Trying to stay cHIPper

The whole "damsel in distress" thing is much more fun when I'm perfectly capable of doing things for myself but choose not to.

Picnic anyone?

Well, it's official... boredom, for me, takes 5 days in a row of not leaving the house, whether or not people are around. I probably wouldn't mind being in the house for 5 days in a row if I could walk around and get stuff done.  I think I have about 8 games of "Words with Friends" going on at a time.

Everyone that's helping is being so great. And I know my mom is enjoying feeling like a mom again. So I'm trying to let her help me as much as possible. On days when she and my dad both go to work, she sets up a little picnic for me so I don't have to worry about getting food all day. It's really convenient, but lying around all day and eating is NOT my thing!

However, this is definitely a humbling experience. Since I can't put any weight on my right leg, I have to use a shower stool and I need help getting into and out of the shower. My mom has to help me get dressed everyday because I can't bend too far forward to change my pants or put on socks.

Today, though, I finally got to leave the house to go to physical therapy. My aunt took me, and she is always entertaining. So if nothing else it was fun to spend time with her. She took care of my grandma when she got really sick, and she's been in my position before after having knee surgery. So she's been at both ends, which for some reason, makes it feel like I'm being less of a burden to her.

Bridge (Hip Raises)
Source: www.mindbodygreen.com

Physical therapy went well today. I got to add in a few more stretches/exercises to start activating the muscles around my hip. My "warm-up" when I got there was the internal rotation exercise (1 set of 30) and my favorite, butt clenches (1 set of 30).

The first exercise after my warm up was bridges (hip raises). I used to do these AS my warm-up when I was doing PT prior to surgery. Lying on my back with my knees bent at about 90 degrees and my feel flat, I push through my heels to raise my hips up. This activates my glutes and hamstrings. Not having worked out in about 3+ weeks made this a little harder than it used to be. I definitely felt the burn.

Moving right along, I sat with my feet hanging off the side of the bed. More quad flexes, but this time I actually picked up my foot. So, pick my foot up for a couple seconds, then lower it. Pick it up, lower it. Another set of 30.

The Cobra
Source: www.menscosmo.com

After that, I got off the bed and stood facing it with my thighs against the side. "Kick yourself in the butt," he instructed me. Okay, easy enough. After doing 30 of those, my poor left leg was so tired from just standing on it! I was ready to sit back down.

I lay back down on the bed on my stomach. I can't actually use my hip flexor muscles, but I need to stretch them. So while lying on my stomach, I pushed my upper body up into a yoga-type pose, The Cobra. One set of 15, holding each one for about 5-10 seconds.

When I was done stretching the front of my hip, I had one more exercise to do. Still lying on my back, I bent my right leg up at the knee, and then lifted my knee off the table, held for a couple seconds, then put it back down. I was shaking after the first 3-4 that I did! Slowly but surely, I made it to 30.

I got ice for about 15-20 minutes, and then I was done. So now my home PT regimen consists of the same stretches from previously and also the bridges, cobra, and knee lifts. Yay! Actual physical activity!

After PT, my aunt decided that she HAD to go to the store and clean them out of all the discounted Christmas stuff they had. Pretty sure she spent about 30 minutes or more filling up about 2-3 shopping carts worth of junk. And if that wasn't enough, after she dropped me off, she was headed to another store to wipe them out as well. Somebody call hoarders!



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