Saturday Afternoon

My PT says that my doctor will be pleased when he sees me on Monday, and should take me out of the brace, and I hope so! It's really become a nuisance, sliding down my leg as I try to even out my walking gait. We worked on my gait a little bit today, trying to get me used to using the right leg normally again. Part of it now is just that I'm conditioned to favor it and put more weight on my left side, and I need to learn to trust it.

I was happy to see how well I seemed to be doing on the exercise bike, my whole 8 minutes on there... I remember my first time on the bike at 4 minutes and I could barely make the pedals move, and even then my left foot was doing all the work. I had to sit far back and could barely reach the pedals, and I had to take my shoe off to give my ankle enough flex. Now I'm pedaling away with shoes on and pressure on both legs.

They've added a pound of weight to my leg when I do leg lifts. Boy, does that make it harder. At the same time, it's great to feel the results of the PT, and to be able to do more and more things, even simple things like rest my foot on the rung of our kitchen stool as I type this.

I went to the grocery store with Chris today! That was another simple thing that I haven't done in weeks. Of course, he might have been just as happy to do it alone, but he was gracious to bring me along, and it felt good to do even a small errand. I haven't done anything except work, sleep and PT for three weeks now.

And I have to say a word or two about how wonderful Chris has been during all of this, taking on job of chauffeur, cook, maid, home health aide and handyman. I couldn't have gotten this far in my recovery without his being so supportive, driving me so many places (esp the first two weeks), doing all the dinners and cleanup, cleaning the house, and doing so many other things. That allowed me to just focus on my PT and job.

Well, and also focus on a few TV shows. I have become addicted now to "Property Ladder." The renovation process itself isn't as interesting as the remarkable lack of thought and planning most people put into it, and the complete lack of self-awareness of how they affect the other people in the process. As a potential management / team training tool, it's priceless.

Speaking of lack of thought, planning, self-awareness, etc., I have too much stuff sitting around, and have bought a magazine on getting organized. "205 ways to make your life easier." "Clutter conquered in every room of the house." But I might have to take a nap first...