18 days later

Considering the invasiveness of the operation I had, it is amazing how fast recovery has been. At the surgery site itself there is no more than occasional discomfort. The painful swelling in one foot (which the hospital has confirmed is normal) is annoying, but is now clearly on the mend. I can do most normal things including driving and shopping. The constant need for attention to not getting my leg into any of those "forbidden" positions is wearing, but the doctor said that I would only need to worry about that for about a month, so I'm more than halfway through that.

The most important aftereffect is constant tiredness and lack of energy. That's partly due to the "forbidden positions" issue -- I don't sleep well because I can't sleep in the position I'm used to, so I feel sleepy during the day -- but I think mostly it's just because my system is diverting such a lot of energy to the healing process. Perhaps as a result of that, surgical recovery is a real sex-drive killer too; I find that I hardly ever even think about that, and when I do, it just doesn't hold my interest. It's a very odd feeling, and one which anyone having major surgery for the first time should be prepared for.

But all this will pass in time. I expect to be back to work at my job on Tuesday, and within a month or so I should be not only back to normal, but in better shape than at any time during the last couple of years, when that degenerating hip joint was gradually taking over my life.

A few decades ago that condition would have been untreatable and I would probably have ended up in a wheelchair, in too much chronic pain to work. I am very fortunate to live at a time when technology can routinely make such repairs.