Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Recovery Continues

Horse Care Routine Begins Soon

I will be doing the morning feed starting tomorrow and my horsesitter will come in the afternoons to feed and clean stalls. I'm not sure how long this new arrangement will continue before I take over full care, but it's not too far in the future.

I have an appointment with my surgeon next week during which I hope he will give me the OK to drive again. I have been depending on the kindness of friends to take me to doctor's appointments, physical therapy, shopping, and to choir.  While I certainly appreciate all this, it's hard for me to impose upon others when I should be able to take care of things myself.

PT is going well.  I cannot say there have been huge changes, but each time I go, I feel a little better. I am still not lifting extra weight with my legs, so the basic exercises are not too taxing.  I am not sure I would be able to lift much weight yet anyhow as my muscles do ache when pressed too hard. I have to remember that they have to heal from the surgery too.  My knee replacements were pretty invasive surgeries.  It is going to take some time.

By the way, it is national Physical Therapy month here in the USA. My clinic is running a special raffle and has given all patients a tee shirt, a tote bag, and a water bottle as a gift. It's kind of fun and each time I go for therapy I get another raffle ticket. Guess I picked the right time to have my surgery!

My next adventure is to mow the lawn. Since I have the riding lawn tractor, the only challenge will be pushing the forward/backward pedal with my foot. The tractor has an automatic transmission, so there is no other trick to driving it.  My Kubota has the same kind of transmission, but it's higher to get on and off of, so using it to drag the arena--another task on the horizon--might be a bit hard.  But, if I can climb on and off, I'm willing to try.

When you are handicapped by physical limitations, it is always a problem to figure out how to do what other people would consider relatively easy, normal tasks.  Those of us who are truly able bodied--or on the way to recovering out "ablebodiness" need to think of that now and then.

It is a humbling thought.

6 comments:

  1. You seem to be moving along very quickly with your new knees and PT. Good for you. I know how you feel depending on others though, I'm the same way. It's hard when you start out being independent and then have to depend on others for simple things like driving.

    Hang in there, it all comes with time.

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  2. p.s. forgot to tell you there's an award waiting for you on my blog.

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  3. It sounds like you are making great progress. When Brett had his knee replacement, he kept working at his PT and the improvement came - like you said- in increments. Then one day he woke up and Bingo! he was 100%. It will come for you too.

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  4. You are so independant woman! Let people take care of you! I am sure you are a delight to be around, and it makes other important to help you so you can concentrate on recovering well.

    So take it easy ^-^

    (((((hugs))))

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  5. I love the delightful understatement of "my knee replacements were pretty invasive surgeries". *LOL* Yes, they were "pretty invasive", in that you had pieces of you taken out, replaced with new pieces, then a doctor attempted to re-attach all your pieces back together. Only a horseman would say that was "pretty invasive". Everyone else would say "Holy Cow!!! "

    You're doing great, though. And I know you will continue to do well!

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