5 months post RPAO

Here I am at 5 1/2 months post surgery. Sometimes it is hard to see the bright side of things. I think we all tend to see what we still can't do rather than how far we've come. Either that or I am just a "glass is half empty" type of a girl. I have definitely come a long way. I can walk miles without pain which is amazing. Things have improved a ton in the past 6 weeks or so. I started taking glucosomine and fish oil and was surprised at the benefits that seemed to come directly from that change. I have been trying to get to water aerobics as much as possible. I absolutely love it. At first I despised being "stuck" in the pool with the old ladies but now I love it. I get a great workout and feel very little restriction from my hip. I definitely still get sore but I don't have any joint pain, it's more of a muscle sore. Sometimes my hip feels stuck but not nearly as often as right after surgery. I was really worried at about 2-3 months post op because my hip felt like it was out and needed to be popped all of the time. As the muscles have gotten stronger this feeling has pretty much gone away which is awesome. The worst complaint I have is the numbness I still have in my quad. Actually if it was just numb I would be much more okay with it, it's more of a pins and needles poking me constantly type of feeling. It is just so obnoxious and I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever really heal. As I am able to do more I am noticing lefty wincing out in pain from time to time. I went to "This is the Place" Park in Salt Lake with my kids last week. I didn't realize how big the place was and how much walking up hills I would be facing all day. Surprisingly my op hip held up really well and I wasn't sore at all after. I told my daughter that I didn't know if I could've done it just a month before. So that was a good test. But, on the other hand, my left hip was really sore that night and for the next couple of days. It was the same all too familiar pain in the groin. I felt the same thing after doing the eliptical for 1/2 hour the other day which was a surprise since it hadn't bothered me after that before. I think it was still wincing from the day at the park. So as far as the left hip goes, I don't know what I'm doing. I had totally talked myself out of having surgery any time soon but now I am starting to contemplate just doing it and getting it over with. If I knew it was going to have to be done within 2-3 years I would absolutely go ahead now and just do it now. If I could get by for awhile, say 5 years or so, I would absolutely wait. Although, that isn't necessarily taking the pain that will increase in the meantime into consideration. Anyway you look at it, it is a very difficult decision for me. One that is going to take a lot of prayer to come to a final conclusion. So, I am glad I had the surgery. I feel better than I did going in. That being said, my op hip (right) is still hurting way more than the left and it has a long ways to go to feel fully recovered (does it really fully recover? ) I can't imagine actually getting back to 100%. I would be happy with about 80%. Time will tell I guess but it's so hard to wait!