Had my two week check-in with my doc. Progress is on schedule. Though I continue to be impatient to get on with "normal" activities, I can now shower (a blessing to everyone around me) and begin to get back into an exercise routine (slowly), driving (maybe next week) and just picking up my pace a little.
I find this to be an interesting period of "healing." Most days are better than the day before, but not always. Patience is a virtue I struggle with. My prosthesis is porous ingrowth -- instead of being cemented to my bones, it's supposed to "grow" into my bones. This can take many months. While I'm feeling securely put together, there are occasionally some adjustments and some setbacks with discomfort, which account for some of the bumps in my road to recovery. So far, so good.
I'm grateful to have pretty much kicked the walker good-bye. Such a clumsy mode of ambulation. However, now I'm always leaving my cane somewhere behind and forgetting where it is. This is mostly happy progress.
My current challenge continues to be avoiding the pain meds. Finally down to my three doses of Tylenol daily, I'm starting to feel more alert and focused and my stomach has settled down. But, I'm left noticing the stiffness and discomfort in moving around and settling down to sleep remains an interesting exercise some nights. Recovery presents its own demands.
Tomorrow, therapy discharges me, too. We've fashioned an ongoing exercise program that should promote continued strength and range of motion. The only "care" that continues through the next month is weekly blood work to monitor risk of blood clots. Yet another medication to manage.
This is also the point in recovery where I'll do my best if I listen to my body. Unfortunately, my body does not stay on a linear progress model -- just as I'm struggling to get back to a working agenda. I'm fortunate, my colleagues and family are exceedingly understanding. But, I need to be careful to allow myself extra "cushions" in deadlines and commitments. It's disappointing to get up some mornings and confess that I just can't do some things and have to get out the cane again.
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