snow, crutches, and not falling
It's snowing again.
I don't mind snow, but it's a hassle on crutches. The snow works its way up into the hollow spaces in the bumpers, then melts when I go inside. Wet crutch tips + hard floor = no traction. I bought some grippy studded caps to go over the tips, but either they're supposed to be as big as Dixie cups or I got the wrong size; in either case, I can't use them.
The other problem is that I have no stamina after six months of not walking. Walking in snow takes more energy than walking on a clear sidewalk, so I get tired fast. Once I'm tired, I'm less focused and more likely to fall. I am not allowed to fall.
"You fall and I'll kill you," my surgeon said last week, looking at my x-rays. He was specifically rejecting my request to go skating, but he would be just as pissed if I fell while walking around in the snow or, for that matter, coming in from it with wet crutches.
So I'm on snow emergency house arrest, at least until the sidewalks get cleared. The forecast is for snow and assorted freezing slush through tomorrow night. Then more on Saturday, but I'll deal with that when it happens.
I am so close to being off crutches. I don't use them at home and my walk is almost (almost) normal, provided that 1. I remember to take small steps and 2. I'm not exhausted. When I'm not home, I take longer strides. It's hard for me to move slowly in public. I feel like an ambulatory roadblock, or a limping antelope trailing the herd.
The left hip, which carried me through this whole adventure, is done. Every step feels like I'm being stabbed in the bikini line. When the right hip is strong enough to be my only hip, it will be time to do it all over again.
It's like a snow globe out there.
I don't mind snow, but it's a hassle on crutches. The snow works its way up into the hollow spaces in the bumpers, then melts when I go inside. Wet crutch tips + hard floor = no traction. I bought some grippy studded caps to go over the tips, but either they're supposed to be as big as Dixie cups or I got the wrong size; in either case, I can't use them.
The other problem is that I have no stamina after six months of not walking. Walking in snow takes more energy than walking on a clear sidewalk, so I get tired fast. Once I'm tired, I'm less focused and more likely to fall. I am not allowed to fall.
"You fall and I'll kill you," my surgeon said last week, looking at my x-rays. He was specifically rejecting my request to go skating, but he would be just as pissed if I fell while walking around in the snow or, for that matter, coming in from it with wet crutches.
So I'm on snow emergency house arrest, at least until the sidewalks get cleared. The forecast is for snow and assorted freezing slush through tomorrow night. Then more on Saturday, but I'll deal with that when it happens.
I am so close to being off crutches. I don't use them at home and my walk is almost (almost) normal, provided that 1. I remember to take small steps and 2. I'm not exhausted. When I'm not home, I take longer strides. It's hard for me to move slowly in public. I feel like an ambulatory roadblock, or a limping antelope trailing the herd.
The left hip, which carried me through this whole adventure, is done. Every step feels like I'm being stabbed in the bikini line. When the right hip is strong enough to be my only hip, it will be time to do it all over again.
It's like a snow globe out there.