Thursday, November 20, 2008

Getting a Leg Up

In the midst of this angst and general ticked-off-ness of my dental problems, it's nice to have something go well. In fact, its damned nice. It reminds me that not everything is bleak or grim.

About two weeks ago, I decided to try, again, to get to my feet from a kneeling position without leaning on anything. And for the first time in months, I did it. In fact, I did it three times in a row, that day. Since then, just about every day, I've made a point to get down and get back up again. It isn't always graceful (okay, hardly ever), but I can do it. Not being able to was helping me feel old and decrepit; being able to makes me feel like things do get better. I don't expect much from my body, and sometimes I think I expect too little, but being able to get to a standing position on my own -- well, yeah, thats one of the things I do expect.

A side benefit is that I find I can put my socks on easier. I'd had to resort to stratagems to get my left sock on -- sometimes stretching for five minutes, sometimes using a grabber device to hold the sock while I wriggled my foot into it, sometimes just saying ah, the hell with it, and going sockless. Now, most times, I can just do it -- with a little effort, but I can do it. I have no idea what the physiology is such that a stronger muscle to lift myself from a kneeling position translates into being more limber when getting dressed, but its a nice side benefit.

Maybe there is hope in the world, hmmm? Just a little bit?

1 comment:

Cerulean Bill said...

One step forward, one half back, a third to the right...where was I going, again?