I have shared with you all snippets of this past year where I have been sick for a whole year now. On January 21 I had what will hopefully be my last surgery for a really, really long time (this was my 4th in a year). In this surgery they made an incision starting at my sternum, down to the navel, around the navel and another 2 inches further. Needless to say I am very sad about how much of my abdominal wall they needed to cut (of course if this fixes the problem anything is worth it). Since the surgery was so major I was in the hospital for 9 days, another experience I hope never to repeat.
Anyway, the day of my surgery they made me sit up in bed, are you kidding me??? I was incredibly shaky and the nurse wanted to hold me, but I knew if I could get my feet on the floor my strong legs would hold me, and they did. The nurses were surprised at how stable I was once my feet were on the floor, but as anyone who does Cathe knows our legs can do anything. About my 3rd day in the physical therapist came in for PT. She was this little thing that said she was going to help my stand up. She had this big strap she would put around me to use leverage to help me up. Now, since they only cut my abs I had full use of my strong legs, so once I got myself to the side of the bed I could easily stand up by myself (how bad would that had sucked if I couldn't have stood by myself because someone would have had to help me to the bathroom each time I had to pee and my IV was pumping away). My PT for the day was to walk laps around the floor which I had already been doing myself and to walk up and down 2 stairs to practice for when I got home. Other than the unsteadyness that comes with a lot of morphine the stairs were a breeze. The PT just shrugged as she brought me back to my bed and signed off on me. I continued to walk laps each day, partially from boredom and partially because they said it would help me get home faster.
A couple of days after the PT I asked my husband to stand with me when I did the stairs again. The whole time I was walking and doing stairs this one nurse was staring at me. I couldn't quite figure out why, but I knew I was doing the right thing so I continued on. Later that nurse stopped me and with awe said "you must have really strong legs". As a matter of fact I do.
This has been a really rough year for me. I have been unable to live the healthy life I wanted because I have been so sick. I was confiding in a friend before my surgery how shaken my confidence in myself was since I felt weak and fat. But this experience has once again affirmed a faith in myself that I can get through anything. And though my legs may be fatter than I would like they are strong and beautiful and I know deep in my heart they will carry me where ever I want to go.
Shayne
Anyway, the day of my surgery they made me sit up in bed, are you kidding me??? I was incredibly shaky and the nurse wanted to hold me, but I knew if I could get my feet on the floor my strong legs would hold me, and they did. The nurses were surprised at how stable I was once my feet were on the floor, but as anyone who does Cathe knows our legs can do anything. About my 3rd day in the physical therapist came in for PT. She was this little thing that said she was going to help my stand up. She had this big strap she would put around me to use leverage to help me up. Now, since they only cut my abs I had full use of my strong legs, so once I got myself to the side of the bed I could easily stand up by myself (how bad would that had sucked if I couldn't have stood by myself because someone would have had to help me to the bathroom each time I had to pee and my IV was pumping away). My PT for the day was to walk laps around the floor which I had already been doing myself and to walk up and down 2 stairs to practice for when I got home. Other than the unsteadyness that comes with a lot of morphine the stairs were a breeze. The PT just shrugged as she brought me back to my bed and signed off on me. I continued to walk laps each day, partially from boredom and partially because they said it would help me get home faster.
A couple of days after the PT I asked my husband to stand with me when I did the stairs again. The whole time I was walking and doing stairs this one nurse was staring at me. I couldn't quite figure out why, but I knew I was doing the right thing so I continued on. Later that nurse stopped me and with awe said "you must have really strong legs". As a matter of fact I do.
This has been a really rough year for me. I have been unable to live the healthy life I wanted because I have been so sick. I was confiding in a friend before my surgery how shaken my confidence in myself was since I felt weak and fat. But this experience has once again affirmed a faith in myself that I can get through anything. And though my legs may be fatter than I would like they are strong and beautiful and I know deep in my heart they will carry me where ever I want to go.
Shayne
