Since I have had my right foot rebuilt a month ago, I have been experimenting with a variety of ways to ambulate. I would like to share what I have discovered and would like to have some input from you guys.
It is really difficult when you have extensive arthritis to find something that does not make arthritis in other parts of your body worse.
I have been non weight bearing for a month now, and hope that I only have 2 weeks before the x-rays says I can use a walking cast.
Most of the time I am in a wheelchair. My shoulders and arms were so painful from the transfers that I had to stay put for a few days. I now have enough strength in my good leg so that I can use it almost alone to stand.
I have a Roll-A-Bout scooter type device, that I am using more. My balance was mediocre when I first tired it, so I had to use it a little every day and finally I feel stable on it and can control it. It is great if you have hard floors and not much turning, but my old house is not like that. Also, if you have trouble with your foot, knee, and hip in the "good" leg, you may not tolerate it for long. It is designed so you put weight on the knee of the bad leg, so take some pressure off of the other leg. When I was at the ortho office (27 docs together!) there was a guy with a different brand that had a handle bar. It looked much lighter weight than mine and had a narrower base. He said that he had fallen a number of times.
I have also tried a rolling walker. Crutches would definitely not work. This post is getting to long, so I will only elaborate if you guys have some comments.
Lynne
Hi Lynne, I'm sorry you are having to experiment with these things. I know how frustrating it can be.
I have several canes, a rolling walker and an electric scooter. The canes are something I only use in the house usually, because if I have to go any distance at all, it hurts my hand, shoulder and, because of the uneven support, my lower back.
The rolling walker is what I try to use in the house most of the time.I realized the last couple of days, that I have gotten very bent over. Not just a little bit. A LOT! My neighbor commented on it and this afternoon, my adult daughter said something. I'm making every effort to stand as straight as I can, now. Still bent but I can stand up a bit straighter if I really concentrate on it. Note: I have also fallen 3-4 times even with my walker. I just get tangled up in it when I go down and get some pretty odd bruises.
The scooter I use when I go out. I can make it through a Costco trip if I have someone with me to push a cart and lift things
I am afraid I'll be put in the scooter at home, if the falls keep up. My docs are appalled when I come in with bruises and scrapes from falling.
I agree that crutches are not even to be considered. Just too painful for those of us with bad joints. I've never tried the rolling thing you put your knee in. It sounds dangerous, to me. But my balance is very bad and I couldn't rest any weight on either knee.
Good Luck, Sweetie I know how hard it is to , first, to admit we need these things. But also, once it is clear that something is needed, to find the proper thing.I hope your healing is going well and that you are well enough for the walking cast in two months.
Hugs, Nini
Hi Lynne,
How are you doing with your surgery - is everything going well? You haven't said very much about it, I'm sure it has been a very difficult time. You must be getting severe cabin fever by now! Hopefully you are past the worst of it - right?
Sorry you are still dealing with your ambulatory issues and haven't found the right answer yet. I guess most of us are pretty well tapped out for ideas other than the ones we gave you in your previous inquiries about this. So I guess you will just have to be the guinea pig and report back on your results!
Were there any good suggestions on that website Aimee suggested?
Thanks girls - My recovery is going well ( from the doctor's perspective). I am sitting on a hide-a-bed in the family room during the day and my 2 puppies like to keep me company. Sometimes they find the laptop really interesting and want to play with it and chew it, so I only type when they are outside or asleep. Everything is a chew toy to them- but it is not as bad as it was a few months ago!
We don't have a real ramp - just a board that my hubby nailed to the porch. It is way too steep for me to use or for any girlfriend. It takes muscle. If I had a better ramp, friends could pick me up. I can tranfer into my mini-van easily by myself. Since it is my right foot, I won't be driving until the cast is off. In a few months before my left foot is done, I will INSIST that there is a better ramp. Especially since we will be getting into Missouri ice and snow season.
Aimee is really sweet, but the site didn't give me any more answers than here. Very few people understand the limitations when all your joints are arthritic. My foot ortho surgeon told me about the Roll A Bout. In a more open house, it would work well. This one is over 100 years old.
We are going to remodel the downstairs bathroom before the next surgery. It is small and has a big vanity in it. We put a shower with a low edge in it before my knee surgery in Feb, but now will put a small vanity so I can get to the shower and toilet better. Right now I can only roll up to the side of the toilet and it is in the way to the shower. We will also put some bars up. BTW- We discovered years ago, that a walker turned back makes great handles around the toilet.
I think that I will be much better set up for my next foot surgery- there are some conditions that you cannot anticipate.
My first and only grandchild turns 1 in October. My goal is to be able to make the trip to Chicago for the party. Nothing can stop a granny!
Hugs to you- Lynne
I know what you mean - crutches are so out that it is funny. My Rhumie suggested a walker - I asked him how that was different from cruthes, you still are trying to carry your weight on your hands/wrists and elbows.
