Huge Differences In Past 24 Hours

What a big difference 24 hours makes. All day yesterday I was experiencing pain in my hip, lower back along with the big "rock" feeling in the area of the hip joint. I tried short walks, took a long walk, applied ice, took Ibuprofen and laid in bed resting ... wondering what happened and what was I going to do. At one point late Tuesday afternoon I thought I might have to call for an appointment with the doctor.

The more I thought about it last night the more I felt it was just muscle related and the lower back issue was the cause of my hip feeling bad because I could feel a nerve that was a little hot. Not all the time but would flash on just enough times for me know know there was lower back swelling that was rubbing a nerve that I was feeling in my hip.

Ice came to the rescue. I sat down with ice and later I went to bed with ice packs. It felt so good to lay my lower back on that long rectangular ice pack that I felt asleep. Luckily there was a shirt between my back and the ice. I had also rubbed my right leg with that same long rectangular ice pack and that also brought relief.

Waking up at 3am to let Heidi outside, I could feel my lower back was back to normal. No pain or tightness. The only thing I felt in my hip was a "smaller rock" feeling. I walked down the hallway without the walker and felt no pain in my hip or groin area. EVERYTHING seemed it was back to normal. I wasn't going to start my day that early so I didn't get my answer until about 5am ... where I felt even better after applying some ice to the side of my hip.

Hip rehab or not ... the hounds were demanding breakfast kibble to be served at 5am ... not going to happen. Yet I did give in to their howling and barking around 6:30am, a good 30 minutes before I had planned to feed them.

As I made coffee I realized I had not felt this good since last Friday when I took the longest walk yet. It was for 20 minutes and for .67 of a mile. I did not feel bad after that walk and don't believe that was the cause of my issue on Monday and Tuesday.

By 8am I already knew that I was going to take my first drive in the car today. I'd take my cane with me to carry "just in case". I'd slide my seat all the way back, raise the seat so it would be just like the Jeep Liberty seat that took me to my appointment. I was extra careful when I moved my right leg into the 'cockpit'. Since I did not want to lift that right foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal I used my good foot, the left one, for the braking.

I went to Tractor Supply store to find out they did not have the dog treats that I wanted. I went to both bicycle shops in town, did a lot of catching up, bought a t-shirt at one shop and paid my bill at the other shop for the stem they swapped out the day before of my crash.  It was good to get out and see friends as well as drive around my favorite town.

After I got back home I expected some kind of soreness in my groin or hip from the position of the car seat but everything felt normal. Hours later and a 10 minute walk, everything felt normal.

I folded the walker up and hid it in the closet, leaving the cane nearby as my support.

The way the hounds acted when I got home you would have thought I had left them again for a trip to the hospital. Stella was the happiest with that bloodhound smile on her face, wagging her tail and howling while she danced around me. I had to watch and make sure that she did not bump my right leg or lean into it.

I took to heart what Barney told me last night on my previous post ... that it might be better to take slightly longer short walks instead of bumping up time and distance so drastic. I put myself on a 10 minute maximum limit today and most of the time my walks outside were only for 5 minutes. More walks ... shorter time.

Compared to this time 24 hours earlier it is just indescribable how much better I feel.

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.