Usually, I go to PT at A Step Ahead twice a week but last week I only had one appointment. So, since my supervised exercises were cut in half, I thought I needed to take it upon myself to make up for that. In order accomplish that, I decided to attempt to walk to the nearest Chase with my mom, without my wheelchair and with just my crutches in tow. Naturally, I googled what the distance was from the apartment to the bank and how long it would “normally” take to walk there. 0.3 miles each way and about 7 minutes to get there. So, a roundtrip is 0.6 miles and should take about 14 minutes. My mom kept asking me if I was sure I didn’t want to take the wheelchair and if I’d be ok to walk that distance without being able to take a break in the chair. I said yes, but with a little bit of hesitation. After all, if I walked to the bank and back, successfully, this would be the longest distance, without a break (except for when I needed to cross the street), that I will have walked with my crutches. So, my mom and I were off. There were some slight nerve-wrecking moments getting off the sloped curbs in order to cross the street, but I made it to the bank in 32 minutes. I took care of what I needed to at the bank and then took a 5 minute rest in front of the bank in order to power up for the walk back home. It took 30 minutes to make it back home. The last half block home was a bit strenuous, but I was a trooper. I may have cut through Rite Aid to shave off those 2 minutes. However, I don’t think cutting through Rite Aid shortened the distance, but it did allow me to pick up the pace because walking indoors on linoleum is much easier than walking outside on cracked pavement. 0.6 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes. It wasn’t easy though. I was exhausted and my hands, arms, back, legs, and butt sore were all sore. The sun was still out when we left the apartment and had almost fully set by the time we made it back, but, we made it back…and without needing the wheelchair to rescue me.
On Tuesday, I was still a little sore…but no slacking off allowed. I didn’t think I could do such a long walk 2 days in a row, so I decided to walk to the mailbox since I had to mail some cards. I made the walk to the mailbox this time without having to take any breaks. A few weeks ago when I did the walk, I had to stop twice before making it to the mailbox. Improvement. After sticking the cards in the mailbox, my mom asked me if I wanted to turn around and go back the way we came or if I wanted to circle the block and go back the long way. Sure, why not..I completed my version of a marathon yesterday, a walk around the block is nothing. It was a little warmer out this day than it was on Monday, so by the time I made it back to the house I was sweating all over the place, mind you…I had taken off my sweatshirt when we got to the mailbox and all I was wearing was a pair of short shorts and a t-shirt. My mom was in jeans, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and a light jacket. Sigh.
Another successful walk in the books.
On Wednesday, I went to my appointment at the plastic surgeon. This was a follow-up to my last appointment, which was a few months ago. We discussed how my skin has healed, how it’s still healing, and what my options are for trouble options that I currently have, and what my options will be if they continue to cause me trouble. When my legs are fully exposed, no shrinkers or liners, I’m generally very gentle, but sometimes when I’m at A Step Ahead or seeing any of my doctors, I feel like they’re manhandling me. I’ve gotten much better, but it still gives me a bit of anxiety…Gentle, people! There’s nothing that has to be done right now in terms of surgery, but we discussed what kinds of surgery that could/would be done, if necessary. We’ll try to address everything prosthetically at first, and if that doesn’t work then we’ll look into surgery options. Surgery would be the last resort because after 12 major surgeries, I’m not electing to have any operations or procedures and because any procedure would likely put me out of commission for at least a week, which at this point in my recovery would be a MAJOR step back.
On Thursday, I had an appointment for a “driver’s evaluation” at Abilities/The Viscardi Center, a non-profit organization that provides services for children and adults with disabilities. I wasn’t quite sure what the $250, hour long evaluation was for, since it’s pretty obvious to me that I need hand controls in order to drive a car, but off we went since it was necessary to complete this appointment before signing up for driving lessons. This is basically how the appointment went..showed up, the gentleman filled out paperwork for about 15 minutes in silence (with us sitting across from him), then he finally spoke and introduced himself. We then spoke about different types of hand controls and Ben and I asked some questions. After about 30 minutes or so in his office, we headed outside so that I could get into a learning car and see the hand controls in person. He and I got into the car and then he proceeded to tell me about how to operate the type of hand controls in that car. I asked questions and we sat in the car for about 20 minutes and then my “evaluation” was over. We exited the car and then he asked me if I was told about the payment. I said yes but didn’t have it with me so he told me I could just mail a check. I left still not quite sure why that hour was worth $250. So, the next day, prior to mailing out the check, I sent him an email asking what exactly the $250 covered. It covered the interview (interview?..ok.), the in-car evaluation (if that’s considered an evaluation), and my first driving lesson (ok..that works for me). Driving lessons cost $90. So basically $160 to sit in an office for 30 minutes and talk about why I was amputated, if I’m a right/left-handed, about hand controls, and then 20 minutes in a car. At the end of the day..it is what it is and everyone needs to get paid for providing a service…but I don’t know…$250 for not a lot just seemed a little offensive…
It took me a little longer than expected to get last week’s events in so stay tuned for a post on this week’s happenings…hopefully….