Day 83 - Life in the house without a leg.

08:20
We are up, and busy doing the comms thing.
Maddie made me coffee, and a good healthy breakfast, and I have taken my pile of pills.

After 4 days of hand bathing in the hospital, I really wanted a good shower.  The whole shower process is like most legless procedures now. It is strange, difficult, seemingly impossible, and often scary. But in a month will be operations normal, and I won't even think about it.

There are basically 2 types of crutches. The long ones that Americans prefer, (A. in picture below)  and the shorter ones the rest of the world prefers (B. in picture below). They each have their advantages.

The longer American crutches fit under the arm in the arm pit. These give much more stability, and can allow hands free operations for non moving tasks. They are better suited for when the crutch use will be temporary. The learning curve is flatter, but extended use, results in nerve damage under the arms.
The shorter style is better suited for maneuverability, is shorter and easier for storage and keeping close and handy. They require more learning and practice. They are preferred for long term or permanent use. For me, everyone I have talked to recommends the shorter ones.

In crutches school, the physio lady taught me how to walk up and down steps, but trying to get over the 3 inch lip that is around the shower, was a new obstical.
Placement of the shower stool was another thing Maddie and I discussed at length. I need to be able to grab the grab bars, and get into the shower with the crutches, while the stool is inside the shower. So I need two hand for the crutches, two hands for the grab bars, and two hand to lower me into the stool. If I had 5 hands, I would still be one hand short.
We decided to put the stool  dead center, facing sideways. The smooth tiles in the shower are a problem. We need to buy non slip strips.

On the internet, the crutch people all say that one of the first things to do is replace the crutch tips with rain tips. These have grooves like rain tires on cars have.
So with one arm wrapped around a grab bar, one hand using a crutch, and Maddie hanging on to prevent me from falling into the shower, I managed to hop over the lip around the shower. Then with two crutches I was able to maneuver to the stool, then with both hands on the grab bar, lower myself onto the stool with Maddie holding the stool.
The one grab bar is placed perfectly, but the other is not of any use at all.
Now on the stool, with me facing the side of the shower, and the soap dish, I could work the shower doors, the taps, the hand shower head, get the soap, and get to the shampoo.
This combined with the fact that for many years I have had my geyser (hot water heater) temperature set at 41C (106F). This allows a hot water tap only operation, and the water is always at the proper temperature. No fiddling with cold and hot to mix to the right temp. When I had the geyser installed, I had it put on the back of the shower wall. After turning on the hot tap, I have hot water in about 2 seconds. No wastage of water and electricity waiting for the hot water to get to the shower head.
Once on the stool, I took the shower head off the wall, and it now became a hand shower. I pointed it at the wall, turned on the how tap, and 2 seconds later I had a nice hot shower. I shaved and shampooed my hair, :-) and got super clean for the first time in 4 days.
To keep the stump dressings dry, we put a garbage bag over the stump, then tied a thick rope around the stump, then folded the rest of the bag over the stump. That worked perfect. After a long shower the stump was dry.
Getting out required the scary "hop" over the shower lip.

Maddie bought one of those reach extender/grabber devices. It has a pistol grip and a claw that opens and closes by use of a trigger. It is fun to grab things far away.

The next problem we had to solve was of the toilet. Guys can pee standing up. I crutch to the toilet, and get close so I can lean my good shin on it. The is where American style crutches are good, because you can still support using your armpits leaving both hands free to work the zip. They also allow brushing teeth better.
With my crutches I have to remove both crutches from my arms, and balance while working the zip or brushing teeth.
There are a some people that just walked from Durban to Cape Town. All on crutches like mine. All were amputees. That is about 1600 km or 1000 miles.
The raised toilet seat is a good idea. It is hard to pee into while standing. I only use the raised set for number 2.

I need to think more on a strong support to get out of bed.
I need way of getting into and out of shower.
I need a car.
I need a leg.
I need a pain free day.
I need to stop coughing up white chunks.

Then Maddie reminded me of a story I told her last year about a guy with bad emphysema. He was dying. They asked him what he wanted to do before he died. See the pyramids? Visit his loved ones?
His answer was just before he died, he wanted just one deep clear breath.

After thinking about that guy, you can ignore the "I need" list above.
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