jillgoes

jillgoes

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Allbymyself

I'm continuing along, getting the house ready, assembling the equipment, and moving things down to the first floor - all in preparation for the heel surgery I THINK I am having on Monday.  I THINK I am, because it's scheduled, I'm pre-admitted, and I've been obeying all the pre-surgery do's and don'ts, and take this but don't take that, from all the reams of lists and informational papers I've been given.  However, because of my weird EKG's, I still need to see a cardiologist and get the clearance from him before we proceed to GO.

Yesterday my friendly package guy delivered three boxes.  Today then, I set about opening them up and seeing what I could do about their contents.  Usually I wait for the husband/lover/handyman to do these sorts of construction jobs, but the heel was hurting so badly today, that I just had to accomplish something, anything, in the direction of getting better.

That large box on the bottom of the pile contains the pieces and parts to a knee scooter, prescribed by the doctor to use most times instead of crutches.  Since my left heel is also almost as bad as the right to-be-surgeried heel, crutches will be hard for me.  The scooter will help bear more of my weight during the months of recovery.

A cushy seat cover and a basket are in the smaller two boxes.

Isn't she a beaut?
After a mere two hours, and using only two tools - a scissors to open the boxes, and an allen wrench key, I put the scooter together ALLBYMYSELF.  And, not only that, but it works, too.

Yes, folks I am a handywoman in disguise.  After all those years raising four children, and never doing one iota of the assembly work at Christmas time - you know, the trikes, bikes, and Barbie cars, who knew?  I did this ALLBYMYSELF.

I am proud of myself, and besides that, it was a good two hours of distraction from the pain.  So that's a good thing.

I also added a snazzy sheepskin seat cover.  This was recommended in several other recovery blogs I had read, so I decided to take the advice of those who know.


I'm just hoping that puppy Sheila will not think this seat is some sort of a security blanket.  Weimaraners are known for "nursing" on soft furry things, and Sheila has a sheepskin-like bed that she drags around the house and uses.  I do not want to see her sitting beside my seat, kneading it and nursing it.  That's just too weird.

Sheila with her special dog blanket
Finally, I added a basket to my scooter.  Since I will need my hands for steering, a basket for carrying things will be helpful.  I have already decided that my first true sign of rehabilitation will be when I can make my own cup of coffee and then carry it to another location.  Baby steps, baby steps.


Son Caleb made a few adjustments on the braking system, and then raced around the house with it, terrorizing the dog and me.  Then he said, "Here mom, you try it."

So I did.

Um, maybe it's a good thing that I still have several days until my scheduled surgery.  I nearly threw myself out over the handlebars when I applied the brakes the first time.  Then I did a trial run and scootered into the bathroom.  I had to do a 16-point turn to get myself out of there.  Note to self:  work on reverse.

For now, I'll be doing some laps, and getting the hang of this sweet piece of equipment.  

I think I'll call her MOLLY, short for MOBILITY.  What do you think?

5 comments:

  1. Don't get any speeding tickets, you hear? Hope you get all the preliminaries taken care of in time and all works out well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Praying that the cardiologist gives you the go ahead. You were smart to practice braking and turning ahead of time. Those are important moves when you're careening down the hallway.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I do hope you get the go ahead so you can move on to the recovery stage! The scooter looks good and better than crutches!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Molly!! I like it. That's a pretty snazzy go-go cart and it sounds likes it's a good thing you have some time to practice LOL! Hope the surgery goes as scheduled and that you are on the mend soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like you are well prepared! I had to do the same cardio visit before my surgery some years ago. I suspect these extra visits happen more often than not.

    ReplyDelete