Re: Fwd: Permanent Physical Limitations

[Guest guest]

Kim,

This has been on my mind so much lately. I can only address the

short-term, but here's my response.

I do not bend over to pick things up off the floor. I have not sat

on the floor yet, either, since it would involve bending my hips

beyond 90 degrees to get back up and this is one of my restrictions.

My newest trick, which did not dawn on me until 3 weeks post-op, is

that I can bend my knee, bringing my heel towards my butt, to do

things like wash my lower leg and feet in the shower or put lotion

on, or to retrieve things that I've dropped using my toes. I have

always been able to bend so far that my heel is beside my hip and I

haven't gone that far with it, but I still have that quad

flexibility.

The thing that is notably different is that I cannot make a 4 with

my left leg anymore (put my left foot in my lap). I can't even get

my foot higher than my knee. I can my right foot, but not the left.

It seems to be related to the iliac screws. I can't figure out why

the left is worse than the right. It does seem a little better each

day, but still hurts (where the screws are) quite a bit when I try.

The only reason I try is because PT said that as long as I was doing

it out of need (rather than as a stretch), it was OK. The PT's logic

seems absurd to me, but if I could get my foot higher, I could put

lotion on my feet and trim my toenails, etc. so I qualify the

activity as need.

At this point, that is the extent of my limitations. I am

still " restricted " from bending, twisting, lifting, or stooping, but

as far as what I physically cannot do, that's the list. This is a

far shorter list than I was anticipating, but also a different kind

of list.

I have only driven about 2 miles (cracked a tooth this week and had

to take myself to the dentist, which ultimately got me my first root

canal emergency like), but driving went OK. Putting the car in gear

was a bit of a challenge as my upper back is still pretty sore from

surgery. I did not notice any difficulty with checking my blind

spots, but I suspect the highway will be more of a challenge.

I am very curious to see if these activities are tougher with the

cages in place. I'll let you know in about a month.

kam

[Guest guest]

Hi Kam...

I'm not sure why, but I've had the same problem (however my problem is

the right leg), since my original surgery. I can put my right ankle

on my knee, but I have to grab it to keep it there. I've noticed that

to get my right leg to my knee, I have to shift my torso to the right.

So, I'll be interested to see if you can make it better, as the act

of " trying " certainly hasn't changed things for me.

--

> The thing that is notably different is that I cannot make a 4 with

> my left leg anymore (put my left foot in my lap). I can't even get

> my foot higher than my knee. I can my right foot, but not the left.

> It seems to be related to the iliac screws. I can't figure out why

> the left is worse than the right. It does seem a little better each

> day, but still hurts (where the screws are) quite a bit when I try.

> The only reason I try is because PT said that as long as I was doing

> it out of need (rather than as a stretch), it was OK. The PT's logic

> seems absurd to me, but if I could get my foot higher, I could put

> lotion on my feet and trim my toenails, etc. so I qualify the

> activity as need.