Today was the big day I've been thinking about before I even had this surgery. I have to say, it was somewhat anti-climatic, but at least my PT had prepared me for the fact that it would be, so that I knew that I couldn't just jump out of bed and start walking. In fact, I feel like I've been on crutches for so long that I was sort of scared to walk without them, so I waited for PT to even try. I guess I needed some moral support.
I started PT by riding a stationary bike for six minutes, which made me realize just how out of shape I am. At first it felt awesome, and I was riding sort of fast, but after about three minutes I realized I needed to save some leg strength for the rest of the session. Next I worked on walking forward and backward with one crutch, trying not to put too much weight on the crutch, but just using it for balance as needed. Wow. My balance felt waaaaay off, although the PT told me I was doing 'great' and that I was going to 'make this easy.' This was encouraging, although it felt far from easy. To be honest, I was kind of surprised by how weird it felt to walk. But the most exciting thing is that it didn't hurt my hip at all. And I mean at all. My left hip still hurts, but held its own, and I still have pain down my right leg, but it is manageable, and to walk and not have pain in my right hip is so amazing I can't even put it in words.
After my walking exercise, I did a bunch of standing exercises - marching in place, shifting weight from one side to another, and kicking my legs around. All of this felt pretty much fine, although my legs were shaking the whole time because they are so weak it's sort of alarming. I cannot believe how much strength I've lost in my legs (both legs!) after just four weeks of 50% weight bearing. I've been able to stand ever since I could do so without pain, so I was never even totally non-weight bearing. I guess it's because in addition to the crutches, I've been lying around and sitting around a lot more than normal.
After my standing exercises, the PT asked me if I was up for more, and I said I was, so I went and did a couple of balancing exercises and then worked on conquering the stairs. Let me just say that stairs are going to be, hands down, the hardest part of this recovery. There are so. many. stairs. in my life. Even the aide working with me commented how she had noticed that the ABC College campus was soooo hilly and had so many stairs. I worked on going up and down a 4-inch stair (apparently standard stairs are 8 inches) forward and backward and sideways, and it was... work. I was holding onto the rail for dear life most of the time. LOL.
However, overall it went well and was as good as I could have realistically hoped for, even if not stellar ( = an unreasonable expectation). My PT was very pleased and kept repeating that this was really good for my first day of full weight bearing considering the type of surgery I had. I'm sure he tells everyone that no matter what, but whatever. LOL. Like I said, moral support never hurts. He told me to try walking without crutches around my house, and that I can do this as long as I am not in pain and/or limping. If I feel pain (in my right hip) or start to limp, I have to stop, because neither of these are okay at this point.
So... I've walked around a little, and I still feel no pain, which is awesome. However, it is sooooo hard to not limp. My right side is so incredibly weak it feels as if my right leg weighs 100 pounds. And I'm not allowed to drag my leg around. Needless to say, this limits my current walking radius to, oh, 3 or 4 feet. LOL. BUT, I am trying not to freak out about this. One day at a time. One day at a time. And that said, I did wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen (including sweeping! for the first time in forever!) tonight, completely without crutches. Of course our kitchen is pretty teeny and has an island in the middle of it, so you are never more than an arm's length away from something to lean on, but still. It felt good. And now, I'm off to take a shower without having to lean on the shower chair to get in. I'm just going to step right in and enjoy the warm water. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment