Getting Back To Normal

On Tuesday 15th November Yvonne went for her regular checkup with the physiotherapist at Stoke Mandeville.  We took the Zimmer Frame and crutches with us so that we could return them because Yvonne is feeling quite stable on her feet now and would prefer to just use her walking stick for a bit of added support when she needs it.

The physiotherapist, Keith, was most impressed with the way she is walking and said she is making excellent progress.  He gave her a couple of new exercises that she should do daily to strengthen the muscles in her left leg where she had the operation.  She said that one of the exercises  was really difficult and very painful so Keith told her to listen to her body and do only as many repetitions as she felt she could handle without too much discomfort.  He was so impressed with her recovery that he has arranged for her next visit to be only next year on 6th January.  That will be 3 months after she had her operation and she should be pretty well back to normal.  She has been given an appointment to see the Specialist on 31st November for her first checkup and x-rays to make sure everything is settling in as it should and there is nothing out of place.

She is now permitted to drive but as yet she hasn't attempted it, but I'm sure she will handle it without any problem.

Yvonne's continuing recovery progress

On Monday 31st October Yvonne went to see the Physiotherapist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for her regular checkup. The therapist Keith had her walking up and down the corridor to see how well she was progressing. He was very pleased with her progress and he has told her not to use her Zimmer Frame any more but to rather use a single crutch for a bit of support around the house. He also suggested that she occasionally try walking without any aids while indoors and to use 2 crutches when walking outdoors unless she feels she can cope comfortably with just the one crutch.

It is only 4 weeks since she had her hip replaced and she is now walking around with little or no aid at all. At times she says the muscles in her legs ache but they are getting stronger by the day. In a few weeks time she will be able to sleep on her side again, something she is looking forward to doing as she finds it terribly uncomfortable to sleep on her back all the time. In a couple of weeks she will be able to drive again so she won't have to rely on others to drive her around, which is something that has been very frustrating for her.

Yvonne's Pogress...

Day by day Yvonne has been continuing to make a steady recovery. On Monday 10th she went for her first physiotherapy session at Stoke Mandeville hospital. The physiotherapist, Keith, was very impressed with her progress and the extent of her flexibility so he added an extra knee-bend exercise to her daily routine.

On Friday 14th I took her to the Doctor's Rooms to have all the staples  removed from the incision in her thigh, a procedure that she really was not looking forward to. She had bad memories of having staples removed after an operation she had many years ago. When the Practice Nurse came into the room, the first thing Yvonne said to her was, "Do you you know how to take these staples out? Have you done this before?" The nurse assured her that it was  procedure that she had performed many times then Yvonne felt more relaxed and confident. The nurse was really expert at the removal and kept pausing after a more painful removal for Yvonne to take a breather and relax for a moment. The whole process took about 15 minutes and at the end of it Yvonne was so relieved and thankful that it hadn't been as bad as she had expected it to be.

Yvonne must now continue with her daily exercises to strengthen the muscles in her thighs and legs and to enhance the healing process. Day by day she is doing more and more but she gets frustrated that there are still many things she is ununable to do. As she gets her strength back and relies less on her walking frame she will be more mobile and she will be able to use her hands again.

The next milestone will be the visit to the physiotherapist at the end of the month.