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If I remember correctly you are now back home or are in the process of traveling back home from Vegas. Hope all goes well for you during your travels. Probably won't be easy, but well worth it once you're back in the familiar and comfortable surroundings of your own home.
Thanks for remembering,
Leggs! I actually started writing a diary post last night but fell asleep before posting.
As I write this, I am just over 1/2 an inch taller than I was when I started my journey. I'm also very comfortably writing this update from home. I'd be lying if I said the airport and flying experience was easy, but I'll get into that later.
On Wednesday June 12th, I had my follow up with Dr. D. Since I had borrowed the wheelchair, I left that back in Nevada but still had to manage lugging around 1 large checked bag for clothes, 1 surprisingly heavy checked bag for the ERC device, plus my backpack and walker. I managed to bring that all down to leave at the front desk while I took a Lyft to LimbplastX for my x-rays and follow up.
The big update is that I had my 2.5 weeks post-surgery x-rays done.
Here are my x-rays -- it looks like I apparently have a zipper embedded near my pelvis
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I'm having problems pulling up the other 4 x-ray pictures right now but I'll update once I get that resolved. (Update: resolved! All x-rays are posted.) Dr. D. is happy with my progress so far, he says everything looks good and that new bone is starting to grow. I'll admit I haven't been taking many calcium pills - from reading a few other diaries I was afraid of pre-consolidation. I'll be sure to take my pills now! I expected to be in the office longer than I was - but it was just a little over an hour for x-rays and the consult. My next appointment is July 9, but he wants me to get x-rays done locally about midway between now and then. I was then off to the Costco pharmacy (
I don't think I could've picked a pharmacy with a longer walk between the entrance and the pharmacy counter! Ouch!) to fill my scripts before returning to the hotel to collect my bags.
The Homewood suites offers a free van to the airport, which came in handy as the driver actually stepped out of the van to try to help me find a cart to put all my baggage on. I would've been overwhelmed if the driver left me there standing on the curb with an impossible amount of bags to navigate to the counter. With the baggage cart, I headed over to the airline counter and the associate was extremely friendly. She did not charge for the ERC (medical) device but I did pay for my one checked bag. The airport offers a free (plus tip) wheelchair service that takes you to the gate and she encouraged me to use it. Feeling overconfident at this point, I decided I'd just use my walker. You'd be amazed how many random strangers come up to you to give you an unexpected compliment "keep it up, young man! You're doing great!" but walking through a large airport the size of Las Vegas-McCarran with a walker is NOT something I'd do again a little after 2 weeks post surgery. I stopped at the Centurion lounge which was a few gates away from my flight and unfortunately they did not offer me any assistance, making it very difficult to actually relax. I had to waddle to get a tiny amount of food and it was very hard to find any space to sit. At this point my legs were beat and I'd say my pain level was around a 5-6.
The flight itself was pretty uneventful. After you're used to having your feet elevated, sitting in a normal airplane seat for over 2 hours isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Once the plane landed I learned from my experience collecting bags from the Las Vegas airport and found one of the luggage carts. All of my bags arrived!
I caught another Lyft to get back home and pretty much avoided much walking the next day. I have PT lined up for Monday but I'm doing the exercises I learned back from the Las Vegas PT clinic.
I find being home puts me in such a better mood - I'm far more comfortable in my own bed and having my friends who can step in and help if I need it. Finally, being cleared to drive is going to be a game changer. I'm (so far) very pleased with my decision to lengthen at home, but boy let me tell you the airport experience was NOT pleasant. Note to others - use the wheelchair service!!
Remember that I did this entirely by myself. I want to be careful not to make it seem like that is something potential LLers should consider doing UNLESS they have no other choice. I had no caretaker to help me, no family member in town who could step in if there was an emergency, etc. The risk I took with those decisions is pretty insane now that I look back at it. I was LUCKY. But things that would've been relatively easy were exceedingly difficult. I'll close by saying it is POSSIBLE to do this by yourself but you need to be aware of what you're getting yourself into.