Tools of the Trade…err…Recovery

Every occupation involves tools… It might be a hammer, a computer, an airplane, a scalpel, law books…whatever.  My current occupation, (other than retirement, which I’ve been doing pretty well at), is recovering from hip surgery!  I need to work hard, using all available tools, if I’m going to get back to retirement a.s.a.p.…

Even the medical recovery process has tools for those involved in the process…

 

These are my basics: a walker for use in the middle of the night or if I were to get too tired; a cane for basic movement and my walking exercises; a long handled shoe horn; a step stool for assisting me in getting into bed without straining anything; a ‘grabber’ or ‘pick up and reaching tool; a Hudson Voldyne 5000 Volumetric Exerciser to improve lung capacity, and; a carpel tunnel wrist brace.  The latter item was ‘awarded’ to me after complaining of numb fingers in the right hand after surgery…

Missing from the photo: my sock aid and assist tool.  The darn thing doesn’t work very well…and Laurie helps me in this regard.

 

Then there are the non-slip socks…and the Ace Bandage Wrap for my leg.  The wrap’s purpose was to reduce leg swelling.  Laurie has become quite professional in doing this daily leg wrap!

 

 

Charlie, one of our friends and neighbors, came by to visit after I got back from the hospital.  We noted that my chair was rather low and I’d suffered a muscle strain in my leg while trying to get up.  He took it upon himself to build this raised platform for the chair. (It’s built so well, it would withstand a bomb blast!) This platform has been a great tool for comfort and recovery.  Thanks again Charlie!

 

 

Hey…!  One cannot recover just via rest and exercise!  I, no actually we, needed a change of pace from our home bound diet.  So Laurie made a burger run the other day.  The closest fast food burger is a McDonalds…several miles away, but we don’t like McDonalds.  A mile further on down the road, in Vonore TN, there is a Hardee’s and that was our goal!

 

 

I must tell you that after eating this 2/3 lb. Monster Thickburger®, which was comprised of two 1/3 lb. charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef patties, 4 strips of bacon, 3 slices of American cheese plus mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun, I felt a lot better…at least mentally!  I also had to force myself to eat part of Laurie’s Thickburger too… I wasn’t very hungry at dinner time, that’s for sure.

Anybody who’s known me over the years knows that I love a good burger but that I don’t like to eat at the big chains.  Sorry if I’ve ruined any previously held perceptions about my semi-picky food habits, but a guy has to do what a guy has to do to make himself feel better!  While this burger wasn’t in any league including the ‘best burgers ever’, it was the best burger of the moment!

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave