PT

 Did the first of many or few physical therapy appointments. It's curious. I was hospitalized in part due to falls, and the falls were due to weakness in my legs which was in part due to the cancer. I was evaluated in the hospital by a physical therapist (or was it occupational?) and I thought therapy would begin, but it didn't. In fact, I never saw a therapist again in the hospital, and when I asked, the responses were... muddled to say the least. What was going on? Well, the recommendation was to put me in an acute care facility rather than doing or attempting rehab while I was in the hospital. Since I didn't want that, the answer, such as it was, was to do nothing. Let me find PT on my own. Or something.

This is one of the oddities I've encountered. I broke my big toe when I fell the first time. We finally got that sorted out at the hospital with X-rays and such, and The Foot Guy came by for a consult. He checked both feet, claimed he was going to order a post operative shoe for the broken toe, then went into a strange routine about how he'd always had a good life until last year when he was fired, and how difficult it's been for him to rebuild his life, and he went on for a while, then thanked me profusely for letting him tell me his story, and then he went away never to be seen again, nor did the post-operative shoe show up. When I mentioned it to staff, they checked my chart, didn't find an order for a shoe, and one at least seemed to hint there was no record of a Foot Guy coming by. Uh-oh. Anyway, the toe seems to be healing OK without the Shoe, so we go on.

The absence of PT bothered me, but they said that the provision of PT in the kind of situation I was in was rare. The PT staff pretty much just evaluated and made recommendations, and since I was going to have it close to home once released, there was no reason to start it in the hospital. Hmm.

The first appointment was mostly just evaluation, and I had lots of difficulties -- like keeping from throwing up -- but since returning home, I've also gotten much stronger and steadier on my feet, and I'm better able to get around, but for that first step up at the front stoop. It's a problem, but not insurmountable. We've got a wheelchair now, and two walkers, and we're researching getting a ramp. Should be OK soon. And we worked out an elaborate way to get me up and down the step without a ramp that works pretty well. It was a challenge, but we did it. 😃 

All of the different locations around Albuquerque where I'm having tests and treatments are another challenge, but we'll work it out. PT is the least of the challenges at the moment.