proximal hamstring avulsion Surgery

@upgirl2013
I think I will begin tracking my steps & distance also, that is a good idea, and it will give me a sense of accomplishment. I am impressed you are now hiking 5 miles! I was only doing about 4 miles before my accident/surgery. And that would sometime cause my knees and hips to be sore. At this point, I have been lucky as not to require any joint replacement.
I replied to @seesa2u about my experience with hyaluronic injections, I am a big believer that they helped me--but I also know that is not the case for everyone.

Hang in there, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Just take it slow and gradually add to your progress. As they say your body will let you know.
we are here if you need us.

Katy you are amazing...... 4 miles....yay for you. I'm so proud of your strength and courage. im a week behind you but im not sure about the 4 miles. before my accident I was doing the treadmill at incline of 10 for 45 minutes at 4.2 mph. That was so exhilarating for me. I was told I can start on treadmill but no incline but speed 2 mph for up to 10. It took me so long to even get to 7 minutes. lol. I guess I have to start somewhere.
I am able to walk correctly upstairs steps but going down pulls so im afraid to do it. I can tell my hamstring is very tight. probably cuz it retracted 7cm when I hurt it. I also can tell it is alot smaller than my other leg as it has not been used correctly in 3 months 😞.
Wishing you a great weekend. keep up the awesome job if walking 4miles ❤️

@seesa2u This rehab is slow. 7 CM is a big gap! Keep using the treadmill and you will be amazed how much longer you will be able to stay on. 7 minutes is a long time on a treadmill. I find the exercise bike is easier for me. However, the bike seats irritate my incision area. Each time it gets a tad easier. Use the stairs with your injured leg going down first a few times a day. Do not let your doubts win.
I know that easy for me to say.

Okay, so here I am 19 weeks, (123 days post surgery) and have finally reached the acceptance stage. 35% of 2025 has been affected by this horrible injury. I saw the surgeon on Monday and he said everything feels attached. That is great news, and that all of this slow recovery is worth it. Warning: the exam is quite painful. The surgeon had to shove his fingers in the incision area to feel the attachments. Take Tylenol and bring ice for the ride home. Sure wish I had known that before the appointment.
I have one more month of PT and then I will be on my own. I do not have to go back to see the surgeon unless my PT thinks I need to. It is a 100 mile drive and winter is coming soon. The surgeon mentioned seeing a chiropractor to check my hip alignment. Is that something any of you have been told or did?
PT, on Tuesday, added the sled with 15 pounds, lifting my leg from a face down position and one legged stands with a kettlebell. I now have a variety of exercises that I can something different every other day. I did ask if I will be able to touch my toes again, and the PT assistant said, “maybe some day, just not now”. My massage therapist recommends doing a hard day then a recovery spin day instead of trying to do it all every day. Massages outside side of PT have been helpful. She concentrates on my Piriformis and IT bands, along with my upper body.
I can walk for miles and up hills do not hurt as much as they used to.
I can spin on the bike seated for a half hour, standing is not available to me yet. Two things this week made me realize that I have long way to normal for me is a) pushing a heavy grocery cart really hurts and b) I am not ready to get back to swimming laps. I did face the fear of walking on a wet pool deck with my flip flops and showering a public space. I went to the pool area all confident like I could get in a start swimming freestyle and back. The surgeon warned me of not doing the breaststroke yet. I tried to get sit on the side of the pool and then realized that I could get down. I used the stairs and stayed in the shallow end stretching and convincing myself that I can make it to the other end and back. I used a pool buoy at first and let my arms do the work. At the end of ten minutes I had swam a total of 10 lengths without the buoy. Slow times but I did it. Backstroke was not painful, freestyle was strange. I felt the back of my thigh jiggle and am not sure is fat or lack of muscle. I did not like the sensation and will reach out to my PT as to if I should keep swimming or wait a bit longer.
Have any of you sat in the floor or a surface that was not a chair/sofa/car seat yet? I was very surprised that I could not get down to the ground. That was my “ah ha” moment.
This recovery is way too long and frustrating. I will listen and try to honor my body.
I made the decision that we are staying home for Thanksgiving. I do not feel like driving two days to our daughter’s house. My husband’s MCI seems to be on a stable path right now and the thought of having him in a hotel room in a strange town sounds miserable to me. Thankfully my husband does not realize he has cognitive issues so he does not get agitated, it is me that gets frustrated and if my level is high then my patience is low. Plus I end up doing 90% of the driving.
I hope you are all doing well with your recovery and that the holidays will not put too much stress on you. Make the decisions based on what is best of you and your recovery. Next year will look different to all of us.
Keep posting your recovery stories so we can support and learn from each other.
Sending you all peace and comfort in that we have each other.

