Category: Health

the little things you miss, like easily getting into a car

whbeebe

I own a perl white 2012 Prius. You know, the Real Prius, not not one of the newer designs Toyota came out with that same model year. Since my operation I’ve been totally dependent upon my wife to drive me around in my Prius to where-ever I need to be. Driving for me is out of the question because I can’t yet flex my right leg enough to handle both the brake and accelerator pedals. So I’m forced by circumstances to ride shotgun.

Before this I never thought twice about getting into a car on either side. I just opened the door and slide inside and closed the door after me. A few seconds of activity. Easy-peasy as they say.

But with this leg in the shape it’s currently in I’ve had to learn a whole different way of getting into the shotgun side of the car. Keep in mind I’m 6 feet 4 inches tall.

  1. Open the right front passenger door.
  2. Make sure the right front passenger seat is as far back as possible.
  3. Make sure the back is at a 45 degree angle, not upright.
  4. Stand with both feet close to the open door essentially facing the driver’s side.
  5. Reach down and in and hold the top of the seat near the headrest.
  6. Lift up the right leg and put it in first, as far into the front as possible.
  7. Duck the head further down and into the doorway and pull the body over the seat.
  8. At the same time pull my left leg in after, flexing it so that I can then rotate 90 degrees from facing the drivers seat to facing forward where I can sit in the shotgun seat.
  9. At this point, once seated, reach back out and pull the door close.

Trying to get in the old way, left leg first, was a no-go as I couldn’t bend my right leg far enough to clear the door. After having practiced this since last Thursday when I to see the surgeon and imaging people, I’ve gotten to where I’m just as fast this was as with the old way. Which means that I can at least be driven to where I need to go for the next week. In the mean time I’m working on my at-home PT to get that flexibility back in that right leg. I’ve got to get back to where I can safely drive again.

slowly healing, with feline friends

whbeebe1 Comment

It’s been a week and a day since my right knee was fully replaced. I can walk about the house without any aid, and I can use my collapsible Traverse trekking pole when I’m outdoors to help with stability, just in case. Otherwise I stay indoors and move around helping to keep things clean and straight as best I can. These past few days I was able to do things like wash dirty pots and scrub the kitchen sink, as well as fix spaghetti Saturday night. These sound like such little, trivial tasks until you can’t do them or only with difficulty. Even getting a shower requires I wrap the incision with Glad Press ‘N’ Seal to keep water off and out of the wound to avoid any possibility of infection. Right now my dressing is almost totally clean when I change it daily. One more week of this…

I’m not the only one needing special comfort. Lulu went to visit the vet on Thursday, the same day I had to visit my surgeon for a post-0p checkup. She went to get her teeth cleaned and checked. Unfortunately for her she lost three, two of which are feline equivalents to wisdom teeth. When she came back she was OK, but she started to stay next to me a lot more than usual. Friday night she came up and slept next to me in my chair for comfort.

She’s since gotten back to her old Lulu self, but this past week seems to have deepened a bond between us even further.

The Florida Gingersnaps have been out and about in the central part of the house, running and playing. At 16 weeks, which was the week of my knee operation, they were six plus pounds each, or two pounds ahead of schedule. Kittens are supposed to add a pound/month. The Gingersnaps and Lulu seem to be getting along pretty well. More than once I’ve seen all three just lying close to each other on the floor, usually when the Gingersnaps get tired from chasing toys and themselves.