I am so happy.  I have a new hip!!  What a miracle!

We showed up at the TOSH surgical center in Murray this morning.  Dr. Wooten does his surgeries here, in this state-of-the-art facility.  It was an overcast and dreary morning.  A perfect day to be inside.

Part of the fun of this experience has been looking forward to it with our dear friend, Steve Lund.  Steve is the one who recommended Dr. Wooten to me.  When I scheduled my surgery, I was very excited the scheduler offered the SAME DAY that Steve was having his hip replaced!  Yesterday, when they called with my surgical time, it we learned that we would be in the same surgery room, back to back!  Dr. Wooten did 9 hip replacements today.  I think we two are the happiest of his patients!  Steve arrived just before I was wheeled away.

The surgery lasts about 35 minutes.  Wow.  Before going under, I asked the medical assistants to show me the saw they’d use to cut the ball off my femur.  They were surprised at my question.  I told them I’d watched lots of videos of the surgery and knew what was coming.  I wished I could watch my own.  The saw was the size of a small hand mixer.

I was finished before I knew I’d even begun.  It took a little while to wake up and soon after, they had me up and walking with a walker.  Amazing.  They taught me how to go up and down steps.  They had me eat a bit and go to the bathroom, then I was cleared to go.

This is my new hip:

I didn’t go too far this evening and opted out of going upstairs to our bedroom.  Kind neighbors have offered to bring in food for the next few days.  My hip and leg were still fairly pain free, because of a nerve block.  The 3-4″ incision is in the front, along the bikini line.

Sleeping under a favorite quilt makes everything better.