Recovery - Day 2

Update from Nate for Dec 30: Megan is recovering well for the hospital part of the journey. She battled some nausea throughout the day as she weened off of the heavier IV pain meds; the nausea and itching is subsiding now, and the epidural and catheter have all been removed. She has gotten out of bed with the help of P.T. and made it to the bathroom 3 different times with the walker. We are really pleased to see how well pain is being managed and expect to be coming home tomorrow assuming she can pass the P.T. "steps" test. We should be home to party like rockstars with ice packs and strong drugs...

Recovery - Day 1

Megan's first day of recovery is coming to a close. She is doing about as well as possible at this point - experiencing nausea and itching from her pain meds, so she didn't sleep much last night. Her leg was immediately put into the passive motion machine following surgery and she will continue with it 6 to 8 hours a day. She hasn't gotten out of bed already and took several steps with a walker during PT.

Pray for rest, calm, well controlled pain, nausea and no itching. Thanks all!

Surgery Complete!

After 4 1/2 hours in surgery this afternoon, Megan's surgery is complete! Dr. Clohisy was encouraged and spoke very positively of how the surgery went. He corrected the previous repositioning of the ball and socket, corrected/fixed the labrum, and shaved the head and neck of femur. This is a great start, but the success of the surgery will be measured by Megan's pain levels weeks from now.

Megan and Nate are thankful for Dr. Clohisy and all of your prayers and thoughts. Please pray for Megan's pain, sleep, nausea, comfort levels, perseverance...

Thank you friends!

St. Louis bound...again

Over the Rhine's Christmas album is playing, presents are wrapped, and we are packing our bags for the weekend in State College, PA with Nate's parents.

An entire autumn season has passed since I last posted here.

Regarding my right hip (which was operated on last May), I continue to strengthen and heal. I am mostly happy with the progress. There is still some pain from my bursitis as well as my psoas, which my doctor believes will settle down in time. Dr. Clohisy says he continues to believe I will heal completely on my right side. We are hopeful for this as we move forward to addressing my left hip once again.

As you all know, my left PAO surgery from a year ago August was a failed surgery, overcorrected and missing a major addressing of my impingement. Over time, the pain of the failed surgery has only heightened; there is significant nerve pain alongside the joint structure that has failed. As time has passed, and now having compared two distinctly differing outcomes, we were ready to consider scheduling a re-PAO of my left hip. My doc was encouraged by my strength and mobility on my right hip and was willing to schedule my surgery. After a fierce battle with Anthem, they overturned our case and are now willing to cover my surgery. WE ARE SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 28TH IN ST. LOUIS. We will return from PA on Monday and head to St. Louis on Tuesday.

A re-do PAO is not a cut and dry surgery; it is more involved, there is more bleeding that will occur due to the soft tissues build-up, and altogether it is more of a "gamble" (says my doctor) in that it is the 2nd time around. My hip is not as strong as the first time and whereas at first I would have had a 95-100% chance of full recovery, I now have a 60-70% chance. It is heartbreaking to note how this would have been different had we met Dr. Clohisy and known of him to begin with. Even so, the reality is we have a 2nd chance at this surgery and relieving pain and we feel the time is right to choose it. It's within the deductible year, I'm still young and have the cartilage to qualify, the pain is intense, and we are in the best hands, literally, for this particular need and surgery.

Please pray with us for WHOLE healing, for HOPE and encouragement. After two years of PAO surgeries, and no entirely healed hips yet, we are in need of others to pray and hope for us.

We will keep this blog updated as my surgery occurs next Wednesday and in days following.

For now, Merry Christmas. May the birth of Christ bring joy in your hearts and and a thirst for His tender love.

Megan