Before I get out of bed to start the day each morning is the best time to gauge how much improvement I feel. All day today I only felt something around the new hip. I say something because it's not pain, it's not discomfort, it's not numbness, it's just there ... as expected. Right side was stronger and I found the swelling around the incision had decreased even more. It wasn't until I started to walk did I know my right foot and ankle had also lost some of it's swelling overnight.
I slept pretty well and the time I could not get back to sleep I got up. I wasn't going to fight it and I wasn't going to lay there in bed hoping to get back to sleep. I went to the computer room and did the latest MacOS update for my iMac. Headed to the kitchen to do the latest iOS 13 update for the phone and while I was at it ... why not do the OS6 update for the watch. By the time I went back to bed for a few hours of solid sleep ... all Apple toys were updated. Except the iPad Mini which the update is not released until September 30th.
I officially called it the start of the day a little after 5am and headed for the patio a few minutes past 6am to get the sunrise photos. Every morning is different but just as beautiful as the morning before. I had big plans for the day as far as walking goes, so I passed my idea to my PT friend. She said it seemed fine based on what I had been doing ... waking to the mailbox across the street, around the corner and down a half block with the walker ... walking a little inside without the walker using counter tops, tables or furniture if I needed to balance myself, with the walker nearby.
My neighbor made his daily morning trip over with my mail delivered the late afternoon before. We always talk a little before he either does stuff for me or himself before it gets too hot. I have not had much for him to do besides picking up the mail. Amazon Prime is delivering right to the front door and the dog feeder brings those in and unpacks them for me.
Since I have not been able to feed the hounds due to my instruction not to bend more than 90°, Stella and Heidi no longer get fed breakfast at 4am and lunch by noon. "The Pet Nanny" is a very busy person in her business and she has to feed the clients with horses first. That puts the hounds eating somewhere between 8am-9am and their 2nd meal between 3pm-4pm. Every morning when Stella realizes that I cannot feed her ... she lays down and sleeps until 8am.
When I take this picture directly into the rising sun it never comes out as awesome the real thing is.
With the internet read, coffee gone (1 cup) and no plans until the hounds are fed, I pulled into my chair on the patio sitting in the shade. This is my view from the corner of my small patio. There is just something different about the wide open western skies.
With the temps in the 60-70 range, Heidi is spending more time outside sniffing the whole edge of the backyard. The stones are not nearly as hot as they were a month or two ago. I still plan to install some artificial turf for her, so she has some grass to lay on.
Stella doesn't seem to mind her new routine of sleeping until breakfast is served. She will move from spot to spot depending on the heat from the sunshine.
Heidi decided again this morning that the warm sun was better than back in her bed.
The both show more excitement when MJ shows up to feed them than they did when I returned from the hospital. They were probably a little confused when I walked in with that weird walker thing whereas they know when MJ comes in they are going to get food. Stella howls and Heidi barks every morning when she shows up.
That doesn't mean their routines change much. They are back to sleep unless they hear noise in the kitchen that may relate to food.
Heidi thought she was going to get my lunch today .. Alfredo Fettuccine.
I keep this house open in the morning as long as possible but once I see Stella's tongue hanging, it's time to turn on the air conditioning. It was the same rule back in Indiana.
It only takes a few minutes before they feel that cold air and they are out like a light for the rest of the afternoon.
Heidi was sure the FedEx man was outside but when I opened the door to check ... nobody nor any boxes were on the porch.
So I got off track about the story of my plans ... changing.
I told Gerry this morning I wanted to use the walker and walk to the mailbox which for me is across the street, around the right turn and down about a half a block. It would be my longest walk yet. HE DIDN'T HESITATE telling me that I was NOT going to do that. He warned me that if he saw me doing that he would take my walker away and force me to stay inside all the time.
I am his 3rd "patient" in 3 years that he has taken care of after they had knee or hip replacement. He knows that I could hurt myself and have to start over if I were to get to overzealous in my rehab. He already told me last week that I was the type that cannot sit still, always have to be doing something.
My other plan was to do as much walking INSIDE the house without my walker. I relayed my plan to my PT friend, suggesting that I use the hallway and the walls for balance if needed. She said she preferred I stayed in the kitchen to do that so I had counter tops and a table to use if I needed to balance myself or my legs got tired.
I did walk some around the kitchen from the fridge to the counter and back without the walker. Or to open the back door for the hounds. Without that walker I don't feel as strong. In fact it feels like Day 3 or 4 without the walker. I'll see how I feel when I wake up in the morning before I decide what to do. Most friends feel that I need to just take it easy and let the surgeon tell me what the next plan is after my appointment on Tuesday.
Not only does Stella like yogurt but she likes cottage cheese also.
The excitement of the week happened last night. I received an unexpected package from Omaha Steaks. I usually receive a gift from them sent by my three college friends every Christmas. I thanked them before looking at the message on the shipping paperwork. It wasn't from them but from Denise, my sister. So I texted her thanking her for the surprise.
She replied "I didn't send you anything from Omaha Steaks."
Hmmmmm she is the only Denise that I know. Was it from a blog reader? Lurker? How did they get my street address? It's not hard and you can get that address for anybody for a $1.99 most places. This kept the brain cells active for an hour or two, still I was happy with the contents. Very happy.
My sister replied an hour later that she had sent some meals to me from SendAMeal but I didn't make the correlation, and she didn't either. After looking at the shipping document closer, down in the lower left, there was our answer. SendAMeal.com used Omaha Steaks to fill the order. They are probably one and the same.
So with that puzzle solved Stella was more than happy to start her overnight shift of being my nurse. She waited patiently for me to finish my yogurt container.
Finally she could not wait any more and decide she would move into the "on call" mode ... If I needed her I could hit the 'nurse' button on my tv remote. HaHa. She never gets too far away from me since our move. Still adjusting I guess.
Besides feeling better I can tell things are getting back to normal. I changed my browser again from Safari to Firefox on my iMac, and the MacBook Air. I like the security each provides when on the internet.
The second strange news is with my Canon G9X with the black spot on the sensor. It's gone but not for good. Some of the photos above were taken with the Canon and I did not edit out any block spot. Yet when I went outside to use that camera, there it was in the upper left part of the screen ... the black spot. So I guess I'll keep that camera and use it only when I don't see the black spot. LOL
My new daily protein drink is now: Gold Standard Whey Protein, Sports Research Collagen Peptides, Sports Research Complex Turmeric Curcumin all mixed in Silk Almond Milk. This should help in the healing process and building muscle from those damaged in the wreck and surgery. I found the Turmeric soft gels easier to take than adding the powder to food.
I will let you know of any negative or positive results from that daily drink.
I feel good every day but by late afternoon I am tired. I'll usually go lay down anytime day or night when I am tired. Some of it might be for a 30 minute rest with right leg elevated or an all out siesta for an hour or two.
I took Tom's suggestion ... no schedule sleep when you can.
Today was good, fun in the Wild West.