Update on Alex3619: in hospital but doing well

[ahimsa]

alex3619 - Welcome back to the forums! And thanks for sharing all these good insights with us.

Yes, my memory can be really good when I am on a roll, and I can talk/chat for hours on a narrow topic. Yet like you I can sometimes not remember even basic things - its all a blank. Its very hard to show that to people though, they have to see it repeatedly I think, and most are not around long enough for that to happen.

This is a great description of the problem. My casual friends can't see most of my mental fog problem. I generally bluff my way through any fog or laugh it off. If it's a really bad day then I'm at home so they never see the bad stuff. They only see the borderline brain fog, those "medium" to "good" days when I am feeling well enough to meet them for lunch or something like that.

My husband, on the other hand, sees the problems because he's with me all the time. One of the things he sees is what I call "deer in the headlights" moments. I sometimes I stop dead in my tracks when he asks me a simple question. I can't even form a basic sentence, or even answer yes/no. My brain just stops working for a minute.

It's hard to explain to others but it's a very different feeling from the normal type of forgetting that everyone gets (you know, the "who was that actor/actress in that movie" or "what was the title/author of that book"). I still get that type of forgetting, too. But it feels completely different.

PS. No need to respond - I know you have LOTS of messages!

 

[alex3619]

ahimsa
If nobody sees the deer, is it ever run over?

I do like your signature. I have an image of a cell in a T-shirt saying "Perpetual Marathon" but in reality is running in a wheel and never reaches the destination.

 

[heapsreal]

This is me having a brain fart??

 

[adreno]

Alex having a brain fart:

 

[alex3619]

Update on coming home. All being well I might be home in two days. If the home modification is delayed then I hope to be home Monday or early Tuesday.

 

[alex3619]

Home modification (stairs, rails) not done yet, so return is delayed till at least Monday.

 

[Lynne B]

Hi, Alex, Great news that you'll be home soon, and it's also good that you're getting home modifications. My elderly mother gets around everywhere with a walker, even in the house, and her rails, ramps and stair modifications help her enormously.
cheers, Lynne

 

[alex3619]

Hi Lynne, I will be on what is called a hopper, like a walker but for hopping on one leg. It is much more stable than crutches but less flexible. I am glad your mother can stay mobile and has the aids to help her. I have a new appreciation of these issues now. Take care, Alex

 

[Sea]

That sounds like a very tiring way of getting around Alex. Any chance you could borrow a wheel chair? Hope you remember to take it easy when you go home.

 

[alex3619]

Sea I would have problems with a wheelchair as I cannot get in and out of home using one without even more modifications. In addition I need to keep my muscles working or rehab will be even harder once I can walk again, which is only in two to six weeks (I hope). It is tiring though, my range before rest is very short - less than twenty meters. However I also have a brand new heavy duty ergonomic 5 wheeled computer chair. Guess where I will be sitting a lot of the time? I have never even sat in it, it arrived after I entered hospital. This chair is very strong, stable, and has a mesh back which means it wont cause sweating in summer. Worth the expense.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Hi Alex--Great to hear that things are moving along, and that you will be home soon.

 

[alex3619]

I got my moonboot today, so I am set for going home once the builder is done. I can now start to learn to walk again. The bad news is the kind of break I had can cause swelling for up to a year, which means I have to have my foot up.

 

[maryb]

Glad to hear you're going home soon - nothing like your own place is there.
But take it easy Alex - being upright is quite hard after being horizontal for a while.
You'll have to balance carefully the need to excercise and keep your leg up to avoid any swelling getting worse. Hard for us. I'm sure the physios will have some good ideas on that one.

Computer chair sounds awesome - think the work that's done in it has to match in terms of impressiveness

 

[WillowJ]

yay, glad to hear the cast is off and you're set to go home when the improvements are complete. always good to be at home.

 

[Lynne B]

Alex, I think you're going to face all sorts of difficulties moving around with a hopper and a moonboot so be ready for frustration. Will you have any sort of helpful followup from the hospital with meals on wheels or community services like cleaners or people to shop for you? My feet have been red and swollen all summer and still haven't calmed down yet. The good thing is we're going into cooler weather so that should help with your swelling. I've also got a couple of flexible coldpacks that I can lie under and over my feet when they're up. Good luck with it all. Lynne

 

[alex3619]

Hi Lynne, I am going to order food online for a couple of days, then try a dinner delivery service. I already get limited cleaning support. Meals on wheels is available but I can't use it till I get my freezer fixed, which is what I was going to organize the day after I broke my leg.

Simple foot elevation should deal with my foot swelling. I usually use a hot pack rather than a cold pack, I find it easier, but I can do both.

I just finished my first five meter walk with a moonboot, then lay down to rest my foot. It took only a minute or two, but it took twenty minutes to put the moonboot on.... the last strap is hard to reach, and it had to all be readjusted when standing up .... which almost caused my hospital gown to fall off. Doh.

Best wishes, Alex.

 

[Sushi]

I just finished my first five meter walk with a moonboot, then lay down to rest my foot. It took only a minute or two, but it took twenty minutes to put the moonboot on.... the last strap is hard to reach, and it had to all be readjusted when standing up .... which almost caused my hospital gown to fall off. Doh.

Best wishes, Alex.

What!? They still have you in a gown? Isn't that a bit extreme--couldn't they let you wear a T shirt and shorts? Or do they go for humiliation?

Sushi

 

[alex3619]

I have no suitable clothes for this, and they do not provide any. So its a gown or even less, doh. I wanted to order some online but it turns out to be not so easy, and its almost time for me to go home. I do have T shirts at home but none of my shorts are suitable. For one thing they wouldn't have gone over a bulky cast, but the real issue is they are all belted and so very uncomfortable lying down.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Any Irish in your background? Maybe what you need is a kilt.

 

[adreno]

Simple foot elevation should deal with my foot swelling.

Proteolytic enzymes FTW.