Did The Rest Days Hurt Me?

I slept so well Sunday night that I overslept this morning for the first time since I moved here. By the time I heard Stella whining and seeing her standing by the bed, the sun was already up and it was close to 6:30am. I grabbed the walker like I do every morning to get all the muscles and joints lined up as I walk down the hallway to the kitchen. Things felt different today and not in a good way.

On purpose I decided to take some time off from taking long walks outside over the weekend, calling it a rest day. I was beginning to question that decision as I flipped on the lights and let the hounds outside. None of the things I was feeling was pain but soreness. My knee was sore, for the first time in a long time my lower back was really sore, the side of my hip felt like there was a huge rock inside it and my groin was sore.

It sure felt like something happened in my sleep, where the leg may have moved in a way it's not allowed. Like too far to the right??? Or did I try to drag my heel up, bending my leg at the knee to loosen a tight leg? Whatever it was, I wasn't feeling good and I was a little concerned.

It wasn't even 7am and the hounds were begging for breakfast. They are both back to their old ways of demanding breakfast kibble as soon as they walk back inside the house. Stella will howl, Heidi will start barking. Both things you don't want to hear that early in the morning.

As I walked around the kitchen my leg started to relax a little and started feeling better. Some of the soreness went away in the knee, the groin and lower back. What concerned me was the feeling I had when putting weight on the right leg. I could tell the difference when I used the walker. It hurt a little at the top of my leg when I tried walking ... is that why it felt like a rock (not misspelled) was inside my hip?

While coffee was being made I thought I'd add 600mg of Ibuprofen to the tiny pill of Bayer Low Dose Aspirin with my morning water. Soon after those muscles felt much better to the point I could walk around the house, inside, without a problem.

It's good to see there is a hiking trail this close to the fence in my back yard. I had the 200mm zoom for this photo so he is on the other side of the natural wash. I've seen him and his dog on this early morning hike before. I hope to be able to hike that trail soon.

By the way my body felt I was going to take another day off today. To keep my feet and ankles from swelling I'd spend more time laying in bed reading a book instead of sitting in a chair. I was beginning to think the amount of time I laid in bed sitting up reading on Sunday was the reason for my sore lower back this morning. I cannot even remember the last time I sat up in bed to read a book.
 

It was going to be another great day here in the high desert. The Aerostat was already at work. I wondered how many photos it has collected of me taking photos of it or of me walking laps around my backyard?

There are times I wonder if Heidi is looking for her grass yard she left back in Indiana. Once I am in shape where I can get on my hands and knees I am going to buy her a patch of field turf and anchor it down on the right side of the patio next to the gate. As the temps cool I am sure she would enjoy laying in the yard in the sunshine ... just not on rock.

She finally gave up trying to find grass and decided the living room rug would work just as good for a late morning nap.

Stella spent most of her time going outside and then back inside a million times looking for that perfect sleeping spot. She finally found a spot that she uses every day before noon.

As I started feeling better I thought I'd test my leg and hip and walk a lap or two around the backyard. This is the first step of getting the shoe on my right foot. Once I slide my foot into the shoe under the tongue, I use the extended shoe horn in back to slide my heel inside. The only hard part is getting the shoe tied after it is on my foot.

I walked slower than I normally do, analyzing what my muscles were telling me. I felt both legs as I walked and they were the same size, no swelling and normal muscle movement.  The right side of my hip was not swollen, it was soft to touch and my incision looked perfect.

I felt so good after three laps that I walked through the house, out to the sidewalk and headed for the end of the block to the left. I continued to walk slowly feeling nothing out of the ordinary nor did I feel any kind of pain or discomfort. Did taking time off hurt me more than walking as much as possible this weekend?

Right after their lunch both of the hounds like to clean their feet and legs before they take their afternoon long siesta.

Stella was sure she had heard a food wrapper, maybe smelled something I was cooking ... she stood up from a deep sleep. I've never seen a dog so obsessed about food as she is.

Throughout the day I took short walks around the yard. I can't because it would cause me to break the 90° bending rule but I really feel if I could stretch my hamstrings I'd feel a lot better. Both legs are really tight of course without real exercises and with the trauma of surgery. It was one month ago today that I wrecked my bike. Tomorrow will be one month since I had surgery.

