February 17th

Friday, February 17, 2012

It begins again……..

I’ll start with the really good news, and that is I am getting my knee done on March 1^st, less than 2 weeks……yeehaw.

On Monday I slid from my wheelchair into the Volkswagen Bug and went for a 20 minute ride which is the first time in a car since August.  It felt great.  When we got back of course I had to slide out of the bug and into the chair.  The difficult part was getting my left foot in as I had to bend my left leg a lot more than it has ever been bent even before the crash.  The good part is I will soon be able to get in and out of cars and be able to be more mobile. 

In physio, I put too much pressure on my leg last Thursday and tore my calf muscle.  It is now getting better but as with any tear, all the blood runs down your leg and accumulates in your foot.  My ankle is almost the same color as the leg was when I tore the hamstring last January.  The difference is I am on blood thinners now and it will probably take a lot longer for the tear to repair itself.  Ice helps and time in the constant motion machine seems to help it and keeps the joint moving.Haven’t’ been on the Motomed all week until the left leg gets a little better.  Coming up to a 3 day weekend which will get my leg lots of rest as it will be elevated and iced. 

In OT I am still doing the same routines and some of the sets the weight is going up.  I don’t think I am doing the clothes pegs as well but that could be due to tone in my stomach muscles and arms.  The harder I work out, the more tone there is in my right side and I guess the left side is going to be way behind and it is recommended that I don’t go much higher weights until the left side can catch up.  One OT works my right arm with weights and another one works my left arm by stretching, massaging and keeping the shoulder joint moving and my fingers flexible.  The left arm has a pretty good range of motion but now I need the muscle there to be able to do it by myself.

Emotionally, I am still a mess.  Don’t know if I am punched, bored or drilled.  I can’t get motivated for a lot of things that in past excited me.  The strange part is I don’t think I can talk to people any more but I am trying.  The doctors are helping out a lot and the medication is probably helping as well.  Although I am tired whereas before I would never fall asleep during the day.  

A funny thing happened last week in PT, I was getting acupuncture and fell asleep on the table and snored my head off so probably the whole room could hear it.  I snorted and woke myself up.  This is a guy who never thought he snored.Seems that I have sleep apnea and it must have been waking me up for years and that’s why I used to get only 3-4 hours’ sleep a night because I never remember anyone saying I was a loud snorer.  The machine I have now has a face mask that goes over my nose and my mouth……….yes they found one big enough to go over my nose.  The problem is for the machine to work you have to keep your mouth shut and mine keeps opening and my mouth gets very dry.  I have been able to keep it on for 3-4 hours and I guess it’s here for the rest of my life.

Things I have done in the last little while.  I went out to: Canadian Tire; East Side Mario’s for lunch; rode in the car for 20 minutes.  So instead of getting a wheelchair vehicle, I can slide in and out of a car and eventually when I am able to stand on one leg and pivot, I won’t need a slider board either. and.... I am going home for an afternoon visit tomorrow afternoon for a few hours.

Thanks for listening.