Cartwheels, Lady Urinals and Scooters Oh My!

It is a rare occurrence to completely tear your proximal hamstring off of your ischial tuberosity, your "sit bone".  Water Skiers, Bull Riders, and now introducing Cartwheelers are among the active group of people finding themselves with such acute ruptures.

The Cartwheel:
How did I find myself, a 50 something active woman, cartwheeling into this surgical procedure?  It all seemed rather simple, nothing extraordinary.  I exercised in a Zumba class one afternoon, came home, found a patch of grass on my front lawn beckoning me to spin a cartwheel and 1/4 of the way around, crack, like a Louisville Slugger bat, a knife jabbing feeling in the back of my leg, that was that.  An MRI later indicated that my hamstring was 4.5 cm retracted and forming a nice hamburger like lump behind my leg.  More post MRI details later.

The Lady Urinal:
Jumping ahead a bit here, a 6-12 month recovery process looming.  Days 1 - 3 post op from out patient surgery and we find our Lady Urinal a HANDy device. Imagine if you will, you are unable to sit properly on any surface, for this entry, note the toilet is in context here.  I could barely stand, let alone hobble to the bathroom in the middle of the night, high on Oxycontin, dizzy coming down from anesthesia and ready to wet myself uncontrollably.  Calling out for a trusted person to help me stand up bedside, spread towel on floor, grab the Lady Urinal, position it between a working leg and leg frozen in time, from an incision spanning one's gluteal fold, just inches from said urinal placement, all while holding on for dear life, in near tears from the pain in my as$, was the procedure. In my case my trusted person was my husband.  The best 15.00 investment I have ever made.  More post op potty stories to come.

The Scooter:
She was a scooter girl, a 10 point turn hooter girl...sung to the tune of Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne.  In the case of my procedure, the recommendation of the Knee Wheeler by my doctor has been both a great help for getting around efficiently as well as in gleeful style - most days anyways.   Loosely worn boy boxers, zipping through the house and learning to use the break lock effectively while parking for such issues as toileting, making coffee, folding clothes and getting back into bed conjure up a curious vision.  Where would I be without my little red scooter.  I am afraid I would be nursing sore underarm folds from crutches and would miss out on the gentle glides down the ramp after physical therapy.  The decision to buy the wheeler with the all terrain wheels was a great choice.  It works well through the grass and over cobble stones and takes thresholds quite well.  More on getting around post op later.

My posts here are intended to help people with impending or post op surgery. Finding the humor in such tumultuous times has been helpful and having a friend to share the experience with who is in the throws of mending from surgery at the same time has greatly aided me in not feeling so alone in experiencing the feelings and emotions that go along with this process.  

Thank you for reading.  Scooter Girl.