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Old 03-29-2005, 04:57 PM   #2 (permalink)
Squishor
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Location: California
I just spent two months on crutches due to a knee injury. I hurt myself on January 12th, and just got off the crutches about two weeks ago. You have my sympathy!

Let's see, the coffee thing is tough - basically the bottom third of my crutches got covered in coffee spills. The best remedy I found for that situation is really just a helping hand from someone else. I did develop a routine for getting from my kitchen to my desk in the front room with a cup of liquid - it involved numerous surfaces to set it on while I crutched one step ahead, then picked it back up and set it on the next surface. For the open areas, I developed a kind of crutch shuffle-walk - basically hold the cup in the fingers of one hand while still grasping the crutch, then slowly move forward one step at a time, dragging the crutch on the side with the beverage so as to not spill it or lose one's balance. I know this doesn't sound like a solution, and it's not really. It's just tough, that's all there is to it.

The bags are a great idea. What I did was found a bag that would fit over one shoulder and was big enough to be useful. Any household item that would not spill went in the bag, and that includes dirty dishes after eating, bottles and cans, garbage etc. that I wanted to clean up, as well as anything going to the table. Oh! I just remembered! Sometimes I put my coffee or other beverage into a bottle with a screw cap and carried it in the bag. That worked, and it's a lot easier than carrying it in your teeth. I also used it for carrying clothes from one room to another, everything really. I kept a smaller, plastic grocery bag inside the shoulder bag for the dirty stuff - then I could just throw that away when I was done with it.

I also used the immobilizer on my leg as a handy pocket device, since it had layers I could tuck things like my cellphone into. I guess whatever you have on your foot is probably not so convenient.

Basically what I noticed was that although I could hook the fingers of one hand around something and carry it, that meant less hand strength and more weight-bearing for the armpits. Pretty soon my armpits just broke one day and went on strike. Towels around the tops helped a little. The other thing is, I developed big callouses on the heels of my hands from the crutches - I'd reccomend using some serious lotion from the outset to help with that, although I suspect it's inevitable.

Sorry, I don't really feel like I have much helpful advice, despite my recent experience. It's just a tough thing to go through. Wait until you start physical therapy!
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