rougemac’s AchillesBlog

Did you get a clear protocol, so you know (e.g.) how long you’ll be staying on crutches? Make sure it’s no slower than the one in the UWO study, bit.ly/UWOProtocol . Four-ish weeks on crutches, NWB & PWB, is definitely enough!!

Some people here have dared to go quite a bit faster, after surgery — doug53 comes immediately to mind, so check his blog for what’s possible (at least for one “anecdote”!). Going slower than us non-ops would (and should!) be embarrassing, and not clinically helpful, either.

Good luck, and good healing!

HI rougemac. I’m only five weeks out from surgery so I’m no expert but I did find one thing that makes being on crutches more bearable when I’m in the house. I have an inexpensive IKEA office chair with no arms that also spins around. I sit in it and pull myself around with the good leg. It makes it so I can pick things up and move them around, cook, wash dishes, etc. It’s low tech but it works.

Thanks jla2010, swivel chairs sounds like an excellent way to get around!!

Hope it works for you! I live alone with no one to help me so I had to figure out a way to move around with my hands free so I could cook, etc. I just used my home office chair.

All the best in your recovery!

Another important trick is to KNEEL a lot. Put a footstool or a padded box in front of the bathroom sink, and stick your “bad-side” knee on it while brushing your teeth, etc. It’s way more stable and more comfy than crutches or standing on one foot, and it also elevates your foot a little.

The two ideas can be combined into a “knee scooter”. Could just be an existing or cheap new wheeled chair, or a wheeled “walker” with a padded kneel-able seat, or one of the made-for-the-use crutch-replacement knee wheelers that several people here have used (and mostly loved).

The more expensive ones can usually be rented.

If one of your wheeled chairs is in the kitchen, you’ll probably want to kneel on it to wash dishes and make coffee and cook, etc.

I had an enviable problem that kept me from buying a “real” kneeling walker: By the time I lined one up on Craigslist, I was becoming WB, and the window closed.

Another “secret” trick is to use walls and doorways and such. Sometimes to lean on them, but often just to touch them lightly so you don’t have to work as hard to balance on one foot. The difference in effort between standing on one foot in the middle of a room, and doing it while your little fingernail is brushing the wall, is HUGE!!

These stopgaps for surviving NWB are great, but getting PWB and FWB (”as tolerated”) are way better! So print out bit.ly/UWOProtocol, and if your Doc is making you go slower than that, roll it up and slap him with it!

Help…I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! I think I tore my achillies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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