Day 125 (75) to Day 132 (81)

A pretty good week all-in-all.  Another visit to the Doc because they think my kidney function is not quite right. Why it is not quite right, why it wasn't picked up in hospital and is it connected to the broken hip is a mystery to me at the moment but the essence of it all is that they are concerned; all I can do at the moment is what they ask.  I'll need to get a bit serious with them soon. Results of the previous 'starvation' blood and urine test on Monday 14th.  14-March @ 20:50 - We have a result - all my blood and urine tests are 'normal' - what - me declared normal finally.  In all seriousness I am very relieved that everything has now returned to 'normal'.

A delightful call from 'Irish Pat' in the Ward (Abington) I was on asking how I was doing.  She seemed genuinely surprised how well I said I was doing - I can even now balance on my right leg alone now - it takes a bit of preparation and a lot of concentration but the old adage 'from little acorns oak trees grow' is probably worth remembering.

A number of people have asked me why I am not as quick to return to normal walking as someone is who has had a replacement hip - I have gleaned a few facts:

• After four days of doing 'nothing' muscle wastage sets in
• For every day of doing 'nothing' it takes 7 days to recover the muscle tone and strength
• After a replacement hip you are up and walking either the same day or the day after so there's no opportunity for muscle wastage to set in and as it is usually a planned operation you can exercise before hand to build up muscle tone - if you fall over and stupidly break your hip there's no opportunity to 'plan'
• I spent 7 weeks doing 'nothing' with my right leg so it's taking a bit of time to recover the muscle tone - my physio, Liz, says encouragingly that my thighs are now the same size again!

I have gone out a couple of times forgetting my walking stick (I don't even think of it around the house) which shows how well things are going - I do take it with me when going out because I don't think I could bear the shame of returning to A&E having fallen over and not having the walking stick with me. I imagine it will be my companion for a few more months.