Each Day I Feel Stronger - Day 12 Post OP

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.

Another Day Closer To Normal

Just like the lizard, small steps take you a long way. Another day of feeling better, stronger and range of motion. I think today the only thing I feel is the incision area where it is itching on the outside but feels like something on the inside. I just noticed the swelling had really gone down since last night. I always apply ice on those areas when I sleep. Which I will get into later.

All three of us had a pretty solid night of sleep. Stella slept in the corner of the computer room until 4am. Heidi slept all night until 4am and I had some solid sleep in the range of 2 hours at a time. I felt a lot more rested when I woke up at 4am. That is when Stella nudged my hand where her nose letting me know she had to go outside. Heidi woke up and thought it would be a good idea to join here. I swear they still must be on Eastern Time.

I felt like being outside yesterday afternoon so it was the perfect time to walk next door to return two cleaned food containers they had given me on Sunday night full of great tasting food. That meant I had to walk down and up two different driveways. Plus I was able to maneuver around the potted plants they had on their sidewalk. No pain, no signs of weakness nor dizziness.

This morning you could tell it was going to be another great day. The highs will be mid 80's and I might not even have to turn on the AC today if the breeze through the house continues.  I grabbed my iPhone to take photos and moved outside to sit on the patio for a while. Both Heidi and Stella joined me outside.

A friend suggested some supplements to take in powder form. An orthopedic surgeon had recommended the Collagen and I am trying to get a lot of protein to build up the injured area. While I was on the Amazon site I searched "Hip Replacement Rehab" and found a few things I can use. Like a 4" padded seat cushion, those kitchen chairs are hard as a rock and my butt is sore.

Since the two ice packs the hospital gave me leaked badly in the middle of the night on two successive nights, I bought two ice packs with great reviews by customers and an Amazon Choice. Being 10" long and 5" high they will be perfect to slide along my thigh at hip at night. That was the same shape the ones from the hospital gave me. Walking up to ice cold water everywhere is never fun.

My morning smoothie was a cup of Silk Almond Milk, the packaged 8oz bag of Dole's frozen berries, a handful of fresh spinach, 1 whole banana. Add that to the vitamins I am taking and I think my diet is off to a good start for the day.

All exercises I did this morning were painless and there was more range of motion in a few of them, while only going as far as the first sign of discomfort. I can now sit in a chair on do leg lifts on the surgical size ... meaning ... I can lift my lower leg knee high and hold my right leg straight out without pain.

It did not take long to realize the faster both legs became stronger, my life was going to get a lot more easier. It would give me the ability to get out of bed easier because I could move the legs from right to left toward the edge of the bed. I have no doubt the trips I make in the middle of the night has helped in this healing process.

Heidi came out to join Stella and I and it did not take her long to see a lizard on top of the fence about to sunbath.

I am not sure what she would do with a lizard but she was keeping a keen basset hound eye on it.

Both hounds have seemed to have adapted to having the walker around.

To hot, time for some shade.

Not quite the perfect spot.

She waited here until "MJ The Pet Nanny" showed up to feed her breakfast.

Last night's cloud show was pretty awesome.

As I improve each day I have to really pay attention to what I am doing so I don't put my rehab back months and start over. I still follow the protocol rules that were given to me but I am stretching the window just a little. Nothing drastic. Maybe spend more time outside walking or sitting.

Right now though, it's time for a siesta .... I'll be back later to finish this post.

The afternoon wasn't much more than sleeping, peeing and fitting lunch in there in-between. I am not sure the reason but today the bladder has been in full operation mode. At least it was giving me some time to fit in some naps between 1.5 - 2 hours. Of course while I am sleeping the hounds are too, right there in the bedroom.

While I was having steamed broccoli and cauliflower with some cottage cheese for lunch, Stella thought it was the perfect time to spend outside. Those naps don't last much longer than 10 minutes but she is in the dream state while sleeping.

