#1820 two weeks and a few days

Still here! Last week my sister Lizzie was here hanging out with me. She was incredibly gracious and intuitive and helpful. She made last week very nice for both me and MT. She made dinner and yummy cookies. She let me rest; she cheered for me when I was doing the physical therapy. We watched movies and read and laughed and sniffled, too. I caught a cold which I promptly passed on to her. It was a quick cold, but an ass-whooper.

A week makes such a difference! When Lizzie arrived on the 20th, I wasn't able to go with MT to pick her up at the airport. I wasn't sleeping well and I was in some pain all the time. I wasn't moving around very well. During the week, the PT was increased in number of repetitions stretches and level of intensity, too. I think I'm getting around a lot better on my crutches and sometimes, especially in my bedroom, I will just use one crutch, being thoughtful about shifting my weight so I walk without too much leaning on the crutch I'm using. There's a lot of stuff to think about when you're trying to remember how to walk without a limp after you've been limping for years!

This morning we took Lizzie to the airport at 6:15 AM and I was able to ride along so I could say a proper thank you and good-bye. I will miss having her here. It is a joy to be around my sister. <3 p="">
Now I'm entering a new phase of the rehab. Tomorrow MT will take me to the doctor so I get this 16" band-aid removed from my leg. The good news is that the band-aid still looks clean and good. There's no oozing or redness or extreme bruising that I can see. The seal is still tight. I've showered several times and managed to keep the dressing dry thanks to Press and Seal wrap. (It works!) On Tuesday I will have my first session at the out-patient physical therapy clinic.  When I home physical therapist came, he said my progress was very good. I could bend my knee to 91 degrees and straighten it to four degrees which are both well in the range for release to out-patient PT. I'm confident that through PT I'll be able to meet the bend and flex goals the surgeon has so I won't have to have any further procedures (a manipulation).

The biggest part of the new phase though is that I will be alone for most of the day. MT will be working, although the house he's working on is close to ours and I expect that he'll pop in around lunch time to make sure all is well. T is going to school and working and doing his own things. He helps when he is around, and I appreciate that. I think I'll be fine by myself. I've set up a schedule of times to do PT and I've got a little routine that I'll follow. There are still a bunch of movies I want to watch and lots of books to read and I still need to get rest. I've found that sleep has been the best thing for me as I recover. And lots of water.

One other thing, and I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I'm completely obsessed with the Trump presidency. I'm constantly on Twitter looking at the headlines from BBC, CNN, the Associated Press and Reuters as those new sites tell me what is happening with all the executive orders and the protests and what people are saying. I follow Trump himself and Steve Bannon and while I can't quite force myself to follow Kellyanne Conway, I think I might have to at some point. I can tell you that never before have I so closely followed what is happening in Washington and how it affects the rest of the world. I've always said that what happens in Washington barely trickles down to affect my personal life, and that is still true so far, but to learn about the executive orders and the switching up of advisors on the National Security Council (among other things) is making my head spin. Every day I shake my head and think "What's next?"

It is (past) time to do the first round of PT today. I'm headed downstairs to get after it!