My left sock.
It has been exactly a month since my hip replacement. I’m not jumping for joy, but only because it’s not physically possible yet. I haven’t begun physical therapy to get my full range of motion back, but that starts in a couple of days.
While I can’t jump or run, there are loads of things I can now do — I can take a shower in my own shower, which entails stepping over the lip of the bathtub. I no longer get so tired out by a shower I have to take an immediate nap afterwards. I can walk without a cane, but I don’t fully trust my left hip yet, so I walk with the cane, but try not to rely on it by leaning too heavily on it. I’ve walked several blocks from my house and back, trying to add a little distance each time. I’ve helped put out the trash. I can now sit long enough to write a blog or to drive somewhere nearby — in other words, from 15 to 30 minutes. Last week I drove to the Russian book store, where I worked the 4-hour shift. I can pretty much do everything independently, or at least, most things.
But there is one thing I cannot yet do unaided — I cannot put a sock on my left foot by myself. It’s just a bit funny and a bit pathetic, relying on another person (usually my husband, but occasionally, my daughter) to put a sock on my left foot. It’s understandable, of course, since my muscles do not want to move this way yet. But on especially cold days, when I prefer to wear two pairs of…
