Finally a good night sleep. I went to bed at 11:30 and was up at 06:30. Seven hours of straight sleep. I feel like a human.
I just had morning Lemon water, and am working on a cup of coffee. My coffee beans are 60% Robusta and 40% Arabica. The love of Robusta must be from time spent in northern Africa.
I have a busy day planned. First do dishes that have piled up, then laundry. I need to go to the pharmacy, then go do the blood test for tomorrow's chemo. This afternoon I have a physio session with Leonie. I am sure she will come up with devious ways to make me feel silly with the prosthesis.
I'm starting to plan my 6 week break after the last chemo, before the PET scan. The chemo tomorrow will be number 15 of 16. Only 2 more to go.
I'll be driving to George to bother Maddie for 6 weeks. I think, driving will be better than flying because of all the paraphernalia for a new amputee.
I need a wheel chair, crutches, and a cane. Lots of chemicals to clean the liner and socket. Plus a suitcase. The little car will be full.
This morning I weigh 85.8 kg. (188 pds). That is 8 kg (17.6 pds) more than in December. I am sure it is the new drugs. I have eaten so little in the past 4 days, I should be skinny.
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17:00
Just got home.
Blood testing was nominal.
Then I got all hot and sweaty with Leonie. :-) Physio was hard work. We started out walking about 500 meters at different paces.
Then we went inside to the parallel bars. So many prosthetic skills rely on balance on the prosthetic leg only. My body on the prosthetic leg balances on the outside of the foot, just behind the little toe. I must keep strong back pressure on the socket to prevent collapsing. She tried to have me do lots of almost dance steps with my good leg while balancing on my bad leg. I had to hang on to something. There were brief times when I could balance.
Next was "braiding". That is when you walk sideways by placing one foot on the far side of the other. sometime in front, and sometime behind. Very difficult with a stiff knee and stiff ankle.
Then we worked on getting up after a fall. We tried many things I finally managed to get up once with just the cane. I need to practice that a lot.
I told her I want to plan on doing a parkrun. She has done many of the local parkruns. We went outside and she watched me "race". She had a few very good tips to speed up my walking. She says she has seen many above knee amputees walk very fast. Almost running speed. She said she wants me to be a very fast walker before thinking about running. She suggested a light strong walking stick, as long as from the ground to my elbow. Then using that, move my arms in an almost exaggerated swing while using the stick only on the right side.
Next week we will move on after I show her my mastery of the stuff I've learned today. She will also give me an exercise program for the next 6 week while I am in George.
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