Progress is being made

Just two weeks minus one day since surgery, and I think I'm a bleedin' miracle. I seem to be recovering at warp speed. As of last Friday, the physical therapist cleared me off the walker. Since then, I've been walking with a cane! Slowly, and with pain, of course, but WALKING. Taking actual steps. Yahoo!

The walker has been relegated to mealtime tabletop and work surface as needed. Makes me feel awful silly - the husband dishes out whatever he'd nabbed via takeout, or whatever I've managed to cook/prepare, and brings it to me. Brings back memories of being in a high chair, strangely enough (yes, I do remember), but it's much better than lying on my back and trying to eat from a plate balanced on my belly.

Being back home has definitely had its share of challenges so far. Exercising is difficult, as I don't really want to do it, but I know from past experience that if you don't do your PT, you'll pay for it big time later on. So I slog through all the isometrics before I get out of bed every morning, and work through the rest of the stuff as the day progresses. I forgive myself if I don't get to everything, but I'm realizing now that I've got to be harder on myself if I want to get my whole gait back. Last time I had African dance classes to help ... maybe I'll be able to find something helpful now, given than a choreographer I used to work with a lot now lives here in Chicago!

I've managed to sponge bathe, but so far have not been able to figure out how to wash my hair. It's two weeks now, and my hair looks dull and on the verge of snarling. Makes me unhappy to see it. I'm hoping that once the husband returns this PM, he'll help me tape saran wrap over my wound so that I can shower and wash my hair.

A plus so far, from what I can tell, is that my body fat seems to be reorganizing itself. I've definitely lost weight - I can feel when I lie down that most of my ass has hauled ass, my belly has receded, and the dewlaps over my hipbones are almost history. I don't know if that's all going to show up as weight loss, but it's definitely different! I can look at pix of fashion and feel as if maybe, just maybe, some of those clothes could be a possibility.

Too bad fashion is so ugly these days - all those baby doll dresses and Empire waists make me look even more like breasts on legs than I do generally. Being short-waisted is a fashion curse, and in this age, where good looking tunics are VERY hard to find, I feel even more cursed. Guess I'll have to wait for the cycle to turn yet again.

Overall? I can really see differences, day by day. When I first got home, I'd be up for an hour and then sleeping for three or four. Now, I'm up for a few hours, and then I lie down for a few and take care of stuff, like cleaning out my email boxes, chatting with friends, doing some research, etc. I'm planning to do actual client work today (yeah, I'm procrastinating by blogging right now), so I've got the notes and stuff piled up next to me, to guilt me until I actually nab them and start writing.

Yesterday, Anna, my physical therapist, took me outside for a walk. (Walkies ... walkies...!!!) I thought of my Aunt June, age 70 the first time I met her, with her elegant little toddle and her cane. Did she had a bad hip as well? I wonder if I could acquire a similarly elegant toddle. Right now, my gait feels like a slow, slow amble, with a lot of reliance on the cane. Fortunately, I was able to get to the local Thai restaurant, which is just a block away, and then back to the house. Wednesday, Anna's promised to double the length of the walk.

She also cleared me to lie on my left side and do leg lifts with the right leg. That will be nice - at least I'll be able to snuggle a bit with my husband. I miss that. I don't know why, but he won't snuggle with me right now. It's frustrating. I hope he evolves some more during this process.

I also see the difference in strength and balance, day by day. I've cooked dinner twice so far, have taken over making breakfast for myself, and today even did a bunch of dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. Yesterday the groceries were delivered, and I only needed the husband's help to get roughage into the veggie crisper drawer. The rest, I did on my own. I've also been unloading the dishwasher as needed. The husband is doing the laundry and putting it away (complaining all the while, of course), stacking dishes in the sink, running the dishwasher as needed, and taking out the garbage. Not many more chores than he had when I was able-bodied, but I'll take what I can get.

Across The Great Divide

Well, the deed's been done. I have a new hip.

