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I’ve been incommunicado!

Well, not quite.  Jill has been available for phone calls, the church secretary for updates and some have even called to the nurse’s desk or used the hospital "Get Well" email service.

So, today we headed out and were home around noon (we had been asked to leave yesterday — the ward had people in the hallway after a bit of a blizzard — but it was a little too cold!). 

Our two biggest concerns turned out to be non-issues.  One was getting in and out of the car.  The seat is low and not with a lot of room.  An aid assisted us to get me in, and after moving around a lot during the trip I was beginning to understand how little or how much I could move. 

When we parked in our garage, I shoved backwards, slipped out and used my crutches to approach the next concern. 

The two stairs into our bungalow!

Anticipating this, I checked with physio.  We have no handrails.  On to Plan B!  Use of crutches.

Now, generally this can prove to be a problem.  Because the database of ortho cases is based on an average of around 80, not 50.  At eighty you may not be as steady or have as much upper body strength as a fifty year old.

With this "80 year old" expecation in mind, I was given a 20 minute time slot to practice going up and down the steps.  I walked to the physio department (with my walker), sat for a moment in the wheelchair, was given instructions on getting out of the wheelchair and onto the crutches.  Then lift a foot, push up onto the step, and repeat until you’ve reached the top of the four or five stairs. 

Two minutes later they sent me back to my room!!  Mission accomplished.  And the same when we got home — up and into the house in mere rmoments.  Then I lay down for a rest!

And so the day has gone. 

Oh,  I started to write a bit more for this blog and lost it all!  I’ll try and get back some of the thoughts for tomorrow’s blog — see you then!!