It's back to my back

You might recall that at week five of post-op, when I saw the surgeon, he told me I could start sleeping on my left side?

And I was delighted?

And I actually did sleep on my left side and had a wonderfully refreshing sleep?

Yeh, well, that didn't last long.  Perhaps two or three nights, if that.  (I wasn't actually staying on my side either, because it seems that once I was asleep, I was turning onto my back.)

I started noticing that it actually hurt to be lying on my left side, but I was hoping I was wrong.  Because, what could be hurting?  I have an artificial hip now.  But it sure felt like pressure on my hip bone!

Anyway, for the past few weeks the pain has worsened to the point that I simply could not bear lying on that side.  I was starting to worry that I would forever have this problem.  That the surgery, while it gave me back my mobility, did not give me back my ability to sleep on my side.

Yesterday, I raised the issue with my physiotherapist and she put my fears to rest.

Turns out that it IS the bone that's hurting.  The bone that holds the new hip prosthesis has not yet fully healed and when I lay on it, I'm putting pressure on a "raw wound," as it were.  Same thing with the pain that persists down my leg -- the femur was drilled to allow the rod of the new structure to be inserted.  And that bone is not yet fully healed either.

Now it makes sense.  I need not worry about never being able to sleep on my side again.  I just need to be a little more patient.  It might take another four to six weeks before those bones are fully able to bear the weight of my body while I sleep.

My physiotherapist was puzzled though, about why I was so anxious to sleep on my left side.  I do, after all, have another side.  She didn't realize that I can't sleep on my right side either, because THAT hip is bad.  It too will need to be replaced.  We just don't know how long it will be before it HAS to be replaced.

So, bottom line is, I'm back to having to sleep on my back for possibly another four to six weeks.

I hate sleeping on my back.

And I have a very difficult time going to sleep on my back.

But, I did it prior to and immediately after the surgery.

So, I will do it again.

Did I mention how tired I am today?

I feel like I haven't slept at all.