An Update on the Walking,etc.3232013

…..Bored out of my damned mind.
That's the biggest thing.
I'm unable to do the simplest thing, to my satisfaction.
Can't stand and bend enough for dishes(I tried).
I can do laundry...but one load did me in...especially attempting to get the clothes OUT of the dryer(90% Rule)...I had to retreat, and retrieve my Grabber.
I find that I'm even less able to clean up after the boys, than before...which isn't saying much. The Floor has been out of reach, for a long time(unless I'd like to stay there).
I moved sprinklers, and birds, this am...didn't finish re-deploying the water...maybe later.
On the Plus Side(yes, there is positive news): With help, for moral support, I can walk about 2 blocks. Further than I've been able, in a couple of years.
Of course, after that, and the Laying Down Exercises, I'm Toast.
Still.
With all these new Books, I've been attempting to clean up and reorganise the Library.
Imagine tying your feet together, loosely...and tying your left hand behind your back...and wearing sunglasses in a darkened room(for the imbalance) full of books and boxes, and furniture. For added accuracy, drive an ice pick under the right patella, and a couple more into the left ankle...lol.
I'm gonna be pissed if this doesn't improve...
...which, of course, leads me into my 2 biggest fears:
1. that Rick Fucking Perry will, somehow, Kill Medicaid, or that I will, somehow, become uneligable.
2. that the long sought after surgeries(One Down!) will not be an improvement. I know it's early days, but permit me my Frustrations....4 weeks after the Hip Surgery, I find myself much improved from last week...but much worse than before the surgery.
This is to be expected, as far as I can tell...but it still causes much Frustration, Anger and Fear.
I cannot sleep. The usual distractions of my own Mind, as well as various snores and the kids phone ringing and the idiot with the Boom...Booom..Booom, at 11:45 every night...
But there's also the Uncomfortable-ness...
I cannot get comfortable...in any of the chairs I'm allowed to sit in, including this one...in the bed...in the car...
I've got another week of Norco(which I prefer, since it has only 325mg of Acetaminophen)...then it's back to Lortab/Vicodin...which I'll need at 3/day...while I only have enough for 20 days. Of course, that was intended to last a whole month, before the surgery.(to go the whole month on what they've given me before,it must be 2/day(=inadequate))
Bone Doctor has handed off Pain Management to my Regular Doc....so I'll need to go see him...and beg for adequate Pain Relief.
The Entire Medical/Governmental Establishment is set against me, in this.
Wouldn't want somebody getting high(and killing their liver, which is the Only reason to habitually combine Hydrocodone, and Acetaminophen. What does that say about our Country?)*

I've got a bottle of Oxycodone...but I don't want to take any. It's not Oxycontin, of Hillbilly Heroin Fame, it's Percocet.
It is the Last Line of Defense, as it were....If I get Tolerant of that, there's nothing else, aside from growing and smoking Opium.lol.
I don't want to go there...so Oxycodone stays in the Armory, for now.
I've been striving for years to keep the titration rate of Lortab at bay...so as not to become tolerant, for this very reason.(quit cold turkey for 5-7 days, twice a year...and drink a lot of beer)
As I've said, most of my “issues” are not well documented, if they're documented, at all.
This is a product of having no insurance, or money, for X-Rays.
So, the Doctors must take my word for it...since the System seems to be Single-Issue.( I want a Full Body Scan, dammit!)

My understanding of where I'm at is that I can look forward to Pain, for the foreseeable future. Maybe, for the rest of my life,
Hip's fine(muscles there still suck, but are improving).
Knee Replacement is next...hopefully in September.(unknown recovery time.prolly similar to that of Hip)
Then it's Ankle...likely Fusion or even Amputation...it's too damaged for a Replacement. Fusion = 3 months in a cast, and a long recovery.
(I'm currently leaning towards hacking it off)
That puts us at more than a year from now(Sept,2014)....and I'll then hafta wait, to see how things are.

Assess the remaining Pain, and Injury.

Back could “fix itself”, I'm told...but don't really believe it.
Same with Wrists, Thumbs, Elbows, Shoulders.
Have to wait and see.
I'd be happy with Pain Free Legs.

Most people seem to think I'm being overly pessimistic, after this First Surgery.
I think that they are being overly Optimistic...to the point of Magical Thinking.
It's funny(at least when I'm wearing my Lay Psychologist Hat), but it appears that folks just don't want to acknowledge the Reality of Pain...and the Reality of Disability....and especially the Reality of someone Falling Through the Cracks as I have.
I have felt Validated, since the Hip Surgery...it's finally regarded as a Real Thing, by everyone.
(with no apology, of course, for the disbelief, and accusations, that came before)
But the Rest of my Issues are still relegated to 1. my Mind,or  2.my desire to Not Work, and to be a Welfare Queen.
Folks just can't help themselves, I guess.

So there it is...Progress and Pain, and a mixture of Optimism and Pessimism, hopefully Boiling Down to Realism...
I want to Clean the House.
I want to go Fishing.
I want to walk in the woods.
I want to Contribute!
Instead, I must wait...

* From the wiki for Hydrocodone:”As of July 2010, the FDA was considering banning some hydrocodone and oxycodone fixed-combination proprietary prescription drugs—based on the paracetamol content and the widespread occurrence of liver problems. “
Assholes.