Weeks 8&9

at the gym, my rowing pace increased to a 2:30-2:45 pace for 2000m without any issues. i switched to the orange theraband for PT, which has more resistance.

one day we were walking around a bunch and i ended up crutching around 2 miles.  i was completely fatigued and almost couldn't make it home.  i thought i may have overdone it but turns out i had minor flu.  since i'm taking aspirin still, i had to make sure not to take anything with nsaid (e.g. theraflu).  i slept a bunch and a couple days later, i had an appt in midtown east and decided to wander around, and 3 miles later i was home.  i felt fine crutching but perhaps the activity caused my hip to have some minor pain when weight-bearing.

i tend to have tight shoulders/upper back from boxing and i think i still have the problem from crutching all the time now.  one night i turned from my side while sleeping and i got a bad neck kink. i put a heating pad on my neck and later used tiger balm. i couldn't use salonpas patches because they have nsaid.

i spontaneously crossed my legs and didn't think anything of it. i was on a bed tho, so the puffiness probably made it easier.  i've been having increased popping and clicking action in my hip.  Dr Millis suggested it's b/c i've been pretty active.  i hope it's not anything bad.

i was in the SF area for 10 days.  this is usually our mid-winter golf trip...but of course i was not able to participate.  i didn't feel like using my crutches while home at all.  i think i can handle short stints around the house but i never leave home w/o the sticks. in the city, i still walked a lot but avoided the hills and stayed on flat streets.  i'm not sure how i would have done on crutches on some of those big hills.  my neck started feeling a little better but i messed it up again while doing pull-ups.

shortly after my PAO, i tried to set up a wheelchair rental for my trip to SF.  it seemed it wouldn't be a problem; my insurance said it was fine, one of the NY apria reps said they would do it and i just needed a new prescription for it.  i got transfered to the NY travel rep and she said she couldn't do it, that they only do travel DME for oxygen tanks.  she asked why i couldn't bring my own chair and i explained that it would be very difficult for my guy to bring his suitcase, carry-on, travel golf bag, my suitcase and push me. i called the menlo park (SF) branch and they told me they could do it for me and just needed NY to set up my travel profile.  NY wouldn't do it so menlo park tried to work it out with them. i called a CHB case manager if she could help, and she reported back that it was a payment issue, that NY didn't want to share the fee with menlo park. after a few days, menlo park called me back and said they'd send the wheelchair for me free of charge.  my SF trip rolled around and my wheelchair didn't show up.  they called me a few days later asking if i got the chair.  i was doing fine w/o it and realistically, the wheelchair was most useful in the first month when i moved painfully slow with the remedial half-step crutch walk.  i was also a good shopping cart in my wheelchair.