I just took my first bath since Saturday morning before my operation. Man, it feels good to be clean again.
Now I’m not one to flagrantly ignore medical advice – I was told not to risk getting my knee wet for a week, but I was almost passing out from the smell of my own pits today. That and the iodine stuff had left me with a yellow leg that I wanted to try and get scrubbed before the Simpsons look took hold.
What was difficult was keeping my leg bent and out of the water – I had assumed I’d be able to do that without any bother, but once I was in the bath it dawned on me that the reason I can’t walk properly is because it’s hard to bend my knee. I think I successfully avoided getting my dressing too wet, though. There were a couple of unintentional splashes, of course, but I wiped it dry with a sponge right away.
Despite the fact I’ve had more movement in the knee with each day, getting out of the bath wasn’t quite as simple as I hoped. In the event I did a sort of can-can-esque hop over the side onto the mat. Not too shabby, but not something I’d want to perform in public, either.
Like I said, the movement is getting much better, but occasionally I over do it and wince from the pain. Like last night Elisha was coughing like mad at around half past midnight, so being a good daddy I went down stairs to get her a drink and made it down and back up without any trouble. But then when I got to her room I forgot myself and knelt down beside her bed, bringing an extended bout of agony. 🙁
So for the next few days I’m going to do my walking in short bursts, sprinkling my physio exercises in as I feel the need. Along with my usual cod liver oil and multi-vitimins I’m taking these joint care supplements that I picked up last week. I have no idea whether they’re doing any good or not, but even if it’s just a placebo effect – if it helps me recover in good time then they’ll have served their purpose.
Anyhow, now that I’m clean I’m off down to get myself some lunch. That and maybe some SingStar as a treat. (For myself, not the neighbours, obviously 😉 )
