Getting Psyched Up

I had an interesting discussion with my physiotherapist yesterday.

Her husband is doing remarkably well following his hip replacement surgery; coming along very nicely.  But the experience is allowing her to advise me on what to expect.

So here's the drill.

You really do need to have someone available to you full time  for the first two weeks at least.  Not because you are weak or ill following the surgery, but because there are so many things that you are absolutely prohibited from doing.

Simple things.

Like bending over.

Hence, you can't put on your own underwear.

Think about it.

You need someone to place your underwear in position on your feet and draw it up to your thighs where you can grab hold to position the garment properly.

Same thing for your pants/slacks/trousers -- you simply cannot get them on by yourself.

You can't put on your own socks; or tie your own shoes.

When you go in the car (you can't drive for six weeks!), you have to have your seat in full recline position because you're not allowed to sit at a 90 degree angle.

You cannot sit with your hips lower than your knees (elevated toilet seat coming for this household).

You have to take a blood thinner for up to six weeks and that is administered by way of injection.  (I'm terrified by the sight of syringes, no way I'll give it to myself!)

As a result of taking those blood thinners, you bruise extremely easily so you must be very careful of even the slightest pressure being applied to you.  (No massage therapy for me!)

Because of the physical restrictions required during rehab, if you drop something you can't pick it up ... it stays there until someone is available to recover it for you. (I'll be investing in a reacher to be sure.)

When you're sitting, you can't even reach across to pick up a drink or a book -- someone has to hand it to you.  (Don't put that glass of wine down once you have it in your hand!)

We talked about how my personality type will have a hard time allowing someone else to do everything for me.  I'm going to have to really psyche myself up for this.

We know from my experience last year that John will be a trooper nurse; I just have to allow him to be.

Here are just some of the rules as they are laid out in the literature:

• Do not cross your legs or ankles when you are sitting, standing or lying down.
• Do not bend too far forward from your waist or pull your leg up past your waist (hip flexion).
• Do not dress standing up - sit on a chair or the edge of the bed.
• Do not bend over, raise your legs, or cross your legs while you are dressing.
• Do not sit in the same position for more than 30-40 minutes at a time.
• When sitting, keep your feet about six inches apart, and keep your feet and knees straight ahead.
• Sit in a firm chair, with a straight back and armrests; avoid soft chairs, rocking chairs, stools, or sofas.
• Avoid chairs that too low; your hips should be higher than your knees when you are sitting.
• Do not cross your legs.
• When showering, you can stand if you like, or you can use a special tub seat or a stable plastic chair.
• Use a rubber mat on the shower floor; be sure to keep the bathroom floor dry and clean.
• Do not bend, squat, or reach for anything while showering. Use a shower sponge with a long handle for washing.  Have someone change the shower controls for you if they are hard to reach.  Have someone wash the parts of your body that are hard for you to reach.
• Do NOT sit down in the bottom of a regular bathtub; it will be too hard to get up safely.
• Use an elevated toilet seat to keep your knees lower than your hips when you are using the toilet, if necessary.

So you can see that we're not going to have an easy time of it in this household.

Six weeks.

And we have to do this twice.

Oh dear, I'd better get started with the psyching.