Hip arthroscopy
Dec. 9th, 2019 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halojedhaLeo went into hospital last week for a hip arthroscopy. They were in overnight and the surgery lasted three hours. As well as taking a look with the camera, the surgeon reshaped the ball of the hip joint and constructed a labrum out of other tissue, because the labrum was apparently entirely worn away.
So I had 36 hours of solo Podling care - a first. It wasn't my first night alone with them, but it was our longest stretch just the two of us. It was lovely, actually, although tiring. We went out in the evening to borrow a pair of crutches fromdenny The next day my friend D came over to help out, and accompanied me and E on the drive to collect Leo from the clinic in central London.
I'd wondered if having her there for the drive would be overkill, but it turned out to be so necessary. E was hungry on the way there, and D bottle-fed them in the car seat. It was so great to have her able to distract them with toys, keep them company, talk and sing to them. Still, E got Fed Up of being in the carseat, and there was crying. We pulled over twice to check nappies and feed, and as soon as they were in my arms they were totally chill - and as soon as we put them back in the car seat they started crying again. It was pretty miserable.
As we were nearly there, with a crying baby, there was a road block - and the diversion was jammed solid with traffic. We had to pull over again, and eventually just tough it out. Crying baby in solid central London traffic with aggy taxi drivers cutting you up is not an experience I recommend.
We collected Leo. With a crying baby it wasn't quite the soothing caregiving welcome back I wanted to give them. My attention was torn between Leo and E. It was all a bit compromised. Eventually we got home, but whew, what a mission! The round trip took 4.5 hours rather than the 2.5 I'd been expecting.
Since then Leo's recovery has been progressing remarkably well. They're already off crutches around the house, walking slowly and carefully and not carrying anything heavier than a cup of tea. Still, it means I'm doing breastfeeding and fetching and carrying for Leo, and all the nappy changes and cooking and laundry and housework. It's a lot.
I've had a few nights doing all the nappy changes and soothing and feeding and cuddling rather than sharing it with Leo as I usually do. How single parents do it I don't know. I'm very tired. I'm glad it's temporary!
We had our dear friend, E's oddparent, Z come and stay for four days to help out. And Leo's girlfriend was here for a day and a night too. So that's been really useful, having extra help with the laundry and the dishwasher and so on, but it also means more people to cook for and more cleaning up to do. Despite everyone pitching in the house still ended up messier than it started.
Leo's mumstrongwomanplant is here now for the next few days. Leo is now well enough to do sofa-based childcare, so this evening Gina and I have blitzed the tidying and washing up while Leo dandled E. It makes such a difference to my mood when the place is tidy!
There's still a lot of clutter, but sorting that out is a deeper job and it's all we can do at the moment to stay on top of the basic maintenance. So we'll just have to live with the clutter for now.
The most important thing is that Leo seems to be recovering well. Fingers crossed the surgery has restored their hip function enough that they won't need a hip replacement next year.
So I had 36 hours of solo Podling care - a first. It wasn't my first night alone with them, but it was our longest stretch just the two of us. It was lovely, actually, although tiring. We went out in the evening to borrow a pair of crutches from
denny The next day my friend D came over to help out, and accompanied me and E on the drive to collect Leo from the clinic in central London.I'd wondered if having her there for the drive would be overkill, but it turned out to be so necessary. E was hungry on the way there, and D bottle-fed them in the car seat. It was so great to have her able to distract them with toys, keep them company, talk and sing to them. Still, E got Fed Up of being in the carseat, and there was crying. We pulled over twice to check nappies and feed, and as soon as they were in my arms they were totally chill - and as soon as we put them back in the car seat they started crying again. It was pretty miserable.
As we were nearly there, with a crying baby, there was a road block - and the diversion was jammed solid with traffic. We had to pull over again, and eventually just tough it out. Crying baby in solid central London traffic with aggy taxi drivers cutting you up is not an experience I recommend.
We collected Leo. With a crying baby it wasn't quite the soothing caregiving welcome back I wanted to give them. My attention was torn between Leo and E. It was all a bit compromised. Eventually we got home, but whew, what a mission! The round trip took 4.5 hours rather than the 2.5 I'd been expecting.
Since then Leo's recovery has been progressing remarkably well. They're already off crutches around the house, walking slowly and carefully and not carrying anything heavier than a cup of tea. Still, it means I'm doing breastfeeding and fetching and carrying for Leo, and all the nappy changes and cooking and laundry and housework. It's a lot.
I've had a few nights doing all the nappy changes and soothing and feeding and cuddling rather than sharing it with Leo as I usually do. How single parents do it I don't know. I'm very tired. I'm glad it's temporary!
We had our dear friend, E's oddparent, Z come and stay for four days to help out. And Leo's girlfriend was here for a day and a night too. So that's been really useful, having extra help with the laundry and the dishwasher and so on, but it also means more people to cook for and more cleaning up to do. Despite everyone pitching in the house still ended up messier than it started.
Leo's mum
strongwomanplant is here now for the next few days. Leo is now well enough to do sofa-based childcare, so this evening Gina and I have blitzed the tidying and washing up while Leo dandled E. It makes such a difference to my mood when the place is tidy! There's still a lot of clutter, but sorting that out is a deeper job and it's all we can do at the moment to stay on top of the basic maintenance. So we'll just have to live with the clutter for now.
The most important thing is that Leo seems to be recovering well. Fingers crossed the surgery has restored their hip function enough that they won't need a hip replacement next year.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 11:50 am (UTC)