I was in mondo discomfort for a good part of the week after the dental surgery, so didn't really get to post about the last bits of prep for surgery. Mostly, it consisted of getting off certain meds and supplements, and remembering to start other meds and supplements. I lost my appetite, so the weight loss, as of the morning of surgery, was 27 lbs since Passover.

Anyway, two days before the surgery I had to go off Diclofenac, the big-ass anti-inflammatory that made my anti-pain cocktail work. Without it? OWWW. I had two days of utter agony. I was ready, big time, to have Mr. Right Hip GONE. I managed to order the toilet seat for hip replacement patients (which is quite comfy, considering), and even started a project for a client. Not smart, but gotta keep the work flowing.

So, the surgery: I wound up deciding on a spinal block with a sedative. I was out like a light! Don't even remember the spinal puncture. Next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room, with people coming by and grabbing my feet and asking me to wiggle my toes. I had no feeling at all from the hips down, but they did say the toes were a-wigglin'. Sensation moved down the legs, though, so by that night, my feets were smiling.

The first night, like any first post-surgery night in a hospital, was ridiculous. I think I got awakened every 40 minutes for something: take pills, vital signs, breathing treatment, blood draws ... I don't even remember all the reasons! It got funny after a while. By the morning, I was ready to cover my face with my cpap mask and sleep. But all I had in my stomach was pills, and the nurses knew I needed to eat. So they got me to order food.

The hospital actually makes you order your meals! They don't come automatically. Yeesh. More things to think about. I wound up ordering meat loaf, veggies, lemonade, and orange Jell-O. Not too bad - definitely hospital food, but bland was really all I could deal with. And the restriction on dark leafy greens meant no broccoli. Phoo.

Then the physical therapist came, to help me out of bed and get me walking. Clearly, crutches were not going to do it, so the PT got a walker. I walked to the door, and then to the comfy chair, and I sat for an hour while I ate. Amazed a lot of people that I could stand and walk after less than 24 hours, but that's what it is these days. The hip clicked one, and then felt totally unmoored - completely flipped me out - but turned out all that was normal. Whew.

Next night, my breathing mask broke. The respiratory lady very kindly managed to find me one that will hold me until I got a new mask. In the morning, I called the company, and they arranged to send me a new mask and a new reservoir. Amazing what you can do with cell phones these days!

Two hours later, a new PT came - more the drill sergeant sort. She was not going to put up with any crying or begging from me. I was going to GET UP and WALK and SIT and EAT. Not even water until I was sitting up by myself. Sitting up was agony, but I made it. Much more stomach muscle work now. And I gotta be much more aware of where my limbs are. I even did a walk all the way down the hall and back. Not bad for a gimp!

The occupational therapist didn't show up till late on Friday, by which time it was too late to be discharged. Fortunately, she had some good advice for me, and she also said that I'm quite strong, which will make recovery quicker.

Friday night, I had the world's worst nurse's aide. Can you imagine a nurse's aide grossed out by bedpan work? That's what I wound up with. And she even had the nerve to carp that I was big, implying that it made it problematic to care for me. The nurse on the shift almost had a kitten when she heard, and I wound up being interviewed by the shift supervisor, who had the same reaction. There is some justice in the world for big girls.

Then came Saturday. Checking out. They got me a wheelchair, and I had to tell the guy how to load my legs. He found a cab, and it came to the right side of the street so that I could get in ... but there were no handholds in the back seat! So I had to somehow scoot myself all the way over, and make sure I could hang on tight for the ride home. I told the driver I'd just had my hip replaced, so don't drive fast, and don't take bumps, or I will feel them, and howl, and he won't be happy. Fortunately, he followed my dicta, so the ride back was basically uneventful.

Getting out the cab, though, was going to be my first test. I pulled myself to the door, braced my left foot, grabbed the walker, ducked my head, and ... STOOD UP!!! No falling against the door! No weebling until I had some sort of balance. Oh man ... what a relief!

Now I just have to work on getting all my strength, energy and mobility back.

More later ...