It Was A Day Of Improvement

I checked online to see if it was safe to take Cyclobenzaprine and Ibuprofen at the same time. I found my usual medical journals to confirm it would be okay. I didn't see why I couldn't since both do different things. Numerous studies had found combining the two had better results. Whereas if you take Advil and Aspirin after you have had  a heart attack or stroke, they have found that it decreases the effectiveness of the Aspirin. I decided to check when my time alerted me at 6 hours if I need more Cyclobenazprine.

While the hounds slept in the corner while I did the morning post, I wanted to see if the sun was up yet since it was a little past 6am. I could tell when I stood up at the chair that my lower back was much better, no signs of pain in my groin area and only the everyday soreness from the hip healing.

I opened the door and felt a rush of cold area that was hitting around 54°. It felt colder. It was nice to stand outside in the cool breeze taking some photos. I still had time to lay in bed for 45 minutes until the hounds wanted their breakfast. Football and rest were the only two goals today.

That cool breeze was pretty strong this time of day.

It was a little strange that the hounds had not followed me out to the patio. Normally they would be trying their best to get me to pour their kibble but so far this morning not a word from them.

In fact when I turned slowly to go back inside ... no hounds in view. That had to be a first.

Only as I laid down in bed did the hounds wake up and move into the bedroom. I thought I'd have about 45 minutes of rest before I needed to pour their breakfast kibble. Stella had other ideas. Like standing right by the side of the bed where she could make sure I would hear her whining or the wagging tail banging against the chest of drawers.

They win ... I got up. She was pretty proud of herself after she got me to feed them. They both took a short trip outside and during that time I washed both of their food dishes, which I do after every meal.  I saw in my email that my Amazon order for another pair of Russell Athletic gear gym shorts had been delivered in yesterday's mail. Would I be able to walk that far today? Would I need to?

Of the three seat cushions I have bought in the past 34 days, this one has turned out to be the most comfortable. I basically carry that with me when I am going to sit in a different chair in the computer room or at the laptop on the kitchen table.

One big difference from satellite tv service and cable, I have a lot more opportunities to stream ballgames or movies. I am not a big streaming fan because I like watching movies or ballgames on my large tv in the living room ... but today I was desparate. I knew before I moved here that I would only have one BTN channel and there would be times I would not see the IU games if they were being shown on the BTN Alternate channels. I had those with DishNetwork but not with Cox Cable.

So I did some online searching and figured out what I needed to do. Download the app for the phone but with the iMac I just needed to go to Foxsportsgo.com I had my IU game live on my iMac.

They show mostly food or automobile commercials during football games. You can see that Heidi has no interest in going to Wendy's to try all of those sandwiches. With that cool breeze blowing through the house from the direction of the patio, she had found the perfect place to sleep.

Stella must have smelled the sandwiches on tv but it wasn't long after that commercial was on, that she came wandering out from the computer room where I left her in a deep sleep. It's takes her a little while to decide what to do when she wakes up. She always looks confused when she gets up.

By mid-morning I was feeling better than I had just two days ago. The times I walked inside the house with the walker or the cane I did not feel any kind of pain in my groin area. The soreness on top of the thigh was hardly big enough to feel. I still did not feel as strong as I did on Thursday morning but felt much better than I did just 24 hours ago.

Stella likes to look out the front window to make sure her neighborhood is okay.

I didn't do a lot of walking but I did what I said I would not do. I sat in a chair while I watched the IU game on the computer. I DID get up during commercials and halftime. With the new seat cushion I could sit longer in the chair than I did yesterday.

By 12:30pm my lower back felt good, my right thigh was much better when I walked and I was almost back to the normal feeling of 'the rock' feeling in my hip, which feels like it's on the side of the hip. The times I walked inside the house to the kitchen, bedroom living room or patio I thought I could make it to the mailbox and back at a slower pace. I finished the walk at a 42 minute per mile pace which was about 10 minutes per mile slower than normal.

I had to go to the mailbox because I knew the small Amazon package would fit inside my narrow box in the mailbox cluster. They would stop mail delivery until that package was out of the way. Plus it included a new pair of gym shorts that are loose fitting.

As the day moved through college football games and more to watch started at 4:30pm, I drank a ton of ice water, took a siesta for about an hour and fed the hounds. As you can see once they get that afternoon meal, they too like to sleep.

I'd have to call today a success. Sore yes, stiff at the start or when I get out of a chair, yes ... but within a few steps I feel good. No lower back problems today, not a lot of pain if any in my hip and nothing in the groin area.

I will take another 'rest day' on Sunday, which means no walking outside around the fence line, no long walks to the mailbox, only to the kitchen, to the patio or back to the computer room. I am not sure I will need any muscle relaxers after the dose a little over 5 hours ago.

A good day here in the Wild West.

Key Change = Improvement

No matter where we have lived or if it is a past or present hound, the bloodhounds have always let me know that things are okay, relax, get through it and let life play out. Stella reminded me that today as I walked into the kitchen after taking a 2.5 hour siesta to see her outside sleeping. She is intune with the new routine, slightly changed from the norm.

