life on crutches

WARNING...this post got turned longer than i expected



this picture is ridiculous for so many reasons, but it's also the only picture i have of myself on crutches

i was never one of those people that always wanted to have crutches. i never thought it looked cool or fun. now i know why. even though being on crutches really could have been so much worse, it turned out to be a pretty interesting unintentional social experiment.

i heard a lot of mixed things about how long i would be on crutches from 2-6 weeks. at my pre-op appointment with the physical therapist he told me up to 4 weeks so i pretty much planned for 4 weeks. depending on what happened during surgery, there was a possibility of only 50% weight bearing on my right hip/leg. i basically expected the worst. i was terrified i wouldn't be able to get around my house, and stairs seemed like a living nightmare. all the anxiety was the main reason i spent the night in the hospital (a decision i had to make before even getting out of my hospital bed).

i was really lucky in that i could bear weight as tolerated from the beginning. from the first time i got out of bed, i realized crutches wouldn't be as terrible as i feared. i practiced the stairs in the hospital with the PT before going home, and it was much more do-able than i thought.

i only had to use the crutches for 2 1/2 weeks, and the last little bit i didn't have to use them around the house. expecting the worst made me pleasantly surprised when things were tons better than the worst. it was very interesting though. i generally hate asking for help and really dreaded that part of having surgery. luckily i had the help i needed and got back my independence pretty quickly. 

besides physical therapy, the first place i went by myself with the crutches was the mall. i was shocked by how many people stared at me. i didn't really care but wasn't expecting that at all. a few people, mostly kids, asked why i had crutches or what happened. many people opened doors for me and went out of their way to help, but i was pretty surprised how many times a door was shut less than 5 seconds before i went in or out. i know it's a crazy time of year and people probably didn't really think, but it still really surprised me.

even though it was only a short 2 1/2 weeks, i have a new understanding and perspective. i hope this helps me be a little more compassionate with the children and families i work with. i also hope it helps me recognize when people need a little extra help, and i really hope i never shut the door in the face of someone that could really use the door held open.