loose fitting.

As the day moved through college football games and more to watch started at 4:30pm, I drank a ton of ice water, took a siesta for about an hour and fed the hounds. As you can see once they get that afternoon meal, they too like to sleep.

I'd have to call today a success. Sore yes, stiff at the start or when I get out of a chair, yes ... but within a few steps I feel good. No lower back problems today, not a lot of pain if any in my hip and nothing in the groin area.

I will take another 'rest day' on Sunday, which means no walking outside around the fence line, no long walks to the mailbox, only to the kitchen, to the patio or back to the computer room. I am not sure I will need any muscle relaxers after the dose a little over 5 hours ago.

A good day here in the Wild West.

CVS Is NOT My Friend

It was only Stella and I that got up to start our day a little after 4:30am today. Heidi never moved nor blinked an eye when I turned on the lights. She also didn't wake me up in the middle of the night to go outside, my bladder did that more than I wanted it to. It's a long funny story in a way ... but the back pain is gone this morning. No more spasms so far.

It was a real rest day yesterday where I spent a lot of time flat on my back in bed and it didn't matter if my eyes were open or not. That was the plan and I followed that until mid-afternoon. Otherwise there were a couple of times I had to get outside to feel the warmth of the sunshine and enjoy the view. As you can see the hounds had the same idea and you can see the walker was back in action.

Like I said when I updated yesterday's blog post, the doctor's office called me at 10:10am and told me I could pick up some Cyclobenzaprine by 10:30am. I did a few test walks inside the house with only my cane to see what kind of pain I was feeling in my lower back or hip. Would I be able to walk from the car inside CVS and most likely stand in line to pick up my prescription?

Since I had been applying some a warm towel then rotating it with an ice pack earlier, my lower back was not feeling too bad. But there was a muscle that was connecting to the back of my hip that was sore. It was almost like I could draw a line along that muscle by the way it felt. Sitting in and standing up out of my chair passed the test with only slight pain in the upper thigh ... I felt good enough to drive to the drug store.

Of course in my life and mostly like the lives of millions across the nation, nothing is ever smooth in picking up a doctor's prescription at CVS or any other drug store for that matter. I was 5th in line and from the looks of things, I was in pretty good health even with a cane by my side.

As the male pharm tech typed in my last name and date of birth .. he looked up at me and told me "I have no record of that being called in" .... mmmm perfect. I could feel my Apple Watch vibrating against my wrist with a sudden increase in heart rate. (joke)

Luckily for me the female pharm tech standing a couple of computers away heard my reply that I had been called by the doctor's office telling me it was ready for pickup. She motioned me over, took my last name and date of birth ... bingo !!!!! I was the lucky winner ... it was in their records after all.

My sister bought this for me as a Christmas Gift I think as far back as the early 1990's. I had not used it for years but if it survived the last downsizing when I moved and made the trip all the way out to Arizona, there must have been a reason for it. I plugged that in early yesterday morning and it did what it could to my tighter than tight lower back, plus it added some heat. I had SHORT term relief.

So as the female pharm tech is looking at me and giving me the great news, she said "It will not be ready until noon" we are backed up. Why did I feel that noon timeframe was just plucked of of the air as a very very rough estimate. I calmly ... calmly ... maybe even with a slight smile ... said ... "okay"

I turned and came home.

Since I did not trust or believe what she was telling me, I cruised the isles of CVS looking for the famous ThermaCare heat pads. Their commercials are all over the baseball and football games. I had used something similar in the past but it has been years since I had lower back issues. I picked up a 2-pack and headed home.

After about 15 minutes I could feel that heat protruding through the clothing I was wearing. (Warning stated anyone over 55 years of age HAD TO wear these outside of clothing and not on bare skin) At the 30 minute mark as I laid in bed I was beginning to think this ThermaCare pad might be better than any muscle relaxer. I took a nap for an hour and could feel the muscles in the lower back were much better than early this morning.

In fact as I sat up in bed with my hands behind me, supporting me ... I felt a small pop in my lower back. That's a good sign.

