Well, today there seems to be more bend in my knee, and when I flex my quad muscles, there's a dimple where I remember a knee once showing up.
Yesterday was an adjustment.
Family stresses of home care
For the record, my husband is very patient and nurturing. He started off being totally frazzled in the role of primary caregiver. He's trying to juggle working at home for an initial period of time with taking care of me, and he keeps getting impatient with what are, to me, little things. For example, yesterday, he handed me my pain meds and knocked my water bottle off the stool that we've placed next to my side of the bed. He didn't react well to that. Then, immediately after wiping up the first spill, he knocked the water bottle over again when he replaced the stool within my reach. That just sent him over the edge.
There's nothing I can do, but it makes me feel annoyed and anxious that he's reacting that way. I mean, it's spilling onto a wood floor - he's rolled up all of our area rugs - so it's not like it's a hassle to clean up or leaving a big wet spot on a carpet. There were several small incidents like that yesterday. I know he's feeling anxious about doing a good job of taking care of me, but I
need him to relax and go with the flow!
Pets
My dog doesn't quite know what to make of me. She looks at me as though the walker and crutches are instruments designed to punish her. Yesterday, when I had gotten into bed for the evening, she jumped up and started to sit down on my left foot. I started frantically kicking at her with my right foot. No damage done, but I was afraid she would roll my leg.
Food
I have an appetite, and I definitely get hungry, but after a few bites, I'm full and done. For example, one night, we ordered sushi for dinner. I ordered a roll. I could have called myself done after probably two pieces of the roll. I made myself eat four pieces, or half of the roll. I don't get hungry between meals. It just seems that my body isn't calling for much food. My mother-in-law told me to expect this, yet it seems so counter-intuitive. Since I'm not eating much, I'm trying to concentrate on eating protein and vitamin C for healing. I'm wondering if others are experiencing this decrease in how much you want to eat.
Fitness tracker
I walk whenever I get up to go to the bathroom. This currently consists only of walking up and down the long hallway in our apartment. Interestingly, however, these short walks are getting me almost to the very low baseline goal I set for myself on the Shine fitness tracker. I am going to track my increasing activity and stamina with the Shine...anyone want to join me with a fitness tracker?
This afternoon or tomorrow, I plan to venture out into the hallways of my apartment building. A spin down the hallway will be a great next step for me.
United States
She's too funny. The dog is also getting used to me - less freaked out by the crutches.
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