A day in my life on wheels

 What do you do all day when you can’t put any weight on one foot? Well you scoot around the house on a walker. The big problem there is that walkers are designed to be pushed forward. If you put the seat down and ride it, as I do, you have to go backward in order to steer with any effectiveness. Great exercise for leg muscles—in fact it mimics an exercise I did in physical therapy. Hard to carry a plate of lunch, but I’ve learned to put my lunch in a small baggie and put it in the basket behind me. I can even put a cup of hot tea there, though this morning I got splashed and thought at first that something had stung me. Only thing that doesn’t work is wine—after dumping two glasses on the kitchen floor, I’ll not try that again. But I can scoot with a glass of wine in my hand, because it’s pretty much hands-free steering. Your feet point you in the right direction.

And while I’m on the subject of exercise—I’m getting upper arm strength pushing myself up from the chair. Hardest transition is from chair to commode and back again. And in the night last night as I swung that heavy boot into the bed, I thought what a Herculean feat it was.

I’ve been sleeping a lot and let inertia overcome me, but this morning I was up and dressed—well, teeth brushed and hair washed—and at my desk before nine o’clock (of course, I went to bed at eight last night). Today I’ve done email, Facebook, written not one but three blogs, and read a bit. Will read more tonight.

Food is problematic—I’m not much interested, though I do better if someone prepares something and hands it to me. At lunch today, my brother and sister-in-law came, bringing burgers which I declined. But Cindy fixed me a bowl of cottage cheese and a big glass of wine—and I was a happy camper. Tonight I cut up leftover steak into bites and put it in a baggie; washed raspberries that were fading fast, and that was dinner.

Company is the most welcome part of my day—and other than John and Cindy, I’ve had none today. Yesterday for a brief while there were three people here for happy hour. Sophie is my great companion. She sleeps with me and cuddles in the bed, her front paws proprietarily over my arms. And she wanders from room to room as I scoot, watching me with a puzzled expression. I’d be lost without her company.

I don’t know how long this will go on but I’m aware I must be prepared to scoot for a while. I’m sure the routine will change—maybe I’ll even be inspired to start another book. Also I should get to the point that the swelling in my foot goes down and the pain disappears, so I can walk in the boot. That’s where I was until last Wed., but the boot was too tight and the foot kept getting more and more painful.