What If Recovery Is The Moment I Find Myself Again

The countdown is real: I’m heading into a total hip replacement on Monday, and I’m bringing you into the plan, the fear, and the hope. After months of pain and a stubborn leg pulled up by CP tone, the goal is simple but big—get this leg to drop straight and make sitting, standing, and moving a whole lot more human again. I talk through what the surgery involves, why a titanium joint could change everything, and how we’re preparing for the curveballs that come with cerebral palsy.

I share the practical details that matter when your body doesn’t follow the manual: bracing if the leg needs guidance, sleeves to protect skin, and a pain plan that avoids an anesthesia that once sent me to the ICU. There’s a real chance of six weeks in braces, and an equally real chance we skip them if the alignment holds. Either way, I’ve lined up outpatient PT with a team that knows hip replacements and CP, because consistency, careful weight‑bearing, and smart pacing are the path to progress.

Beyond the operating room, this is about rebuilding life. I’ve set targets to return to work and school by mid‑January, with podcasting back on the horizon as soon as the body allows. I also talk honestly about the emotional toll—months in bed, the frustration of dependence, and the messy moments that happen when pain piles up. You’ll hear how I’m documenting recovery with before‑and‑after photos, planning transport, and leaning on community to keep me grounded and accountable.

If you’ve faced surgery, CP spasticity, or just a long season of waiting, this conversation will feel like a hand on your shoulder. Stick around for updates, share your recovery tips, and send some strength my way. If this resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need a little hope today.

