Day 14 Post OP Best Day Yet

By mid-afternoon I was declaring today the best day I've had since my surgery 14 days ago. I did not try to walk more steps, following my Saturday plan of rest and sleep fit in around football games on tv. I still followed the PT instructions for turning, getting in and out of bed and sitting in a chair. What I did do was more walking around the kitchen while preparing meals or putting dishes away, without the walker. It was sitting within reach if needed.

Nurse Stella followed me most of the day with a couple of times where she felt I was okay enough for her to take a siesta outside. Of course sometimes there is food involved where she thinks she might have chance for some kind of drop or an offer from me to share.

I told my friend yesterday that this view of the mountains from the patio reminds me of the clouds and mountains I would see in Hawaii, standing on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier docked in Pearl Harbor.

I could tell early this morning by Stella's actions this was going to be an extra rest day ... a lot more rest and sleeping.

While I watched football on tv, she napped outside in one of her favorite spots half on half off the patio. The temps were about right, 81° with a breeze. Not hot enough for the AC to kick on but not that cool either.

I knew before I moved that I would not be able to see my 'local' team the Colts on tv much and changing my tv service to Cox Cable, they would not have a program like they do in MLB where I can see every game depending what channel I change to.  So while I watched a game on tv, I kept track of the Reds on the phone while it was charging and the Colts on my iPad Mini. I miss the split screen that came with DishNetwork where I could watch 4 games at one time. Yet the picture quality is sharper and to me that is a great trade-off. DishNetwork's signals during the monsoons are not a good match I'm told.

After my siesta of almost 2 hours in the middle of the day, Stella was nowhere in the house where I could find her. Bedroom-No, Computer room-No, behind the love seat next to the living room window-No ... outside soaking up the warmth and in a very deep sleep.

The winds picked up from the south/southeast where it was not only strong enough to keep the house cool but also it felt like a storm was blowing in. You cannot really tell here if the percentages are accurate because I've seen it storm with a 10% chance of rain and nothing at 80% chance of rain. So who knows?

I took all of these photos in this post with my Canon G9 X and edited out the dark spot on the sensor. I still think my iPhone 8+ takes better photos of the same areas.

Nurse Stella was going to make sure that I would not wander around the backyard without my walker. Her idea of blocking me was the best prevention. Remember, she is on call 24/7 and only charges food instead of cash for her services.

This was the first time I got a really good look at Stella's foot, where the growth was removed from her inner back paw just a couple of weeks before I broke my hip. That looks like a good job by the vet and looks like it is healing nice.

Heidi made her afternoon appearance while we were sitting outside. Strong winds made her work her nose a little before giving up and taking a short nap.

By the time I got up to leave, rain seemed like it was right around the corner. I also didn't notice until I posted the photo, I did not edit the black spot out of it. Can you see it?

After the way I felt today I think with another 48 hours of walking and continuing getting stronger I might be looking pretty good when I visit my surgeon Tuesday morning. Will I return home without the walker to use for another week or two or will he give me permission to move to a cane? I DO NOT expect to get the okay to drive but I would love to get the okay to move from my hard wood kitchen chair to my couch when watching tv or reading a book.

I have a nice 4" orthopedic seat pad for that chair, still it's not as nice as sitting on the couch.

Another development and one that is huge, happened today. I was able to lift my right foot just enough to pull my sock up. It is a compression socks that comes just above the ankle with tread on the bottom to prevent me from slipping and sliding. I can do that on my left foot without a problem.

I am still cautious getting in and out of bed  as well as sitting down and getting up from a chair. When turning I do the small sections at a time as the PT taught me so I will not twist that new ball joint in my hip nor my knee. With my daily scrubbing with soap and water I had a few more scabs decide to remove themselves from my elbow, and knee from the bicycle wreck, that caused all of this. I have not gone anywhere close to the incision with anything wet as directed.

So at least on this day, Sunday the 22nd, I am feeling great but still not exerting myself like I was before. It was my best day yet.

It was a great day in the Wild West today.

Saturday Was A Rest Day

I attempted and I think succeeded, to rest on Saturday. I only walked when letting the hounds outside, fixing meals in the kitchen and trips to the fridge while watching college football. I tried to get up out of my chair every hour to get the blood circulating if it only meant to stand in one spot. I did NOT try to walk laps inside the house or up and down the hallway ... I wanted to see how I felt by the end of the day without the extra steps. I felt good throughout the day into the early evening.


It was another typical night of sleep Friday night but I was able to add some longer periods of solid sleep. I might be up to 3 hours straight right now. I am the one waking the hounds up now as they both sleep mostly through the night. You can see here it's early and they are not that active, probably wishing they could be fed breakfast when they get up like they use to instead of waiting for MJ to feed them around 8am.

Saturday morning I grabbed the Canon G9 X, the camera with the black spot that is on the sensor sometimes. It was back and I edited out that black spot for these next few photos. It was so nice to sit outside in 62° weather watching the day get it's start. Coffee seems to taste better when it is consumed outside early in the morning.

