The past 2 days have been busy ones. I have been working non stop to get my legs moving in the right direction and boy is it tiring! A walk to the bed side commode is a reason for a nap!
Yesterday my traction bar was taken away as I do not have one at home and needed to find new ways of shifting my hips around. It takes so much upper body strength to get myself into position before I can even attempt to stand up. But I figured it out with the help from PT, OT, nurses (better one's than Sun/Mon!!), Ben, and my mom.
I practiced using my bedside commode with nurses up until last night, then they gave Ben the go ahead to take me by himself. It was scary for the both of us at first, but we figured it out and now know each of our "jobs" when getting me up and moving. Mom and Ben's job (whichever one is helping me) is mostly to slowly and steadily lift and move my left leg, while my job is to move the right leg and keep my hips straight by using my hands on the bed or chair. Once I am to the edge with legs dangling down, I am given the walker, and I use all arm and right leg strength to pull myself up. Not once can I put weight on my left leg. They then support me as I shimmy, or hop on over to the pot. It currently takes about 2 minutes to go 2 feet. Phew!
So today I woke up with goals in mind: Walk with my walker (because I had only shimmied up to that point), practice stairs, learn to get into a car, and go home. It was a big goal, but I was determined to get it done. I wasn't going to see PT until around 10:30, and I was exhausted after one trip to pee, but when they came, I put my game face on and made it happen.
My muscles need to be retrained all over again. They were cut open during surgery, pulled apart, and then stitched back up on the inside after my hip bone was cut in 3 pieces. They hurt! After 2 minutes with PT, my leg started to remember what it was supposed to do. With a little momentum, it was moving forward. I was able to walk from my bed to the door, where a wheelchair was waiting for me. I was brought to the PT room where I learned how to step up onto a curb, go up a single step, and get in and out of a car. After a tiring workout, I got the okay to go home!
It was then time for lunch, a nap, and the waiting game. Finally at 4:30, we were in the car and on our way home!
We had the best welcome from our friends, Lincoln, Stella, Livia, and Chris, when we arrived home. They had drawn me a beautiful welcome home picture with chalk on the sidewalk in front of our house! Thank you , thank you! It brought me to tears, and Ben and I stood at the curb before my first "jump" up and looked at it as he held me. It's a very emotional time right now, and each and every one of my friends and family have just made this adjustment a little more bearable.
As you can imagine, the boys were excited when they got home and saw me sitting on the couch. They were chatty all night and kept coming up to sit next to my good side on the couch. I got many hugs, kisses, and "I missed yous." Landon even took his finger at one point and ran it along my face for a moment, looking into my eyes. I know I was truly missed. Mom took a video when they walked in the door, so look for that post tomorrow.
Thank you to Nana and Gampy for my card. Mom made sure to give me those hugs you asked her to send along!
Yesterday my traction bar was taken away as I do not have one at home and needed to find new ways of shifting my hips around. It takes so much upper body strength to get myself into position before I can even attempt to stand up. But I figured it out with the help from PT, OT, nurses (better one's than Sun/Mon!!), Ben, and my mom.
I practiced using my bedside commode with nurses up until last night, then they gave Ben the go ahead to take me by himself. It was scary for the both of us at first, but we figured it out and now know each of our "jobs" when getting me up and moving. Mom and Ben's job (whichever one is helping me) is mostly to slowly and steadily lift and move my left leg, while my job is to move the right leg and keep my hips straight by using my hands on the bed or chair. Once I am to the edge with legs dangling down, I am given the walker, and I use all arm and right leg strength to pull myself up. Not once can I put weight on my left leg. They then support me as I shimmy, or hop on over to the pot. It currently takes about 2 minutes to go 2 feet. Phew!
So today I woke up with goals in mind: Walk with my walker (because I had only shimmied up to that point), practice stairs, learn to get into a car, and go home. It was a big goal, but I was determined to get it done. I wasn't going to see PT until around 10:30, and I was exhausted after one trip to pee, but when they came, I put my game face on and made it happen.
My muscles need to be retrained all over again. They were cut open during surgery, pulled apart, and then stitched back up on the inside after my hip bone was cut in 3 pieces. They hurt! After 2 minutes with PT, my leg started to remember what it was supposed to do. With a little momentum, it was moving forward. I was able to walk from my bed to the door, where a wheelchair was waiting for me. I was brought to the PT room where I learned how to step up onto a curb, go up a single step, and get in and out of a car. After a tiring workout, I got the okay to go home!
It was then time for lunch, a nap, and the waiting game. Finally at 4:30, we were in the car and on our way home!
We had the best welcome from our friends, Lincoln, Stella, Livia, and Chris, when we arrived home. They had drawn me a beautiful welcome home picture with chalk on the sidewalk in front of our house! Thank you , thank you! It brought me to tears, and Ben and I stood at the curb before my first "jump" up and looked at it as he held me. It's a very emotional time right now, and each and every one of my friends and family have just made this adjustment a little more bearable.
As you can imagine, the boys were excited when they got home and saw me sitting on the couch. They were chatty all night and kept coming up to sit next to my good side on the couch. I got many hugs, kisses, and "I missed yous." Landon even took his finger at one point and ran it along my face for a moment, looking into my eyes. I know I was truly missed. Mom took a video when they walked in the door, so look for that post tomorrow.
Thank you to Nana and Gampy for my card. Mom made sure to give me those hugs you asked her to send along!