The wait is the most difficult part

Eleven weeks have passed since my fall and surgery. I have not published in approximately a month because it has not changed much. Healing takes time and as Tom Petty sang, «the wait is the most difficult part.» However, I have had some milestones this month!

Progress

I do PT at the clinic every week, but I practice all the exercises that give me on my own every day. I’m recovering my strength! My PT said that once I am clear to start walking, he thinks that they will only spend a few weeks before it moves without any assistance device. My next Ortho appointment is September 8 and we hope they clarify me to start walking that day.

I am doing more homework at home. I have discovered how to load and download the dishwasher in my wheelchair. I cook more meals. We obtained a new robot vacuum cleaner and prevention of executing that, since the scan and traditional vacuum is difficult. We moved the laundry machines to the rear porch and I can also do it on my own. It takes me much longer with a combination of my walker and wheelchair to maneuver the dirty and clean clothes around the house and towards the porch, but I am doing it! (Now we just need to get a door on the porch so that winter does). Come and think about it, everything takes longer.

I’m moving better. Another great improvement is that my forearms have finally cured enough to have a complete movement again. Because of this, PT removed the support of my walker’s forearm a few weeks ago! Now, when my dolls and hands hurt, I know it is because I have used my walker a lot that day. During the first 8 weeks or so, I was jumping with my walker. Now, it’s more a walk. My left leg is just a touch of foot to the foot, but I can use my arms to support my body when it drags that foot forward.

I keep using my wheelchair at home more than my walker use. That is because it is easier to take things in my lap. In addition, we have a dog that tends to jump emotion when I am in vertical position. The other dogs do not jump, but they do press. Sitting in the wheelchair prevents more falls. I use my walker when I am cooking or washing clothes. I also use my walker when I am away from home. Many large stores have motorized cars that I use. If my husband or my son are with me, we often bring the wheelchair for backup or for places that do not have those motorized cars.

However, my mother has difficulty entering and leaving her wheelchair from her car on her own. So, when I am with her, we trust my walker. One day last week, my husband left me in my mother’s so that I could take me to PT. He also brought the wheelchair, because his apartment is at the end of a long room. Unfortunately, we were not going to return to his apartment after PT. We were going to my son’s old primary school to leave some hats, gloves and comfort toys that had a fabric for children. So we left the wheelchair in your car and used my walker all day. I was raining when my mother stopped towards the door after PT. To prevent it from coming out in the rain, I managed to keep my walker on my own! When we arrived at primary school, I had to climb the steps to the second floor where the main office is located. (The school is experiencing repairs and renovations of floods in May and the elevator is out of service). When he left me at home, I had to use my walker until my husband got home later that night.

Driving

Freedom!

My favorite improvement this month is the result of that last week when I didn’t have my wheelchair. Because I could keep my walker in the car without assistance, I knew I could drive. According to my postoperative orders, I was allowed to drive after 6 weeks. I have not done it before because I could not put my team inside or outside the car on my own. Now I can! As long as I go somewhere, I can only use my walker or reach a motorized cart, I have freedom!

The first test was to run to the grocery store on my own to collect some things. I use my walker to enter the store, then I use the motorized cart to make purchases. I can stop in my good leg to reach the things that are found on the upper shelves. When I get home, I stop on the front porch to download. Collect the fabric bags on the sides of my walker, let the bags fall on the porch and then park the car behind the house. On the way back to the front to enter because the back stairs are too steep for me. I get home, I take my wheelchair and load the groceries in my lap to take them to the kitchen and keep.

Since then, I went to carry, execute some other errands and went to PT. Last night, I went to «meet the team» in my son’s high school. This is an event for the community to know all sports autumn athletes. The band, the cheerleaders and the dance squads give previous views of their shows. All athletes are introduced into the JV and Varsity teams. The stadium is filled with family, community members and students. My husband was working, so I went alone with my walker. My son’s girlfriend met me there.

I arrived more than an hour before the event to get a place for disabled in the stadium lot. Unfortunately, the stadium lot only has about 2 dozen parking places and the 4 disabled spaces have already taken. I worried that I had to park at school if there are a few hundred places. I knew that the 1/4 mile walks would have been too far for me. Fortunately, I could get one of the remaining few places near the stadium. It was still around 200 yards to get to the stands, but I took my time and did it. I even had our folding seats of the stadium hanging from my walker! I could use my walker to climb in half of the stands to get a good view, because the steps were wide enough for my walker. Just, but fits. My son’s girlfriend joined me a while later and we had a good time. I discovered that, even with the cushion in the stadium seat, those cold, hard and metal banks were not good for my hip after an hour. I ended up freezing it a little when I got home. I will have to invest in an additional cushion for this fall to be able to sit more comfortably during the more than 3 hours for football games.

Thinking about the future

This week in PT, the therapist added a new exercise: the fingers standing with a little more weight on my left leg! They are preparing me to start walking in less than 2 weeks! A few weeks ago, I asked some questions about my recovery. First, I asked if they believe I can walk independently for the elderly night. I will have to walk about good 50 yards with only my son’s arm to get support, if I don’t use any of my devices. They said that due to my good progress, it is very likely that I can do it. I really hope that the long walk from the parking lot and to the stands last night is a good prediction of being able to walk with him for the night of last year.

I also asked about hiking and backpack. I asked about the range of movement and pain in the future. They said I can work to recover the complete range of movement for my hip. At this point, I still can’t put my left leg on my right knee to put on shoes and socks. It is also a bit painful to reach them to put them. PT gave me more exercises to work towards that. They said that I will probably always have a slight pain in that hip due to hardware. I imagine that hikers always have low levels of pain or pain until we finish our walk anyway.

I plan to start walking along the railway path and the channel path as soon as I can. Then I will go to daily walks on easy paths that I know nearby. My first backpackers will be in the high lands of Laurel. The land is not too challenging and I will not have to worry about rock jump or struggles. In addition, shelters on that path are very close together and have built -in chimneys. This means that I am not going to G0ing too far in any day; I will not have to carry a tent, so my package will be lighter; The path crosses many paths, so a rescue will be easier if necessary; And I have some friends I can walk with!

As difficult as the wait, it’s almost over! Eleven days. Only 11 more days. The countdown is my mantra when I feel frustrated by my challenges. What would be the most difficult part for you if you were in my situation?

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