D day count down

I'm almost at "D" day as Walmart would say. The D stands for decision day. I have 4 more days that I could change my mind about my hip replacement. No I'm not going to do that, but I could if I wanted to. I was told at the two hour rehab class I attended last week that it is considered "elective surgery". Oh really? Whether to have it or not depends entirely on how much/long the patient is willing to tolerate pain.

Until July 1, 2015 I did not have the financial support to consider surgery or even go to an orthopedic surgeon to check out the situation. My only option was to suffer in silence, which I have done for the last 3 to 4 years. Now that I have Medicare B + Mutual of Omaha supplement G everything will be paid for. What a great feeling it is to walk out of a medical facility without reaching for a credit card. (Technically my Medicare premium is being picked up by the State and I only pay $119.87 per month for my M of O premium, which is no comparison to the thousands the final bill will be.)

This experience is certainly giving me a taste of what people living with physical problems that require assists like a walker, cane, wheelchair etc. have to deal with every day. They all require learning a new way of moving and they all come with their own set of rules. Retraining a brain as an adult is not an easy task. I have been practicing "as if" for the last couple of weeks and it has not been fun. The one good thing is I only have to follow the rules of movement for 6 weeks or so and then I can mostly go back to the way I was doing things before the surgery. For instance, I can take a bath instead of a shower, sleep on either side instead of my back, cross my legs if I want to and bend my body in any direction I choose. The good thing is if I do follow all the rules I can look forward to complete bone healing and my life will be better then before.

There are many people out there whose end results will not improve, including some of the patients who attended the rehab class. There were a couple of participants who I am sure will decide to make up their own movement rules. I intend to do my best to follow the rules.

I am very grateful for the way my life has turned out, including being given a taste of physical challenges others deal with every day. My life has always been a smorgasbord of unusual experiences. I have decided that is no doubt why I am a writer. It gives me an opportunity to share with others how I deal with the challenges I have been given.

Alright Universe: my final decision is BRING IT ON!