Pregnancy, Marathons and Orthopaedic Recoveries

Pregnancies, as we all know, take 9 months to reach fruition. And the process cannot be shortened to 1 month, as the joke goes, by putting 9 men and 1 woman or 9 women and 1 man on the job.

Running your first marathon takes a similar amount of time. I had a couple DNFs at the 26 mile distance before I devoted the necessary 9 months time and effort into training for the distance. I have talked with and coached other runners who have voiced similar feelings in conquering the marathon distance.

So that leads to an orthopedic surgery recovery. This is a subject on which I have abundant experience. The 'party line' on hip replacements is 1 year before you will be back to normal. My 1st hip took a little less than 9 months; the 2nd hip took a little longer. But the back fusion was a totally different matter. The bone paste used in the fusion takes a minimum of 3 to 6 months to 'set', and, like concrete, continues to harden up to 2 years later. During this first 3 to 6 months, one has fairly restrictive movements.

So this is the predicament in which I once again find myself. My left hip redo on Nov 23 will take 3 to 6 months to set because Dr. Muschler had to use bone paste to build up my hip area. During this time I must have absolutely zero weight on the left foot for 6 weeks. At this point we will make another trip to Cleveland Clinic where an X-ray will show the healing progress. I truly believe that Dr. Muschler will extend my non-weight-bearing restrictions another 6 weeks. This can be a depressing outlook. During the previous back surgery in Nov, 2008, I passed the time by writing a book about my life -- to give to my two children. What I will do this recovery period is unknown at this time. All I know for sure is that I have 9 months to do it. Any suggestions?

The photo above is from day 20. Tomorrow I expect the Steri-Strips to be completely removed (Day 22).


Larry