I don't feel bad today but the body told me to go back to bed about the time I tried staying up. No pain but the inside of my hip feels like one big glob of something. The swelling continues to go down around the incision. This is the strongest I have ever felt since surgery and many times I have thought I could put this walker away in the closet for a different time.

I didn't and won't until I hear what the surgeon says on the 24th, next Tuesday.

Stella has decided at least during the day she needs to sleep right by the bed but on the side where I put my feet when getting out of bed. So now I have to wake her up first and let her know I am swinging my feet over to the edge of the bed ... then slide the walker over. She is usually up and walking away by that time.

I wish I could pin point for you the one thing that is helping my leg and hip but I think it's a combination of things. The PT of course is making my legs stronger, knees stronger. Once you have strength in those you can do about anything. With additional vitamins and fresh veggies and fruit, grass fed beef and eggs ... I'm sure the muscles are getting enough protein and nutrients to rebuild themselves after the shock they have been through.

My friend sent me a text today telling me NBC in the morning is checking Al Rorker's progress as he had hip replacement a couple of days ago. I guess I'll tune in tomorrow to see what stage of activity he is at, although everybody is different and will recover at different speeds. What makes it interesting is that he has been on the strict Keto Diet for a long time. Is that type of eating good for recovery?

It will be a night of baseball and some NFL football tonight. Then prepare for another day. Time is passing fast I will say that. Tuesday will be here before I know it and he will recommend my next plan of action.

A beautiful day here in the Wild West.

Heidi's Secret Admirer Suggests Blanket For Heidi

For years the hounds have had a secret admirer going as far back as Winston. I don't know who loved Winston more, him or me but I know I loved that basset hound more than anything. So the "admirer" has always had a keen eye when looking at the photos of the hounds. His thoughts are relayed to me through emails and shows me just how much I miss in the photos I take. So last night there came a suggestion.

He thought Heidi looked great in her new bed but he is also familiar with Arizona weather and believe it or not our nighttime temps are dropping into the 50's now. He suggested I bring out her blanket in case she needed it. So with with temps in the 50's instead of single digits, Heidi is starting with her fleece blanket with the wool Mexican blanket cleaned, folded and ready to go when those temps drop to the 30s at night. We sleep with the windows open at least through the 50's.

Bloggers ... you never know who is reading your blog. This "special admirer" of the hounds has always kept me on my toes.  HaHa

I know I am suppose to and I really am when I tell you that I am improving every day. I may not be sleeping any better but I am feeling better and getting stronger. Tuesday I needed to take a book back to the library and I needed to go to the bank to get some cash, something I rarely carry. The cash is for tipping the grocery delivery and my pizza place only takes cash for deliveries.

Soooooo I decided it was time to expand my horizons.

I told Gerry to park his Jeep Liberty at the curb because I would be walking (with walker) down the driveway and would let myself in. I think he was more nervous than I was.

I opened my front door, felt good on the front porch (no steps anywhere) and then took my time walking 'down' the driveway. Every driveway is slanted downward for the monsoon rains to clear to their gutter system in the street which makes the curb just a little higher than normal. I remembered to step with my good leg first off the curb, the bad leg followed.

The Jeep Liberty seats are the perfect height for me to stand with my back toward the door, holding my bad leg out straight as I sit, as I was instructed to do every time I sit down. Just like getting in bed, I slid into the seat that was all the way back with the back of the seat tilted back a little. Swung my feet into the passenger side and we were off. He folded up my walker and put it in back.

I felt no pain getting in and out of the car, nor walking 'up' the driveway when I got home.

I forgot to tell you, with "the grabber" I am able to change clothes and put on my left sock. The right foot and ankle is swollen so much that with the compression sock I had to have help putting that on. Shoe??? I took the shoe laces out of the flat soles, rubber grip New Balance shoes when I left the hospital on Sept 9th. With the grabber and the long extended shoe horn  I can get both shoes on with no trouble.

