The Arsenal - The Tools To Make Life Easier

These are things that will make you much more comfortable once you're home and on your own.  I don't expect ANYONE to use crutches.  They are total B.S.  I dealt with them for a week and a half and nearly killed myself on them or injured myself more.

Everyone was telling me to get a walker.  I was too embarrassed because I figured people would think I was too weak for the crutches.  It was the physical therapist in the hospital after my surgery that got me to use it.

This is what I have now:


The front bar on the walker is not straight so it makes having a basket a little difficult, but I have been doing just fine with a back pack.  For long trips I use my wheelchair.

My mom found this knee walker online.  It would certainly make the wheelchair irrelevant for me, but I don't have the money right now for something like this.  Only the basic walker is covered by my insurance.  Check it out:

It looks a little scary to me, but I actually spoke to someone that had a friend that had it and they loved it.  They went everywhere on it and it has a break as well for safety.  You're still not walking like normal, but the weight is taken off of your good leg and balanced on the knee pad so the foot pain would be alleviated.

For a walker or wheelchair I suggest padded gloves.  There are many options for these: weight training gloves, bicycle gloves, yoga gloves, and motorcycle gloves.  My mom ran around for me trying to find the right padding.  The one that seems to be in the best place are weight training gloves because it is designed to pad where you're holding a bar.  When using a walker or crutches, you're lifting your body weight with your palms and holding a bar just like you would a weight.  These are what I ended up with in a size small.  Fits great and will be good for when I am walking outside to the car or something.

Trust me, there is long term problems on your hands from long term use of a walker or wheelchair.  My skin is peeling and the palm actually feels bruised.

Now a total lifesaver and worth every penny, let me tell you, is the bathroom chair.  They have all kinds of shower chairs available to buy, some very inexpensive ones at that, but what I found, having a tub, is that I can't get my legs over the the tub to get in.  I needed something with a transfer board so I could slide into the tub.  I began looking online.  My mom was able to find one on Craigslist for me, thank god.

The feet are rounded for the tub side so there's no slippage.  You can adjust the height and where the seat back goes.  You sit down, slide back, and rotate yourself in.  There is also a bar to hold onto if you want to stand up. Don't try to stick a patio chair in the tub like I did.  Save yourself the misery and get one of these right away!
Physical Therapy:
You need to get your upper body strong.  Get some small dumbbells and ankle weights.  Don't get anything too heavy unless you're already fit, but if that's the case you probably won't need the weights for the upper body, but you'll want to keep your legs strong so that when your cast is off and you can walk again, you don't have to have extra physical therapy to carry your weight again.  I will post the exercises my physical therapist gave me.  I just have to draw them up.  Insurance varies and I've been very lucky to have home treatment covered.  I have danskin weights that you can add to.  I couldn't find the exact ones on amazon, but here is something similar:
 

That's all I've got so far. I may add more items as time goes by.