Practical Wisdom for Recovery, Part II
8. Recovery at Home
GAWPP #4:
Don’t rush moving from one type of walking support to another.
Use your walker until you feel ready for crutches, and then use crutches until you feel comfortable using a cane. It is not “progress” if a new form of support causes you to take fewer steps or walk with an incorrect gait. An advantage of using crutches is that it is better for your alignment.
When you are ready to graduate to a cane, make sure the top of the cane reaches the crease in your wrist when standing correctly. Hold the cane in the hand opposite your surgical side and bend your elbow slightly . Remember to maintain good posture (keep your head up and looking forward, a straight back and tight abs) and walk heel to toe. Use your eyes to improve your balance and stability by looking around you while you are moving.
Regardless of what form of assistance you use during this period of your recovery, think of “movement as medicine’” and keep walking! It will help you both physically and mentally.
Keep walking! Movement is Medicine – now and in the future
GAWPP #5:
Remember what you learned in Prehab.
Stay hydrated. Practice controlled breathing. Listen to music. Take pain medication before physical therapy. Read the letters you wrote to yourself in Prehab. Think about where you were a few months ago and where you’ll be a few months from now. Put yourself in a “Happy Place”.
Put yourself in a Happy Place and realize how much progress you’ve made since you’ve had surgery
GAWPP #6: Remember what you have learned during your recovery
Heat helps reduce stress and relax muscles. Placing heating pads on your quads (thigh muscles) or even wrapping them around the entire leg before exercising will assist in relieving pain and increasing flexion. It is important to maintain the level of openness and honesty you expressed to your nurses post-surgery throughout your recovery. While it is good to be stoic and push ahead, don’t hold back on letting your doctor or PT know how you are really doing.
GAWPP #7: Keep writing in your journal!
Memory of pain can be unreliable. By documenting in real time how you are feeling, you will be better able to measure your progress as time passes. Evidence of previous progress is a good incentive to keep on making more.
GAWPP #8: Naps during the day are good.
Your job doing rehab is to recover and, in this regard, sleep is highly productive.
Keep a Recovery Journal