Getting Home

I was warned in advance that my first few days at home would be tough.

Even with careful preparation your home is not as "invalid friendly" as the hospital ward. Using crutches for walking means that carrying items can be awkward, especially food & drink. My particular nemesis is our staircase. It is steeper, the treads narrower and the risers higher than the ones I practiced on. Each stair also has a "nose" ie a bit that sticks out over the stair below and they are carpeted. This means lifting my feet higher and wider to climb the stairs where I lead with my left (frame) leg. Going down is even worse because my frame extends behind my foot making it almost impossible to lead with my left leg so I lead with my right (the weaker) leg and support myself more with my arms. Then I reach the bottom stair where I run out of banister (handrail) and have to go down using both crutches. All sorted now, but challenging for the first couple of days.

Establishing a daily routine is taking a bit of time, but at present revolves around the times I take my painkillers. I am able to spend about 11-12 hours a day downstairs in a chair, with the occasional walk to give me some exercise. I expect to do more exercise as my condition improves, but at present I have to be careful if I am to safely mount the stairs to go to bed.