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Truly fantastic,@Diana-M!

As you know, my husband and I do batch cooking. We cook up a load of vegetables which we use as a base to make 3 evening meals, e.g. a stir fry, a pasta dish and a tikka masala curry. When I was bed bound I sent for a small chopping board from Amazon and had my husband bring me that and a knife on a big tray with the vegetables... and, propped up semi-recumbently with numerous pillows, I peeled and chopped vegetables in bed. (I was in so much pain the whole time from my lower back, pelvic and buttock regions that I sobbed my heart out most of the time, but through the tears I gritted my teeth and got on with it.)

Another time, I had horrendous wrist and hand pain... I couldn't do any vegetable prep, but every day I imagined doing it instead. The pain eased a bit after a while and I found that with a support on my wrist and thumb, I could use a vegetable peeler to peel carrots and potatoes, so I did that. Then later, although it took months for my wrist and hand pain to improve enough to do so, I gradually returned to being able to peel any vegetables, not just carrots and potatoes.

As I've also mentioned to you before, I started off, after being bedridden for over 7 months, standing to put the pots and pans and dishes away in the kitchen cupboards after my husband had washed them and they'd air dried on a dish draining rack. But then, after a while of doing that, I added putting our clothes and bed linen washing out to dry on airers. We have a spare room where the airers and dehumidifier are and I got my husband to put the laundry basket on a small chest of drawers that was at the right height so I didn't have to keep bending to reach the washing. And from there I eventually went on to standing to fold the dry laundry and put it away in the wardrobes and chest of drawers.

Analysing it now, with my baby steps I see that I concentrated on doing bits and pieces to help my husband with the household chores. My husband still does the cooking, but I also do other prep, e.g. weighing out the pasta and other ingredients for our meals, putting the plates and knives and forks out. (We jokingly refer to me as being his 'Prep Chef'.) We have our weekly grocery shopping delivered and I now always put them away in the kitchen cupboards... At first I could only stand long enough to put the chilled and frozen stuff in our fridge freezer and then I had to rest, but then after resting I went back to the task and I'd put the rest of the shopping away (my husband was under strict instructions not to do it for me unless I asked him to help). I was lucky that my husband accepted that some days I could do things and some days I couldn't and he just went with the flow... and still does to this day.

Like you, for exercise, I started with walking around my house. I now also get some extra exercise by walking up and down the stairs when I don't need to. Pre bad TMS symptoms, we'd leave stuff that we needed to take upstairs at the side of one of the bottom steps to take them up when we otherwise needed to go upstairs to go to the bathroom or to a bedroom to get something, but now I always take stuff upstairs when I don't otherwise need to go up there. (At one time, I couldn't walk up or down the stairs - due to ankle pain, foot pain, thigh pain, back and buttock pain etc... so the latter is big progress for me.)

To get more movement/exercise into my day I found this book, called 'Movement Snacks', really helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Movement-Snacks-Creative-Guide-Inviting/dp/0578333511/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WMOTNOJ88QL9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Qp85tuH3qqeO6fMGLFCXXA54dPKZkWHy3mmOhI_0k9uavMykFoE73cbMcyQ8DT85FBbFlCy3T0_39KkOjlVDatry7IqFOdBqFMd-2_rG9BhcJY75lfE6uH3Dsl3zHff6qqEa_vxX7YAUKSSbP1dKdg.ij6pYVtmklKBrp_tvYPnZW1IwhKrysoN-6pEmHZh8gU&dib_tag=se&keywords=movement+snacks&qid=1726828815&s=books&sprefix=movement+snacks%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C137&sr=1-1 (Amazon.com)

I know that not being able to get out the house due to physical pain and other physical symptoms or due to agoraphobia really is no laughing matter, but nevertheless I used to watch this clip which made me smile and actually helped me tackle and get on with my baby steps...