While I have seen progress every day, most of the progress has been in the strength of my leg. It was a big day when I was able to lift my foot off the floor, and I can now get it up about 80% to the lockout position on my chair-straight-leg raises. I still can not raise it off the bed in my straight-leg raises there.
One of my biggest frustrations these last 19 days has been in my sleeping positions. My leg was dead-weight in bed for a long time, and so I used my sheet to move it during the night. For the most part, I've only been able to sleep on my back with my legs out straight. This becomes uncomfortable, but without alternative positions, I've been forced to deal with it, although my back complains loudly.
I am very excited to announce progress in this regard. A couple of nights ago, I was able to roll on to my right side and put Bessie on a pillow out in front of my right leg, and that was comfortable for probably 20-30 min at a time. Last night, I was able to sleep on my left side for awhile (maybe as much as an hour). I am now able to move my leg enough that I don't have to only use the sheet to move it, I can move it somewhat under my own leg-power.
For some reason 4:00 am is the magic hour. At that time, I wake up, no matter what time I went to sleep, and I am very stiff. I have to spend some time moving and stretching - legs, arms, back. Before, after I stretched, I just went back to sleep in the same position, only to wake up a couple hours later, stiff again. Now, I can find other positions to alternate, and that helps a lot with the stiffness. I still can only stay in one position for 30-60 min before I am starting to get uncomfortable and have to move again, but this is better than it was.
Before I had my surgery, I usually went to sleep on my right side and slept that way for a couple of hours. Then I would wake up and flip over to the left side for a couple of hours - and alternate that all night. I'm looking forward to a time when I can return to that routine.
I have also been drinking a lot of water since surgery, which means I usually have to get up during the night to go to the bathroom. This is a good excuse to work out the stiffness, but it is still an annoyance. Last might I made it until 6 am before I had to get up.
So, the side-sleeping thing is huge, and I'm excited that I can now do that. I can also now get up off the bed without having to cross Bessie over my right leg for an assist.
That's it for now. I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend. We had about 2" of rain here yesterday evening. It all came down in less than an hour in a huge downpour. We stood and watched it pour over the eaves trough at the front of Old House. Maybe we need to get our gutters cleaned out?
Talk to you again soon!
:)Amy
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