When you blog you never know who is reading your blog. You might know some of them from exchanging emails over the years but you just never know what kind of help or information might be a post away of giving you some answers. Such was the case last night after my post yesterday. Medical background, experience in these kind of situations and knows "the medical game", and it is a huge financial game for sure. Other's have gone through what you have or even worse ... they survived and got back to some form of normal. At the same time something you might write helps someone else and that has happened enough to me over the years, their replies have kept me blogging.

Heidi did not want a personalized photo of her on the blog today ... always turning her head at the last instant as the camera shutter went off.

I asked my surgeon and the PT the day of my discharged why didn't they prescribe Tylenol and Ibuprofen instead of giving me Oxycodone as my only pain reliever? 5mg ... didn't kill the pain entirely, just teased me with numbing the edges so to speak. The PT only answered that if I decided to take Tylenol follow the label for dose frequency and never take it with the Oxycodone. I knew that already ... but okay. Why not any anti-inflammatory ??? Or a muscle relaxer to help my leg/hip muscles in trauma to get a little help relaxing? No answer.

Things are moved out in open and to a higher level so I can reach without bending to get them. Lemons for warm lemon water in the morning, starting tomorrow. Gotta flush those toxins inside of me.

So that pain relief combo lingered inside me. When I spent Friday trying not to take anymore Oxycodone by 8pm and not able to get to sleep I decided I'd make my own decision. I got out of bed, took one Tylenol Extra Strength 500mg and 3 Ibuprofen 600mg just like my dentist prescribed last month when my wisdom tooth was extracted along with some bone. I KNOW the bad stuff about both meds if taken too long or taking too much. I'll follow the rules as I always do when taking meds even after a day of yard work, many months ago.

I've heard from various people that I "need to be your own advocate" in today's medical world. I can do that. So that will take place when I call my surgeon's office, who told me to call them anytime, and ask them to send a "script" to the PT office for an in home PT program. I have also learned in my short time in this medical circus that the word "scripts" mean.

So with that decision I had been trying to get to sleep last night for a couple of hours when nothing was working. The exercises I was doing for my leg and my ankle were not making a difference. My leg was not cramping but felt similar. With the swelling it was beginning to feel like one big blob that needed ice. The thing was I was using ice for the previous two hours.

So ... it was time.

I took the Tylenol/Ibuprofen combo and went back to bed. All the while I was trading emails with my reader that knew all things medical. She was giving me a TON of information and it all explained why I got the lack of answers, why I didn't go straight into rehab, why the 3-days was a key factor for the next 30 days of treatment. The puzzle was all coming together and I was getting answers to why, that the doctors and PT either refused to answer or were just ignoring me. I had the feeling the doctors did not like to be questioned at the time.

I've always asked "why" as long as I can remember.

It was not even 30 minutes later where I feel my leg making changes ... no shit. I could feel the pressure of the swelling decreasing. I cold feel that numb feeling of a leg full of blood, start feeling like a normal leg. I tested a few exercises and noticed my range of motion was the best I had seen so far. Within an hour later I thank my friend for all of the information she gave me and was going to try to go to sleep. 9pm I was out cold.

Both hounds slept through the night and did not wake up the times I got up to use the bathroom. I have found out that when mother nature calls I better get my ass out of bed and down the hallway as fast as possible. Why not use the bathroom right around the corner from my chest of drawers ??? By that time Heidi is laying across in front of the entryway in a deep sleep taking that option away.

Stella nudged my hand at 4am like always. Heidi was wide awake, wagging her tail and almost barking but not quite. They were ready to get up, I was not. Off the bed I went, down the hallway and around the corner to the back door to let them out. They realized food wasn't going to be served so when they came back inside all three of us headed back for another couple of hours of shut eye.

I know I am suppose to feel better every day and I am ... but ... that Tylenol/Ibuprofen combo made that even better this morning. I took my meds, made a cup of coffee and did a little walking around the house to get the leg some exercise. My PT friend tells me the exercises I am doing will not hurt the hip so keep doing them and follow the precautions the doctors and PT gave me. I am.

I spent the day watching some football, did a lot of walking, did some stretching. I took a nap at noon and as I write this post I feel good. In fact I am feeling like I will be staying up later tonight but still be in bed by 8pm or no later than 9pm.

The hounds are fine. I am feeling so good today that I thought for a few seconds that calling for a PT was not going to be needed. But I will still call them and set up those appointments, it can't hurt and only help.

I have written out dates from the recovery timeline to give me something to look forward to and to strive for during this rehab.

Just some facts before I leave.

- Being kept 3 days longer was an option but also going home in 1 or 2 days were.
- Even though I wanted to get home, they told me I was doing good enough already to go home.
     - I wanted to get home as soon as possible for the hounds.
     - I didn't want Stella freaking out anymore than she may have.
     - I knew I could do the same exercises in the hospital at home
     - In my mind the hospital had done all the could, the doctors agreed putting their name on the line to release me.

I've looked and looked with a mirror but I still cannot find my incision on my hip to check it's condition. There is a lot less swelling from the bike wreck and surgery than there was the past 4 days.

Today was a good day in the Wild West.