It was past noon by this time and I had not received any text from CVS telling me the meds were ready for pickup. I logged into my account online to check status ... "In process". What happened to the NOON timeframe she gave me. I went back to bed to lay down and plan my next move.

Long story short ....

1:00pm - online "in process"
1:30pm - online "in process"
2:00pm - PHONE CALL with real person in that pharmacy
     - "We are a day and a half behind in filling scripts"
     - I let her know that I'll call and let my doctor know of the status of his request, but as a bonus I am going to blog about this story with your first name, company name, local address and local phone number. Then I will go to Yelp to add my review of your pharmacy and I'll not stop there. I will then go to the Facebook group called Rants and Raves for my town and RANT about your pharmacy ... Unless you want to become famous on social media, don't even tell me I have to wait a day and a *(&(#&$ half to pick up something that was due at 10:49am !!!!!"

Her reply ......

I'll have it ready in 2 minutes.   :)

I was back in the car to pick up the meds, I was back home by 2:45pm with pills in hand. Looking at the long label of information stapled to the small bag, at the top in the upper right corner above the bar code "Promised: 10/11/19. 10:49am"

So you are probably asking yourself why would I pick up the script for a muscle relaxer if the heat pad was working???  I needed some muscle relief in my hip, and the muscle going from the side of my lower back to the back of my hip. I figured relaxed muscles have a better chance to heal rather than tight muscles where blood flow is restricted.

I poured a tall glass of ice water and took the first pill of Cyclobenzaprine 5mg. Then I set the timer for 6 hours to let me know to check how I felt and decide whether to take another. The 6 hour limit was per the script plus take as needed.

Just because my back and hip started feeling better did NOT mean I decided to walk laps around the backyard. Nor did it mean that resting was sitting in a chair. I headed back to bed, laying flat on my back and rested. Baseball and football games did not start until 5pm so I could get a good 1.5 hours of good rest. Once again as I leaned up preparing to swing my legs to the left to get out of bed, another small pop in my lower spine ... more muscles releasing back to their normal position.

I wasn't going to ramble this long and I was going to add today's photos to post this tonight but I now have too much written to add a day of commentary ... so I am going to post this now. Today's plan is more rest flat on my back in bed or flat on my couch watching football. I will NOT be sitting in a chair for too long when I do use a chair.

So far this morning in the short 66 steps I have taken inside the house making coffee and letting the hounds outside ... lower back is good, slight pain in upper thigh and not nearly as strong as I was before this happened a couple of days ago. I am having to use the walker instead of the cane.

It will eventually improve, the recent damage will heal but normal activity in 10-12 weeks post op now seems like it's a year away. I'll not push it but in the past I was just doing what my body was telling me was ok, following doctor's orders.

It was always a possibility that I might have this setback. I was told it does happen sometimes so don't be surprised if it does, no matter how good you are feeling.

Football Saturday in the Wild West today .. plenty of time to rest.

An Interesting 24 Hours

These photos were taken on Thursday but I could almost use them for today as well as things will not change much from what you see here. There they are at 4:39am talking me into feeding them breakfast that early. It didn't work and eventually they walked back to the bedroom and computer room to sleep.

Picking up from where I left you in yesterday morning's post I thought between the hours of 5am to 11am yesterday that I might have returned to normal. I was feeling that good and walking inside the house without support and cane in hand. I had only taken one 5 minute walk outside around the fence line in back and felt good after that walk. Things seemed to be moving back to "normal". I felt very optimistic.

A little past 8:30am I called my surgeon's office as I remembered him telling me numerous times to "call anytime if something comes up" .... well I figured with the minor changes and more pain it was time to call. I don't like muscle relaxers but I was to the point that my lower back muscles were almost in spasm mode a few times standing up out of a chair. I had or have no doubt that back tightness was playing a major role in my hip pain.

I always get the "nurse staff" when I call his office which is understandable since he is a busy surgeon. They took my name, date of birth, number of days post op, what I was feeling, what I was wanting ... "I'll pass this information on to the doctor and he will call you back."

