the blind leading the blind

Out of the hospital for a week now, and approaching the two-week mark since the initial surgery - I now find myself holding two roles instead of just one: heal-er, as well as heal-ing.  My mother just completed a hip replacement operation, which now puts her equally on the mend.  As she faces the initial battles in the first few days post-operation, I find myself providing advice as I went through that mere days ago.  She is slated to spend one more day in the hospital, and up to a week in a rehab center to get her up and walking again.  When she arrives back home we will be facing different obstacles, but fighting to get back to "normal" all the same.

What is different about my operation than my mom's (besides the obvious) is that she knows what will be difficult: walking.  For me, I have found my recovery to be much less tangible.  While initially, with ribs removed, I found breathing and coughing extremely difficult, I now find a more innate personal strength the biggest hurdle.  It is as if my personal fortitude is recovering, and it requires me to mentally give myself a kick in the ass, since physically it's very easy to be lazy and wallow in the pain.  It is common knowledge in physical fitness that your core is probably the most important area of strength in your body, but besides doing sit-ups it can often be ignored.  Now, as I've had a "shark bite" (doctor's words) out of my side, I see the true value in your core as things like going from a laying to sitting position, picking things up, bending over, etc. cause the most strain. 

When my mom returns it will likely be a funny site: a couple of gimps helping each other.  But, for two people that have just gone through operations, experiencing many of the same issues, we may just be the perfect nurses for each other.  It should be interesting.

Looking forward to getting back to 100%

Matt