To a snow lover, there's hardly anything more discouraging than a cold rain. Just a couple of degrees colder and it would have been such a pretty little snow, but no! No, we have mid-30s and constant, steady rain. I suppose, since this was PT day, that it's good it wasn't snow, but it certainly doesn't do much to lift one's spirits to be cold, wet, achy from the weather, and even more achy from that expensive torture known as physical therapy. There, have I whined enough? Yeah, thought so. Let's review the day, however, since that's what we're here to do.
Stan and I both woke early again today. While I can't say I'm sleeping badly, I'm certainly not sleeping all that soundly, so getting up in the morning is not the hopping-out-of-bed-ready-for-a-new-day experience you might think it is. Well, nonetheless, one does get up and then one tries to make sure it's a good morning. One notable breakfast note: after Raisin Bran, I actually drank half a cup of coffee. Woo hoo! Another step towards normalcy.
Much of the early morning was spent reading intently and intensely, trying to finish an ebook due back to the library tomorrow. That mission being accomplished, I walked around the house a few times, got dressed, and got myself situated in the recliner to be ready for a 10:00 a.m. call from an old friend in Mississippi. J was my best friend for 25 years, and I've greatly missed her company over these last 15 years since we moved. Even though we've emailed and kept in touch via messaging, we hadn't talked in years, so we had arranged to chat this morning because, much to our mutual surprise, we found that we'd both had a knee replacement in January. Hers had been January 14 and mine January 28 so she's a bit ahead of me in the recovery department, but we're basically on the same path. It was SO good to catch up with her about mutual friends, civic happenings, family news, and, of course, TKR comparisons. Fortunately, she left the small town where she still lives and went to a major medical center in another state for her surgery, and she's doing well, making progress, and on the road to recovery. Another friend of ours stayed in that same small town for her TKR and is still dealing with major complications over 3 months after her surgery. Choose your surgeon carefully!
It was, as I said, physical therapy day. Stan dropped me off at 11:30 and, for the next 45 minutes, I was alternately soothed and tortured. In 2011, I had a real taskmaster for a therapist, and while I dreaded the sessions, she did wonders for me. This therapist is quite different. I have to admit that I love the leg massages that she gives at the beginning to loosen me up and at the end to soothe my screaming muscles. In between, she is pushing me and it does hurt although it still doesn't feel quite as rigorous as my previous experience. On the other hand, to be fair, I hadn't even started outpatient physical therapy at this point in 2011. I didn't even leave the house until my 2 week checkup with my surgeon and, after that, was cleared by him to start PT. This is just a week and 2 days since my surgery and it's already my 3rd PT session, so perhaps the slower start is appropriate. Just for the record, my numbers today were: extension, 8 and flexion 83. Those aren't great numbers but better than they were, so progress is progress, no matter how small. At any rate, by the time my 45 minutes is over, I am vastly relieved to have my knee iced down for 10 minutes before trying to walk again.
On the way home, Stan and I stopped by Domino's for a hot sandwich for lunch, came home and ate while watching a 1930s version of The Mummy, then both of us tried to take a nap. Strangely enough, even though I thought I was exhausted, I couldn't get to sleep, so we are both awake, have had another cup of coffee, and will try to think of something vaguely useful to do until dinnertime. One of these days I'll start to cook again, but not today. I did just buy a new cookbook on Google Play, however, so maybe reading recipes counts....right? Well, maybe not, so for tonight, I'm off to the couch to wait for Stan to serve me his wonderful chicken quesadillas!
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