Towards the late afternoon I felt exhausted and had done nothing all day but read, take short walks along with walking around the house. That led to a nap almost two hours long. Once again, as soon as I woke up all the areas that were sore this morning were sore again ... at least until I walked into the kitchen.

I cannot lay on the floor to use the massage roller on my legs and back because I cannot get up off the floor like I can out of bed. I would love to be able to bend over to where I could touch my toes but that puts my hip past the 90° limit. These 4 weeks of little activity is starting to get to me I think.

As always I never wait to update all of my devices when a new Apple Operating System update comes out. Finally they had one for their desktops (iMac) and laptops (Pro and Air). Unlike things I read on the forums, I've never had problems after doing an update, for the computers, phone or watch. I guess I am lucky in that regard. I am now using the new macOS Catalina.

For those that use Blogger for your blog ... just an FYI ... unlike some others I have not had one problem with blogger working anytime day or night. I upload all of my photos at one time without a hitch. Even after the new Catalina OS update on the iMac I did not have an issue running any of my blogs.

I am finding out that I just cannot sit in a chair for too long. 30 minutes is about as long as I can sit without feeling something in my hip.

So with that ... I'm outta here for tonight. It was a good day but I admit I was a little concerned by the way I felt when I took my first steps of the day.

I can't wait to get back to blogging about day trips here in the Wild West.

A Weekend Of Resting The Hip

This photo shows about all that happened over the weekend. I wanted to take some time off from walking to rest a little. I took more rest periods and siestas than I did walks. I figured a couple of days off would help the hip heal. No worries, there was no soreness or pain that dictated my decision. I just needed a break. Read books and watched a lot of football games.

Here are some photos scattered through Saturday and ends with two photos of Sunday's sunrise.

Again it was beautiful weather this weekend in the Wild West.

A Few Surprises Today

After getting that good news this morning from my friend that is a PT, I was excited to see what today would bring. It confirmed to me I was doing what I was suppose to do. Basically how my leg/hip reacts will determine what I do the next day. Consequently there were a few noteworthy surprises today.

My hip continues to feel stronger by the day. I can feel more stability each day when I stand up from a chair or get out bed. I do not try to twist at all when I move in the kitchen fixing meals or feeding the hounds. I remember the rules the PT gave me the day I left the hospital on September 8th on how to turn ... but, the doctors office gave me approval to drive again, did that happen today?

After starting the day in the middle of the night, it was slow to develop into the typical day full of sunshine. We had a chance for some rain in the early afternoon but by the time that rolled around there wasn't any chance of rain.

Stella walked into the kitchen half asleep this morning just past 6am to see if just maybe I had changed my mind about serving their breakfast earlier than planned. The answer was still 7am for them to gobble their kibble down.

I had nothing planned today. I was going to hang out, take some time off from walking, read a book and watch some of the MLB Playoff games. Sounded like a good day to me.

It's not rain but there is always some strange wet spots where the rocks are wet from the nighttime. Stella likes to check them out but not before I take a quick glance around the yard for any snakes or spiders.

I could tell as I walked around the house, took some trash outside to the bin and sat down a few times, that my hip was feeling really good today. I decided to take a longer walk today around the block. It's not the perfect square block but there is a big loop inside the neighborhood that would be pretty close to the same size as a city block. I wasn't sure how long it would take me but I've been wanting to do this for a few days now.

As it turned out it was shorter than I thought and as I stepped inside the house, my "outdoor walk" app on the watch just turned 20 minutes in time. A little over .64 of a mile. Stella and Heidi were laying on the patio facing the closed door and once again there were no signs that Stella had tried to dig herself out of the yard while I was gone.

With that finished by 9:18am ... the day was starting to turn out really well. The changing skies were beautiful today.

This is a photo just after sunrise.

My view as I stand just inside the patio, in the shaded part. I don't mind the neighbor's shed nor the tree in his yard ... I still like the view.

Once I let Stella back inside she decided the best place to sleep was right there in the way. That way I could be trapped inside the house and if I wanted to walk again it would have to be in the backyard ... no more trips around the neighborhood without taking her.

Heidi was pretty restless today. She couldn't make up her mind whether to sleep outside in the sunshine while the temps were in the mid-70s or back inside where the house was cool from the breeze moving through the house.