I wanted to concentrate on taking less steps during the day and adding more of those 30 minute rest periods flat on my back even with my eyes open. By doing that, by the end of the afternoon I felt much stronger on Tuesday than any other afternoon. By the end of the night I still had over 1,300 steps for the day.

During my afternoon siesta I was in a weird dream and either pain or the dream woke me up, only to find my bad leg raised in the air with that swollen foot higher than it had been in any exercise. I just waited for the pain in my hip to hit me but it never did. The only pain if you call it that, that I had all day, was a numb feeling deep in that hip that was replaced. To be expected of course.

I did spend some time walking around the kitchen and around the table when I needed to pick up something without the walker. I'd have one hand barely touching the table or a counter or a wall while I walked. I am still following the rules they gave me for making turns, moving laterally and reaching for things. I may have broken the 90° rule a time or two when I was bending over but it was a slow bend.

I am suppose to sit in chairs with straight backs and a seat that is a little high. The kitchen chairs work for that but they are hard and almost uncomfortable without some sort of seat pad. I tried putting a couch pillow on them but that was even more uncomfortable. I also remember every time I sit either in a chair or on the bed, to keep my bad leg straight out then bend it once I am seated.

I know I cannot just turn and pivot when walking or making a turn. I have to turn in short increments keeping my feet parallel with the side of walker and my knee/foot straight. Like I said yesterday, there are many times I am sitting at the table or computer and forget that I am using a walker. I still would do anything to be able to sleep on my left side instead of my back. I remind myself when moving to get in bed or out of bed not to go fast and follow the protocol. I can feel how much stronger my right leg and hip is each day by the exercises I do.

I was able to do all 10 of the leg slide outs this morning for the first time. That's the toughest exercise of all I think. The most discomfort. When I walked down the hallway toward the kitchen my right leg was walking normal and felt normal !!!! So the thigh muscles are getting stronger just doing those with 10 reps each and no weight or resistance of any kind, just normal movement.

Stella seems to think she can help me and will follow me from room to room. The only "close call" was last night when she planted that 85# front paw of hers right in the middle of my swollen right foot. It was so swollen that it did not hurt and I figured she was trying to move the fluid around. I have been extra careful that she does not fall, rub or lean into my right leg when I am petting her.

With my lack of activity I can feel the weight I lost coming back. I am eating healthy food but it doesn't take long to add the pounds when I am not doing anything. It should drop just as fast as it did before once I start walking, hiking and biking.

I tried my first online grocery shopping and delivery this morning.  I bought 32 items online, using my Fry's discount card, paid online and less than an hour later he was at the door bringing my groceries right to the kitchen counter. He picked the order just like I ordered, not missing a brand name nor size. It was well worth the $9.95. I did ask him if the local store really did give him the 5% tip automatically added at the checkout and he said he did but since he was fast and accurate I had to give him an additional tip.

Later in the day I started feeling so good it was scary just how good. I moved around the kitchen putting the groceries away, in some cases without the walker but it was nearby if needed. The times I have intentionally walked the hallway, the stride felt normal with very little to no discomfort. My standing marching leg lifts (slowly), my right leg had never gone higher. I am only moving that leg to the point of discomfort and then backing off.

I had a few 'rest periods' and was having a pretty solid siesta until my twitching left leg woke me up. That the non-surgical side. The hounds didn't do much outside their normal routine. It's been warm this week so they spend most of their time inside enjoying the cool air conditioned room.

Of course Stella always finds time to get a little sunshine therapy in.

Another good day in the Wild West.

Good Pain Or Bad Pain

I'm writing early this morning without a photo taken yet. It's pitch black outside at a time a couple of months ago where Stella and I would have been out on her walk, 5:42am It was another sleepless night and I finally decided to end the fight to get some sleep around 5am. It will be interesting to see how much time my sleep app on the phone pulls from my watch. You would be surprised how accurate the times are as it records the times I get up in 5 minute increments.

