Knocked Out

These last three days I have done nothing but go to PT and OT, eat and sleep.  We have found that it was probably caused by the steroids.  My doctor told me that some people get hyper on them and others get very tired.  Well it is obvious which side affect I got.  Lol  I was asleep more hours of the day than I was awake.  I would come back from PT, eat lunch and then go back to sleep until OT would wake me up.  There are some times I had a hard time staying awake in PT and OT.  Speaking of PT and OT though, I am making great progress there.

Not only did the Prednisone knock me out most of this week, it has
really caused some swelling to my feet.  I am calling them my sausage feet because they are huge.  They are so big I don't recognize them as my own.  I was told this will go down within a few days.  The doctors told me to leave my socks off most of the day and only wear them when I have to.  This will help the fluid buildup too.

Jason brought my braces from home so we could use them to practice walking.  My PT wants me to use them so my legs are positioned correctly while I relearn how to walk.  I am using a walker called a platform walker.  There are places for my arms to rest on making it a little easier on my legs.  The first time we tried I walked about five feet.  Now I am up to eighty-eight feet.  The exercises I am doing show remarkable progress too.  For example, one exercise I lie on my back and have a cylinder tumble form under my knees.  I am supposed to lift my leg up to make my knee straight.  When I first started, my PT had to help me lift my leg.  Now I am able to lift it on my own, plus I have a one pound weight on my ankle because it was getting too easy.  They also started putting me in a standing block.  This is a contraption where I sit on this strap that holds my butt.  The PT then cranks a lever and it slowly brings me to a standing position.  As I am standing up my legs go into something that holds them in place.  So the end result is I am standing up completely straight, but I am not doing anything, the thing is holding me.  Even though I am not using the muscles to stand t is still helping a lot because it is stretching multiple muscles at once and showing said muscles how to stand.   I have been doing this for about thirty minutes a day after I do my PT.

In OT we are doing more functional exercises.  Reaching, scooting on a mat from side to side, standing, etc.   I love how when we are doing all of these things we are playing a game at the same time.  It is almost like I am not even working because my mind is on something else.   I also do things like laundry and get my hair washed.  The first time I washed my hair I needed help with blow drying.  Now I can dry it with the towel, brush it, and blow dry it all by myself.  I was also allowed to take a shower with the OT standing outside my door in case I needed help.  This was a bit tiring, but it was nice to be able to take a shower on my own!

Jason went back to Buffalo on Saturday.  He went back there to get things ready for me.  We have a cleaning service coming in to sanitize the entire place.  We also have someone coming in to shampoo all the carpets, couch, and recliner.  Jason and Courtney are also washing everything, getting new pillows for the bed and whatever else they or I think of in the next couple of days.  About going home… I will not be going home on the first like originally planned.  My PT mentioned to me that she was talking with everyone in the rehab department and they want me to stay longer.  I am doing such a good job and they are seeing such progress that they want to be able to do more with me.  I know it sounds like a punishment for doing a good job, but I did not take it that way at all.  I actually took it as a compliment because everyone is so impressed with my attitude and speed of recovery.  I want to be able to get stronger and I want to leave here being as strong as I can be so my recovery is better and faster in the long run.  I agreed to stay here longer and work on some more things with them.  We have all agreed the new date is Monday, August 5th.  I wanted to leave on Sunday since I don’t get PT and OT on that day, but they prefer to discharge on a weekday.

Part of me really wants to get out of here.  I have had enough of the hospital, the nurses, and nurses’ aides.  Don't get me wrong, most of them are wonderful, but they are just getting on my nerves.  I miss my V10 nurses.  I wish they could come up here and take care of me.  It is so different having these nurses take care of me.  My V10 nurses have taken care of me for years and they all know me so well.  I also miss home and everyone there.  This includes my family, friends, and my kitty.  I miss my bed, my TV, the whole being at home.  Although I am feeling all of this I did agree because I know how important this rehab is.  I am seeing the huge progress and I know I have a ways to go.  I am not going to be able to do it all here, but I do want to try and do a little more.  Getting better and being as strong as possible is more important to me right now than rushing home.  Once I get out of here, I am going to have plenty of time to spend at home.