I stood at the fence a long time this afternoon taking in the beauty of this area ... from the Mule mountains on the left, to the mountain on the right that sits inside the Mexican border and over to the Huachuca's. The monsoons have really made everything green. I saw this morning on a Facebook feed that we had a little over 8" this monsoon which is about 3" below average. I got more than that in two straight days back in Indiana in April.

A good view of my backyard walking path. By mid-afternoon I could walk in the shade ... or at least my feet could. Otherwise from the chest up, the sun was pretty hot.

As I was about to finish my first lap around the yard I could tell that Stella was in the "thinking mode" ... I knew what she was getting ready to do ...

In a matter of 30 seconds she went from thinking about it, to flopping over on her side for an afternoon siesta.

By lap number 2, she was in a deep sleep and was that way for almost an hour.

Later on after my siesta I decided to walk again for a few laps ... when I asked she if she wanted to walk with me ... she thought by the way she looked, that I was asking if she wanted to go on her walk ... something we have not done since August 25th, when she had the growth removed from her paw.

I almost forgot ... what were the other surprises???

To change my security code for the garage door, the "home" button was on the main garage door controller hanging on the low garage ceiling. Then I would have 30 seconds to get down and walk to the keypad to enter my new code. I did not want take a chance standing on a ladder but the more I looked at it, I was pretty sure I could stand on my kitchen chair and reach the 'home' button that would start the process.

I used my 'good' leg, the left leg, and stood on the chair with no problem. I never felt like I was going to lose my balance. Taking my time I stepped off the chair with no issues with the surgical side leg/hip. So for the first time in years, even before I bought the house, the neighbor no longer has the security code to get into the house.

Since I was on a roll there was something else I wanted to try.

I have permission to drive but the seat was lower than I could handle in the Mini Cooper. So the other day I raised that seat up as far as it would go. Took my Stanley tape measure to see how it compared to the kitchen chair I've been sitting in for almost 4 weeks. Close enough.

I set the cane up on the driver's door hinge, backed up to the doorway just like I would be getting into any car, then lowered my butt onto the seat. Ahhhhh not bad. Before I swung my legs into the floorboard area, I raised my right leg with my hand just enough where my foot would clear the bottom door rail. I was surprised I didn't have to go too low to get in the raised seat.

Swinging those legs into position under the dash was just like I do when I get in position to lay in bed. I sat there a few minutes to see what kind of muscle reaction I would get. I wasn't driving anywhere today but I had passed the first test, that being able to get in and out of the car without breaking the 90° rule and keeping my knees below or level to my butt when sitting down.

I think my first trip is going to be to The Diner for a cheeseburger and a cup of their hottest chili, which will make me sweat under my eyes ... it's that hot and tastes even better.

It's been a good day. The hounds slept a lot, even I had a siesta for about an hour and I have almost finished a book I bought the other day. Now that I think about it, I might not be able to drive anywhere until Monday. They are having a large bicycle ride this weekend and the main check in point, motels and dinner is being held just around the corner from where I live ... down the street and around the corner down by the main highway ... the place will be packed cars and bicycle riders.

I have enough food to hibernate at home this weekend and miss the mass of new people in town this weekend.

Getting stronger in the Wild West ... I'll be back on the road soon.

Wide Awake At 3am

I wake up in the middle of a dark bedroom with two sleeping hounds. It's so quiet that I hear nothing. I don't hear them snoring, breathing or running in their sleep. I hear nothing outside in the distance like I do sometimes. I'm not too hot nor cold like I was just a morning or two ago. The window is wide open and it's 66°.

It's 2:14am and something has woke me up.

I feel literally nothing in my hip, on the side of my hip ... it feels normal, zero feelings of any kind. Yet when I woke up I was just on the verge of rolling over on my ride side to sleep, the surgical side. Rarely do I sleep on that side and I can confirm I haven't for at least the past 26 nights. Was I dreaming or was I really about to roll to my right side?

I lie there for a second waiting for some sort of feeling or twinge of pain from that unadvised move ... there isn't any. I wonder how long my surgical side has been moving? From the hip all the way down to my foot ... what has been moving while I slept and in what angles? Did the hip, knee, foot or leg move outside the safety zone? Is there even a safety zone?

