Category Archives: Exercise

Access-an-Adventure!

The six weeks following surgery when you are prohibited from putting basically any weight on your operated leg presents a special set of circumstances. On the one hand, you are tired and recovering and need a lot of sleep and are happy to hang out at home. On the other hand, you have basically been in the house for six weeks straight (in my case, almost four weeks to date) and you are starting to go stir crazy. As a result, I decided to venture beyond my apartment door a few times in the last couple of days to see, what the kids these days call, the outside.

Yesterday I went for my disability evaluation with the MTA Access-a-Ride paratransit program (http://www.mta.info/nyct/paratran/guide.htm). Basically, its an on-demand alternative to standard public transportation which, if I am deemed eligible, I could use to get to my appointments and even to work since wheelchair accessible public transit is not really an option where I live.

The evaluation required that I use an Access-a-Ride bus to visit the evaluation center.

In the wheelchair and used the lift to get into the bus. Once onboard, I was SHOCKED (see shocked face) by how many cables and belts they used to make sure I did not roll around.

My friend Dave helped push me around in the wheelchair. I am really bad with the wheelchair, like bad enough that the nice lady at the evaluation center suggested I take lessons. I get stuck in corners, a lot. I always think of that scene in Austin Powers where he tries to do a three point turn and gets stuck in the hallway. At least I can laugh — otherwise it would be tragic.

I’ll hear within 21 days whether I’m eligible for service. Fingers crossed!

My husband and I realized that it had been a long time since we’d taken our dog to the park to run around so on Saturday we bundled up like crazy and Guy wheeled all the way to Fort Greene Park so that Boris could play with his buddies.

After all of that activity, it was nice to have a visit from my husband’s Aunt Margaret and cousin Elaine.

They were so kind and brought pastries, bagels and a cake. We relaxed for a while — it has been so nice to have visitors. Since my energy is still FAR lower than it used to be and since my mobility is basically non-existent, I have appreciated that people have been willing to stop by.

Next big adventure? I am weening myself off of Tramadol and onto only Tylenol and Aleve. Oh, my life is full…

Rockin’ the Follow-up

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I just want to start by saying that I had very good last couple of days.

On Wednesday afternoon, my husband Guy came home from visiting his family in Toronto over Christmas. It was really great to see him as he’d been for six days. It also meant my mom was going to be leaving the following day and that Guy would need to take over all of the responsibilities of caring for me that my mother had been dealing with since I’d come home from the hospital. As one might imagine, my mom had done a lot to help because of my limited mobility but I was sure Guy was up for the task.

On Thursday, my mom packed her bags, put on her babushka, and headed for the airport and home.

We realized there were a couple things needed around the house and decided to take a track out to Target. At somewhere around 15 blocks from our house, the trip took quite a while and was the farthest that I have been out of the house since my surgery. My hip was quite sore because of all the bumps in the sidewalk and I iced for a while once I got home. Although it was windy and cold, it was sunny outside outside and Guy and I had lots of laughs.

Today was my two-week follow-up from my surgery so we rented a car and made our way to HSS for my 10 AM appointment. At the appointment, the PA removed my stitches and all of the icky Steri-Strips. My incision is mostly healed though they put a few more strips on to make sure that it is set. Here I am, hanging out on the exam table.

My surgeon, Dr. S., came in and reviewed my x-rays with me and talked about what would happen over the next month as well as what to expect at my six-week follow-up. He felt things were going really well so far but said he would have a better idea of where things stood once they do x-rays late in January. I genuinely cannot say enough wonderful things about my surgeon in terms of his expertise and his demeanor, both at the hospital and at every appointment i’ve had with him. He is so professional yet incredibly kind and I feel very lucky.

We stopped at Whole Foods on the way home from the appointment. I’m surprised how tired I was, having been out only for a couple hours — I’m probably heading to bed early tonight. Guy’s been really amazing in helping me out and cooking my food and taking care of the animals and just about everything. I do wonder though if Fawn (our kitty) may be taking advantage of his kindness…

In any event, it’s been a really nice couple of days. I have mostly minor aches which is far better than I expected. We may go to out to dinner tomorrow and see a movie on Sunday and I’m actually looking forward to getting back to work (from home) next week. With all the TV I’ve watched its a surprise my mind has not turned to mush! Boris doesn’t seem to mind either way.

