Your Questions Answered!

If you've ever had a question that you wanted to ask, now is the time to ask it.  If I can get enough questions sent to me either as replies to my posts or by email, twitter (lmcia) or any other social media, I might make this a regular event.  There aren't any stupid questions.  I'll try to answer everything I get sent.

How high is the chair you have to sit on at work and how long are you sitting at any one time?
They are height adjustable chairs, so I make sure that I have them adjusted so that my feet sit flat on the floor.  I'm most comfortable when my hip angle is just a little bit less than ninety degrees.  I think this is habit after many years sitting this way so my body feels most comfortable in that position.

I should be getting up and walking around each hour and that would probably be about right when I am in the office as I get a little uncomfortable sitting in one position.  This could be the chairs in the office or  me, I'm not sure.

When I'm at home, I sit with my feet up in a recliner chair with my laptop so I sometimes sit for longer than an hour working away.  I usually have to get up for something every hour or so anyway.  Sometimes it's to get more papers to get some work done, other times it's for a drink or something to snack on.  Sometimes it's just to move around.

Do you have trouble walking after you have been sitting for a long time?
I do limp a little bit more when I first stand up.  It usually takes me a few steps to start to loosen up a bit. It's the same in the mornings.  The elliptical helps get me moving in the mornings.  It's a little bit of change to pre-op.  Too much movement used to be what slowed me down.  It's a positive change.  One I'm not quite sure I've come to terms with yet.

As a woman how did you cope with not getting your hair done for the 6 or 7 weeks :D no serious, I'm a fella and my hair looks like a mad scientist, I can't wait to get a hair cut!
Just before I went into hospital, I had a hair cut, colour, got my eyebrows waxed and tinted and I did ok for a little while.  I had to get my tweezers brought into the hospital as the eyebrows started to bug me before anything else did.  The next thing that bothered me was my legs.  I really should have waxed those too as shaving was out due to hip restrictions.  It was totally gross.  I wore long pants a lot.  The compression socks also helped hide my legs!

When I did get home, I had my hair cut at home.  Even before the op, my hairdresser came to my friend's house and we'd all go there to get our hair cut and coloured.  When I came home, the venue changed to mine, so I didn't have to go anywhere.

When you go to the grocery shopping I assume you need your crutch to get into the shop, how do you deal with the crutch/trolley situation?
In the beginning, I took the walker with me so that I could sit down if I needed it.  I did need to sit down a few times when I first went.  When I was going with the walker, I needed someone with me as I wasn't driving yet.  Even if I had been, I wouldn't have been able to get the walker in and out of the car on my own.  I'm really not sure how the older ladies and men overcome that issue.  It's quite an awkward size and shape to lift in. It might just be that it doesn't fit into our car really well that I have so much of an issue with it.

Now I'm walking a bit better I take my crutch and put it in the trolley.  I noticed another lady doing the same thing when I was there last.  She was a little older than me but it seems to be the common solution to this problem.  Putting pressure on the trolley instead of the cane helps to stop me limping.  Shopping is becoming a little easier as time progresses.


Thanks to Tony for the questions for today!  I look forward to getting more sent through to me!