@upgirl2013
Your postings continue to provide help and guidance to me as I continue the healing process also. It is nice to have the support. I am now 10 weeks post surgery.

Because some of my older back and knees issues have returned with the increased activity, I asked my PT if I could resume seeing a chiropractor. She said "if it helped me previously,
it might be a good idea, as long as I inform them of my injury, and they don't pull on my leg".
I have only had 2 follow up appointments with the surgeon, and they were very brief with no leg exam, except to check incision at first follow up. I did not ask him about seeing a chiropractor. At the first follow-up appointment he said NO medical massages yet. I will ask again during my next visit with surgeon.
I too, have slight hip alignment problems, as well as age related spinal stenosis, and prior issues related to a burst fracture of my L1 vertebrae from falling off ladder. I was going to a chiropractor somewhat regularly to keep everything aligned. (More preventative than pain.)
The Hamstring avulsion injury has exacerbated my other issues, and I have to be very cautious with the PT exercises, especially involving the knees. I am doing a series a 3 hyaluronic injections in both knee joints. I am optimistic it will help, I have received the 1st injection, and I am thinking I am noticing some improvement. The knees may be a little less creaky.
I have started walking outdoors, and am increasing my distance slowly. Not even up to .5 mile yet.
I can now sit in a chair for well over an hour, and easily but awkwardly, get up and down off the floor, but have not tried sitting on the floor. I have just recently started stretching exercises for the piriformis. My upper thigh still swells after walking and PT. It feels like I have additional blobs or bags of fat on upper thigh, and I often wonder if everything is still attached. I am hoping it will improve as I regain muscle. I do think it has toned up some. I still have some pain near the incision area, and I am recently experiencing general pelvic floor pain after a long day. I am about a foot away from touching my toes! I still can not tie my bad leg's shoe while sitting in a chair.
I am tying to be patient with myself. It is frustrating, because so many people do not understand this injury, nor do they understand the recovery time.
I was a fairly active 67 yr old, but I can't say I followed an exercise routine program. I think swimming sounds like a fantastic therapy, but I am not thrilled about driving to town for access to a pool. Wish I could go somewhere sunny and warm for recovery. I think being outdoors in warm, sunny weather speeds the recovery process. If nothing else it helps my attitude! We are also staying home for the holidays.
Wishing us all continued progress in our recovery.
Again, thank you for your updates. It does provide needed peace and comfort!

@tamb you are doing fantastic for 10 weeks! You will start noticing the little victories soon. I hope the injections start working soon. When I did the series of three injections the relief lasted over two years.
That is amazing that up you can get on and off the floor.
I have been using the stretching table at the Y to do my floor exercises. I still ice after working out. Since we are upright and walking people seem to think that we are 100%. I am thinking it will be a full year before I will feel 80%.
Keep walking and measure the time and not miles.
My knee looks very out of whack with extra skin on either sides. My PT thinks the wiggling feeling I had swimming was my muscles trying to fire. He wants me to try to swim a few laps before Tuesday. In a few weeks you will welcome a trip to the pool. If you have access to an exercise bike, try to use it every other day.
I think that has been strengthening my knees and quads.
One thing my PT noticed last week is that the hip on my surgical side is very weak. He added hip flexor exercises to the many I already am doing.😩
Are in a position that you can get away for a bit in February? The snowbird rates have gone down for this winter. Just a bit of sunshine is good for the soul.
We do not have a good place to walk inside in our town. Before we moved, we would walk the mall every other night. It took a few evenings for me to get used to the horrible lighting.
December 21 will be here soon and the days will start getting longer.
Have a great Thanksgiving and do not overdo it.