Merry Vegan Christmas

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It was a pretty mellow Christmas here in Brooklyn. My mom made a really fantastic vegan dinner complete with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegan gravy, brussels sprouts and a surprisingly tasty Field Roast Hazelnut Cranberry roll.

Lots of protein (extremely important for healing) and lots of grapes and pears for dessert. Here is a photo of my mom joyfully displaying the feast (note the cotton candy pink tree in the background) as well as a photo of my plate (and elevated toes and walker as a backdrop).

We took another trip in the wheelchair and I am really shocked by how un-wheelchair friendly my building and the local streets are. I am going to write some strongly worded letters, that’s for sure. Aside from the obstacles I am starting to get a tiny bit better with the chair but it is physically exhausting!

Only other bit of news is that I lowered my med dosages again to 3x/day (from 4x/day) and am off all narcotics. I have my first follow-up with my surgeon on the 28th. This first appointment is really just so he can see how I’m doing and how my scar is healing. I won’t have an X-ray of the bone until my 6-week check-up, sometime in late January. That will be a defining appointment where my surgeon will tell me whether my pelvis has grown back together or if there are any complications.

And with that, Merry Christmas and on to Boxing Day!

Christmas Eve Adventure

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I left the apartment building today for the first time since I came home from hospital on the 17th. Since I’m still sort of, kind of, pretty weak and easily worn out, we decided to take the wheelchair for a spin instead of using my walker or either set of crutches. I’ve been scaling back my pain meds and I’m taking them down even more tomorrow but there’s no way I have enough stamina to get to the sidewalk much less 10 blocks round-trip. However, I’ve been sleeping a lot, about 12 hours a night, and taking a spin in the chair sounded like a lot of fun.

I thought I might be able to wheel myself but it became immediately apparent that I would need substantial amount of help from my mom to get around. Here’s a photo of us having just left the apartment building and in the courtyard.

Our trek took us down to a local bakery called Choice. A few things to know when first using a wheelchair: 1) you’re going to need help; 2) it is practically impossible to get over any sort of crack, no matter how small it is, without someone pushing you [as an aside, I love that my phone tried to AutoCorrect “of crack” to “Crackville”]; 3) figure out how to configure the settings in your wheelchair before you leave the house; and 4) have a positive attitude because it’s going to be absurdly ridiculous the first time you try.

In any event it was really nice to get out of the house and to feel a little less confined.

We’re hoping to take another jaunt outside sometime tomorrow, even if it’s just to go around the neighborhood and look at the decorations. This is definitely going to be one of the least traditional Christmases I’ve ever had but the house is warm and lit with Christmas lights and I know that I’ll enjoy hanging out with my mom and watching endless episodes of NCIS.

Wishing everyone the merriest of Christmases!!

Maybe I Overestimated

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I has been 1 week since my surgery and a little over 1 week until my first follow-up appointment (December 28th).

I’m starting to think that how I was feeling on Tuesday was just a tease, a day when I didn’t feel so bad that I was lulled into believing the worst was over and I was on the way to getting back to normal. It may have been the fact that I was finally allowed to take a shower or that the hospital meds were still in my system. In any event, I cannot emphasize enough how wrong I was.

Wednesday was a rough day that made me believe that I haven’t even experienced the worst of the pain less than the idea that am recovering. My hip, hip joint, incision site, my thigh, my lower back, core muscles, backside, and un-operated leg are so incredibly tight and sore. It aches to simply lay down and can be frightening when I move about the apartment on my walker because I feel genuinely afraid of falling down when my left leg starts to shake. Falling down would be a disaster because it could mean that the screws which are holding my acetabulum in place could break or bend — and would therefore require more surgery. Today is a little better but I am shockingly exhausted and my legs seem to shake all the time.

I have been doing my PT exercises, as much as I can. They are really basic — flex/extend ankles; press thigh into the bed, raise a can over my head while lying over my back — and from what I understand these will be the basic exercises I will be doing for several weeks. This part of the process is less about strengthening than rebuilding, letting my pelvic bones grow mesh back together into one cohesive unit.The hope is that meshing will be done by the 6 week follow-up (late January) at which time I can I can start weight-bearing on both legs and eventually be off crutches in February or March 2013.

