Whaaaaaa? Geeez, COTH - what the hell?!? 
You are so kind and supportive and people so very much appreciate you thinking of them, ridiculous that your thoughtfulness is āpunished.ā
Vacuuming?? Mom DIEU and Heaven Forfend. Any vacuuming thatās done around here is done by DH ā we have a very heavy vacuum and it absolutely kills my low back.
I keep saying that if we got a Dyson or something really light that I might actually do it, but of course I probably wouldnāt. 
OK,I donāt think I was told not to drink while on Celebrexā¦I may have violated that ruleā¦
I was on Meloxicam for years and it had stopped working. the Celebrex is a huge help. But maybe I, too, need to go back!
I do think we horse people push harder than others. After both the hip replacements, it seemed like I recovered faster and easier than others of my age.
But I canāt come close to you! You remain my idol. But I do have a lazy streak that sometimes rears its ugly head. You sound great and are doing great. Please keep us informed of your progress, would love to hear more about the dog training and the horse/people training. And one day, you will realize: āHey, Iām walking like a normal person!ā and you will grin.
Aaaand - here I am at a Smokey Robinson concert at the MGM Grand in MD 
DD bought tickets way back in February (before I had scheduled the surgery), and we went back and forth for weeks - would I be okay for all that walking, sitting in possibly less than comfortable seats without my ice pack or heat pack?
Despite DHās reservations, I felt okay as of this morning - so full steam ahead. I just took a pain killer and a muscle relaxant, slapped a Thermacare on on my back, and away we went. Had a fantastic time (Smokey still sounds incredible at 83! ), and it was fun and gratifying to be among other āgeezersā; lots of canes among the audience members , but everyone had a great time and sang along; the man still puts on an awesome show.
Doing what you love keeps you youngā¦
Holy, moly you are beautiful and look fantastic! Iām so glad you were able to go to the concert and have some fun, you deserve it
WOW ! How very grand !!!
Blue Ribbon !!!
Aww, you are too kind 
Thank you! It just felt wonderful to be OUT (I feel like I have been on a kind of modified āstall restā for the past few weeks), so this was a delight - and so much fun! I didnāt even mind the crowds 
(You can tell I donāt get out much, LOL!)
He sang some Motown (Temptations), did some humorous stand-up - told stories - and really engaged the crowd. Sharing a little video, below (I TRIED unsuccessfully to share him singing Tracks of My Tears but it was too long - so wouldnāt load - dammit! It was incredible)
IMG_7877
You look great, and I love Smokey!
Rebecca
Wow! How wonderful you look and how wonderful is Smokey! Good for you!
Update: my first ride!, on a studentās horse (Iām just doing preparatory groundwork with Ella right now) earlier this week, just shy of 6 weeks post-surgery.
I met with the surgeon the week before - he injected my knee - luckily my knee arthritis isnāt too bad at this point 
, and he gave me the go-ahead since I was doing exceptionally well with PT. His one caution?: ājust donāt fall off!ā
Iāve been teaching lessons regularly, and worked with the student for about 40 minutes before I got on - not that this horse needs much warm up ā he is the total package in terms of brain and beauty and a perfect size for me and the owner at 15ā1ā
NO pain mounting (high block), and riding felt great! After working with my chiropractor and physical therapist, my right adductor tendon is improving thank goodness!, and my first ārideā was in my saddle balanced on my Physio ball, anchored in a dog bed.
I did walk, trot and some lateral work, and it all felt wonderful
. I should be able to hop on my own horse in another week or two ā and will be putting schooling rides on the above Pinto while the owner is out of town in early July - along with sitting on another studentās horse to do a ātuneupā at the end of this month. The joy of being back in the saddle (with only my regular aches and pains, lol) is beyond description.
And silver lining? I am now stronger than I was prior to hip replacement surgery; I had been unable to really exercise or strength build or properly stretch for a month or two leading up to the surgery because I was in too much pain ā but after all of the intensive physical therapy and workouts at home, I feel fabulous.
Big thanks to everyone who supported me and provided advice and wisdom on this thread!
Blue Ribbon for your progress ! WOW ! Iām very impressed ~ admitting my journey was not as fast ~ 
you are a true āWinnerā ~ thanks for sharing this great picture ~ I love a āspotā !
There you go canter ~ 
Thank you!
Cantering is next on the agenda ā I need to tune him up while the owner is out of town and he is a very good boy. I wouldnāt sit on anything that wasnāt completely trustworthy at this point!
No Burghley, alasā¦
Probably best 
to miss, āsit outā Burghley this year ~ time might suffer with only trotting 
Enjoy your weekend !
Thatās a great update!
Rebecca
Iāve been following your story loosely because I have a co-worker who is waiting for his surgery. He had a bunch of other factors and tried different treatments (he has Ankylosing Spondylitis and there was some thought that the pain was coming from his spine as much as the hip).
In the end, further diagnostics all pointed to the hip being everything but he had received steroid injections in his spine and had to wait another 90 days for a surgery date. Heās in a lot of pain now and has two weeks to go - excited but scaredā¦but hopeful.
Iām going to tell him that you are on a horse not even 6 weeks post surgery. 
He tried to āmountā his lawnmower the other day and nearly blacked out. I donāt think he can imagine how much he will improve. Heās in a pretty dark place right now. This will give him hope!
Best of luck to you for continued awesome improvement!
So glad to read you are making such a good recovery!
So glad you are doing good and back to riding!! Makes it all worth it.
My pastor had a hip replacement 2 days after yours and the first 2-3 weeks he said were way worse than he imagined but he is doing great now and pain free and that is the goal isnāt it?
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