I don't know what it is but 8 and 9 days after surgery I cannot fall asleep. For the 2nd night around 8pm my leg starts twitching and luckily stops within 15-20 minutes. I take that as something is healing. I do not know if nerves were cut, most likely compressed. I DO know that it is strange that at times at night my left leg, non-surgical side, is almost totally numb on the outside of my thigh.

A lot of different things going on in my body right now and nothing is similar to the times I was riding a bike and slowly, sometimes painfully getting back in shape. I might feel something new and wonder, is that 'good' pain or 'bad' pain? Have I done something I should not have to cause that pain?

I am still following the strict instructions the PT gave me that Monday morning as we walked the hallway. He gave me instructions on how to make a basic turn. Short movements, always keeping my feet parallel to the side of the walker. NOT to turn quickly like I normally have done. All the exercises I do, I can complete the 10 reps. Of course on the right side there is a lot of tightness in the leg, hip and hamstrings.

I am NOT forcing anything, nor am I trying to raise that leg just a little higher or bring that foot back a little further. I go until there is discomfort and stop.

This morning I did not nor do not feel as good as I did yesterday. It was the 2nd night in a row having a hard time getting to sleep and then waking up at 4am and not getting back to sleep makes it worse. I still have those rest periods for 30 minutes during the day and at least one siesta.

I follow what my body is telling me in both nap, rest and exercise.

It's when there is something different, maybe new ... a pain you didn't feel yesterday or one that is more intense (hip) today. I cannot control what my legs do during sleep. I assume that when I wake up suddenly my body has moved in a way it shouldn't have and the reflex to pain is to wake up.

I still sleep with the large foam wedge the hospital gave me to put between my legs. So much better than a couple of pillows. But my brain and my body continues to want to roll to my left side (non-surgical) and sleep. In fact I would almost pay any amount of money to be allowed to do that right now. Last night half asleep I caught myself wanting to roll to the right side and sleep.

Or have I raised my right leg or bent my knee too much while I was sleeping? Is the reason the pain deep inside my hip a sign that muscles are healing or did I tweak it in a way it didn't want to go? The way the hip feels today I may have done that. I know it did not feel that way when I went to bed, in fact I did not take any pain medication yesterday.

My body is telling me today ... take it easy and I will.

I'll do the exercises 2x day, I'll take rest periods, sleep when I want, elevate my right food laying flat for 30 minutes 3x per day to keep the swelling down ... but I will not try to do a lot of walking up and down the hall. I am not counting steps nor have a 'goal' of total steps ... I watch that count just to monitor my activity.

Honestly I thought negative thoughts would kill me in this situation but it's been just the opposite. Any negative thoughts have been few and far between. I've remained positive and have less pain than I expected, a lot less. I have timeline for rehab so I know the general area on the calendar where I can start to feel normal again, when I should be normal again, when I can drive a car again etc.

Seeing those in date form ie: October 18, 2019 helps the mental aspect of this situation.

It's sometimes in those wee early hours in the middle of the night where the negative thoughts push their way in. It's dark outside, the hounds are sleeping or dreaming and I lay wondering what happened. Then I remember the heart issue that I completely forget about. There is a quiet calm about all of it and I have to admit that is a little surprising.

All I know ... I'm getting better every day and all of his pain or no pain, sleep or no sleep, is just the healing process.

[Late note: I've been craving all kinds of different food. Some I have some I don't. Eating 1600-2000 calories per day.

I love these mornings in the Wild West.

PT News - Heidi's Bed - Stella's Gate

I've wanted to for the past few days but was hesitant in taking the 1" step down onto the patio. I wanted to get out on the edge of it so I could see the Mule Mountains again besides looking at them standing at my bedroom window. These Wild West sunrises do something to you in a very positive way. It was good to be back taking photos of them. BTW, all photos today are from my iPhone 8+.

