so i'm 10 days out from my second hip replacement and just came back from the gym (don't worry i did shoulders, not legs).
the arthritis that required my hip replacement was severely exacerbated by a motorcycle crash in early october - i had been living with chronic severe pain for about 10 weeks. the good news is the pain is gone. funny how if you replace the whole joint there is a step change in the pain from severe to none at all. thank god for medical technology! that being said, i'm recovering from yet another significant injury/trauma.
reflecting it seems that maybe 5 years of my life (i'm 52 - 10%!) have been spent recovering from some injury or another. i was an athlete in high school and college, and would've gone pro in lacrosse had that been available at the time. maybe best that it wasn't! anyways, i've had both acl's repaired, labroscopy on my hip, and now both hips replaced. non-surgical trauma's include countless sprained ankles (all when younger), over 10 broken ribs (3 different incidents), 2 concussions, 1 broken knee cap, 1 broken scapula, 1 broken metacarpal, multiple dislocated shoulders, 1 hyper extended elbow, 1 dislocated wrist, 2 disk ruptures, 2 kidney ruptures, 1 collapsed lung, and countless muscle pulls, partial tears, and tendonitis in various joints.
what have i learned through all this? patience and consistency (and not overdoing recovery) are paramount to success. also, working with A GOOD physical therapist accelerates recovery and provides a sustainable base if some exercises are incorporated in regular program.
at this point in my training, i've resigned myself to the fact that running is out, playing sports (active ones like basketball, flag football, lacrosse, etc) is out. my wife has taken the position that i can't race motorcycles anymore (a number of the injuries are a result of crashes at the track). i will not lift heavy (less than 6 reps). it's yet to be seen if my hips will be able to take squats and dead lifts again - but that is the goal.
the most instantaneous painful injury was my first acl tear. i blacked out from the pain. the most significant post injury pain was a motorcycle crash where i was in icu for a few days with a variety of broken bones, internal injuries and road rash. the most immediately beneficial surgery was the hip replacement just mentioned.
thanks for reading and letting me share. sometimes i do get tired of recovery (i took 6 days off from the gym after this most recent surgery). time to get back on the saddle, and hopefully my body will be good for awhile...
i'd love to hear some other interesting injury/recovery experiences - some of them can be quite inspirational!