Thanks for the encouragement folks...I know that I am blessed. There's a lady at rehab whose medical history is virtually the same as mine and she has had HUGE complications...now she has to go into surgery again (thats 4 in 5 months) and have a wedge cut out of her femur (near her knee) to turn her leg in, .....5 days in hospital, 6-12 weeks non weight bearing..... pain....I almost feel guilty about doing so well, when she has spent the last 5 months in real strife already.....of course my success is nothing to do with her problems....so feeling guilty is irrational , but I feel really bad for her and I feel like in a sense my success rubs her problems in her face.....a bit like (actually nothing at all like) a patient waiting for a donor heart, knowing that someone has to lose their life in order for him to receive a donor heart....she tries to stay positive, but she has been house bound now for months....I would literally go nuts....she reckons she is doing jigsaw puzzles....but how many of those can a girl do????
I went to rehab today, and the pt gave me a few stretches more. I even got to 88 degrees!!!! No cheering until I hit that magic 90!
One was on my back with my feet on a giant ball, and then slowly taking one foot off at a time, back to the bed, whilst working tummy muscles, back muscles, hip muscles etc. It was a really good one....
I'm also doing a cat stretch....all fours, curling the back up and down....this is an attempt to loosen up the lower back and make it more mobile,
and then other exercises using a stretchy rubber band to provide resistance....
I was really pleased with this pt as she heard my need for stretches (as per OS instructions) and was happy to do a bit of hands on stuff.... mostly at rehab its just exercises, in a group setting there isnt much time for massage etc...Has anyone out there had much luck/need for hands on massage etc from pt...and has it made a difference??. I am considering seeing the local pt to get some of that sort of treatment but I'm not sure whether it would make enough difference to warrant the time and money???
Rachel