More Week 3: Making Peace with Lefty
Family Saturday went very well. Handled the car ride with ease. Went straight to recliner and iced until lunch. Joined family at the table for a very tasty lunch, then a couple of games. Helped niece write a master's degree class assignment (helped her get started). Back to the recliner and more elevating and icing. After an hour, rejoined the family for a two-hour long game of Defenders of the Realm. Got our butts handed to us by a dragon. Back to the recliner for more ice and elevation until dinner. Delicious dinner. A couple more card games. Home.
I was exhausted, but happy the knees held up really well. A bit of leftover stiffness from PT the day before made those first steps with the cane slow and painful, but they'd loosen up and everyone pronounced my walking impressive. I am using one cane very stably.
The most difficult part of the trip: SIL's low toilet. Yes, the dreaded LOW toilet. No rails. Nothing to grab onto but the toilet paper holder and the sink. What to do? Cane to the rescue. Between pushing on the toilet and the cane, I was able to get off the infernal thing, but it was like cantilevering a skyscraper. For subsequent trips, I admit I... used my cane and squatted over the toilet a bit and never fully sat. Just easier that way. TMI, perhaps, but fair warning should this situation befall you.
As for Lefty... here's the deal. My right knee is a model citizen. Lefty is a pain. He hurts at night sometimes. He has this one spot, just one spot, located on the inside and just above an obvious bruise, that balks and hurts whenever I want Lefty to bend. If I bend past a certain point, I also move past the pain. Not sure what it's about, but this is the problem point. It's not excruciating or anything, but very annoying. Lefty is more swollen than Righty. Lefty has farther to go. Lefty hates PT more than Righty does and has zero tolerance for anything harsher than stretches and leg lifts. Lefty is strong and fairly good at leg lifts.
This afternoon I took another lovely walk, this time with Mr. Shoes and while using a cane. My first long walk without a walker. Long being relative, of course. A city block. One city block. The knees started out stiff, loosened up, and then handled the walk with ease and little discomfort. My back started to protest a bit by the end... not surprising given I've been so much off my feet for so long (three weeks). My entire body needs to get back into good walking order. Also, my anemia is still pronounced enough my heart rate shoots up and I tire quickly with exercise. Continuing to work on the iron by eating lots of Cheerios, Ensure, liver, and spinach.
All in all, today was my best day since the surgery. This morning Mr. Shoes and I took a drive through local horse country... beautiful houses and farms, horses, very pretty... to my rehab hospital to return the walker they lent us. It was nice outing. So normal. Very happy.
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