1 Year On
It’s been a long time since i’ve written one of these. This mainly came down to the fact that I didn’t need to write about my hip anymore because after a few months there weren’t any major updates. However, today felt like the right day to write one last time about how far I had come.
Overview
Today marks the one year anniversary since I had a Periacetebular Osteotomy on my left hip. Before the operation I had constant pain and discomfort in everyday activities like walking/ sleeping/ sitting etc. This meant I was never truly enjoying the things I should have been, because somewhere in the back my mind I was always thinking about it.
Months 4-8
As strange though as it feels to think that one year ago I was waking up at the time that I am writing this, it has made me so thankful for being able to go through this process.
Since then I have been able to go on and accomplish many things. One of which was the target I set myself after having the operation. And that was simply to be able to walk without crutches at my own graduation 3 months later. I also started working out in the gym around 4 months post-op. It was an amazing feeling and something that I am truly missing more than anything with this pandemic that is going on.
In January I went for my 6 month check up and asked whether it would be possible for me to start gently introducing myself to jogging. It’s something I always wanted to do but I was never physically able to. I tried in January maybe even February but realised that I just wasn’t strong enough yet. And I can remember thinking that it was something i’d never be able to do.
Where am I now?
I started a new job in October and I am loving every part of it. This came with the added benefit of having a small gym. This gave me to opportunity to work out at my own pace without people potentially judging me. I have also been fortunate to travel, and went abroad to Amsterdam in January. I was walking over 12,000 steps a day - with no pain, which was an amazing achievement.
More recently I have started doing Couch to 5k on my treadmill. However, this time when I started I knew that my body was ready. It felt stronger and things didn’t seem to click as much as before. Don’t get me wrong I am still unable to run without a treadmill and it’s still difficult because the muscles on my left side are nothing in comparison to those on my right. But it’s such a massive achievement for me personally and something that I am really proud of.
Overall, the main thing I have learnt throughout the whole of this is to not give up. And I think that it is so relevant with everything that is going on in the world. So I want to end this with a quote: “Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.”