Never heard a word from him or his staff of nurses. The doctor's office just called me at 10:15am this morning to tell me he had called in a script for muscle relaxers to be picked up at CVS. So far this morning after spending time in bed, then in the sun on the patio since this post was published this morning ... it has been my lower back that is stiff and sore, not my hip.

I was feeling pretty good as my friend put the mountain bike on the trainer. I was walking around the garage and out in the driveway as he worked. I had the cane with me but all my walking was on my own and the hip and back felt more normal than sore.

That all changed around 12:30pm ... big time.

I was heading out to the backyard to take my second 5 minute walk of the day with plans of cutting way back on walking. Yet, like I said in yesterday's post ... the hip and lower back feel better with just a short walk. I would have a shocking bit of information hit me not 30' off the patio as I started my first lap.

Here it's a few minutes before 7am and I let them know that breakfast is being served. Thanks to "the grabber" I could do that job without bending over at all.

This was and is my view as I walk along the fence every lap. Of course the sun changes positions and based on where it is determines which direction I walk around the yard. It's a slow walk and my Activity app that comes with every iPhone and iWatch tells me I am at a pace of walking a mile in 38 minutes. So it's not stressful or setting any Olympic records and that is fine with me.

Breakfast is finished for the hounds and Stella is still trying to adjust to a morning with no 1/2 mile walk around her vet office. That seems like a lifetime ago but between my hip surgery and her growth surgery time has gone really fast since August 25th, her last morning walk.

She loves sleeping in the sunshine.

To clear up some confusion, I did not have the bike mounted so I could ride it this week, tomorrow, or minutes after he left. I mentioned to him on Tuesday when I was in his bike shop that I would start riding indoors when I got back on the bike but that would be a while. It definitely WOULD NOT be before the surgeon giving me his approval and my next appointment isn't until the 22nd of this month.

My friend said he could come over the next day to set it up. I chose that because it was offered by him and for all I knew it might have been the only time he had available to do it. So that is why the bike is ready for me to ride WHEN I AM READY ... and based on yesterday that might not be for another couple of months ... yes, it's that bad.

So where was I ... oh yeah ... I was feeling close to normal while he put the bike on the trainer. We chose the mountain bike because I would be sitting more upright than a road bike and more comfortable. He did something I would not have thought about ... notice he put the back of that trainer in the crease of the concrete floor for more stability. He is taller and bigger than I am but he tested it out and the trainer never moved while he rode harder than I ever will.

By 12:30pm I am starting my second slow walk when I am about to the corner of the fence when I felt a twinge in my upper thigh and for the first time ever, "weakness" in my right leg. I did not hesitate turning around and getting back inside with the cane as my main support. I grabbed two of the ice packs and headed for bed. One for my lower back which was not that sore or tight and one for the upper thigh/groin area.

When I take an afternoon siesta, especially since returning from the hospital ... Stella sleeps right next to the bed. Sometimes I have to ask her to move so I have the room to put my feet on the floor before standing up. EVERY TIME I have stood up from the first day I got home, I ALWAYS stand for a minute or so to let the muscles adjust and let my right leg get use to the weight on it. I have ALWAYS used first the walker and later the cane as I stand from the bed or the chair.

I thought about calling the doctors office again but if I hadn't had a call back yet after almost 4 hours and a lunch break then why bother calling again? Besides, Stella kept a close eye on me everywhere I went yesterday.  :)

I admit I was a little concerned about this latest development. It was the first time I had felt anything like that. I KNEW this wasn't caused by what I did on Tuesday but something I did while my friend was putting the bike on the frame and I was walking around while I talked. That seemed to fit the timeline for this to happen. In fact I was pretty sure what the cause of this new development was. I did something I shouldn't have ... no ... I did NOT try to get on the bike. (it's classified)  :)

The hounds will be happy that Amazon Prime is delivering their dog treats today. They really got use to having more than one per afternoon when the pet sitter was feeding them. So Heidi never lets me forget that although she has had lunch, there is always room for a dog treat.

The ice/heat treatment helped a lot. I felt well enough that I felt into a 2 hour siesta. That was probably from starting me day so early rather than being tired. The sleep app I have shows I sleep pretty soundly between the trips to the bathroom at night.

