25 Days Post Op: The Home Visit

Today I got to go home for the first time in almost four weeks.  I went for about an hour with an occupational therapist to check things out in anticipation of me getting out of here on Friday.  My big achievements that were made today were getting in and out of a car twice, getting up my front stairs at home and getting up the inside stairs and out of the house twice.  (We really were only going to do it once as the point of the exercise wasn't to practice multiple times, just to check out how to handle things - but nothing ever goes smoothly and there were of course issues with the alarm that had to be sorted out before we could leave - typical)

We have sorted out the shower chair and I have figured out a place to put the crutches so I can get them to get out and we also sorted out the raised toilet seat as the toilet was too low and I would have violated hip restrictions without the higher seat above it.  These are the main two things that needed to be sorted out so that I can actually survive at home.  Good news was that our bed is also the right height and the only thing we really need to sort out is another comfortable chair to sit in when I am up.  We are going to look at one of those recliners that tips you out but I think we will need to go and actually look at some and see what is comfortable and high enough that doesn't dip back to much at the back of the seat.  We'll get home first and worry about that one early next week.

I am becoming more confident on crutches and though it is tiring to walk around, my stamina is increasing and I think that is making the other hurdles a little easier to overcome.  As my mobility is increasing, my hip flexors seem to be getting a little stronger as I am starting to see that there is a slight difference in the amount that I can lift my feet off the ground.  Today I spoke with the Physio that will be in charge of managing operation awesome (bugger normal!) also known as my home program and once targets are met the ongoing maintenance program.  It isn't going to be any problem at all to be re-assessed and an appropriate program written to strengthen up these stubborn little muscles that haven't yet joined the party.  I am looking forward to working with the Body Leadership Team again as I really have missed working with those guys!   Speaking of people I miss working with, I miss Pilates too - though that might be a little while before I am back to my usual schedule.  I can at least do bridges now (pelvic curls) and they are slowly getting better even if I am a little way of my pre-surgery capability.  It's unlikely that I will be using the bosu or a fit ball for a little while yet!  It's a step at a time at the moment and I know that once I'm home and under expert guidance that I will be making those steps at the right time and maximising the benefits that I will receive from the new joints in the long term.

Pain meds were reduced today and so far I am going ok.  The nights are the big test and those haven't been reduced yet so I am pretty confident that we are on the right path.  Today was a big day and so far there isn't much pain.  There is some muscle fatigue and aching though this is to be expected and isn't anything that is going to keep me awake.  I am hoping that what I feel now continues to be the worst of it as it certainly is manageable at this level and the level of activity I can do before it gets to this level is significant enough to see progress.

After the excitement of this morning I had a quiet gym session this afternoon with the regular drills.  We didn't do steps again today as there were probably as many today as the amount we did in practice yesterday.  I'm sure we will be back on them tomorrow and in the 'fine tuning' mode to work on not using the grounded leg to provide the extra clearance space required by pushing up on the toes slightly.  I'd guess and say I'm probably about an inch off that and I would expect to see that amount picked up in the next week.

All in all a good day with the slight exception of the possible cold germs that I may be carrying.  It might just be the really dry air-conditioning that is drying my throat out and causing me to start to lose my voice.  At least I hope that is all that it is and as soon as I am back in my regular environment everything will go back to normal.

It is time for sleep now.  It has been a really long day.  I hope I'm worn out enough to sleep in more than two hour blocks like last night.  Fingers crossed!

I just figured out that since I don't have to stay here all Friday and today is already gone, the countdown was actually wrong.  I only have two whole days left, Wednesday and Thursday!!