Sunday, July 24, 2016

July 20, 2016

An appointment with the primary care physician is the priority of the day.  The doctor conducted a complete and thorough physical including a stress test for my heart.  With the exception of a slight infection in my nasal passage, which will be dealt with by an antibiotic ointment, everything was in order and the doctor gave his approval for the surgery.
The physiotherapist is the only remaining appointment that I have prior to the surgery.  The PT will give directions for pre-op activity as well as setting up the schedule for post-op rehab.

My wife and I are staying in a two-bedroom apartment during our time in RSA.  It is comfortable and so much better than a hotel room.  There are a few areas of concern though, such as the sofa which is fairly low to the ground and difficult for me to rise up from.  Since sitting and standing will be difficult after surgery this could be a challenge.  One of the bedrooms is furnished with a king-sized bed and the other is furnished with two twin beds.  The king-sized bed should be fine, but if it is a problem I can always move to one of the twin beds.  Another issue will be the fact that there is no shower in this apartment, only a tub with a hand-held shower wand and stepping over into the tube may prove impossible.  Considering all these issues, I am truly grateful for the accommodations, it could be so much worse!
It is winter in South Africa.  I know, you don’t consider that Africa can have a winter season but it most certainly does.  The nights and mornings are nippy to say the least.  Temperatures hover around 37 to 40 degrees.  It does warm up in the day time, but the rooms remain cold.  All in all, it should be perfect for those short mini-walks that I will be taking throughout the day during my recovery.

1 comment:

  1. By now you have probably figured out that it is not that difficult to get up after the first 3 days. What I had to have help with on my first operation was lifting my leg up onto the bed. Aaron had to help me. And turning over during the night was tedious. But it really doesn't take long before you are back to almost normal. Prop your foot on a chair and put a heavy bag of rice or beans on your knee. I would do that a few times a day, for just a few minutes at a time. It got uncomfortable pretty quickly.

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