Just Another Blog
Saturday, September 09, 2006
 
Bathed and Rested

I had the staples removed from my leg on Thursday morning. Actually, I had all but one removed. I just happened to notice last night that somehow they skipped one. Not quite sure how that happened, but it will mean another trip out to Golden to have it removed on Monday.

With the removal of the staples came clearance to wet myself or, rather, to get myself wet. Last night I took my first shower in four weeks. After my very first surgery, they had bagged my leg and helped me take a shower before I left the hospital. I didn't get this opportunity during either or my other stays. I've been subsisting on sponge baths and moistette wipe-downs since then. Yesterday, my mother bought a shower stool for me, so now I can spend less time being stinky and offensive, well, stinky anyway.

With the limited range of motion in my bad knee, it's a bit tough to throw the left leg in and out of the tub. Once I get inside though, it so nice to be warm and wet. Once again, I had almost forgotten the feeling. The weather here yesterday never made it to 60. I was cold all day long, and a hot shower helped on so many levels.

Yesterday was day two of physical therapy. He only saddled me with one additional exercise to add to my routine: wall walks. I lay near a wall and use the good leg to lift the bad leg high up. I let gravity and muscle control slowly bring my leg down the wall while the flexion capabilities of my knee are tested. At the bottom, I let it stretch out for a couple of seconds, and then bring the good leg in to raise it back up the wall. All the exercises are a variation on the same theme: bend your knee, teach your leg muscles how to work again.

I spent the remainder of the day after PT being fairly uncomfortable. It only just now strikes me that it may in part have been due to the weather. Other folks with metal in their bodies routinely tell me that it won't be long before I'll be a great weatherman. Supposedly, the barometric fluctuations that accompany weather changes here in Colorado are wide-ranging. This in-turn supposedly translates to noticeable discomfort in the bionic areas. Yesterday brought rain and a nasty cold front. I'm wondering if that isn't part of the reason why my leg was just sore all over yesterday. I'm certain that part of it was that I'm only a few days into the new PT exercises and that I had a rigorous PT session. It will be fascinating to me to find out how my rebuilt tibia works as a barometer.

After my shower and a back massage, I finally made it to bed a bit before midnight. I slept all of the way through until 3:30 AM. That might not seem like much to you, but, frankly, I was ecstatic. I haven't slept more than 90 minutes or maybe 2 hours consecutively in weeks. Then, after waking at 3:30, I was able to promptly fall back to sleep until 5:15. Took some drugs, and slept again until 6:20. Was awake for a bit, so I decided to get on the bender and do a round of my exercises. I actually fell asleep on the machine for the last 15 minutes or so. After doing my exercises and putting some ice on my knee, I again fell back to sleep for another 90 minutes. All in all, it was the best night's sleep I've had in ages. I woke up feeling very refreshed even though my back is stiff and my knee is achy.

Today's the big CSU-CU game. Go Rams! (Yeah, technically, I'm a CU alumnus, but I went to the Denver campus for a degree that has not served me well, and my brother and many of his friends are CSU alumni, so for whatever reason, I just always cheer for the Rams.) Real football tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a good weekend. I can handle the pain with the ice and the pills. Still, I'm pissed that I'm not in Chicago. I should have been rockin' out with my cock out this weekend.