At the six week mark

Recovery from this operation has been a crazy thing. As I've only got insurance coverage through the end of February, I had to make sure to get all my physical therapy appointments made. So, I've got all 18 booked through the middle of February. Health insurance reform can't come too fast for the likes of me.

Anyway, on to where I'm at: I've been doing my exercises pretty assiduously since the at-home physical therapy stopped the day before Xmas Eve. I've also continued to not use the cane at home, but only when I go out. A few victories: Yesterday, I climbed onto a bus, and managed to get off it. I've also been doing some solo outings: Two trips to my job-hunting support group, one shopping trip with a female friend, and today, a walk after PT up to a grocery store, where I picked up a shopping bag full and WALKED HOME. For the past year, I couldn't even conceive of not taking the bus home from that particular grocery. HUGE victory!

RIght now, I still have all the crazy movement protocols. No crossing the legs, at the ankles or the knees. No twisting the trunk. I keep forgetting about trunk twisting, but am becoming increasingly expert at turning my head all the way around without twisting my body. I showed the PT portions of my full-body stretch, to see what would be OK for me to do. He said that as long as I don't bend down to try to touch my toes, I can do the rest of the stretch. DANG. But I want to keep recovering.

The PT not only increased my reps for the exercises, he also gave me several new ones to do. I know they're good for me, etc., but lord they HURT, and they're BORING. Wish I could figure out a way to make them more interesting. I keep thinking about how I'll be able to clamber up and down stairs, ski down beginner slopes, do Pilates, and go to museums and spend some happy afternoons wandering around, in order to make those boring exercises more palatable. Now that I can take a bus, more of the city is opening up for me.

A discovery: I'm allowed to flop my right knee outward. So I'm practicing that, for the eventuality of being able to put my right foot on my left knee so that I can put on my right sock and shoe. Stairs and the right shoe are my next two big challenges. Occasionally I can get a sock on the right foot if I tuck the foot up behind me and blindly pull on the sock as best I can, using the rug. I did figure out a maneuver for the right sock that involved two spatulas and a pasta grabber, but it really has not worked well. And I'd rather just be able to do it right.

Small news flash: I have a follower! Thank you. I should find out more about the permanence of movement protocols on Monday, after I see the surgeon, and I'll blog about it then.

New Year's Hip

And here we are, on New Year's Day. Recovery continues at a nice clip. Today's Friday. This past Monday, I decided to go caneless in the house. So, to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance, I marched to the umbrella stand and popped the cane in, much to my husband's amusement.

A week earlier, I also got approval to sleep with a pillow between my legs, instead of the splint. So, Big Blue (the splint was a big blue foam rhombus) went down to the recycling room. Bye!

So far, I'm limping, but doing pretty well getting around the house, and doing basics. I can stand without pan and do my whole maquillage, and cook dinner. I've also mastered getting dressed. Getting a sock on my right foot, however, is still a challenge. Right now it takes a wok spatula, a pair of kitchen tongs, and a rug to get a sock on the foot, if the husband isn't around to help. I'd go sockless except for Chicago winters - temps are in the single digits these days, and if I want to go outside, I'd better be wearing socks if I don't want popsicle toes.

I got signed off of at home physical therapy last week. So far I've been procrastinating about starting offsite PT. I want to go to a facility that has a pool, whereas the husband wants me to go to one that's within walking distance. Since if it were him, he'd insist on the more chichi facility, I'm going to go to that one. It will cost the same, and the facility will refund cab fare, so it's no real biggie, financially.

I am still doing my morning exercises - I think they'll be a feature of my life for a long time. It's a good way to wake up, and my legs definitely feel better after doing the moves, isometrics and lifts.

Onward and upward!