Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
Joyce Keeps on Trekking
2 December 2021
Confronted by disappointing news, we decided to do two small things to challenge the fates.
No Parking. She's going uphill with the correct technique. Twin Peaks next week.
The first was to use the last tube of Santyl to keep the yellow slough at bay as much as possible. Dr. Tong hadn't mentioned that (but she's a surgeon and doesn't have much patience with chemicals; they're too slow, she said). But why not?
The second, perhaps more important, is for Joyce to take two walks every day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. So far, just around the block. But getting the leg moving might wake up the muscle. Or more accurately, being sedentary won't help.
To facilitate the second, I gave her trekking poles for her birthday. Someone on Next Door, the local bulletin board, highly recommended them not just for hiking but for walking around. They took some pressure off her legs and put it on her upper body while giving her more stability. And they're a great weapon in crosswalks.
So on a hunch I got some for her and it turns out she liked them immediately. Using them correctly was natural and she noticed the difference right away.
I noticed the difference too. I didn't have to stop and wait for her to catch up. I don't walk very fast myself but walking at all, I quickly outpaced her and had to stop every few feet for her to join me again.
Not with the trekking poles. She keeps an even gait that's a bit quicker than before, probably because she feels more stable.
Salwa the LVN was going to ask Kevin the RN to ask Dr. Tong for an order for physical therapy so someone besides me can walk her around the block now and then. It will be nice if that happens.
Little things, after all, matter.