Monday’s A Taste of Flava 🌻

I slept well. And I appreciate the fact that most nights, I do sleep well. That is a blessing all by itself.

At 8 a.m., I headed in to take my shower. I thought I was doing something smart by ordering a waterproof protective shield for my incision bandage. It worked great at keeping the water out. That was a plus.

The downside? When I started pulling it off, it lifted the surgery bandage too.

Good thing today was the day I was having that bandage removed! 🤣

When I told Khalil, my medical assistant, what I had done, he just smiled. Then he pulled it off, and we laughed together.

I still think the protective shield was a good idea. My removal technique just needed some work. And if you could have seen me previously trying to wrap Saran Wrap around myself to keep that bandage dry… now THAT would have made a hilarious TikTok video. 🤣

Today was my two-week post-op appointment, and it went well.

My incision is healing great. My range of motion is right where it should be for two weeks after surgery. And my X-rays show that the hip replacement is doing what it should at this point.

But here is the news I was really excited about: I got to schedule my left hip surgery for January 20, 2027!

I will be heading into the new year with a plan to get both hips working better. My hope is that once the left hip is done and healed, I can have a good, long break from surgeries on this skeletal structure of mine.

I do have stenosis and arthritis in my lumbar spine, but my back is not currently giving me pain. So, spine, let’s keep cooperating. 😉

Today, I walked really well with my two-wheel walker. Standing tall, moving with a good cadence, and feeling no pain in my right hip while walking.

But let me tell you… I got winded.

My stamina needs work. I expected that. My muscles have become weak and deconditioned after so much time limiting movement because it hurt. Now I need to gradually build my strength and endurance, and I will be talking with Rachel, my physical therapist, about that tomorrow.

It feels encouraging to work toward moving more when every step doesn’t hurt the way it used to.

The interesting thing is that my left hip still has bone-on-bone arthritis, but the pain is lower than it was before my right hip replacement. I can’t tell you exactly why, but I can tell you what I feel. My left hip actually has less range of motion than my right, yet right now, even that side feels more manageable.

As I’m writing this, I keep thinking about timing.

Timing really is everything.

For three years, I have been dealing with these challenges. From day one, I kept saying I believed it was my hips. I saw doctors. I did physical therapy. And over time, I moved less because of the pain and became weaker.

Once the focus shifted to my hips and the severity of the arthritis was confirmed, things started moving. The right surgeons fell into place, and my surgery moved forward.

I feel extremely blessed.

Unless you have lived with this kind of hip pain, you may not fully understand the relief I feel after having just ONE hip replaced.

Today was the best I have walked—and the best I have felt coming down the stairs from my tower—in three years.

Khalil asked me what I was going to do when both hips were done and healed.

I smiled and told him, “First, I’m going to enjoy not having the pain. Then I’ll just have to see where I go from there.”

Because honestly, that alone is something to look forward to.

When I lived in the desert for those six years, I wasn’t experiencing this kind of pain. But I’m realizing now that my right hip already had limitations back then. I have flexibility today that I don’t remember having while I lived in Vegas.

Looking back, I wonder how long those changes were happening before the pain became impossible to ignore. Arthritis certainly isn’t unfamiliar in my family.

If you are experiencing ongoing hip or knee pain, please start a conversation with your primary care provider. Tell them where it hurts, how it affects your movement, and what you are struggling to do.

You don’t have to figure out the cause by yourself. Let that conversation be the beginning of getting some answers.

I am grateful for my journey because I have learned a lot about my body, navigating orthopedic care, and the surgery and recovery process.

You know me. I like to understand the WHY of everything.

Now I will go into my next hip surgery with a better understanding of what to expect. I know every recovery can be different, but having this experience behind me gives me more confidence.

I know this sounds like a Health and Wellness blog… and yes, it is. But this is also my Monday, my life, and my healing journey after living with excruciating hip pain.

Today, I came home tired—but encouraged.

And that is a good place to be.

Happy Monday 😁
Forward Movement ➡️
From Flava in Her Tower 🌻