***********************
By 6:30am I had my answer from a friend that is a PT and works with a lot of patients from the same surgeon that I had. ---

"Dr. ********** is right. You need to listen to your body! Sometimes that comes through trial and error because everyone is different. If you’re walking a lot then the next day you can’t move because you hurt so bad, it’s too much. Cut back. If you’re walking a lot and don’t feel bad at all, then you’re fine! It really just depends how YOU feel! You won’t hurt the hip... only if you fell on it or really twisted it or something."
 
***********************
I don't know that there is ... the doctor never verbally issued one. So in a way the 'confusion' I spoke of a few days or weeks ago is there lingering in the background. It's also one of the things that come with writing about my health issue or rehab. I expect it and knew from the start when I decided to write about what I was going through ... there would be a lot of comments and different ideas from readers and Facebook followers.

It's hard to sort out at times because most people have a different idea or an opinion. That comes with blogging on any subject and it's also prevalent in my Facebook updates to friends, a few family that use Facebook but don't follow the blog.

I have no problem with the different opinions. I like reading them. I listen to what people say because some of them are more experienced with this "medical train" than I am. Others have had the same surgery or know of someone that has. Some readers have even taken care of someone that has had the same surgery. So there is a lot of information out there just from the feedback I get in blog comments, emails, Facebook comments, texts and information I find online from my own research.

At 2:15am, all of this is going through my mind as I lie in a dark room with an open window on the south wall in front of me that looks like a large movie screen as it captures the light from the sky. It looks bigger in the dark than it does in the daytime.

Since I woke Heidi up at 8pm on Thursday night to go outside for her last pee of the night, she is sound to sleep at 2:14am. I feel that's a good trade and keeps me from chasing her down a hallway at 1:30am hoping to get to the backdoor before her, to let her outside so she can pee. Getting old is a pain in the ass, even if you are a basset hound.

I hear Stella now running in her sleep. Her paws are moving against the wall she sleeps next to. Is she with Sadie chasing deer again in the field back in Indiana? That has to be it because she has not ran like that for years and out here in the Wild West she has only trotted during her walks but has never ran full speed anywhere.

By the sound of her paws rubbing the wall .... she is in a full sprint gallop after something.

I decide to take my own trip to the bathroom and the first thing I feel when I stand up has nothing to do with my new hip or a leg and foot that is back to normal size. It's my left shoulder. I must have slept on it wrong or it is still reminding me I threw too many baseballs when I was a kid decades ago. At one time I was playing on three different baseball teams and a few times pitched too many innings in a week. Yes, I still feel the damage done to a left handed pitching arm 50 years later.

Where's that Ibuprofen?

I feel good coming back down the hallway with the walker that now glides over the tile floor since I added those two Wilson tennis balls to the rear legs of the walker. That adjustment also makes the walker glide over the carpet when I am in the bedroom or computer room. Remember, I use the walker from the time I go to bed until I carry the first of two cups of coffee to my computer room.

This morning that happened at 3:54am !!!!

Yes, I had been laying in bed awake all of that time trying to get back to sleep. My watch told my my pulse rate was 52bpm so there was nothing there that kept me awake. It was 66° outside, no wind and cloudy skies ... but my mind was working, sorting through all the latest comments I had read the previous 24 hours. I don't dwell on them but it's amazing the number of things I should or should do during this rehab.

It confuses me at times, just like it is at 2:45am.

I also think of my friend that just returned home after 77 days in 3 different hospitals after having major back surgery. He can stand up straight he said, for the first time in years. He is learning to walk again with is wife holding him up one step at a time. Last month he had to learn how to breath again on his own. His situation and recovery makes mine look like a day at the beach in sunny southern California.

I suggested to him last night to add the tennis balls to his walker for a smoother 'ride'. He replied my walker was the exact one he had been using in rehab. He is another old friend at 68 years old with major surgery to rehab. My list of friends doing that grows by one.

I start thinking about my situation again as I lay there. I can barely see the silhouette of the chest of drawers. I see the tiny green light of the wired in smoke/carbon detector. I feel how good my hip feels, it feels normal, like nothing ever happened. Do I dare move my right leg sideways to the point of a twinge so see how far it goes?

