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THR anitawants2tango is taking first steps

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Ahhhhhh PS I stopped taking morphine last Tuesday night!!

Just in case anyone reads and thinks I'm a morphine addict yikes!!
 
Hi Everybody,
For the past several days I have been so interested in catching up on other people's threads that I have neglected my own. But today was a huge day for me and I thought I would write about it.
When my PT was here last Tuesday I asked about full weight bearing and he said that since I had been using a cane I was already FWB on the operated leg. He then intuited my real question and said, "Give me the cane, now go ahead and walk." I couldn't believe how reluctant I was to give up the cane, but it was also amazing to take those first several steps unaided. Before I did it, I just did not see myself as ready for it. Over the course of Tues and Wed I increasingly walked unaided around the house and now I am pretty comfortable with it. So today I set my sights on a really grand adventure - a trial run of taking the subway to work! :hate-shocked: Fortunately the weather decided to be cooperative, a bit chilly, but otherwise a glorious sunny day in NYC. I did take my cane with me - I KNOW that I could not do it all without the walking aid - and I made sure to use stops with escalators and elevators. So the 15 minute walk to my local station was fine, and the approximately 20 minutes on the train was comfortable too . I even got out and "ran" to the bank - which also gave me a chance to sit for 10 minutes - before turning around and coming home. On the walk back I began to feel stiffness creeping in, but got home in one piece, without having to use the emergency plan of calling a car service! :yahoo: I am now nestled into my couch totally covered in ice packs, but not feeling too much worse for the wear. In my head I was feeling theoretically ready to go back to the office next week, but today gave me a real confidence boost that I am not delusional with this goal. I kind of wish I had the luxury of staying home another 2 weeks - though I am getting sort of bored at this point - but because I work for myself it is also a bit of a financial hardship to take so much time off. It's also just not easy for me to be away from my practice for that long. This successful trip also means I can get to either my sports medicine doctor for PT or the gym to start expanding my exercise regime as tolerated which makes me feel even more optimistic about a speedy recovery.
Wishing you all the kind of day I had today.
Anita
 
Anita, great report! I just got my clearance for Monday's surgery and reports like yours really help relieve the anxiety that is really beginning to creep in for me!!
 
Wow! Good for you Anita! Having a Plan B is a great decision. See how far you have come in three weeks though? Remarkable! Please do be very careful though with the bad weather ahead. Don't want any slippin' and slidin' goin on. Wish you all the best :thumb:.
 
Plinej,
That's right, your date is getting really close! It's natural, of course, to feel anxious - there are just so many unknowns. Is there a particular thing that is raising the fear factor for you? Given the fact the you must be going into the surgery in great condition, I think you have a number of recent post op stories that should encourage you to trust that you will have a speedy recovery. Somewhere in the archives there is a thread titled something like Amazing or Super Recovery Stories - I came across it earlier in the week and I think you would take much comfort from it. Good luck on Monday!
@plinej:
Anita
 
Hello Anita,

Your news is great! I'm sure you're tickled to death too. One thing I've noticed in your videos is your posture is lovely!! It's amazing how quickly the time has gone by it seems like yesterday you were heading in for the surgery. I caught myself today looking at the calendar seeing when I get back to work, still have a few weeks. You make total sense working for yourself I think if you feel good both emotional and physical going back to work will be another good step in the recovery phase! Lots to celebrate!!

Congratulations on a fabulous accomplishment!

Sarah

xxooxx
 
Hi Anita. Congrats! It's great, and scary, to be taking to those first steps. I hope you do not mind some unsolicited advice, but I wanted to share this with you. My best friend is a PT. He suggested that when I go to any place that is particularly busy (i.e. a shopping mall at Christmas time), to use a crutch or a cane. Not because I need them, but because it will create more awareness of your situation for the people around you. You don't want anyone in the subway bumping into you and knocking you over. I hope I am not scaring you, but as we are both still so early in our recovery, I wanted to give you this food for thought.
 
You're most certainly doing very well, Anita!!! I just love your videos.

Lou makes an excellent point about the cane. It's good for safety for a while when you are in crowds....just a little mental alert to folks that you aren't quite 100% yet.
 