I had a couple of baseball games to watch later in the afternoon, one after another. Both winner take all and move on games. I knew that sitting in a chair longer than 30 minutes bothered my hip making it tight and sore. I made an effort to watch my watch and make sure I didn't sit for longer than 30 minutes. I have done the same thing this morning writing this post. I get up and walk around.

You will not believe what Stella is wanting me to share with her ... my pieces of fresh cantaloupe. She thinks that all food is hers and if I am eating it then at a minimum I should share it with her. Typical Bloodhound.  :)

When it's the end of the day and you don't hear back from your doctor, that doesn't leave me much choice but to get on the internet and search ... "groin pain after hip replacement surgery"

The list of websites for that exact question was long, pages long but I had my answer on the second website listed, confirmed again by websites number three and four.  Groin Pain After Hip Surgery I was able to do her two exercises to see which problem I had. In fact I did both of those about an hour after I came inside around 12:30pm. I did those with no problem and felt no pain anywhere.

I could tell last night when I got up to walk to the kitchen or bathroom and later the bedroom, I was not feeling as strong and confident as I did before noon. I was using the walker everywhere I went and took no chances trying to walk on my own as a test.

I took my second dose of the day of Xtra Strength Tylenol and Advil. That combo is what I told the surgeon I would take the day I left the hospital and that I would not be taking the Oxycodone he prescribed. He was fine with that and of course warned me not to take them together.

I took the two ice packs again placing them in the same place as I did seven hours earlier. I slept solid until 1:30am when Heidi's metal tags woke me up as she did her full body shake. That is her first step before heading to the back door. I was up and following her down the hallway whether I wanted to or not.

I felt no pain, no soreness and no twinges during that walk to let her out at 1:30am.

I was happy to see in three different articles that the tendon in question will heal with rest. Based on it doesn't hurt constantly and not every time I take a step I don't think it will take three to four weeks to heal BUT I will say that I am not going to do much from now until I walk into the doctor's office on October 22nd. You would be surprised how many steps or miles you walk just inside the house getting up and down during the day ... bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom and computer room ... always over a mile or two.

As we started our day again at 4:30am because Stella's whining was loud enough that it could not be ignored, I felt like I was starting my rehab over as I rolled my walker down the tiled hallway. I had no problem walking, I felt no pain or soreness and that was a good sign ... but I wasn't going to set the walker off to the side and start walking on my own. I am going to take it very easy and walk only when I have to inside the house.

Then it happened again. I took one small step to the side while making coffee and I felt a slight 'twinge' in the upper thigh/groin area. Ever so slight. Not a pain so intense it would put me on the floor but very short in duration and just enough to let me know it was still hanging around. It wasn't the way I wanted to start my day.

I'll repeat the ice/heat treatment today. I'll NOT sit up in bed reading a book like last weekend but will take more time laying flat and I will have at least one siesta.

As I post this ... my lower back is more sore than my hip.

The sun will be bright today in the Wild West and that is a good thing. I'll keep you posted.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Last night as I watched the richest team in MLB and a winner of 106 games out of a 162 regular season games, blow a lead in the 8th inning due to some poor managerial decisions ... the pain in my hip and groin returned. It felt better to walk around the house, instead of sitting in a chair with my 4" memory foam pad. Confusion rang loud but it was not about what the LA manager was doing ... it rang loud because my leg/hip did a 360° turn giving me the chance to experience more pain than I wanted.

I had already taken my second and final dose of Ibuprofen and Tylenol X-Strength. I take that dose every 12 hours. So I picked up the booklet they gave me at the hospital the night before surgery and re-read the sections on post op rehab.

It was disheartening in a way.

"Early on, you will see fairly rapid improvements. Your progress may slow after the first two weeks, but don't get discouraged ... this is normal !!!"

Then it dawned on me that I will never run again. I'm not a runner and around here the only way I would run would be turning myself into a jogger and that was not going to happen. I only ran back in Indiana when the bloodhounds would take off running after deer and out of my line of sight. So it's not really a big deal but there was something to think about when seeing the word "never again" in my mind ... Running is listed under "Avoid Higher-Impact Exercise"

I quit going to the "Hippie" forum because of all the horror stories and negativity where hip replacement surgery did not work out well for some people. I never went there that much anyway, just to ask a question and seeing my list of answers. Reading some of the comments or posts from others that continue to have problems with their hip made me feel very very fortunate with a little pain from time to time.