I slept better but not longer than any other night, taking bathroom trips about every hour. I was reminded to keep drinking water for dehydration. Plus a few of those times those walks made my legs feel better. I am reminding myself that all of these muscles were shocked first with the crash and then surgery and they are doing their thing to get back to normal. Not a lot of pain though. Neither hound woke me up today.

When I first opened my eyes for good around 5am I laid there waiting to feel the different pains. Which ones are gone from yesterday? What exactly hurts? I started my ankle rolls, then ankle push, gluteal squeeze and heel slide. Wow ... so much easier than yesterday I thought to myself. The hardest exercise to do is the Abduction where I lay flat and slide my leg outward, back and forth.

As I strolled to the kitchen to start the day I knew I was feeling much better than I did when I went to bed. I felt much better than I did when I woke up on Sunday. All signs of improvement. I've increased my Magnesium intake, my Vitamin D dose and making sure every bit of food I eat is not processed, packaged or easy to fix meals. I've been eating that way for a while now so that is not a big deal.

I'll talk about the news I got to day about the PT program after I explain the following photos.

Twelve days after I moved here in June I thought the backyard would be the perfect place for Stella while I rode my bike for an hour or two. She was destroying vertical blinds if left inside and she had already hit the $1,000 limit in destruction due to her separation anxiety. Keeping her in a large crate inside in the AC house was the only solution. June July and August were just too hot to keep a dog outside, even with water and shade.

My neighbor told me it wasn't long after I left that day in June that he heard the "loneliest hound dog howl" he had ever heard. By the time he walked from across the street to see if he could help her until I got back, she has already started digging under the gate, down into the concrete hard soil of Arizona.

With the temperatures now dropping lower every day and not getting really hot until mid afternoon I decided this morning over coffee that I'd have the neighbor move the stones I had moved into the garage back to the bottom of the gate so she would have nowhere to dig. He and I were going to town for 30-60 minutes and I've always thought the 30x60 backyard with shade and water was always better than dog crate inside.

Since my dog feeder has been here in this area forever and sees dogs that stay outside all the time on her route ... she confirmed my thinking was good and with shade and water, Stella would do fine outside even on a sunny morning in cool weather. We are talking low 60's when we wake up and it will stay in the low 70's for most of morning.

The picture above is a test for her. No howls, no digging but it was only for 15 minutes and all of us were out of sight. She knew we had not left. She stood at the door looking downward most of the time watching for the door to open.

Not cosmetically appealing but you gotta do what you gotta do for the hounds. She likes to lay in that corner where it is shaded and spends a lot of time there during the day.

As soon as the 8am bell sounded I was on the phone to the surgeons office to talk to his orthopedic nurse while he was in surgery. She answered a lot of the questions I had the other day in a post about "Confusion". But only in the PT Office call did I get even better news.

His medical assistant told me there was a reason he did not assign me a PT program with a PT at the hospital ... I didn't need one. In his view what he told me and what I've been doing was all I needed. Besides they don't assign hardly any hip replacement people to a PT program when many can do what they need to do on their own at home. That is what the PT told me the day I was discharged from the hospital last Monday. She said he will revaluate me in my followup appointment and if he feels I need a more strict PT program in their system he will assign that program.

I did not have to call the PT Biz down the road from me because they called me after hearing my Friday night message. They have many of my surgeon's patience assigned to their facility and they were one of many telling me just how great his work is. I told her, like I told his office, "I need to know if I am on track based on what I am doing and how I feel."

Both facilities thought I was doing great and I was on track, right on schedule based on my answers to their questions, how I feel. So once again, no need for a PT program under the direction of one of their PTs.

After my neighbor did some things around my yard we cancelled the trip to town. I can go anytime, and didn't need to today. I remember he said that he takes a morning nap after getting up at 3am every day and another in the afternoon. That first day I came home from the hospital had cut into both of his siesta times and I didn't want to do that again.

So ... Stella's test for anxiety was cancelled until further notice.

