Recovery Day 7
Guess I can
say I feel the same this morning as I did yesterday. Not much change I don’t think except for the
fact that I couldn’t sleep last night due to pain that was in my right thigh
area. There was a constant subtle pain that prolonged throughout the night and
prevented me from sleeping well.
Lee changed
my dressings as well as his own. I get a
little wheezy when I see wounds that look more than a simple cut.
Lee’s
sister will pop over this afternoon to check on us and see if we need anything. She and her husband will have dinner at their
mom’s place tonight, which means Lee and I will fend for ourselves. Instant noodles it will be…hahaha
I simply
want to get out of the apartment and go somewhere but the hassle/trouble of
moving about and getting in and out of a vehicle our extremely frustrating and
pain-staking long.
I’m looking
out of the window as I’m typing this and it’s a beautiful sunny day.
Will work
on more lesson updates for school and send all my material to Analeigh later so
she can pass on to whomever needs the material.
What I’m thinking will happen is that for my two practical baking and
pastry classes, I will need to make up missed classes by giving them in the
evenings and/or Saturdays once I return to school.
I might try
to head out in a taxi this coming week simply to get breakfast and/or some
small food items at the market.
Between Lee
and I, we managed to get some clothing into the laundry machine (on balcony)
and then hung on the drying rack. It’s
not as easy as one might think to do such a simple task.
Paul
stopped in to see me on his way to school.
He just returned yesterday from a week in France and heard about my
accident upon his arrival.
My classes
are being covered for the time being until I can return to school.
I’m
thinking each day is a better day in recovering and just as I think this,
another shot of pain goes through my hip and leg area. Damn injury!!
I’m beginning to become somewhat disgruntled but need to focus and be
patient. (yeah right)
I can now
with more ease, sit down and get up from the couch. When I first arrived home I couldn’t but now
it’s possible. A milestone J I’m understanding and feeling the stress one
goes through with any form of physical disability. Just another learning moment for me – all
positive.
Lee’s sister and her husband
came around 7’ish and brought dinner. I
cooked rice (not a difficult task) and they brought a buffet of varied food
items.
Recovery Day 8
It’s Wednesday – God how time
goes by so slow when one is inactive.
Lee changed all my dressings
so now I’m good until Friday when I see the Doctor. I cut up some guava and an apple along with
breakfast bread and I fried an egg for Lee and I had some leftover rice from
last night’s dinner. Oh yeah, and
‘decaffeinated coffee’. The Doctor
strongly recommended no coffee during these first couple months but he then
said that if I’m addicted, I could have decaffeinated coffee moderately. I only have 1 cup per day, that’s moderate
for me.
I’ll work on some school items
again and perhaps listen to some Rosetta Stone to brush up on what little
Mandarin I know.
Analeigh will drop by tonight
after school as she is bringing a text for me that I need to complete some
work.
Lee is vacuuming now (sitting
in wheelchair pushing vacuum) – yes we do whatever means possible to be
mobile. It’s not easy!
I’m thinking that once I can
return to school then Lee will probably go back to his home since we both will
not to be taken care of as much as now.
Not sure how long Lee needs to be in the leg brace/cast but it will be
for a few more weeks still. I’m somewhat
more mobile than he is as but still moving slowly about.
Recovery Day 9
Rough time
sleeping last night. The pain in my hip
and leg seemed to return. I go back to
the hospital tomorrow morning so I will need to ask if after 2 weeks and the
pain seems almost worse than before if this is a good or bad sign.
Had a nice
surprise this morning. Lee’s sister sent
breakfast to us. The security guard
brought it up for us. Our typical (pre
accident) breakfast items.
Recovery Day 10
Well just
returned back from the hospital. Was there for around 3 hours or so….not too
bad considering how busy it was. The system they have is somewhat or
should I say a lot different than what we have at home. Instead of the
patient being given a day and time of their appointment, here the day is given
as usual but you receive a number instead of a time. It’s a given that
everyone knows the operating hours of the hospital for this procedure and then one
can go online to check which number is active at any given time. Once you
see your number is getting to close to being called then you go to the
hospital. I think because this system has been around along time that
most or all people know how it works anyway, I was a little confused as to how
would you know when to be at the hospital…. but all works out well anyway.
My number
was 16 for a morning appointment and by time we arrived the number was at 14…so
good timing.
