Getting Closer

I'm still on for the resurfacing in Baltimore on November 15. Everything seems to be falling into place: I've got the plane tickets and the hotel, the insurance has been approved, lined up a house sitter, and I'm getting things wrapped up at work. I'm really ready--lately I've been missing out on a lot of fun things because I just didn't feel like getting out. So, I'm looking forward to just being able to do what I want to do and not worry about how much standing or walking there will be, etc.

This surgery will be harder than the last one--I'll have several weeks of in-home rehab. they have to take the hip apart and put it back together, so I'll have to relearn to use the muscles and everything. And, there is a risk of complications during or after the surgery. One of the more common complications is that the femur neck can break. If it happens during the surgery while they are hammering on the metal cap that goes over the femur head, they just convert to a total hip replacement. But if it happens after the surgery, they have to go back in and convert it after the fact which doesn't sound fun at all. I think I'll be extra-conservative after the surgery for a few weeks to try and avoid this!

Au revoir Monaco

Monday I got back from my trip to Paris and Monaco. I'm still jet-lagged; it's 4:50 AM and I can't sleep!

I was really nervous about getting around over there. One of my favorite things about Paris (and other places that were built before cars were invented) is that it's made for walking. This time, though, that seemed a little intimidating. I wasn't sure how I was going to get around. When I got to Paris, my apartment wasn't ready so I had to go entertain myself for a few hours. I had a good time walking around and took a lot of pictures, but I was tired from the plane ride and my hip was pretty painful. I tried to figure out the Velib, free or low-cost bikes that are everywhere in Paris, but it turns out that you need to have a credit card with a "puce", or chip, on it. American cards don't have this. Besides, although there are Velib stations every 300 meters in Paris, the closest station to my apartment was still a few blocks that I didn't necessarily want to have to walk every time I wanted a bike. I found a place that rented bikes for longer-term, and got one for 4 days @ 25 euros.

Riding was so much fun! The mayor of Paris is very supportive of cycling and alternate forms of transportation, and in addition to starting Velib he has added many bike lanes. Smaller streets were great for riding on as-is, medium-sized streets generally had small bike lanes to the side, and large boulevards had a lane dedicated to bikes, buses and taxis. I thought it worked great! I didn't quite get the hang of turning left from a bike lane that's on the right side of the street, and lots of the routes I typically walk were hard to replicate on a bike because of one-way streets, but the fun of riding around more than made up for those minor drawbacks. Plus, riding bikes doesn't put weight on my hip joint, so it just doesn't hurt like walking does.

I took the train to Monaco for a work conference, the real purpose of my trip. I booked the closest hotel to the conference center to try and minimize my walking. This also happened to be one of the most expensive hotels, so I shared a room with my boss. I thought about renting a bike but it was quite expensive, and the conference center was only about a 5 minute walk. Besides, although the ride to the conference center was along the beach and very flat, a ride to anywhere else would have been hard--there are so many hills! I did take the bus some but I also just walked a lot, and it hurt.

The conference was a lot of fun, and my presentation went well. Monaco is beautiful but very expensive, and very touristy (rich tourists). I'm glad to be home!

Resurfacing surgery for the left hip is still on for November 15. I got the plane tickets yesterday.