Friday, May 25, 2012

How to enable my home for recovery...

One of my biggest challenges in living in a very large home all by myself. Luckily, my boyfriend is here for the first 8 days post surgery, but after that I'm on my own for the remaining 7 weeks. We have been working diligently to find ways to mobilize the house for me.

Firstly, we moved my bedroom up to the main floor of the home. I was previously sleeping in a bedroom on the basement level (of a 3 story home) but stairs are my worst enemy at this time. I can get up them with crutches as long as I take my time and watch my balance. However, I cannot get down them without sitting down and doing the 'boom boom' like you did when you were 5. It is virtually impossible to not bear weight on your leg and use crutches to get down the stairs in a way that resembles walking.

The bedroom on the main floor level is great because I also have the bathroom attached to my room. The living room, kitchen, and laundry room are also all on this level. The only time I need to use the stairs is to get outside to go to my car (which is half a flight to the garage level). It's the best that we can do - and it is still much better than an entire flight of stairs up and  down everyday just to eat then sleep and shower.

Carrying things is definitely difficult. Some of my set ups include:
- Having a satchel type bag that I can wear across my body to carry things room to room
- Stool or ottoman in every general area (vanity for makeup and hair, bathroom sink to wash face, kitchen to cook...etc)
- Make space in hallways and walk ways as wide and uncluttered as possible
- Have a daily 'command center'
  -- For me this includes an area setup on the reclining couch where I have my laptop and accessories, phone, meds, small end table for water bottle and snacks, remote, and pillows within reach for elevation. I recently bought a small basket/bin to hold all of these items on the couch with me.
- Develop a routine for your ice so you can easily wrap your leg
- Still looking into getting some type of cart to push or pull more items than can fit only in a big on my shoulder...

I'm still working on how to utilize the kitchen. I can't stand long on only one leg for very long...

At my one week follow up I plan on asking for the following items:
- Shower chair (necessary!)
- Handicap (temp) driving pass
- Seated Scooter or Wheelchair for in the home - this will help me move around and also sit to do longer tasks like cook

Hopefully Wednesday will shed a lot of light on how to maneuver better along with providing further assistive devices.

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