Nine and a Half Weeks

Note for the curious: thirteen stainless steel screws do not set off the TSA metal detectors. I am coming home from 10 days in Spokane tomorrow. My hip has gotten progressively better and now, at 9.5 weeks, I can say that I barely thought about my hip(s) today or yesterday. Here is the straight skinny:

~Sitting for more than a couple of hours is difficult. I am sore when I get up but feel OK when I start moving.
~Can't wait to sleep in my own (comfortable) bed, although I haven't had much trouble sleeping in the hotel bed.
~I haven't taken any pain meds since the first day when I took two ibuprofen, more for a headache than for hip pain.
~The pain in my buttock is basically gone.
~I have been wearing heels for the past week with no detrimental effects.
~I have been using the cane more to keep crowds away from me than to help me walk.
~I can go up and down stairs OK, but I do generally hold the hand rail. I feel it in my legs, but it's not painful. The muscles are pretty weak (weaker than my right was at this point).
~I can balance on my left leg for about a minute.
~The first day I was here I could barely walk a block without having to stop and rest, and I was pretty slow. Today I can walk about half a mile without much worry, and have trotted a few times to keep up with people. I can probably go farther but haven't tried.
~Getting in and out of cars is still a bit challenging.
~Friends have told me I barely appear to be limping (I can definitely still tell that I am limping, especially if I exert myself).
~Scar looks darn good - almost invisible (although I can still see the two "drain hole" scars.
~I gave up my seat on the arena shuttle because there were so many other people with canes who seemed far more disabled than I am.