Uneven

I think my hip is too big.

I've taken a couple of steps today without my walker!  Yay!  I can walk to the kitchen and back.  I don't always lean on my walker too much -- mostly I use it for balance and to make sure I can move around without getting tooo tired.

But as I was saying, when I do walk, it feels like my left leg is about an inch or two too long now.  I know it's the swelling and muscles healing but it's a very weird feeling.  If I just stand straight, I stand at an angle.  I suppose if I travel to Pisa, the tower there will have a friend.

It seems that I'm reacting a little negatively to the Oxycodone that I'm taking.  I keep my doses low, but they're making my skin itch.  If I sweat a lot I get low-grade hives.  It's just the medicine coming out in my pores but oooohh it is not comfortable at all.  The fact that I can't scratch below the knee just makes it all the more fun.  My very favorite thing right now is a good scratch...

The medicine is a tricky business.  I want enough to keep things from hurting too much (hurting too much = not enough movement to rehabilitate) but low enough so that I don't feel woozy and lazy (which would also lead to not enough movement to rehabilitate).  Right now, if I don't at least take Tylenol every 4 hours, I get an ache deep in my butt cheek that makes sitting or walking a displeasure.

Sorry, was that TMI?  I'm stuck in my living room and talk with my caretakers about my next B.M., so I'm pretty clueless these days as to social propriety.  Not that I'm known for my delicacy.

Another hurdle at this point in the game is emotion.  Not only is my body taxed, but my mind and heart get taxed after a while, too.  My heart really goes out to people who are bed-ridden or dependent for long stretches of time (or permanently).  It is not easy depending on others for basic things.

I understand from my mom that people who have major surgeries very commonly experience a post-op depression about a week or so after, and I'm sure I'm experiencing the lighter end of this.  Tears appear out of the blue and are gone just as fast.  This morning, I missed my mom and I also had a little emotional spot after I took a shower (there is nothing more exhausting to me right now than showering).

Still I'm trying to keep spirits up.  Tonight I'm watching "Bizarre Foods by Andrew Zimmern" on the Travel Channel.  Nothing cheers me up like watching a chubby bald man eat bugs and innards.  :)