Part 1
November 7, 2011
Good news….Bad news
As I posted on the Facebook, I was actually up vertical in a harness on Friday (the 4th). That’s the first time I have been vertical since August 20th. My right leg actually took steps….I think. I just don’t know how much assistance I was getting from the therapist. The brace on my left leg and my left foot was actually touching the ground. I have drop foot and my toe is down and it was quite painful stretching my calf (what’s left of it) out. It was very, very painful at the time. However I was elated to be vertical and moving my right leg. I think all the muscles are there in my left but the knee doesn’t let me use them very much. I moved about 15 feet three times with my feet touching the floor. I don’t how much of my body weight was on them but they were touching the floor. The bad news is that since I have no muscle in my left leg, putting weight on it, even a small amount, causes the bones in the knee to rub together. Needless to say, it hurts. Saturday and Sunday weren’t very enjoyable as my knee was swollen up and they increased my long lasting pain medication from 3 mg in the morning and evening to 6 mg in the morning and evening. I can still have 2 mg every 2 hours as needed. Saturday and Sunday I did take a lot, although I really don’t like taking it.
At PT today (the 7th), they would have put me up in the harness again but due to the condition of my knee, I did a lot of sitting and had some acupuncture in my left leg…….grrrrrrr. OT was two hours. One of the assistants worked on my right arm for about an hour and a half doing weights and stretching my shoulders. I am doing four sets of 10 of curls, abductor lifts (chicken wings), wrist curls both palm up and palm down, and then I am using some weights on the wall to do triceps, pecs like a bench press and also a fly. Needless to say, it tired out my right shoulder which felt really good. The assistant is just excellent and makes sure I don’t cheat and that I use the muscles I am supposed to be using during the exercises. The occupational therapist worked on my left hand and it seems there was quite a bit more movement today. I did some curls. I could move my arm across my body. So the left arm is starting to move more virtually every day. I still have to work on getting the wrist to move but that is coming very slowly.
This Wednesday (the 9th), we have a family meeting where we meet with the physiotherapist, occupational therapist, social worker, the CCAC coordinator and the doctors to discuss how I am going and what is going to happen. My big question is, when can I get my knee replaced? And if there actually is an orthopedic surgeon out there willing to do it. I am on a lot of bowel medication due to the fact that I am on a narcotic pain killer which tends to constipate you and slow down your bowel movements. I would like to reduce the amount of bowel medication I am on and I would like to find a natural product that may replace some of those pills. I have reviewing this with the dietician and we are going to attack it scientifically and lower my stool softeners very gradually for 48 hours and see what happens. What I don’t want to be is constipated. So I hope this all works out but I got to get off these pills. One of the nurses also had some suggestions on a natural product which supposedly works well. We shall see.
It is nice to see other patients here progress. There is a lady now who eats dinner with me in my private dining room who now walks to the dining room instead of using her wheelchair…….yeehaw.
My wheelchair now is a monster. It’s too big for me but other than that it has lots of power. I am halfway on drive one of four drives. It does recline and I have needed that to give my butt a rest. On Thursday we are meeting with a representative from a company to look at a non-reclining power chair. The whole goal here is to get me to be able to slide out of the chair by myself rather than using a lift. In setting up the house we are looking at the worst case scenario and that is that I will be in a wheelchair and I will need a lift to get me in and out of the bed and into the chair or onto a commode.
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