Physio on Friday was good. It wasn't much of an exercise day as we focused on releasing some of the very tight muscles that had been driving me crazy. Even though I had been trying to release them myself, I hadn't quite gotten to where I needed to be and needed some extra help to get there. I felt a hundred times better by the end of the session.
When we did the range measurements for hip flexion, it was actually my knees holding me back in the active range. Once we released these, I ended up with an extra 5 degrees more than the previous measurement. (If you need a visual on this one to understand what on earth I am talking about: Laying on your back, slide your heel up towards your bottom making sure that your pelvis stays straight - so other leg straight and level on the bed. The active hip range is measured in this position. The passive range is measured by having your leg lifted to table top and moved towards your chest. For me, there is a few degrees difference between the two)
So while all this was going on, the landline rang in the lounge room which is a fair way from the bed where I was getting measured. I elected to ignore the phone as the only people that have it are the hospital, the red cross and the alarm company and I could see no reason why any one of those would be calling me since I've been to my post op appointment, spoken to the red cross in the last week and I was in the house so the alarm can't have been going off. After it stopped ringing, my mobile rang. It was the alarm company. They were just checking to make sure that the alarm was still working since it hadn't been armed in such a long time (maybe two weeks). We had to go outside the house and arm and disarm while I was on the phone so that they could confirm that it was all working properly. How very embarrassing. A reminder that I hadn't gone anywhere in two weeks. Hopefully I'll be driving myself soon and will be a little bit more independent. Even though I am quite comfortable at home and can fill the days, I think that getting out a bit more would probably do me some good.
I didn't really do anything out of the ordinary on Saturday. It was a day for sleeping in, getting my exercises done, making sure that I did a few extra trips up and down the stairs and I watched some tv. My husband was at home but unfortunately he had to work most of the day so I was pretty much left to my own devices.
Sunday we went out to lunch at my mums place. It's the longest car trip I've had since pre-op and it went ok. The seat that I sat on for lunch wasn't really that great though and I came home a little bit tired and tight. This probably wasn't just a bad seat for me but more that since I went out and it wasn't an activity where I had to walk very far that I didn't have the same level of activity on that day. I am used to doing a far bit now, even if it is just around the house and a day where the activity levels drop seems to make more of a difference than I thought. I still only needed a couple of Panadol Osteo to sleep, so I guess it wasn't too bad. I'll have to make up for the lack of walking today.
Today I had a GP checkup. Primarily it was to sign some paperwork so that I can get some extra physio rebates from Medicare as I have a chronic condition (I'm sure you've figured this out by now!). While I was there I checked on my blood work (all good, inflammatory markers a little high but nothing that wasn't expected), got a flu vaccination and went through the changes / improvements since my last visit. The doctor seemed really happy with my progress. He has seen some bilaterals before so I guess he has some basis for comparison. The main changes to report were the lack of medication required, using one crutch most of the time, hip restrictions gone and improvements in ranges.
Things feel like they are going so very slowly at the moment. It feels like the improvements are slowing down. It's hard for me to see the differences between each day as it is taking more than a day for the differences to add up to something substantial. The last big one was being able to balance on my right leg. I'm not sure that there has been anything new since then.
I suppose I could say that sitting on a regular toilet seat and managing to get back off it was an achievement. I'm not sure if I could have done that a few weeks ago (I wasn't allowed to try until I got off hip restrictions anyway). I thought I would give it a go on one of my trips downstairs to practice stairs. Since it has been two months since I sat on a regular low toilet, I really had forgotten just how low they were. I'm not sure who came up with that idea but it truly is crazy. The height I have now (with the over toilet height adjustable seat) seems far more reasonable. I guess I will have to practice and get used to it the more I am gong out in public though. I wonder if getting on an off the toilet could be classed as adding an exercise to my day? I suppose it could be if I drank a lot of water, right? Anyway, it was just as well I had practiced before we went out on Sunday as I was prepared to use a regular height toilet and it all went fine. Sometimes I really do wonder how it is that everything seems to end up a conversation about toilets these days.
I fit into my regular size jeans again. This means that the swelling has gone down and my thighs have returned to their normal size which is positive. The knees are still swollen and really should be iced but it's too cold! I know I'm a wimp. Strange really that I get through a massive surgery like this and what I want to complain about is that it is too cold to ice my knees! Some would also say that it really isn't cold in Brisbane but it is to me as I've lived here for many years and am well adjusted to this climate. I really should do it in the mornings when I'm sitting out the front in the sunlight drinking my coffee. It probably wouldn't be too bad then. Maybe I'll try that one out tomorrow and let you know.
The big exercise for today will be grocery shopping this evening. We need fresh food. There is half a lettuce and two carrots left in the fridge and I really feel like a big salad for dinner. Even though we really only need to go to the fruit and vegetable section, I think I'll need to go down as many of the aisles as I can because I need to know if I can get any further than I did last time. I think that I'll still take the wheelie walker in case I need a seat. There are some seats in the centre of the complex, outside of the supermarket, so maybe I could take my crutches. The crutches are definitely more comfortable to walk with but I'm not sure on this one. I might have a chat to my husband and see what he thinks. As in, if we take both and I use my crutches and I think I need the wheelie walker will you go downstairs and get it? or can we take both and you push the wheelie walker until I need it? Not sure how this will go down. It's worth a shot though, right? If I'm not completely wrecked by the time we get home, I'll update this post.
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