Cate's Diary

I'm glad Archie is finding his new place and figuring things out a bit. I hope you can start to find your way to getting as cozy and comfortable as possible while you heal up!
 
Archie is learning! That's great that you are all sleeping better.

Sorry to hear you are a bit cold. Maybe more blankets would help? You will probably be out of sorts for a little bit but you will adjust as the days go by. Glad to hear it went well and you were sent home so quickly.
 
Thanks, M, Llama, Liza & Em. I sounded very whiny yesterday( I was grumpy & uncomfortable) but got some more things figured out & the main one was getting down into the living room in front of the fire. I managed to do that quite a few times yesterday. The only recliner that still "works" is hard to push the footrest back & G had to do it the first time, but I managed to do it for the rest of the day. I am not confident with it & I won't use it when G is not here. I still have the chair set up on the landing, in case I have a day where it's just too hard, but I think I'm progressing well. I had my best night's sleep last night. I have always slept on my left-hand side with my right foot on top of my left, but that put pressure on the most tender part of my right foot where the surgery & screws are & where the bone cracked. By placing a pillow between my legs I found a position that didn't hurt & I slept for 6 hours straight! I then went to the bathroom & went back to sleep again for another 3. I didn't take any pain relief during the night. I took some Panadol Osteo at 8 pm & am trying to leave the Tramadol for emergencies.
Archie settled with G last night as there was a storm & he snuggled up with him on the bed he was in. He's working his way around me & keeping out of my way but is currently snuggled under a blanket on top of a cushion on top of my chair, between my calves. I can see his head peeking out, near my left foot.
I haven't heard from the people again who are meant to send someone to support me to have a shower. If I don't hear today I will cancel the service & will have a shower on Sunday, with G nearby. He is playing golf tomorrow. I think I can work out how to do it safely. I have a shower stool that fits in our recess & I have a couple of bags & tape to put over my right foot. I might do a dummy run with the shower dry to see how I would go. I have been able to wash myself well but I would love to wash my hair. It's looking fine, but it would feel good. I just talked to G about it & we'll do a dummy run later, maybe with G pretending he's me. He won't fall over!
I'll get around the other diaries now. I'm the most comfortable I have been since the op & it's not quite 4 days so I'm doing fine. I'll be very careful & not get impatient. I do not want to undo this work!
 
That's wonderful you found a good way to sleep where there is no weight on your foot. I'm so happy you are feeling better!! I really like that G will pretend to be you and try out showering on the stool in a dry run! I think it would be good to experiment with the bag over your cast. I recently got a big cut on the bottom of my foot and didn't want to waste big bandaids, so I wrapped my foot and shin in a big plastic bag and used a rubber band to cinch it, which completely failed and I wound up with a bag full of water around my foot. Maybe look on YouTube for how to shower with a foot cast on? That's amazing you could already have a night without taking a pain reliever. It sounds like you are healing up really fast! Hugs to happy snuggly Archie, and hugs to you, too!
 
Yay for sound sleep without heavy painkillers! That should help with alertness as well and keep you safer when you get up at night or in the morning. I have full faith in you and your ability to find sensible solutions for emerging issues.
 
Thanks, Marsia & Llama. I just fell down a big rabbit hole looking at ways to shower and most of them seem to be in showers over a bath which I thought would be much harder. Hmmm. I'll keep searching. I was given a couple of plastic covers, but I am not confident that water won't get in & I don't want to risk it yet. I'll keep looking.....
Llama said:
I have full faith in you and your ability to find sensible solutions for emerging issues.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Llama.
 
The care provider just rang to give me times that they would help me with showering. They had said that it would be twice a week & I had said that Tuesdays wouldn't work as they required G here to look after our dog. The day they allocated me was Tuesday only, once a week. I politely said that I would cancel the service. I feel relieved.
I can wash myself thoroughly every day & somehow work out how to wash my hair. G & I will work that out. I don't think I'll risk a fall or getting my dressing wet. I will make some changes to our house & I think a handheld shower would be a good start, maybe in the spare bathroom. I'll give it lots of thought.
 
Since your hair is short it may be enough to wet it with a soaked towel, shampoo normally, and rinse it out over the wash basin. I don't like doing it that way but it works for me in a pinch.
 
