Hi all,
My surgery was January 23rd; I've been home since January 30th.
I've been using a walker since about the 3rd day in the hospital; more so since I got home, where I have two walkers -- one downstairs (where the kitchen and living room are) and one upstairs (where the bathroom, bedroom, and my computer room are).
My husband is not happy that the walkers seem to be destroying the floors, so I'm wondering about how much longer I might need to use them. Initially the hospital supplied me with a walker to take home that had the wheels on the back legs instead of the front legs. With this design, I had to lift the walker, move it forward a bit, then take a step with each foot. The second walker is a loaner from one of my husband's students whose mother no longer walks at all; it has the wheels on the front legs rather than the back legs, which enables me to simply move the walker forward constantly rather than pick it up, move it, then take two steps forward. [The physical therapist that was sent to work with me at home told me that the hospital-supplied walker had been put together wrong, and fixed that one so that those wheels are now also on the front legs rather than the back legs.]
The only way I can use these walkers without having the back legs get dragged over the floor is to either (a) always hold the back legs off the floor so they won't scratch it, or (b) return to the motion of picking walker up to move it forward and then taking 2 steps. What do you all do? Has anybody modified the walker so that it won't scratch your floors? If so, what did you or your family member do to fix it?
The physical therapist I saw while still an inpatient predicted that I would be using a walker for 2 weeks. The first of those 2 weeks is almost up, but I still don't feel very stable when walking. My husband thinks I should switch to a cane instead; right now I only use the cane for going up and down stairs (which I have to do 4 to 5 or more times each day).
I'd welcome any suggestions you all might have.
-- Thanks,
Mary
My surgery was January 23rd; I've been home since January 30th.
I've been using a walker since about the 3rd day in the hospital; more so since I got home, where I have two walkers -- one downstairs (where the kitchen and living room are) and one upstairs (where the bathroom, bedroom, and my computer room are).
My husband is not happy that the walkers seem to be destroying the floors, so I'm wondering about how much longer I might need to use them. Initially the hospital supplied me with a walker to take home that had the wheels on the back legs instead of the front legs. With this design, I had to lift the walker, move it forward a bit, then take a step with each foot. The second walker is a loaner from one of my husband's students whose mother no longer walks at all; it has the wheels on the front legs rather than the back legs, which enables me to simply move the walker forward constantly rather than pick it up, move it, then take two steps forward. [The physical therapist that was sent to work with me at home told me that the hospital-supplied walker had been put together wrong, and fixed that one so that those wheels are now also on the front legs rather than the back legs.]
The only way I can use these walkers without having the back legs get dragged over the floor is to either (a) always hold the back legs off the floor so they won't scratch it, or (b) return to the motion of picking walker up to move it forward and then taking 2 steps. What do you all do? Has anybody modified the walker so that it won't scratch your floors? If so, what did you or your family member do to fix it?
The physical therapist I saw while still an inpatient predicted that I would be using a walker for 2 weeks. The first of those 2 weeks is almost up, but I still don't feel very stable when walking. My husband thinks I should switch to a cane instead; right now I only use the cane for going up and down stairs (which I have to do 4 to 5 or more times each day).
I'd welcome any suggestions you all might have.
-- Thanks,
Mary
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