So the outcome…Doctor
was pleased with everything so far. He left and said I’ll see you a bit
later to go over everything. In the meantime a nurse was in charge of removing
the stitches and suckers. (Stitches in left knee and suckers in hip where
surgery was). I was more than nervous to have these steel suckers removed
and especially when I saw what the nurse was going to use (just like a pair of
needle nose pliers)…ugh I though…hahaha Here comes the pain.
It was almost painless for everything procedure she did on me. I
felt a crunch or pressure then a slight sting but nothing more. I cringed
each time I heard the crunch…hahaha
The knee
injury needs to be taken care of for another week or so because of the nature
of the wound. The section of my hip where the surgery was, can have the
dressing removed in 3 days and should be fine.
When I
went into the lab where the Doctor was, he showed me the larger version of the
X-ray of the surgery so I could see more clearly what he did. Also inside
the room were 6 young (I’m assuming) interns or students. They all sat
there behind him looking at me with the utmost seriousness to their facial
expressions. I’m sure it’s a disciplinary setting for them. Once
the Doctor opened up the X-ray, all 6 of them stood up and hovered around him
looking at the X-ray as he is explaining it to me. Not sure if any of
them spoke English but not a word out of any of them.
There are
3 screws (you can see the threads) that go from my femur into my hipbone.
The fracture was just at the base of the femur head so the screws are
holding everything in place. This is why I cannot put any pressure on my
right leg for 3 months until the healing has been completed. He said that
if pressure is put onto the leg then the screws could actually break. I sure
do not want that to happen.
I will go
back in 2 weeks for an X-ray and this will show him how the healing process is
going and he will be able to give me an updated prognosis at that time. I
asked the Doctor when I can go back to school and he said only after the X-ray
so that means another 2 weeks at home…. ugh!! I’m going crazy.
After we
were finished, Lee went to get my subscription filled (same pills plus an extra
pain pill for night time) and his sister when across the street where there was
a Starbucks and she got lattes for us…oh that made my day right there…hahahaha
I cannot or should I say I’m not suppose to have coffee UNLESS it is
decaffeinated and only in moderation. I’m being good :-)
Some of
my students want to come visit tomorrow (Saturday) so on our way back to the
apartment, I had Peter (taxi) stop off at a cafe place and I purchased some
breads and sweet items as I know the students enjoy that.
Anyway…that
was my morning ordeal and now back to watching more TV, practicing more
Mandarin and doing not much of anything.
Recovery Day 11
Two weeks ago today was the
accident. I feel I’m progressively
improving daily now. I think it has only
been the past couple days that I can say I actually feel that sensation of
improving.
The injuries on my right foot
(around ankle) have stopped stinging and beginning to itch. The injury on my left knee also doesn’t feel
sensitive as much now and the pain that comes and goes in my right hip area
doesn’t seem to be as intense as it has been. (maybe it’s the stronger
medication the Doctor gave me that’s subsiding the pain, not sure)
Lee and I took the recycle
and garbage out simply for a little exercise and to get some fresh air. The temperatures were noticeably cooler than
normal and felt really good to breathe in air outside the apartment. The security guard met us as we were hobbling
from the elevator and took the couple of bags we had and deposited them into
the appropriate bins for us. He has been
doing that each time we come down to do this task. Just another example of demonstrating how the
Taiwanese are helpful to one another especially to those who are handicapped in
any way.
Today was a fun day for the
reason that I had 7 of my students come pay me a visit. It was a lot of fun and enjoyment having them
here.
They presented me a gift box
of large apples and Asian pears. Knowing
that they were coming today I had Peter take me to a small bakery/pastry shop
(Donutes) on our way back from the hospital yesterday so I could pick up a few
things.
The students were surprised
that I had snacks for them and I know they were happy. All items were eaten quickly and with smiles
on their faces.
They stayed for just over an
hour then they left. As usual, each of
them had to have their photo taken with me..hahaha These one on one photos shoots are common
here in Taiwan.
It’s almost dinnertime and I
think we will be having dumplings tonight.
We ordered some extra food last night in order to prepare some for
tonight. The dumplings are already
prepared, just need to boil them and serve with some soya sauce.
Tomorrow will be another day
and Lee mentioned that he called the breakfast eatery that we usually
frequented prior to the accident and they said that they would deliver because
of our circumstances. Normally they do
not deliver because they are too busy and don’t need to do that but Lee said
once he told them who we were (they know us), they agreed to do this for
us. Again another example in demonstrating
the culture of the Taiwanese people.
I look forward to tomorrow.
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