Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Thursday evening

Yesterday was an important day for me, the 1st anniversary of my hip replacement. Can you believe it’s already a year on? I find it difficult to grasp, however so much has changed, and all definately for the better. It was with so much fear and trepidation that I travelled to Oxford to have my surgery last year, I knew I had one of the best surgeons in the UK (well, the world actually) but you still can’t help feeling like a lamb to the slaughter, and for me my main aprehension was knowing that once my femoral head was cut off and replaced that there was no going back, it would be replacements for the rest of my life, which was one of the reasons I held out for so long. I had also hoped that they would come up with something else to help my hips, but nothing new was really happening.

So this time and one day ago last year, I would have been lying so relaxed and chilled out, with my legs completely numb from the anaesthetic, complete with lines, drains, oxygen and morphine clicker, which I definately didn’t use enough and they took it away in the afternoon of the second day….rats! Actually, that was good, I hardly needed it, and survived just taking paracetamol from a couple of days after the op.

So, what has changed…..everything! I had no idea how good it would be. I can walk again, I now haven’t used my sticks since the middle of September, I can do my shoelaces up and almost reach my feet to cut my toenails properly. I can put my own socks on without an aid, and can walk almost as fast as I used to before all this started. I no longer have pain (in my right hip) or need to go to hydrotherapy every week. I’ve lost weight and am returning to my true self that I lost 15 years ago. I’m so happy again, and I laugh and smile lots now, and have fun and make jokes. Life is truely good and I’m so glad to be mobile. My legs are also the same length for the first time ever in my life (I’m actually about an inch taller – which I love!…..my passport is wrong though, lol), and I don’t wear my right shoe out faster than the left one anyone. My left hip is becoming a cause for concern as it’s struggling to keep up and aches quite a lot now, but it’s not holding me up or preventing me from doing what I want to anymore. We have to watch this space, but hey……life is good. Also on June 24th I’m planning to do the Race for Life 5Km walk in Crawley for Cancer Research UK, and have started training. If you’d like to sponsor me, please follow this link to my sponsorship page. Thank you.