Eight Weeks

It's eight weeks to the day since my surgery. That seems like a good reporting point that might interest people.

This past weekend I put in two rides of 17 miles each, and managed the second one in about 15 mph. That's getting better, and now it's just a matter of restoring fitness, losing some pounds, and just plain riding the bike. I experienced no soreness in or around the repaired hip. I did feel more twinges in the other hip than I would have wished for: it looks like some planned obsolescence is striking, and the odds seem good that I'll be treating the other hip sometime before too long.

I'm still slightly tentative with my left leg (avoiding even little hops, and guarding it from large twists) but that may be in my mind as much as a physical limitation. I am walking as normally as I ever have, and any limping is due to my untreated right hip. The muscle trauma in my quadriceps continues to fade but is still detectable, just a bit. Mostly I can pass my Underwear Test: standing on each leg and pulling on pants is now fairly easy, although I have to concentrate some when balancing on my left leg. For clothing as grabby and stretchy as cycling shorts, I'm still being a little careful.

All in all, I'm feeling remarkably well and recovered, not just from the surgery, but from the hip trouble itself. I'm still skeptical about some of those reports about walking easily and unaided only two weeks post-op, but at eight weeks, I'm feeling energetic, strong, and confident.

Eight weeks is also a good time to throttle down this blog. I'll continue to report monthly, or if something special comes up. But for now, I'm going to focus on NOT thinking about the middle-aged hip!