I felt good Saturday morning, felt strong. I could tell it was going to be a good day, with nothing planned but watching college football with good games late into Saturday and a specific plan to rest and not walk as much. Out west games start at 9am and finish much earlier then they did when I lived in Indiana. No more having to stay up until 1:30am to see the end of the game.

Excuse the dog hair in the space between the floor and step. I'll be vacuuming out there today (Sunday). There is a slight step down onto the patio. For support I line the walker up like this and then take the first step with my good side, the left ... left foot first. I step down easy just to make sure the new right hip ball joint stays where it should. I'd rather be too careful than back in the ER.

With morning temps in the 60's and 70's staying around until after lunch, Heidi has been spending a lot more time in the 'rock' yard and soaking up the sunshine. She likes laying on the edge of the patio where the sunshine can barely touch her.

As I sit sipping hot coffee, listening to the birds and watching the clouds ... I realize just how much I miss that daily early walk that Stella and I use to do before her surgery. That knocked her out for two weeks of no walking. I hurt my hip the day after the vet office took off her bandage and said to wait until the following Tuesday before she would walk again. I also miss those morning bike rides and wonder what it will feel like when I try to get on any of my bikes for the first time.

When I asked Stella "do you miss your walk?" ... she gave me this look. She does.

MJ showed up soon after my neighbor did Saturday morning. The hounds love it when MJ shows up but like she reminds me, they only do that because she is the one feeding them now. "It's all about food." Gerry was happy when I told him I was going to make an effort to walk less and watch more football instead. He has seen others go through rehab for knee and hip replacements. He tells me I have progressed faster than he has ever seen.

I didn't make it to the end of the Saturday night football games but I did set my DVR to tape the last part of the games that I was going to miss. I may or may not watch them in a few days. I was tired Saturday night and when I get that feeling I do not hesitate in getting some sleep, no matter what time of day or night it is.

Sleeping solid until 1:40am when I woke up for some reason. I may have heard the hounds shaking their flopping ears and dog tags making noise as they did. They like to do a full body shake when they wake up. By the time my feet hit the floor, both of them were standing by the kitchen door to be let outside. I knew then I'd have a hard time getting back to sleep this morning.

I'll try but when I don't get back to sleep I get up, no matter the time. So here I was this morning (Sunday) starting this post a little before 3am. I felt stronger this morning as I walked down the hallway. In fact I lifted the walker up and walked on my own for that distance to the kitchen. It was nice to hear "quiet" as I walked. I DON'T do that all the time, only when the body feels like doing it.

The first day I attempted that a few days ago, I was suddenly not as strong as I felt with the walker and I thought I was back on Day 2 ... so I went back to the walker, walking slowly and not pushing anything. This morning though I feel so much stronger without the walker.

I still follow protocol when turning corners, or sitting down. I still hold my right leg straight out as I lower myself into the high seat. I feel that I could slide into a chair like I normally would before the surgery but I won't until I talk to the surgeon on Tuesday. My PT friend did tells me it would be okay to walk a little bit without the walker INSIDE the house but always near a table, a counter or furniture in case I need support.

I've done a lot of reading about timelines for the healing process. Combine all that I have read there are some pretty consistent time frames. For example, for the Hip Capsule to be fully healed, that will take 60-90 days or in my case November 8 at the earliest. Yet I could return to "normal activity" within 10-12 weeks which would be November 16.

Looking at dates, I still have a long way to go.

Of course everybody is different and that is the unknown, why doctors or the surgeon could not give me a firm timeline with dates to shoot for.

I heard a terrible story from a friend yesterday about her sister's knee replacement this past year. I'll not go into detail but it makes my situation look simple compared to what happened to her. I stopped reading the forum I found the other day with only members that had hip replacements. IF I can heal without going through what I have seen on that forum I will consider myself very very fortunate. Of course, like all forums whether it be sports, cars, hounds, or anything else ... most have a negative tone to them.

The swelling around the incision continues to go down. I started icing it 15 minutes at a time with my new ice packs I received on Friday from Amazon Prime. For the first time I was able to see the whole incision just by turning my head instead of trying to get a mirror in the right angle to look. One question I have on Tuesday is why did he choose not to insert a drain tube in the incision?

Well I have that feeling of sleep again so I'll end this post and head back to bed at 3:45am. I can get a couple of more hours of solid sleep before we start our day.

I wonder if this injury will turn me into a hiker and less a bike rider?

Oh ... I found a mobile dog grooming business that will come and pick up Heidi and Stella Wednesday morning, take them to their facility for a bath and nail trim for each. Chewy is delivering my dog food now, and groceries are delivered by Fry's Market. So basically everything is lined up for a 'long haul' as I continue my recovery.

It's cool this morning the darkness of the Wild West.

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.