So glad that you slept better and are now able to get down by the fire. BIG progress. Yay!

That shower is going to be good and feel like a ton of work at the same time. Take your time. Meantime, if you have access to them, hospital grade body wipes are a real godsend. They remove all the oil and sweat without drying you out. We get them for my Dad and as long as he is cleaned with the wipes once a day he only needs to shower once a week and stays fresh. We order ours through Amazon but even baby wipes should do the trick.

Sending you good vibes and lots of positive thoughts for your recovery!
 
That's too bad about the shower service not working out, but sounds like you will work something out. It's good especially that you have G there so he can help out as well. Sounds like you are figuring it all out as you go really well.
That is so great about finding a good position to sleep in and getting in some proper sleep with Archie figuring out his new space while you go through recovery. Good sleeps make all the difference!
 
I like washing my hair in the kitchen sink - lots of room, and thinking about it, you could aim the sprayer if you have one. Having lived in the house in CA where when the power goes out for days, so does the water, I heated water and had someone pour it over my head at the kitchen sink, and that was way easier than the bathroom sink and at a better height. Also maybe G could put a paper towel or something like that around his foot and try out the plastic covers, so if it leaks, you'd see the paper towel get wet. After a couple of weeks, I'm sure a shower would feel divine! I found lots of hand held shower heads with adapters so you could just screw it on to the existing shower head pipe https://www.amazon.com/Moen-26112SR...afac2d9708b94b3ad&qid=1723215653&sr=8-30&th=1 . This one was more expensive than most, but also fancy!
 
Getting assisted showering by strangers is not a thought I would relish either even though I know they probably wouldn't bat an eye! I hope you figure it out.
 
Thanks, Llama, Fiera, Liza, Marsia & Em.
I am able to give myself a really good wash & I'll get G to wash my hair tomorrow in the laundry. We have matching kitchen & laundry cafe sinks at a good height so washing my hair in the laundry sink should work. I think I know what I need to buy to be able to have a shower. If I have one of those push-on hoses that can go over my bath taps (which work separately from the shower taps) I could sit in the bath/shower with my leg hanging out & up. It would be a cheap, simple, temporary solution until I can get properly organised. Our plumber is on holiday for another 5 weeks.
I had another good night's sleep & stayed up until 11 pm watching football with G. He has gone to golf & I'll be home on my own for about 6 hours. I was so cold when he left & he set me up with a heater as well as the fire as he didn't want me trying to put wood on the fire while he was gone. I have to have the doggy door open while he's gone as I'm too slow to get to the door to let Archie out. He would be happy to know I'm currently feeling toastie & have to get up shortly to turn the heater off. It's a rigmarole with cushions, a rug, a dog, a 4-wheeled walker that stays in the living room, steps (clinging on to the rock wall), a 2-wheel frame at the top of the stairs, slow short steps.......At least I can put my right heel down. I haven't used crutches yet. I have to make sure I get going to the toilet before I need to! Which is probably now :ROFLMAO:
 
Important Notice

Cate has been logged out of the forum on not just her phone but also laptop and is unable to log in. Cate has been unable to contact the forum admin/owners via e-mail nor receive e-mail when trying to create a new account.

I have contact with cate outside of the forum and will post updates when they happen or cate will get back in.

I also have had no luck contacting Admin or owners.
 
Oh, wow, this is alarming that you are locked out, Cate. I hope we don't all need to switch forums or anything! Cate, the link I sent was for the shower, but you would just unscrew your current shower head and put one with a hose on the existing shower head pipe instead. That style is nice because you don't need a plumber. It might be more convenient though to have the attachment on the faucet down below so you don't have to stand initially to get the hose. I'm glad you are able to navigate around the house ok and stay warm, though that sounded like an epic journey!! Hugs, and if all goes wrong, we can all make a switch to a Facebook group or something if necessary.
 
Thanks for letting us know @Trusylver Can Cate still read the forum posts without logging in?
I think that when I was starting a new account a while back when I had forgotten my password, it took me a few tries before I could get it to work...so maybe keep trying with the new account idea...
Cate, if you can read this, I hope you will get back on here soon! It sounds like you are doing a great job of the continual adjustments to life in recovery...
 
I hope you enjoy the fire it sounds toasty.
 
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