Now that I'm two weeks out from my total shoulder arthorplasty (surgery), I'm in the process of the long road to recovery and rehab. One thing's for sure I am itchin' to get back in my kitchen. And, I have to some degree with the help of my granddaughter who's 'trapped' with us, her grandparents. Short story is that Salem came to visit us for a few days for her Spring break, and, well, she can't leave because of the cornonavirus pandemic. So, we're all roommates and really getting along awesomely! Salem's an easy going girl, in grad school to finish her degree in social work, and exceptionally chilled.
She helps with so much since I've been home from surgery. We have our kitchen antics, and we do girl things like she'll curl my hair with the curling iron and puts my hair in ponytails on top my head. Of course, Ben, my amazing husband who's been a champ with everything from dispensing and keeping a daily journal of all medications I need to take with times, etc. to rubbing and massaging my tootsies each night with lotion, getting my recliner 'bed' ready, washing clothes, cleaning, driving me to PT, buying groceries, bringing them home and putting them up and more.
One Good Arm
Oh, I've learned to do soooooo many things with just one good arm! I want to be as independent as I can. Imagine that! Everyday I witness mini successes. I'm a bulldog when it comes to being vigilant with my PT home exercise plan. My only outing other than maybe getting outside for a little fresh air is to go to physical therapy three times weekly. Given the dire situation with our country, most all people are being sequestered and cocooning at home, my PT office is only seeing critical patients of which I'm in that category. And, there's not another patient there during my session(s) weekly. I've got a very detailed written outline of what I can and cannot do for the next 25 weeks. Right now, the only thing I can do with this affected left arm/shoulder are movements and exercises per my program. Getting a respite from wearing the arm sling is like a super treat, but I have to be exceptionally careful. Hey, this bum shoulder has gotten me out of a lot of housework and responsibilities. But, ironically, I miss doing all these things!
We humans are pretty amazing creatures. We learn to be resilient and resourceful when our world may be turned upside down. Here are just some of the things that I can now do with just one good arm:
- Button my shirts.
- Take a shower.
- Pull up/down my own pants.
- Put on/take off my own clothing
- Type slowly with one hand.
- Do small chores like unload the dishwasher, pull things out of the refrigerator/pantry for cooking, etc
- Do some cooking that doesn't require lots of energy, time and effort.
- Wash my hands (all the time!) and both of them.
- Brush my hair. Dang it, can't put my hair in a ponytail but Ben's gotten pretty darn good at this task!
- Put on makeup if I need to.
- Push a dust mop to clean floors.
- Put on my own socks and tobaggon on my head.
- Basically eat by myself. But, if we're having steak or something that needs to be cut, well, can't do that yet.
I'm amazed at all the support, love, great energies, messages, texts, phone calls and care that has come my way since I shared that I was going on this 'journey'. Many of you have shared your experiences, and some of you have said you've benefited from things I've written about my journey because they're facing something similar.
Catch up on what I've posted so far. We're all on this planet to take care of each other, and I sure do hope that maybe some of you glean nuggets of wisdom from what I'm sharing with your!
xoxo ~ally
Words of Wisdom: Your Shoulders Reverse Shoulder Surgery: My Progress after a Few Days Life Can Throw You Curveballs