My swollen foot and ankle is "part of it". I can lay down and elevate it for 20-30 minutes 3x per day. The magnesium might help and I need to keep hydrated. I mentioned the other day I felt I wasn't drinking enough water. I did take two different rest periods this morning.

Today was the first morning I was not wanting some kind of pain medication. As I write this post tonight at 5:26pm I have no urge for the Tylenol/Advil combo and have not taken any.

The doorbell rang a little after 1pm. I knew it was FedEx dropping off Heidi's new dog bed. Sure enough there was was by the door. I figured it was light enough that I could use my "grabber" drag the box inside the house, open the tape with "the grabber" and go from there. It worked with no problem. I sat the new bed by the coffee table while I watched some ESPN to see what Heidi would do.

She did not even sniff the bed. Wouldn't look at it and in fact walked over behind the love seat and slept on her old Mexican blanket hidden in the corner. I decided I could fit "the grabber" in the bed's loop and drag it down the tiled hallway into the spot she sleeps in the bedroom corner. It wasn't 15 minutes later she walked back there to check out her curiosity. I found her checking out her new bed.

Since I cannot bend past 90° right now I was unable to measure the old bed and thought this might be shorter but by the photo of the dog on the bed in the Chewy ad, I thought she would fit. It looks like it will work and sure looks comfortable.

I bought a firm bed for me because I like firm beds. Little did I know what kind of factor that would be just a few months later. It makes it easier for me to sit up, swing my legs to the left edge of the bed and get out of bed.

Here are some thoughts for the day ... IF I can remember what I wanted to write.
- This morning was the best I felt since all of this happened
- I was not craving some kind of pain meds when I woke up
- I did all of my exercises where I am laying flat in bed without any pain
- I did more walking today with  one hand not two on the walker
- I walked some without the walker, with a counter, a wall or table nearby in case I needed to balance
      - At no time did my legs feel tired walking that way
- When I sit at my computer desk with the walker out of view (Stella needs room to sleep in the corner of the room by the desk) I feel normal and forget that I am using a walker.
- I spent time sitting in that ugly blue chair on the patio with the day full of cool wind
- I took more rest time, laying flat in bed for at least 30 minutes each time
- Looking at my cars this morning I felt like I could drive today

It's scary, 8 days after surgery I feel more normal than ever.

All is good in the Wild West.

7th Day After Surgery

For some reason last night, for the first time in a long time even when I was healthy, I could not fall asleep. Then my right leg started to twitch off and on. I did not have any kind of tea to drink, no warm milk, nothing else to help except that prescribed Oxycodone. I didn't take that because I had already taken my Tylenol and Advil earlier. Finally a little after 12:30am I wore out and fell asleep. The right leg is tied to the right hip that was replaced. It must be some of the nerves waking up from the surgery.

Not good.

It felt like I had just gotten to sleep when Stella's nose nudged my arm at 4:00am as she stood by the bed whining. She thinks we are back to the old routine since I am there when she wakes up. That will not be the routine for quite a while. Luckily all they wanted was to go outside and right back to the bedroom for another couple of hours of sleep.

As you can see, Stella is never too far away and is sleeping in the corner of the computer room just right of my desk as I type this post tonight.

I can't say I felt great after getting some breakfast but I didn't feel bad. I started some of the exercises before I got out of bed and continued a couple of more while I walked. When the six exercises were finished I walked ... and walked up and down the hallway, around the corner to the kitchen and to the living room door ... around around and around. By 8:30am I had over 900 steps which I think is too many at that time of day ... but the surgeon did tell me to walk as much as possible.

The paper towel is to protect my books from Stella's drool after she drinks water. It has been a very valuable tool recently.  For some reason she thinks she has to check out every book now after she drinks large amounts of water.

So back to my developing routine.

