Monday, April 2, 2012

Weekly kvetch/progress report

Can I kvetch? Last Sunday, which was the 3rd week after the op, I felt a definite improvement.  I could distinguish a greater range of motion and there was a marked improvement in my general feeling.  Today, one week on, I am not feeling any better.  My muscles are still stiff and it is still impossible to do certain movements.  I am feeling a little bit demoralized and still very very tired.

Walking is the easy most of the time.  My gluts or perhaps some other muscle in my butt are sore, but walking actually feels good.  I've been walking twice a day usually about 1.8 kilometers (a little more than a mile) per walk.  I downloaded a pedometer to my iphone so that we can clock our mileage.  That makes each walk fun as we try to go a little further each day.  The weather has been nice and so it feels good to get outside and move. But I just can't seem to make any more progress.  I still haven't managed to get past that elusive 2km point.

One good thing that I have noticed, is that the constant ache I endured for years in the muscles on my left side just above my hip has disappeared.  I don't know for sure, but I suspect that they were literally holding up my hip.  And that is miraculously gone!

Exercise is another story.  The PT lady comes on Monday and Wednesday - which to begin with, doesn't seem right to me.  Shouldn't her visits be more spaced out?  She clearly isn't used to having a (relatively) young patient. During the early weeks, she gave me very easy exercises and told me not to switch from the walker to the cane. 

Finally, last week she agreed that I could use the cane as I could bear my weight on my bad leg and then gave me much more difficult exercises.  Nothing that I am not familiar with from years of toning classes at the gym, but now I can barely complete 10 reps.  Several of the exercises really give me a pain my groin, which is upsetting. She stands over me, hands on hips, and watches me wince. In addition, she made me step up and down one step on the operated leg without the cane.  That is not only painful but scary.  It feels like too much weight on the bad hip. The twice-weekly torturess returns tomorrow, so I will discuss all of this with her, especially the groin pain.

Luckily my Mom arrived from the States to give me some much-needed TLC.  Perfect timing just when I'm feeling a bit down.  In fact, she is the motivator behind my daily walks, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it this week, had it not been for her. 

Ooops, she's calling me again, gotta run....

No comments:

Post a Comment