May 27, 2011
Dear Everyone:
Things are progressing nicely.
The last few weeks have held a myriad of milestones, some large,
some tiny, all significant.
The biggest, so far, last Tuesday was exactly six weeks since the
surgery. But there have been
many smaller ones.
Example:
Getting into the passenger seat in my car (“Jeannie” still
wouldn’t let me drive) about a month ago, I realized I could lift my
right leg into the car without using both hands; without using either
hand, in fact.
Also:
Placing my right foot on the edge of the bathtub, again without having
to lift my thigh. Even more
important: Doing it without
thinking about it.
Automatically. Like I used
to do years ago.
Another milestone:
I started “outpatient
physical therapy” last week.
I had already been through “in home physical therapy” and “in
home occupational therapy”.
In fact, both therapists had determined that they didn’t need to
complete the full number of visits authorized by the insurance company
because I was doing “so well”.
I had to wait until I could convince “Jeannie” to give me back my
car before I could begin the outpatient therapy since it requires
driving to the therapist's instead of the other way around.
That was another milestone, convincing “Jeannie”
that I could, in fact, drive safely by myself.
She didn’t like accepting the fact that her “widdle baby is
gwowing up”, but she’s getting over it.
She did require that I call her before leaving the house each and
every time and immediately upon returning, but she’s getting over that,
too.
I’m also using the
treadmill in the small gym in
the clubhouse across the street from my place.
I’m up to 10 minutes at about 0.9 miles per hour.
I don’t call “Jeannie”, but I do make sure to take my
cell phone
with me, just in case I need to call for help.
So far, there’s been no need.
Climbing onto my bed is now a piece of cake, again
because I can lift the leg without helping hands or any other
appendages.
Then there’s the stockings.
Major surgery involves the risk of “deep vein thrombosis”, which
means the possibility of blood clots forming around the ankles.
So they require you to wear heavy
“support” stockings for a time
after the surgery.
You’re thinking, “So what.
How hard can that be?”
Remember:
After hip replacement, you’re not allowed to bend at the waist.
Go ahead, try putting on a pair of socks
without bending at the waist.
Also, without bending your right knee more than about 45 degrees.
Not as easy as you thought, huh?
(Could make for a funny party game.)
At first, “Frankie” dragged the stockings on each
morning. And pulled them off
each night. Then the
Occupational Therapist presented me with “The Stick”, also dubbed “The
Gardening Tool”. This
consists of a wooden dowel with a standard cup hook at one end, the
better for hanging it on a nail or something in the wall.
The other end has two vinyl-covered wires bent to
form 90-degree angles in opposite directions.
(It really does resemble something you might use for digging and
planting in the garden.)
Hook one end under the stocking, then use the stick to push the stocking
towards your foot. Without
bending at the waist or knee.
The biggest hurdle is, of course, the heel.
Takes about 5-10 minutes to get those suckers off each evening.
When “Jeannie” and I had our first post-op visit to
the surgeon’s office, she specifically asked the physician’s assistant
(PA) how much longer we would have to deal with those stockings.
The PA brightly replied, “Another three to four weeks.”
The look on “Jeannie’s” face was priceless.
I could hear her thinking, “I’m not driving all that way every
morning to put stockings on for another three weeks!”
Fortunately, I devised a method of getting the stockings on by
myself. Every morning, after
my shower, I drag them on (5-10 minutes) and every evening, I drag them
off (another 5-10 minutes.)
Also, they have to be washed and hung up to dry for the next day.
Yesterday I looked at the calendar.
It was four weeks to the
day since the PA said “another four weeks.”
I have two pair (at $45 a pop) currently washed and hanging to
dry. Per the PA, I will keep
them just in case, but I’m not wearing them for the first time since
April 12th. What
a relief!!!
Next week is another really big milestone:
I will start work on Wednesday, June 1st.
I have no restrictions, other than common sense.
And starting in the middle of the week lets me “ease into”
working again.
It will be interesting to see what I will be doing
for the next few weeks. My
bet: Clean up
email first.
Love, as always,
Pete
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