Maybe it was a sign to pay attention to with this new kind of pain. Or was it when I get a text from that friend that was going to come over and set up my bike on an indoor trainer (in garage), attached to the back wheel where it spins with magnetic resistance while I ride. He forgot about coming over and let me know about start of the bottom of the 10th inning in LA.

He will be by this morning to mount the bike on the trainer but the way I feel this morning after taking the meds and just a little coffee, riding anywhere seems like nothing but a rumor. Where yesterday riding a bike indoors to start my comeback, seemed as close as a couple of weeks away after my surgeons approval on the 22nd, last night made me wonder if I will ever want to ride again.

How good I felt yesterday during the day, I felt just as bad last night and so far this morning.

It could be this hard form fitting seat cushion I have been sitting on. Amazon recommended it as did the 4,5000 + reviews. It might form fit to my butt but after a week of using it, it's hard as a rock. Did this play a role in new muscles becoming sore? I ordered my 3rd different seat cushion yesterday and it should get it tomorrow.

I don't forget that I did something yesterday for the first time in 31 days. First time for that bionic hip joint. I drove my car. I got into the drivers seat just like I was instructed and did in my neighbor's Jeep Liberty when he picked me up at the hospital, then two weeks later taking me to my follow-up doctors appointment. I slowly swung my legs and feet into the floorboard area. I got in and out of the car a total of 8 times ... was that 8 times too many even after doctor's approval to drive?

Maybe it was more total steps for the day than I normal take? I took less walks limiting my max time to 10 minutes and had most of my short walks ending after 5 minutes. I felt good after each walk. Like I said earlier ... it feels better to walk than sit in a chair past the 30 minute mark.

The key for healing the hip is no twisting, no bending past 90°, no sitting in a couch or soft chair where you "sink in" and your hips end up being lower than your knees. Always keep the hips higher than the knees even if it so slight.

Then again .... since the pain has stayed with me after a night of sleep, the mystery question has always been "What do I do in my sleep with that right leg and hip, that I am not suppose to do?" Is that what wakes me up in the middle of the night ... a sharp pain that disappears just as soon as I open my eyes? We'll never know will we unless I turn my iPhone into a video recorder with the lights off.  LOL

So I'll do a little walking this morning while I wait for the sun to rise. The hounds are back to sleep after the 4:30am wake up call to go outside. They begged to be fed at 4:30am when they came back inside but finally relented and head back to the dark bedroom for Heidi and the computer desk corner for Stella. They have a good two hour wait before kibble is served. It is hard to say no to wagging tails and sad eyes looking straight at you.

I am going to post this now, with no photos because I felt like writing about it right from the start day. Sometimes as a blogger you have an urge to write and publish a post even if it is not the regular time and no photos are involved.

I'll post again later tonight for those east of the Mississippi River or late afternoon for us in the West .... photos will be added and an update on how my day went. I have canceled my car trip for today (unless I start feeling better) and will spend more time walking and standing than sitting. I'll add more time laying in the prone position in bed today ... and see what kind of results I have.

I will still walk those short walks and I'll apply ice when needed. Ice seems to be my best friend through all of this or maybe a close second to coffee.

I am going to assume all the pain around that hip area and now up by my pelvis is nothing more than a sign that things are healing inside. I did a visual inspection and there is no swelling or discoloring of any kind. My hip bones are level which means my legs are the same length, and the right side looks as normal as the left side.

No matter how I feel it will still be a great day here in the Wild West ... seeing the mountains in about 45 minutes will make me feel that much better. Sitting in the sunshine later this morning will make me feel that much better. Seeing Heidi begging me for food ... lets me know she really is feeling good. Hearing Stella howl for food will make me laugh ... all things to help me forget the pain I feel.

I can't stop saying that I love where I live ... moving here was a life changing decision.