Oh Anita, what an encouraging post from you! I told my mom after my last surgery that I was going to continue taking my cane because people were so nice to me when using it in public! Thank you for being such a positive encouragement to all of us. You are doing superb...keep up the good work and keep posting. All the best to you!
 
Anita -

I started reading this thread from the last page, backwards, and reading everyone else's comments gave me clues that you must have had a rather special day and/or post. Turns out it was both - you brightened my day (and others) with your positive take on life here in hip recovery land. That's great that you are back to work already (I think) - I'm not yet ... have to wait for the Doc's OK (Monday) and see how I'm feeling. Can't elevate my leg or take a nap at work so have to be ready for a long day. I second what Lou and the other's say about just having the cane to give others a sense of awareness. Plus if that doesn't work and they run into you, you can whack them with your cane !! (j/k of course).

It's wonderful that you are getting more and more of your daily life back with each post we read. HEY - do you remember that pain we all had before surgery ? Isn't it a gift that it's GONE ??!!!

Thanks for your post and best wishes to you for more accomplishments.

Kevin
 
Thanks Everyone! I love the advice about the cane - that it can be very useful offensively AND defensively -- Kevin, I got a real kick out of that one. It is definitely true that people give you more space when you carry a cane, and I certainly hope I will not have cause to bop anyone in the head with it. More likely is that it will come in handy for waving off cabbies who try to rush me while I'm crossing the street. Nothin' like threatening to put a dent in the hood to make even the most hardened taxi driver yield the right of way. ... As you can tell, I am really feeling ready to take on Manhattan.
Good night all.
 
Anita, we have a martial arts form that uses a cane! Maybe it is time to learn it for practical reasons. It is a high rank form probably because we are so old by then that we need it!!:th_heehee: Thank you for the comments - I am just feeling really unprepared - seems like I have felt that I had weeks to get ready and now it is here!
 
Plinej In the event that I do have to defend myself with the cane, I will now certainly add a loud "Kiiii Yaaaaaii" for effect. I am liking this image of THR recipients as a race of cane wielding ninjas ( hope you are getting a laugh out of this, no disrespect intended ). Also, I know I am not the first to say this, as it helped me to read about it before my surgery, in terms of being ready you will likely be very pleasantly surprised at how much you can do afterwards. And the emotional readiness I think is something we all struggle with - we really want and really don't want the surgery. The anxiety is normal and I hope you have some sympathetic ears to hear you out this weekend. Wishing you a tranquil three days.
 
Kevin, that is too funny! It does look like they are preparing to tango, Anita!!! I am seriously (no really!!!:biggrin:) going to have my husband teach me the cane form (only weapon we teach you can openly take on a plane!!!)
 
:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

Kevin, Yo bro! it really will be a big event if you were to get me to sail thru the air like that!!! I think that the experience of flying through the air might be one genetic strand on which we differ. But the video is precious! Where in the world did you find it?! BTW - Forgot the other day to wish you well with the okay for returning to work (that's of course, if you are wanting to return :wink1:)
Plinej, That's the spirit! You'll also then have way of getting back at snarky NSA agents when you set off metal detectors at the airport! :th_heehee:
 
Day 26 post op
Just a quick catch up today - sorry no video this week. After my big adventure on the subway last Thursday, I had a couple of anxious days worrying that I had messed myself up by over doing it. Thankfully what I was experiencing was only a bit of tightness from the walking and it is now okay after a few days of relative rest and icing, icing, icing. Otherwise had a really active weekend, a mini college reunion, Martin's birthday and a play. The hardest was the play as the seats really were a bit too tight for me to be comfortable. Luckily it was a long production that a friend was appearing in, so I had already informed him that I might have to duck out at intermission, which I did. Around the house I am pretty much walking without any aid, but I STILL cannot put on my own socks without risking dislocation. Today I am going back to the office, about which I feel mostly confident. That nagging question of whether I am going to set myself back is a heavy weight to be carrying around. I will have the chance to take a nice long nap in the afternoon if I need to and Martin is going to come pick me up at the end of the day. Please send me positive vibes and I'll be sure to let you know how it all went.
 
Anita ... sending positive vibes via my phone .... hope this works. I am spending day 26 at hospital for my first post op exam w/ OS, and doing all of the pre-surgery stuff in prep for #2. Hope to go back to work this week.
 
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