No, don't think so.

Honestly I don't know what is too much or not enough. The doctor didn't set firm guidelines with numbers of reps, or minutes for walks, or dates of the month ... all numbers that I like because I am and have always been a 'numbers guy' ... remember I have the addiction to spreadsheets even in my time of retirement.

I think back to that room 14 days after surgery where I had my followup appointment. My surgeon told me things look great and even said fantastic as he watched me walk across the room. Had he seen the x-rays they had taken before I was called into his exam room? Greg was right with his comment yesterday ... face time with him was about 10 minutes, it seemed rushed and he ended our consultation within a minute after reading a text on his phone.

But at 2:45am while thinking back to that appointment and double checking to see if I missed something he said, I only remember him telling me to walk as much as possible AS LONG AS I did NOT walk to the point of fatigue.

Although my neighbor told me I didn't know the meaning of that word 'fatigue' and I didn't know what my body was saying no matter if I rode a bike or not for many years ... I do know that if my leg muscle or hip would 'fatigue' I would collapse immediately, just as I did that Saturday when 3 people held me as I tried to stand up on the side of the road. I collapsed immediately then and I would now if I walked to the point of fatigue.

So ... I do remember "that limit" he set for me.

He also told me to rest so I could heal. He reminded me that he had sewn a lot of muscle with the new implant as well as muscle torn in my bike wreck and that I needed to rest. But ... he didn't tell me how long to rest. Sitting in a chair count the same if I am laying in bed? Probably not, but at least I am not moving ... so that has to mean some sort of rest.

He didn't give me the numbers my brain needed to know what is good or bad, what is good rest or not enough. He didn't give me a number of steps I need so I still don't know what is too much walking or not enough. "Don't push yourself, I know how you bicyclists think" ... "Listen to  your body and it will tell you how much is too much or not enough"

I understood his instructions ... but I'd like some numbers. 6,000 steps in a day too much? An hour nap not enough? The 'urge' to walk and keep walking ... is that listening to my body?

I don't know the answers to any of those questions really.  Ha Ha

So that is why some blog readers or Facebook followers say be careful after they have read what I have done that day or that week. That is why some friends on Facebook say 'back off' and do only what the doctor tells you.  LOL

I thought I was and think I am following those doctor's orders.

So .... around 3:30am as I am reading Ed Fry's blog that is linked on my sidebar ... I realize that I am not going to get back to sleep. I might as well get up, make some coffee and blog. Really, I have a big urge to write.

Yes ... at 3:45am as the coffee is dripping into the pot, the hound have gone outside then headed back down the dark hallway to go back to sleep in the dark bedroom ... I FELT LIKE BLOGGING !!!!

Just like the times last December when I had moved this blog to a Wordpress blog I had, I felt like writing at all times of the night so there were a few days I was blogging at 4am and was wide awake.

I am not sure what was worse though ... freezing weather outside in December or a cane handle sitting on my desk reminding me my new hip is only 26 days old as of right now and it needs to heal.

or ....

Sitting in a chair reading a book or laying in the prone position in bed with my eyes wide open wondering what in the hell happened that beautiful Saturday morning on September 7th?

Don't take what I said about blog and Facebook comments wrong. I want those comments from all different ideas and beliefs. I have gained a lot of information from comments on the blog and Facebook as well as private emails and texts. The good stuff out numbers the questionable stuff. It more of the "TONE" of how it's said that upset me the other day NOT what she said. She wasn't the first nor the last person to say the same thing about seeing a cardiologist.

It was the 'tone'.

So I guess I will classify this post as rambling, no photos.

I will add that once Stella saw I was blogging she walked from the bedroom to her corner on the right side of my desk and has been sleeping every since with the room light on ... at least she didn't let out a bloodhound howl wanting her breakfast served at 3:56am ... that will probably come later this morning. She LOVES food, I've never seen anything like it with my other hounds.

After all of this ... I only know one thing ... what the doctor told me "listen to your body" and that will tell me what I'm doing today.

It's still dark outside but with the windows open and no cold air blowing anywhere, it's a great morning here in the Wild West ... I need a 2nd cup of coffee.

I'll blog later tonight with some photos of the day.