Look, look! I've been outside! Later tonight I plan to post a longer TV-related post I worked on for a few days, Unfortunately, my computer corner isn't as comfortable for my knee as I thought it would be. Stints of over ten or fifteen minutes get very uncomfortable. I find it hard to keep shifting positions and try to think at the same time. Of course, right now I'm not sure if I can walk and chew gum at the same time either!
That said, since the beginning of last weekend, I've deliberately been cutting down on the heavy duty pain meds. All this week, I've only taken them about an hour before my physical therapy appointments. Since I do have some pain outside of the appointments, I have to ask my doctor for some kind of lighter duty pain relief. I don't like the zombie feeling I get from the heavy stuff (though it's definitely needed for the physical therapy -- PAIN!).
But the big news is ... I'm walking with no walker, no crutches, no cane around my apartment! When I go out in the real world, I'm walking with a pretty even gait using one crutch. It's tiring, but not painful. Until I rebuild my quad and calf muscles, I'm going to rely on the one crutch for stability.
I've had out patient physical therapy twice so far this week and will head off my the third time after I get this posted. To get there, I've walked a block to the bus stop near my apartment and have taken a city bus two towns over to Scotch Plains and the therapist. Once in town there, it's a half block walk. I got there early yesterday and took some photos in the park and of the cannon in the street. Don't ask me why there's a cannon in the street, I do not know. In the cannon photo, I used layers to make only the flowers have color.
I know someone mentioned Roofus in comments, but I won't get that way for a while. That's about seven blocks in the opposite direction of anywhere I have to go right now. And, though I know I'm improving and feel stronger every day, my jaunts are still pretty limited and I'm only really going where I have to go.
But it is nice to actually get out of the apartment, feel my mind clearing a bit from the medication and the surgery itself. I'm starting to have more of an appetite, but think I may have lost nearly 20 pounds -- my clothes are all loose. That's a good thing, mind you. My range of motion is at a 92 degree bend now, up from 60 leaving the hospital. I can actually stand on just the operated leg, but not for long.
So that's the latest. Later on tonight I'll get that long written while a zombie TV-related post up.
Today's musical non-sequitur:
"I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain."
- "Horse With No Name" - America
