Last Tennis Match

Five days to go.

Tonight I played my last tennis match before surgery. This time last year I was playing tennis two or three times a week, and was in the process of signing up for the three leagues I played in last summer, including one that I captained all the way to Sectional finals.

In the last couple of months I've played tennis maybe once every two weeks, with mixed results in terms of post-match pain. The decrease in my tolerance for a vigorous tennis match has definitely been one of the most saddening manifestations of my hip problems. I am hoping this surgery will bring me back to the courts as frequently and as capably as ever.

That said, of course I played some of my absolute best tennis tonight. Always good to go out on a high note.

My preparations for surgery are pretty much complete. I am on track to tie up all loose ends at work by Friday; I am on my way to being packed for what I expect to be six weeks away from my apartment in the city. I have not bought any of the equipment recommended by many other bloggers -- the grabbers or the sock donners or the bath chairs. I figure I will get (a parent to get me) what I need if I need it. I already have crutches from hurting my knee two summers ago. So my bag is mostly full of books and lounge pants.

My hip pain has been pretty minimal these last few weeks. It comes and goes, sometimes not seeming related to my activity level. During tennis yesterday I felt discomfort in the back of my right hip, or maybe in my lower back on the right side as a result of some compensation for the right hip. I also felt a sort of soreness on the outside of my hip, which is unusual. And afterwards of course the anterior labrum (basically the front of my hip, right at the crease when I lift my thigh) gave me some pain, which was to be expected.

My left hip has also piped up with a few twinges in the anterior labrum a few times this week. But none of this pain has been at all severe -- usually about 1 to 2 on a pain scale -- so it hasn't inhibited my activity more than to warn me that I should think about easing up.

Mentally I've been mostly unaffected by next week's events, other than a gradually receding paranoia that I will suddenly be felled with a cold and all my preparations and planning will be tossed out the window as my surgery is postponed for months and months. But as the days count down and I remain healthy, even that worry is fading.