Transcript

Surgery Announcement And Context

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to a different shape shot, you guys. As we record this on Jandary Fifth says my surgery is Monday. Monday, I repeat. My surgery, my hip replacement is Monday. Yeah, that's a little scary that you guys have walked through my journey with me. And so if you would send all the good vibes, all the yeah, the surgery, they tell me is going to be four hours, but technically uh hip replacement only takes one to two hours. So hopefully, this is my envision. Hopefully, my doctor doesn't have to pull my leg down, literally pull my leg down. Hopefully, with the total hip, the leg will fall down naturally, but probably it needs a little man-made help because my leg, I posted a picture on Facebook. Um, my leg has contracted on itself, so it may need a little hand to get down. But we'll see if the if a hand is required. I've been told that braces will be required too. So I will be braced, but I will be able to bear weight. We'll see if I'll be able to bear weight. I mean, I'm able to bear weight on the one side right now, but that one side is getting majorly, majorly, majorly tired. And so it's not fair. But we'll see what the doctor what my doctor says and what he's going to do with the leg will fall down naturally or whether the um leg will need a little band main help. I'm hoping that the leg will fall down naturally. It's getting more and more painful to sit in my wheelchair because my leg is up. My leg is not completely straight now. So and I have to ride in um not medical transport, but medical transport, non-medical, non-emergency transport, they call it, um, to the hospital on Monday. So yeah, that will be the last time my leg is in pain, and we hope and play and all the good vibes that um that my leg will come down number one, and that CP will accept the hip replacement, not reject it because of my tone, and I will um it will be a success. I know it will be a success, but the hip replacement is Monday, so what I'm gonna say is let's do this. And if I feel well enough and PT hasn't come to wear me out, I am Daniel doesn't know this yet, but Daniel will notice in a couple minutes. I will be posting something with Daniel's help on the 13th. I will be fully returning to work and school on the 14th of January. If all things go according plan, I will be back to podcasting in April or March at the earliest February. February, if um all things go according to plan. I already have outpatient PT lined up, and the surgery hasn't even happened. I can work magic with outpatient PT that knows me and works with hip replacements. So basically, what a hip replacement is, is I will have metal in my hip, basically a man-made hip helping me walk. A metal titanium hip, the doctor will screw it into my bones, take my natural out, and do a total hip replacement. The leg will fall down naturally, that's what I'm hoping for, so that my doctor doesn't need to pull it down, which um if he does, that's fine too, but that will require braces. And so um I hope that my leg falls down naturally after the hip replacement is in, but CP will be CP, and CP will give my doctor, Dr. Delwyn Washington, uh heck of a ride for its money, because I will be out, but CP will probably be CP and probably want to give Dr. Dylan Washington uh a run for his money because insurance is paying for this surgery, but I have to pay the copay. And so I would love to say thank you so much for your support on this incredibly painful and emotional and all that crap journey and physically and spiritually. I think I lost myself while being bed for being in bed for four months or maybe even five months, July till now, July till January of 2026. And yes, I should have gone to the emergency room on my birthday, which was June 22nd, but I did. And so now I've landed myself up in this pickle, and this pickle requires a full hip replacement to get out of it, because my hip is 15% out. So we're hoping I'm hoping that as I'm knocked out, the leg will fall down naturally. If it needs a little help getting back down to the ground, it will need a little help, but hopefully it will fall back down naturally. And hopefully I if it falls, if it falls down to the ground, I doubt they're gonna put braces on me. But if it doesn't fall down to the ground, they said two braces on me, which will be six weeks. I'm hoping that whoever does the bracing, whoever brings the bracing to me will bring me a sleeve. Um if it's the bracing company I could I dealt with last time and I dealt with before on my own, I will ask them to bring me a sleeve, not to protect my knee and protect my hip and not bang up the other knee because I had bruising the last time for my knee surgery because it banged up the brace, banged up the other knee, the knee brace banged up the other knee, but I was not awake behind because of the broken femur. In this case, my femur is completely healed. It's um I don't know if they would have to break it again when they work on my hip. But we'll see. We'll see. And those of you who've who know me in person know that I'm little and hate surgeries, but they help me in the long run. I hate surgeries, I hate being drugged up. That yeah, I'm allergic to anesthesia, so they can't use that anesthesia on me. I'm allergic to the main anesthesia that they do use, and it's awful, and it puts me in the ICU, and it's awful. So, um I tell them not to use that anesthesia. I will make a big deal of it again, and hopefully my leg will fall down naturally and just be a natural leg with a hip replacement in it. But um, if it doesn't, it doesn't and needs a little bit of help from the surgeon with his gloves on. But that means we have to brace it for six weeks, and then I have to fight braces, and you know how I love braces not. I don't love braces after surgery. I wanted to take the knee brace off and bear weight after surgery, but we'll see what they say, we'll see what they say, and I will keep you guys updated on the surgery, and I as I said, I will do something special with Danielle on the 17th. If I'm not in the ICU, because I probably won't be, but you never know with CP. But I'm hoping the leg will fall down naturally, and I'm hoping that it does not need a little bit of help to get straight again. But if it does, it does, and if it requires spaces, it does. So we'll see. And the yes will be wearing braces over my pants, and the yes will be taking pictures of my leg straight, and yes, I'll be posting them on Facebook and all social media platforms. So please send the good vibes at you guys. I need them today. I've already had emotional mic down and took it out on someone. Have sense apologized to that person, but that person was shocked that I could have emotional breakdown and take it out on people. But I'm just over and done with being sick, and then Yell knows that, and she's probably in the background nodding head, yes, because I'm over and done with um being sick and being not hopeless but helpless and having to go to the bathroom in a bed, in a hospital bed. And yes, I have Botox um this week, and I need to call about that tomorrow and figure that one out when the Botox is and Botox injections, and so I'll be I'm looking forward to seeing my leg straight down, and I'll be ready to go when we go on Monday, and so yeah, I'll take pictures of before and after and with my phone and maybe post them on social media. And so I'll s I'll see you guys when I see you guys, and if I'm feeling up to it, as I said, I will do something special with Danielle on the 13th. So, yeah, and I just got my flu shot last week, so I'm recovering from that. So I have the mini flu as we recalled this from the flu shot, because basically what the flu shot is is the mini version of the flu. So that is that. And I'm off on Monday, as I said, so if you could please send all the good vibes, that would be great. And I'll talk to you guys later. Danielle, do you wanna leave us out?

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Thank you for following us. That's what she said. Thank you for following us. What the cute funny said and I miss her and I wanna hug her, but I can't. And I want to hug each of them and one of you, but I can't. And until my until I'm standing and yes, I'll take pictures of me standing and possibly video and we'll have fun with that. And yeah. So I'll put everything links in. So I'll do that, yeah. And I'll just do that and figure out as we go along. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you guys when I see you guys. Bye you guys. Bye.