Hi,
zauberflöte and
Poppet and thank you for writing. I'm so sorry to say that work life has intruded and eaten up all of my time. I just posted my weekly update, and LOST THE WHOLE THING! I do have "stay logged in" checked, too.
Poppet, how is your cold? And have you had any more of those wonderful custom-made massages???? Please take care.
zauberflöte, once again you have a pretty new avatar. You have inspired me to change mine, too.
LeeApril26, since I cannot change my shoes this summer, all I can do is change my avatar. I think of your surgeon every time I look longingly at nice sandals on everyone's feet but MINE. Actually, nothing but sneakers feels comfortable to me in terms of walking around outside.
Okay, try try again .... drumroll:
My WEEK 10 IS UNDER MY BELT Report (that's 2.5 months!) ...
** To quote our beloved
LeeApril26: I took the escalator twice this week--UP. I was too scared to take it down.
I found that just holding--rather than USING--my cane helped a lot.
** I seriously, seriously, seriously considered taking the subway to work. I got as far as the entrance. But thought about all of the stairs going down and then reemerging, and could not do it. The bus was scarily late one morning--official "delays"--and I could NOT be late to work (a meeting was scheduled that I could not miss) by even five minutes. But I was not ready for all of those stairs. So I took a cab. Wow! Have never done THAT before. It felt so luxurious. My pocketbook ached afterward, but boy, was that a nice, relaxing way to go. (It was early in the a.m.) Got to work early, stress free. But that is NOT going to happen again. So I will now start dry-runs on the subway stairs. Will practice by just tackling one flight up and down at the local station this weekend. I need not think I have to do the whole enchilada at first.
** I took a big staircase, down only, that I had shunned in fear till this week. I held on to the bannister and walked slowly but not toddler style. It felt fairly normal. It certainly felt doable. I realized that the fire stairs in my apt. bldg. that I have been practicing on (I do them one time when I get home each night, and no longer need to do them toddler style) have a very low bannister that makes them scarier than necessary. So I will now practice stairs elsewhere in the world to get my practice.
** I took a bath! I was showering one night and decided, darn it! I would like to take a bath! Wasn't sure how to get down and sit down, much less get up. But I did it. I can't say I will be comfortable doing it daily, but tha'ts okay. I am a shower girl, mainly.
** The stinky, awful Toilet Thing is now beached in my bathtub, awaiting a proper or maybe not so proper burial somewhere. I could not stand the stink anymore. All the Chlorox in the world does not eliminate the stink since it seems to leak or rather ooze. Taking it off the toilet, cleaning everything up, and then NOT putting it back on the toilet is the ONLY thing that stops the stink! So I am now using the low, low toilet again. It doesn't feel completely great, but it's not as difficult as it was at my six-week "All Restrictions Lifted" point. So that feels like a milestone. The next milestone will be when I feel fully confident TO GET RID OF THAT STINKY THING PERMANENTLY. For now, it resides in the tub, but it no longer glares at me as it is on its side. I feel it is clear which of us won this battle.
** I have continued to get off the bus each day after work 5 blocks early and walk home, sometimes stopping in a market to pick up something for dinner, lugging a grocery bag home. Not terribly heavy, though heavier than I should. I need to work on that part. But IT FEELS SO NORMAL to do this! To stop off from work and go to the store ... just like I used to. I have a tiny refrigerator, so bulk buying doesn't work. You get a little something from the store every couple of days or so. Anyway, this feels good to be back in this routine!
** Can walk a little bit on the streets without the cane--but I do so very sparingly and still feel "addicted" to the cane when outside. The Infamous Cane might be the last stand in all of these milestones.
** Took another mile-long walk, with stops in several stores and the library! Really missed the library! But the mile-long journey took a long time, and i needed two complete rest stops, sitting down. Interestingly, when i got home, I was not particularly sore. But the next morning, BAM. Very, very sore.
** I no longer take the ES Tylenol, or any Tylenol, or Advil ROUTINELY. Just keep them on hand and I believe this week i have taken Advil twice a day on two different days.
** I checked out two more PT places. I was irritated each time, though I am certain it's not because the places are bad. It's just me. I do not want to go before or after work, or at lunch. And they do NOT seem to agree with the Peaches Swap-Out Method of THR post-op recovery, and act like it is perfectly fine for me to come before or after work. Some of these places claimed to have Saturday hours, but it turns out they don't always have them. Or there is some scheduling problem. With great reluctance and crankiness I have made yet another appointment for a first-time official visit, with "evaluation." It is not for another week. I guess if i were 100 percent convinced they would not create more pain, I would go. But, as with all other things in life, PTs are not perfect. And it would be just my luck they would make me more sore.
** Speaking of sore, I am still sore sometimes. I have bouts of no soreness at all; then, bouts of some soreness, but it goes away or is tolerable. I keep thinking it's not realistic to have a completely pain-free life at all times. I am sixty, after all, and it's been 2.5 months. Then, I wonder if my standards are too low--that I am putting up with some stiffness because it's so much better than the pre-op pain and mobility problems. This is a recurring thought I have: What is realistic?
** My legs do feel stronger and more steady. I still feel insecure, though, while working on busy, bustling, crowded city streets. I guess it's mainly because I KNOW those streets have bumps and potholes of all sizes that can make you twist your ankle or fall on a dime if you aren't cautious. I THINK if I were walking on a smooth, straight sidewalk somewhere in Utopia, I might be walking cane-free without too much thought. (or is this a pipe dream?)
** I am walking faster. I can tell. I really am.
So that's it. (P.S. I saw that I wrote "working" the streets instead of "walking" the streets, but loved the typo so much, I will let it stand and not correct it. No, I don't seriously fantasize about being a street-walker.......
Now onward to Week 11!
United States
And yes, your detailed updates are always helpful to me. I file info away, or something strikes me immediately-- you do a very good job for us!
You are doing so well. Your sense of humour shines through in your posts. The battle of the toilet seat so funny.
