Sallyanne Clarke’s
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
IHAVE a confession to make. I have been off work these past four weeks because I had to have my hip replacement surgery done again — it is called a revision.
I recovered very well after the surgery in August — so well, in fact, that I did not follow instructions, and as a result of going back to work too early, carrying on as usual and not paying attention to the rules after hip surgery, I did quite a lot of damage.
My doctor was not best pleased with me. He had to take out the hip he had put in nine weeks earlier because it was unstable and start all over again.
This was all my own doing. I still think I am an invincible 25-year-old and not the 55year-old woman I am. How stupid was I?
I thought it would be a walk in the park, especially because I felt so good only hours after leaving the operating theatre. I was up and about, despite the warnings. But for four weeks I have been doing exactly as I was told — aided by the fact that I have to wear a full leg brace which has put a stop to my gallop! So if anyone reading is contemplating surgery, please do not do as I did, and follow your instructions to the letter. I know I will from here on in. A very hard lesson learned.
Another part of having surgery is that I have stayed in the disabled / limited mobility rooms in the Virginia Park Lodge and in Castle Leslie. The rooms in both establishments made my life (and Darling Derry’s) much easier away from home.
Again, when we were out and about, I was the one using the disabled toilets. Most were grand (some actually were delightful) but in others there were chairs stacked high, a mop and bucket in one corner and a floor buffer in the other. If I had been in a wheelchair I would never have been able to use the facilities.
One particular evening I was waiting to use the wheelchair accessible loo as the main loos were down three flights of stairs with no lift. I am glad I was not in a hurry because having waited patiently thinking someone incapacitated like myself was using it, a very able-bodied man came out of the toilet with a newspaper under his arm and never gave me a second thought. I was not impressed by that at all.
We all need to take a little time to see the people around us, and never be afraid to offer a helping hand to someone who is temporarily or permanently disabled.
They may not need you, but the thought goes a long way.
I didn’t listen to my doctor and now I am paying the price