The Sciatic Nerve, Tamed

Friday was a big day- I went back into the office for a bit and I also went to the doctor. Being at work was exhausting (who knew being driven to a building and standing in it would be so hard), but I think a lot of that came from worry over the doctor's appointment. I was having a lot of nerve pain, and nights, where the pain really attacked, were dreadful. The doctor was worried I could have a stress fracture.

Thank goodness x-rays confirmed no stress fracture. The PA felt around and determined my piriformis muscle was inflamed, which was pushing on my sciatic nerve. his pressure was sending me over the top at night because the piriformis would swell after moving around all day. In order to rectify this, she gave me a strong steroid to replace my anti inflammatory to help bring down the swelling. She also prescribed lidocaine patches. 

Rant: 

Word to the weary: Lidocaine patches, when prescribed, are sent from the doctor's office to the pharmacy. The pharmacy then sends an authorization to the doctor's office, which is sent to the insurance company. Then it can get OK'd by the insurance company This can take days. I was prescribed lidocaine on a Friday morning, and the doctor's office said there was no guarantee I'd have it by Monday.  I'd like to give people in the insurance company some nerve pain to see how necessary they think lidocaine is.

End Rant.

Working to get better at:

- sitting. I still have to put a pillow under my butt to sit at a restaurant or anything. Still can't sit on the couch for very long either.

The steroids are helping, and now it's time for week three week out accomplishments:

- Last night I slept through the entire night for the first time since the surgery (19 nights post surgery)

- This morning I was able to bike a mile and a half on an upright bike!

17 days out: SI Joint of horror

I was feeling really good about my recovery. Every day I was able to do something new. Today is not one of those days.

I went to physical therapy on Monday (2 weeks out) with some nerve pain, probably from swelling inside my hip.  My PT, Brittany, pulled on my leg, and it REALLY helped. I have had no nerve pain on my inner thigh since then.

In an effort to keep things exciting, I tried to exit my shower by myself Tuesday, and I twisted a little bit wrong. Immediately, my lower back/upper butt on my surgery side hurt. a lot. Sitting was just not really an option, and laying down wasn't much better. During the day on Wednesday it wasn't too bad, but by the time I went to physical therapy that night, it was, once again, no fire. Brittany felt my back and immediately diagnosed it as SI joint pain.

In past PT sessions, pre-surgery, she's found my SI joint to be a little out of whack, which throws off my ability to use my glutes for stabilization, leading me to overcompensate in other areas, like my hamstring and hips (hey, FAI). Before surgery, though, I felt no pain along with my SI joint being out of whack. To fix it, she pulled on my leg, hard, and everything flew back into place.

Since I just had surgery, she obviously can't yank on my hip. she pulled on it a little bit, trying to release any tension in the hip joint, and then tried to massage out some of the muscles in my lower back. None of this seemed to relieve much pain. The only good part of PT yesterday is that my personal trainer, Dan, Let me ride the upright bike for ten minutes!  This was the first time I've been able to bike, and I was ecstatic! There was some pinching when my leg was all the way up, but mostly all the pain was centered in my back.

Last night was terrible. I woke up again and again, and today sitting was impossible. I called my doctor's office to see if there is anything else I should/could be doing. First, my PA suggested taking the pain pills I got before to help me sleep. Second, she suggested I come into the office for an xray. She said usually stress fractures present with pain in the front of the leg, but occasionally, they can cause intense pain in the back. I've been so careful. I really hope the x-ray comes out clear. I cant imagine twisting in the shower would break my leg.

Two Weeks Post Op

Two weeks out...things I'm able to do:

• Stand for 3-4 hours. I could probably stand longer, but your strong leg gets pretty tired/stiff. My husband's company was hosting a brunch after the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and I went. Standing the whole time was not really an issue.
• Drive a car! I can finally get in and out of the car on my own, with my crutches and brace. Hooray! Freedom! I probably couldn't sit in the driver's seat, so straight up, for more than 30 minutes, but that's a start!
• Leg lifts! At PT this week, I started to do leg lifts and leg exercises that actually resemble exercises healthy people do at a gym. Hooray!
• Sit on the couch for extended periods of time. Who would have thought being a couch potato would be a measure of success? For the first week and a half, I was having trouble sitting up on the couch for more than 30 minutes. Now, I am able to for a longer period of time. Having my leg propped up allows me to sit even longer.

Two weeks out...things I'm struggling with:

• sleeping is still not going well. I am getting about 3-4 good hours of sleep a night. I don't know if this is because of my body still being confused from the pain pills or if it is from...
• Nerve pain! I've started to have some pain, especially at night, on the inside of my thigh. My doctor warned me that some people experience nerve pain due to swelling inside the joint and around the surgery area. I told my PT about it, and she pulled on my leg to create more room in my joint. This didn't hurt and I was skeptical about the validity of this approach. I'm happy to announce my hesitation was misplaced, and I did not have nerve pain last night.
• Still using my crutches. I know I could walk, PT knows I could walk, and my doctor knows I could walk. Unfortunately, the trained professionals among that grouping agree I should not walk yet. This is crazy frustrating. Crutches are the pits.