A week in a boot

Posted on March 21st, 2014 by jules19

Three weeks after surgery and just completed my first week in the Aircast - a bit of a mixed bag overall.

Whilst taking the boot off has been wonderful in the shower it’s taken a bit of getting used to at night, found I was very conscious of my unprotected leg just lying there - had nightmares (some triggered by stories in this blog) about unthinkingly getting up in the night and walking on it!

Getting used to that now though and sleeping a bit better as a result.

Still on two crutches but have gradually increased the weight bearing and can do short distances on just one crutch.  I also bought a Procare ‘EvenUp” shoe balancer because I was sick of being so lopsided due to the Aircast boot.  This has been a great purchase and restores some normality to my movements.  I only came across it though because of this blog - why didn’t my OS tell me about this kind of thing!

Appears I may have overdone the walking though as I seem to have pulled a muscle in my thigh and lower back on the injured side.  This has actually given me the worst pain of anything to date - far worse than the original injury.

Planning to spend the weekend resting up in bed and hope the pain has gone down by Monday otherwise I’ll have to go back to the Dr’s next week.

Anyway two steps forward and only one step back hopefully, counting down another 4.5 weeks till I’m supposed to be out the boot and can drive again - fingers crossed!


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One Response to “A week in a boot”

  1. normofthenorth, on March 21st, 2014 at 11:56 pm Said:

    It’s easy to forget how many OTHER body parts have been resting and atrophying.

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  • normofthenorth | March 29th, 2014 | 1:24 am

    Most airports are OK with people who need lifts on power carts. A call in advance sounds like a good idea.

  • normofthenorth | March 21st, 2014 | 11:56 pm

    It’s easy to forget how many OTHER body parts have been resting and atrophying.

  • Ron | March 13th, 2014 | 2:35 am

    Great update and good luck.

    Have a safe trip, but be careful.
    Ron

  • jules19 | March 11th, 2014 | 5:37 am

    Good tips - thanks. The stoop down seems to work for me, gives you that extra bit of stability and confidence which makes a big difference!

  • normofthenorth | March 10th, 2014 | 5:15 pm

    There are about 2.5 ways of going down stairs NWB, not counting on the behind. The easiest by far only works if youve got a good strong bannister on the same side as your injury: Hold both crutches in your other hand and use them like a single crutch. Lean hard on the bannister, and move your sound foot down a step. Repeat all the way down.
    The other two (1.5?) ways involve real crutch walking on stairs, and they both take some getting used to. The revolutionary way is explained on RyanB’s blog, complete with videos. It looks good, but I’ve never tried it.
    The standard way is a lot like crutch walking on the flat, but on stairs:
    Stand on the top step, put both crutches down one step, stoop down to lower your center of gravity to the level it’ll be on after you step down, and step down. For max safety and confidence, I find that “stoop down” very helpful. And standing tall pre-step when going UPstairs likewise. This separates the “leap of faith” step from the (miss-able) change in altitude.

    It’s a new skill, but one that can be learned.

  • terencemc | March 10th, 2014 | 8:57 am

    Yeh, the shower seat is a necessary evil for sure. The daily shower is a godsend for the mental state, or at least was for me.. the leg protector was a must as well and did its job. i don’t envy you for being in the office that quick. My pain was still raging a week post-op, so good on you for doing well. Continued good healing.

  • Mr WordPress | March 2nd, 2014 | 1:28 pm

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