Just checking in with you all! I am now just shy of five months post surgery.
Last week I went to the Y and biked for 20 minutes and then tried to swim for 20 minutes. My inner knee started hurting and tried to swim it off. I now know what the PT means that I would know when I tried to do too much.
I am not sure if it is weather related or that my body is not ready to do what my mind thinks it should.
The PT assistant told me that babies start hamstring development in the womb and that those with our injury have to start from scratch to develop the muscles. Prior to 16 weeks we are working on the muscles around the hamstrings and protecting them. At 16 weeks is when we start rebuilding that muscle. I wish someone had given me the healing time line in depth.
I still cannot get on the floor, the mechanics are just not there.
Any tips?
Now that there is snow on the ground, I have stopped my outdoor walks. The fear of slipping is real!
How are your recoveries going? What has helped you emotionally? Physically?
Keep posting as you go through your recovery.

@upgirl2013
Thanks for the update. Biking and swimming sounds like a great combination. It is so difficult for me to find the correct activity level. On Dec 12th, I will be 3 months post surgery. When I am doing PT exercises or walking I feel good, and think I can walk a little further, or do a few more exercises, and then I regret it the next day. My PT has given me so many exercises, that I find I need to rotate exercises and not do everything on 1 day.
I definitely think my mind gets ahead of the body!
This week I have been dealing with an injured lower back, and I wonder if it happened because I was pushing myself a little too hard, and too fast, without regaining enough core strength. Laying around the first 1-1/2 months, weakened my core, which was already weak before the accident.
I am seeing both an acupuncturist and chiropractor, trying to relieve my lower back pain and help me get back on track quickly.
I will try to move forward with a more caution, but I am overwhelmed with so many health care appointments!
When I mentioned a could get down to the floor, I am using the support of my hands on the floor. I know some people stand and drop without using hands. I am not sure I had that ability before the accident.
Initially, I used a couch or chair to lower myself down, then getting on both knees, then all fours (hands & knees), and dropping to the floor from there. Now, without a chair, I can drop to one knee, then both knees, then all fours, and on down. It was somewhat awkward to begin with, but now is easier than it sounds. I was a bit scared to begin, because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it back up. Again I used a chair to help get off the floor the first few times. My PT gave me verbal support the first time, which really helped. I wonder if your physical therapist would walk you thru?
I am finding the rainy weather we are having here is depressing, so I am counting the days to the winter solstice. If I have to start driving somewhere to take a walk due to ice, it will be hard to motivate myself to do that.
It is good to know the reason my muscles strength has not returned as quickly as expected.
Thanks you for your continued conversation. It really helps!

I graduated from physical therapy today🙌🏻😵‍💫. I still have a lot of work to do😩. I tried roll ups and rolling like a ball yesterday and thought I pulled a muscle. Nope: I irritated the scar and sits bone area. No floor core Pilates for a few more months.
I have come along way from sitting in a chair with a brace on 24/7 to sitting on an ice pack a few times a day. I am thankful for a great PT practice close to home and living 100 miles from a skilled surgeon.
I am going to try to swim again after Christmas. I am surprised with all the quad strengthening exercises that my knee is still not back to it’s post replacement form.
This experience has made me realize that I am not a patient person when it comes to limiting my activities.
My questions to you all are: 1)Is your scar area still sensitive? 2) What was your “Ah ah” moment regarding your abilities? 3) When is your last follow up appointment with the surgeon’s office? 4) Do you think 6 months full recovery is realistic? 5) How are all doing mentally, emotionally and physically?
I hope your holiday plans have not been too interrupted because of your recovery process .