By way of a reminder and as I previously noted (and as is probably evinced by my bizzaro writing), I am on a lot of pain and focusing is not my greatest skill. Sometimes I just start writing and get distracted but keep writing and then look down and it’s like my fingers have a mind of their own. I have also taken to falling asleep while people are talking to me on the phone or in person, like i blink and in that single second I fall asleep and start dreaming and simply forget to reopen my eyes. Also, as I try to type late and night I repeatedly just about drop my iPad or iPhone when I start to drift off to sleep. I thought that was a late night problem but I am revising my note this morning and the problem is just as bad.

One note of thanks to those who kindly sent flowers and treats from Zabars They are really beautiful and yummy — here is post them.

Home

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I am happy to report that I made it home from the hospital yesterday and arrived at our apartment around 2pm. The house was super walker/crutch sound effects, I have a recliner I sit in during the day (and a rolling overbed table), and for night i sleep on a chaise (I would sleep in our bedroom with the dog and cat except for my severe allergies.

Things started off really good – not a lot of pain and a lot of people around to support me. My husband set-up an app on my iPhone called PILBOXIE which reminds me exactly what pills to take, how many of each, what they look like, dosage etc. It’s also great because it keeps track of the pills you have taken in the past so that when I go to my 2 week follow-up appointment I can say exactly what I had been taking.

Things continued on a good track through part of today, to the point where i thought that I would be ready to get back to work sooner than anticipated. I quickly realized that rushing back to work too soon would probably mean that my recovery overall will take far longer. That realization, coupled with an increased amount pain on both my operated and yet-to-be-operated-on plus the fact that the back of my throat is red/swollen/with possible strep blisters implies that rushing back and wearing down my immune system is not a good plan,

On the red sore throat (strep?), I called my physicians office to ask what to do and am waiting
hear back. Otherwise I’m ok aside from totally lacking coordination and the fact the drugs really make me loopy to the point that i don’t know where i am and I literally fall asleep if I close my eyes for 3 seconds.

On a surgical note, the incision is 8″ and the SteriStrips are starting to come off – creepy incision photos coming soon I hope!

Fading fast – more details tomorrow!!

Ex post long screws

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Not much new to report from hospital land. My hip and the incision site ache and burn. My right leg basically does not work – it is incredibly heavy and like a dead muscular fish. Therefore, my left leg is having to bear the burden of walking and pretty much any activity I try. Unfortunately the left leg quickly becomes very weak and unstable and I feel like I could easily collapse (i have a similar problem with my left leg as the right and am having surgery in May.

It looks like i will be released tomorrow to recuperate at home for several months. Dressing over the incision comes off tomorrow too! For the meantime, here is an x-ray of my right hip post-PAO (the doctor takes numerous X-rays during the procedure to be sure that the placement is correct and he kindly gave me a copy). More photos coming soon!

Baby steps

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Day two post surgery is still going pretty well. I have not slept much in the hospital, even since I got out of the ICU. Someone still comes in at least once/hour to check something and my sleep cycles are really screwed up from the massive amount of medications I am taking (Percocet, dilaudid, oxy to name a few). So while I’m a little loopy, I’m not really all that sleepy. And on the subject of loopy, some of these pain meds make it practically impossible to even write a sentence (so apologies if this post is confusing).

(the ginormous stuffed bunny that Guy got me to sleep with while i am at the hospital)

My epidural and Fowley catheters were removed this morning so I have had to get out of bed several times to use the restroom – my walker is my new BFF (at least until I can walk on my own).
My pain feels like it is in either the incision site or deep in the right hip joint. I haven’t seen the incision yet but believe it is between 8″ – 10″ long. There is also this crazy level of itchiness on my torso that is frustrating – caused by the dilaudid – so I have a different drug to take care of this. It feels a little bonkers.

Here is a photo of my incision, covered by its dressing and in no way inappropriate (I promise).

The incision dressing runs down the front of my leg starting from just below my waist to about half way up my thigh.

I figure that once I can remove the dressing, around the 18th or 19th, I’ll take a photo if the actual scar. I also have an X-ray that the Dr took during the procedure – ill scan it and add it to the site once I’m home.

Falling asleep…g’night

Dramatically Hip

So my hips fell apart. Oh, you know you're jealous.

Category Archives: Exercise

Access-an-Adventure!

Rockin’ the Follow-up

Merry Vegan Christmas

Christmas Eve Adventure

Maybe I Overestimated

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Ex post long screws

Baby steps

Trapeze

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