30 days out. I'll do a detailed report on how everything is going, Going out a few times last Sat took a bit too much out of me, so since then I've cut back to just one trip out per day for about three hours. I drive, bring a cane, do a few short errands, take my folks for a drive and then visit with them for a bit. The car is a forester, easy to slide in and out of. Tues and Thursday I have pt. Then I stop at a restaurant and have a peaceful lunch while I read a book for an hour. Then home for the rest of the day. All these activities are within a few miles as everything is pretty close. No heavy traffic, no traffic lights on our peaceful little island.
Once I get home I'm mostly lying down with my leg up on my foam cushion for the rest of the day and night. I go into the garage for a half hour on non pt days for 10 minutes nustep, 10 minutes recumbent bike, and ten minutes upper body dumbbell exercises with the weight bench. Pt is Tuesday and thurs. I give myself a day off from formal exercise on Wednesday. All week I do the usual gentle bends and stretches.
I'm experiencing some hip pain and was given a great stretch for it at pt today. My OS told me before the operation that the hip pain is not arthritis, but the distortions of my left side to compensate for the stiff and bowlegged left knee. My pt said the hip is really tight. So I'm walking very slowly and deliberately to use the correct gait, and will faithfully do this new stretch for the hip. The knee pain is pretty controlled. Some discomfort and zingers, but really less pain than before the op. The scar is sensitive and still a lot of tightness and stiffness, but rom and extension are coming along. I gave up the norcos last week, couldn't deal with constipation. I take two extra strength ty twice during the day, and two ty pm extra strength before bed. One inexplicable pain on my outer upper thigh, no bruise, figure it's just one of those things that showed up and one day will disappear. My bruising is pretty much gone, still some swelling.
Driving and sitting are quite comfortable, for longer periods of time every day.
Still taking stairs the easy way, but it's much less painful than before the op. Found myself taking off without the cane for the first time yesterday, went back for it though, not quite ready for that. I ice about three times a day still for an hour each time. I'm doing my own laundry now, but drag the clothes to my bed in a laundry bag instead of carrying it in my arms. I need one hand free for the cane. Bags with handles are my new favorite thing. Shower every day but still using a shower stool.
In 9 days I'll be on the mainland for ten days and will have access to a pool, so I look forward to doing some water exercises. I'll also be the driver for a fairly long trip, but plan to break up the usual one day drive into two days each way.
I compulsively read all your threads every day. You all are in my thoughts and I hope so much we all come out of this healed and ready to move on.
New Zealand
