Cabernet and an Allen Wrench

Actually, it wasn't that long at all, but because it was so slow, it felt like it. Despite my orthopedic surgeon forbidding me to fsll, I disobeyed him today. On the way to my pre-op appointment, I was using my walker to get to the car and the shoe on the end of my prosthesis stuck, my microprocessor knee buckled, and down I went. But the microprocessor knee let me down easy. Not even my pride was hurt, though it did scare me a bit. The poor medical assistant who led me back to the doctor's office for my appointment could barely walk slow enough for me to keep up with her. She was a good sport and shuffled along with me, chatting as I took eeny weeny itty bitty baby steps, so afraid I would fall again. The appointment went well, and we headed home until my physical therapy appointment later that afternoon. The timing couldn't be better, because I knew the PT would be able to figure out why I fell and fix it. I was convinced I fell because I was wearing new shoes and th...

I had no idea that this word had a medical meaning. My surgeon used it to describe the "exuberant" growth of hypergranulation that has grown around the aperture on my femur where the rod to attach my prosthesis is. And he asked me to see my plastic surgeon at Hopkins. It's good to know people because on my own I could not get an appointment with him until mid-November, but his PA got me in this past Monday. The news I got from him was not what I wanted to hear. Because of the exuberant growth, I have to have surgery to remove it, and I might need a skin graft after the first surgery. While I am not thrilled to be getting another surgery, I am quite distraught at the possibility of a skin graft. The grafts I received in London took a year to heal. A year. At this point the surgeon thinks I will need to be off my leg and in a wheelchair for two weeks if he has to do a graft, but then conventional wisdom put me using a prosthesis in December, and instead it was nine mont...

Our last evening in New York, we went back to Contento. We had been there in February, our first time to visit Hospital for Special Surgery, to comsult with the physician who ultimately did my osseointegration surgery in July. The first time we went it was because it is likely the most accessible restaurant anywhere. The tables and the low bar are the right height for wheelchairs. There is an audio menu for blind people. The bathroom is a dream. We came back for the food, the wine, and the atmosphere. We ordered the one Priorat wine on the wine list. The wine manager was a little hesitant, but we assured him we knew what we were ordering. We generally like very young wines from this region of Spain, but the 2015 had all the markings of an exceptional Priorat wine, including that earthy granite finish. Dinner, as our experience before, was remarkable, especially fitting to cap off a great visit with my surgeon. I do have some hypergranulation, a fancy word for some growth around the...

The last couple of weeks have been full of progress. Two weeks ago my physical therapist got me started walking with a walker. In just a couple of sessions I could feel the improvement. Last session she began preparation for me to climb stairs. She had me step up and down from a six-inch block. More than once she said, you're doing amazing. Due to my last PT experience, I wasn't sure I could trust her accolades, so I told her I really wanted objective criticism and I would not be offended by it. She said I was doing incredibly well and was far ahead of most people at this stage. She figured a main reason was I had not developed bad habits using a socket prosthesis. She gave me a slew of exercises because I really have to get stronger. I'm doing them. Last evening Jerry and I attended a fundraiser. I had made sure ahead of time it was accessible, and I was assured that we could get in via the patio. The only problem was, the path that led up to the patio was large grave...

Yesterday was truly a red letter day. It started out in the morning with a visit to Barcs, the animal shelter where I volunteer. They were having a huge event with members of the Ravens, Baltimore's football team. On Sunday, I baked vegan chocolate chip cookies for the bake sale, and Jerry drove me over to deliver them. We figured while we were there, we'd socialize some cats. I generally head to the back room where the bite quarantine and sick kitties reside. They often get forgotten, so I like to make sure they get some good attention. After we left one of the rooms, one of the volunteer coordinators approached me to ask if I'd help some of the Ravens volunteer group who wanted to spend time with cats. They had a huge group and both volunteer coordinators needed to help those who wanted to walk dogs-- which was most of the group-- so I said yes, even though I was apprehensive. I'm self-conscious about being in a wheelchair, but I figured if Barcs needs help, I was n...

That ends well. Today was a very very long. For me getting up at six a.m. hasn't happened since I rode AIDS Lifecycle. My normal get up time is eight a.m. then I spend the rest of the day doing pretty much nothing. Today, Jerry and I were out of the house at 6:30 a.m. to catch an early train to New York. Of course, after I bought the non-refundable tickets our appointments were pushed back an hour. Turns out that was not such a bad thing because it took quite a while to get from Penn Station to the Hospital for Special Surgery. And the address the HSS MyChart gave me turned out to be wrong, but we had time to get to my first appointment, which was to x-ray my femur. I was prepared for the surgeon to tell me I needed to wait a few more weeks before progressing. After all, I am old, and I have osteopenia, the precursor to osteoporosis. So despite taking multivitamins and calcium, I figured the standard four weeks post-surgery was not going to cut it. After x-rays, we went to my ...

I still feel remarkably good. I have a few aches in the femur, but I kind of look at that as a good sign of my bone starting to attach itself to the rod. The sutures on the back of my leg hurt if the skin gets pulled, so I do everything I can to avoid that. One time this past week I couldn't avoid the skin pulling because I needed to bend over to grab a cat. On Tuesday, a new volunteer was at the shelter, and while I am sure she had been trained, a cat she was socializing managed to escape his cage. He ran under the cages and popped out right in front of me. I gently picked him up and we got him back to his cage. It was worth a bit of pain. On Thursday I met with my new physical therapist. I felt so comfortable with her. She tested my strength and gave me a few exercises I can do during my "rest" period. She encouraged me to stand more to get my left leg stronger. She and my OT will coordinate to get my whole body ready to walk again. I am so excited. I am adapting to...