A shoutout to our partners
November 21, 2011
It’s easy to forget that our partners (wives, husbands, whatever) suffer from this injury in big ways too. The list is endless, especially in the early stages of post injury recovery.
Suddenly the time we don’t spend doing stuff like picking up the kids after swim practice or any activity that requires a functioning achilles tendon falls on them. Not to mention the increased stress level that the whole family shares in spite of our best efforts to contribute to household activities. Which in the first few weeks of recovery is mostly well intentioned, not particularly helpful and often counter productive.
I do not suggest walking your 75 pound energetic golden retriever 2 weeks after surgery while on crutches, trust me on this.
So, I try to thank my wife every day for all the extra stuff she has to do. Try is the operative word because I don’t manage to do so as often as I should but I’m aware how fortunate I am, even if I don’t always articulate it.
For sharing this experience our partners deserve a medal and buckets of gold, which of course they won’t get. But acknowledgement and appreciation for what they do for us, let’s make sure they always know that.
Of course my wife does remind me at times, especially on those days when all the extra stuff really piles up that the moment will come when I will be a fully functioning human again able to pick up my share of the family schlepping. And I will do so, gratefully and with good cheer.
I suspect payback will be a bitch but fair is fair 
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1. Justin | November 21st, 2011 at 3:59 pm
I second this completely. I ruptured mine at the beginning of August with my wife 6 months pregnant and a new puppy in the apt. To say the stress level was increased would be a monumental understatement. The pressure she was under for 10 weeks I was on crutches must have been unimaginable and she handle it like a champ, except for a few minor blow ups. Your significant other can sure be a rock when you need them to be. Awesome!
2. Stuart | November 21st, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Throughout my time on this site I have stressed the need to patient and thankful to those supporting us many times. It is so easy to think only of your own situation and forget the impact on others. The lack of independence is something most of us are not used to and do not take well to. There are many lessons we learn during our recovery and hopefully one of them is to appreciate the love we have been given. Every now and then the stress of it all will cause a blow up. All I can say is suck it up. If you feel this, put yourself in your partners place for a minute and think how you would feel having to do everything plus look after you.
3. ryanb | November 21st, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Well said guys-
4. normofthenorth | November 22nd, 2011 at 5:02 am
Hear hear! OTOH, if our partners had full understanding, patience, and empathy with our situation, we wouldn’t need each other!