THR Let's make it a matched set!

[Elf1]

@gertie /Lynn so sorry that you're dealing with the blues right now but you have been through a lot these last couple of years so I'm thinking you're more than due. Patience seems to be a virtue we all have a hard time with and after all of your recoveries can only imagine yours is in really short supply.

Hopefully there will be some folks around this weekend to visit with. I'm thinking pizza as a meal is a good thing! Could eat it every day if I could get away with it!

Wishing you a peaceful and restful week and weekend, hope those blues clear out soon.

 

[gertie]

@Elf1 How are you doing in the lead up to your surgery? It's Monday right?

 

[Elf1]

I'm hanging in there, trying not to focus on it and make myself crazy. Just doing some rearranging in the house to make things flow a bit better. Been watching tons of old movies and even catching a nap here and there.

 

[CricketHip]

@gertie I understand.. I was just today thinking about the length of time required before I can drive. I don't want to be stupid about it but I don't want to be overly cautious, either. But we are dealing with the driving leg this time too. sigh Do you have anyone to help with driving you? just occasionally? hugs!~

 

[gertie]

but you have been through a lot these last couple of years

Too true! And there's been a lot of other stuff as well--some significant deaths, leaving my full time job, etc. So I keep patting myself on the head and going "there, there."

 

[gertie]

the length of time required before I can drive.

Oh, I know--the right leg! Various professionals keep telling me 2 to 4 weeks but the earlier part of that range seems quite optimistic if not delusional! For my other replacements it was around the 3.5 to 4 week mark (of course with the knees that was mostly due to taking pain meds). Of course in the last month or two preop there were times my hip was so painful I probably shouldn't have been driving but I did drive, wincing each time I needed to move from accelerator to brake and back. The big challenge will be getting into my smallish car safely.

I do have friends who can give me rides occasionally when I'm desperate to get out of the house and our local senior center has a rides service for med appts.

 

[enoughpain]

@gertie Wish I lived closer to you. I would visit and take you out wherever you wanted to go. I know that you feel blue right now, but from the perspective of someone awaiting their first surgery, you are inspirational. I believe that your attitude has helped in your recoveries. and I hope to recover as well as you are doing. Whenever I feel as though I'm tilting toward a "pity party" I try to remind myself that few, if any of us, get away with no physical issues on this journey. At 68, I have several friends with serious illnesses and have lost a few more in recent years. I feel incredibly lucky that my only problem so far is a "mechanical" one for which modern medicine has developed an excellent cure.
Look forward to more of your posts.

 

[gertie]

I feel incredibly lucky that my only problem so far is a "mechanical" one

Oh, I am with you on this! Realizing this really helps to offset the blues. I lost 2 strong, healthy, vibrant friends to cancer last year so I count it as a blessing that I can fix this problem and am generally in good health.

 

[CricketHip]

Boy isn't that the truth?? We all need to keep it in perspective, don't we? But some days it's easier to remember than others.. I work with people in all types of compromised situations and it's taught me to count my blessings. When we went through my mother's things earlier in June, we found a quote that she kept in her journal. Apparently she would add clippings from newspapers and magazines.. it said
"once we know that life is difficult, it gets easier" Well, that may not be it in perfect form but it's close. but it's true!!! Hope it's a good day, @gertie

 

[gertie]

Hope it's a good day,

Thanks! I'm trying to look for the small pleasures and note them--a bouquet that a friend cut from my garden yesterday, the short walk I took outside this morning, a shower and clean hair.

The PT was here and we're planning next week to practice getting into and out of my car on the driver's side so that's a step towards independence.

 

[CricketHip]

Sounds awesome!! my bouquet is a huge bag of green beans..

 

[gertie]

Very tasty, I'm sure!

 

[enoughpain]

@gertie @CricketHip

We all need to keep it in perspective, don't we? But some days it's easier to remember than others..

and I hope that when I am in recovery, you will remind me of this, repeatedly, if necessary

 

[gertie]

Day 10. Progress seems slow because I'm impatient but there is progress. Yesterday when the PT was here I demonstrated walking with a cane. She said it mostly looked OK but noted I was putting more weight on the cane than optimal so I'm not quite ready to make that transition. However, I think I'll test it out each day, in the house, as long as my hip is feeling OK. Then today I started to walk out of a room and realized I'd left the walker behind. Only went a couple of steps before retrieving the walker but that's a sign I'm getting stronger. Patience, patience, patience.

 

[leejaa]

It's so wonderful to feel that freedom from walker or cane. You are definitely on your way. Have a great day.

 

[SE Florida]

@gertie You are definitely doing good! I know we shouldn't compare recoveries but it took me a good 6 weeks to start transitioning to the cane. Crazy, right! You just never know how our bodies are going to react. Leaving the walker behind even for a few steps is clearly a good sign for you too. So for 10 days post-op I'd say you're really rocking your recovery. Have a good 4th!

 

[enoughpain]

@gertie So happy to hear that you feel stronger and are progressing well. Must be a real mood lifter!

 

[CricketHip]

@gertie We are making progress! I enjoy the cane when it's working and I don't mind switching back to the walker when I feel like it's needed..

 

[gertie]

@CricketHip I just checked in on your thread and all sounds great. I haven't done any outings yet--maybe next week. I have done some short strolls down the driveway and across the street--short and slow because it's really hot and humid here. But it's nice to get out of the house.

 

[gertie]

It's still really hot and humid here so no walk outside today--maybe tomorrow if I can get out early enough. I do laps around the house inside--my house is small so 1 lap = 25 steps. (it's really hard to build up a step count in my house unless I'm doing serious housework.) Walking continues to be easier and things feel stiff rather than painful. My right knee was a bit sore this morning--I think it's the swelling which lingers up and down that leg--maybe that plus the humidity getting to soft tissue. But it's really nice to have the hip/thigh soreness get less and less each day.