I found sitting on my secretary 5 wheeled chair and scooting along with 1 foot and grabbing things in reach and pulling worked much better than wheel chair. That wheel chair got stuck everywhere
I remember how frustrated I was and I was only laid up a week with artho scopic knee surgery.
You sure have my sympathy.
Thanks Marian.
I did get stuck with the wheelchair a few days after surgery and was freaking out. I managed to get myself out of it. I always have a phone with me. The problem was the foot rests, which my husband took off that night.
I may try my office chair. In any case, it would be a change and has better lumbar support.
Walkers seem better for 2 weak legs, not one bad leg. If you are no weight bearing on one leg, you are forced to hop on the better leg which is not good. I have borrowed a rolling walker, but the other devices that I have work better for me.
Lynne
I got stuck with foot rests off too. There just wasn't enough room to get thru the bath room door.
I have seen something called a platform crutch which has an elbow platform leading out to a hand grip. Lets you 'walk' on your bent elbows instead of your hands.
elbow |hand
|----------|
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Think of a 7 but backwards.
I think I could manage the few steps into the bathroom from the doorway. Anyhow my rotten knees which need replacement surgery are behaving decently right now - so I'm just putting it off.
Nevermind my rotten drawing - look here
http://www.walkeasy.com/shop/product_details.asp?ProductCode =410
The platform crutch might just work. Stupid Blue Cross will only pay for regular crutches, nothing else. I may try getting notes from my ortho doc, rheumy, and rehab doc saying that I cannot use cruthches. Not sure if the fight is worth it.
My wheelchair fits through the bathroom door, but is is tight. I cannot have my hands on the wheels to get through.
My knees need to be replaced, but I don't want to do it until Medicare pays- 4 years. In any case, I will have had 5 surgeries in a year and 1/2. Every time I take longer to recover. I think that I am pushing my luck and my body needs a break. What terrifies me is that I am certain that my, knees, hips, shoulders, and more will eventually need surgery.
In February, I had my second arthroscopy on my left knee and that is all that can be done that way. I know that replacement is next.
BC should cover platform crutches with dr notes. The price at 5 was not too horrid. Anything to make it possible to go potty by myself. Sure is cheaper than re-modeling.
I hope your elbows are not as bad as mine...but I think I could manage a few steps. Sometimes just a few steps makes all the difference.
My heart aches for people completely wheelchair bound, because they really are stuck. Many more things are possible when you can stand up, tons more things are possible when you can move a few more feet on crutches.
I walk every day with a platform walker - just like platform crutches, but the platforms are on poles which attach to a walker. It didn't take long to get used to it and I feel very stable with it. Othewise I'm in a powered wheelchair which is a huge step up from a wheelchair in terms of making life easier! You can carry things with one of those and I can get through a smaller door and move in a smaller space than with the manual chair. Before that I used a secretary's chair too and scooted about like crazy.
Kathy
The platform crutches look like they might be helpful, especially for times when you just don't want to take a scooter/wheelchair somewhere.
I am going to a rock concert in Oct. and it is in an outdoor venue. I'm not sure if my scooter will be able to get around very well, especially if there is grass. My scooter is pretty low and works much better on a sidewalk or something firm.
It would really be nice to have the platform crutches for that.
Lynne, it sounds like you have really been through it with all the surgeries. I can't imagine that Blue Cross wouldn't pay for something like the platform crutches, if everyone treating you says that you absolutely are not able to use regular crutches.
Good Luck, I hope you are able to get something that makes it easier for you.
Hugs, Nini
93Kathy10
Thanks for the input about platform walkers. That may be the right answer for me too.
Nini- BC sent us a bill yesterday that should have been paid. Since our BC switched to Anthem in January, they have been a total pain.
My husband and I have to carry our own health insurance and now are paying 00 a month for them to reject everything. I am furious.
I think that I will eventually find something(s) to help me. What rock concert is it?
Lynne
Marian- You go girl!!I'm just trying to keep going! Can't stand being stuck. I find other peoples solutions to common problems interesting and helpful.
I'm walking pretty well today but I don't know about next week, and I sure have had trouble in the past.
I try to stay in problem solving mode, otherwise I end up on the self pity pot or just plain
Keep after that insurance company - call them, find out what you can, and resubmit. The insurance billing people that work for my dr have helped me get my claims paid more than once.
My ortho doc is with a huge group of orthopods- 27 together. They have people who only deal with BC. I am thinking about talking with a specialist. They should know more about dealing with them than almost anyone.
Arthritis is full of bad surprises. You never know from day to day how you will be. We all need to encourage each other to not have a pity party. It is easy to do. At the end of last year, after 2 hand surgeries in 2006, I was looking forward to a surgery free year. However, surprise, my left knee all of a sudden needed surgery in January, then a couple of months later, my feet got extremely painful. So much for a surgery free year.
As for my feet, I tried to not have surgery, but there is nothing else to do. I looked at a lot of medical journals that said there was no non-surgical remedy. I ended up with 7 incisions, screws, pins, and a remodeled foot.
Lynne
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