I do a total of 6 exercises, some of them 2x per day and some 3x per day. I found out that I do need to take time to lay down even if I am not tired or sleepy. I'll get a siesta in per day, maybe two. Plus my swollen right foot told me I needed to find out what to do to make it smaller .... lay down, elevate the ankle above the heart for 20-30 minutes 2x per day. It worked because my foot and ankle were smaller when the time was up. That turns into a pretty busy day when you add time to fix meals, do the dishes and just walk.

I did have a first today ... I walked outside the front door, around my porch and across the driveway at the top. I saw my neighbor drive by and wanted to tell him/her or both what had happened. They said when they didn't see me riding my bike nor around the house outside they assumed I had taken a vacation.  Without hesitation they offered anything they could do at any time, handing me both of their phone numbers.

Tomorrow morning at 9am my neighbor is taking me to the bank. I will get out of his Jeep Liberty, walker and all, go into the bank to make a deposit plus get some cash for tipping the Frys Market delivery people and to pay him back in cash for anything he thinks I might need or when his wife adds anything I need to their shopping list. I have plenty of food left but the next time I do a shopping  run I don't want him or his wife to take the time to shop and then go through checkout for me. That takes too much time. So I am sitting up my Frys Delivery right after this post.

He will also spray the growth (little) on the outside of my fence to prevent any spiders or snakes using that to crawl over the fence into the yard. He would cut the bushes down but he just had an operation on his carpel tunnel and is not to hold, carry or pickup anything heavy for another couple of weeks.

I will be speaking to my surgeons office and the PT office at 8am to make some arrangements for someone to come to my house for PT sessions and examination. I did find my hip incision today, the swelling had gone down that much. It is clean, healing and no discoloring. Last night on Amazon Prime I ordered 3 more pair of the compression socks with traction strips on the bottom of them, some Magnesium and a shower stool with a handle that I can attach to the shower wall if needed. All of that will arrive tomorrow. As will Heidi's new bed from Chewy. Amazon Prime is a great thing.

It will be a busy day tomorrow but I WILL take the time to rest more, which means more times laying in bed flat with my right foot elevated.

Tonight I feel like I'll get to sleep with no problem. I washed my sheets, pillow cases and Heidi's pillow case she sleeps with on the floor. There were no close calls today such as tripping, turning my toe inward while walking. No pain to speak of just a large numbness on the side of my right hip. My bike wreck wounds are healing fast and itching so that will improve things a little once they are completely healed.

I found a Hip Replacement forum late this afternoon, with a lot of good info by those experiencing some of the things that I am. While I glanced through the headlines and some of the posts ... EVERYBODY is different, heals different, different issues or none at all. I am glad and thank my lucky stars that this happened when I was in good physical shape based on what I read on that forum.

I do give a short daily update on Facebook on my Friends list. I have a few concerned friends that can't believe I am doing this alone not counting the dog feeder and neighbor. Some feel I should still be in a rehab facility and a few others think someone should be with me 24/7. So ... they get a Facebook update.  :)

I had my dog feeder tell me how many clients she is servicing right now because the times she was getting here kept getting later. She had 12 different client, some with multiple horses, dogs or cats. She does this 365 days per year and loves animals but at what cost? She is a great dog sitter and I'd have no problem having her take care of the hounds if I took a vacation or I have to go to Tucon or Phoenix later for heart surgery.

If that happens I'd rather have a house/dog sitter and someone here all the time so Stella could have a normal as possible routine. She needs someone around all the time.

So that's it for today. Maybe I had a little bit more improvement. I know to watch myself as I feel better and NOT go against their protocol and continue to follow the basic exercises and DO NOT increase the reps. Like an old high school friend, retired ER nurse told me "on do the 10 they told you to do not a 100 like you feel like doing" ... something similar to that. I got the message.

All is good in the Wild West.

It was a year ago today that Sadie passed away first thing in the morning. Which reminded me today, how long will it be before I can lift 88 pound Stella in back of the car to go to a vet or go for a ride? Even Heidi at 45 pounds ????