Dog walking is dangerous!

yhanni said:
That's a relief. All seems to be going more or less as it should then. I have been so impressed by your equanimity! I wouldn't have been so calm, that's for sure.
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I think the pain relief has made me feel quite detached from it all actually - and there have been a few occasions when I was definitely not so calm - especially when I was in hospital and getting no sense over the food issue! I also got cross on the day when the physios came to help me walk for the first time and, despite repeated requests the only pain relief I had been given was 2 paracetamol. I was so close to fainting that the physio brought the chair to me and then she and her colleague slid the chair back to the side of the bed - I didn't hear it but I think she got cross then, too - the pain-relief appeared pretty quickly!

I must say, though that just about everybody who I have come into contact with has been extremely helpful - and I am the talk of the hamlet! 3 of my neighbours are employed in various capacities in the local ambulance service, so I think they feel something of a proprietorial interest in my progress.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
...
So I have just bought a pair of extra wide fitting silver trainers https://www.jdwilliams.co.uk/shop/m...dBoUid=3010&optionColour=Silver&pdpClick=true with zips and laces they are quite adjustable but because they are firm they press on the bruising above my heel but below the frame. I am now looking for ideas for something that I can pad the bruise with, so that I am more comfortable walking about, if any-one can help with that? Home-made, preferably:)
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Don't know if it is any help, but I deeply dislike having to buy new shoes because unless they're clogs (without heels), new shoes have around 99% risk of giving me chafed feet, either on my heels, or on the area above the heels.

So therefore, now whenever I have to buy new shoes I cut off some 10-12 cm long strips of sports tape, take 1, or 2, round cotton pad//pads, and place the pad/pads in the middle of one tape.
I put the tape so the pad cover the top area of one heel, put on some more strips of tape so the pad is completely covered by tape, and then I do the same to the other heel.

The sports tape is more durable than other tape, and good at making sure the pad doesn't move around.
The homemade "cushion" protects my heels while I walk in the new shoes. After some weeks when I stop using pad + tape, I sometimes still get a little bit of a problem, but not at all on the same level as I used to.
 
I realised after puzzling over the problem for a while and then writing my post, that I have loads of dressings that I can use as padding. After my shower and dressing change today, I used a dressing strip in my silver trainer and that worked very well. \However by the time I got home, my foot felt as if I had razor wire wrapped round it, as I walked from the car to the front door - all of 10 steps -. then I realised that my 'ankle highs' were causing the problem as the elastic was cutting into my extremely tender skin. Once I had sorted that out, I was much more comfortable but as always, the shower has taken it out of me and I am now exhausted and ready to go to bed.
 
I have just had a phone call from the local hospital, I now have an appointment on Thursday for a bone density check, they have had a cancellation. TBH, I thought no-one had taken much notice of my request but I think I owe the GP who gave me my sick note an apology. I just need to organise transport, now.


ETA, I actually slept better last night than I have done for the last few nights, thanks.
 
Cinnamontoast said:
Gamgee to pad, although that might be too thick. I’ve used dressings to stop chafing, Mepore or Softpore are my 2 go tos. I think you’re doing brilliantly. Is your sleep pattern still boogered up from hospital?
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Yes, it is, sleeping was almost impossible in hospital, some nights, because of late night admissions, including my own and being woken up at 2.00 am and 6.00am for obs. When I had got my brain into gear yesterday, I realised that I could use a piece of the Allevyn dressing to stop the shoe impacting on the bruising on my heel.
I have a consultation with my GP a week today and I am going to ask for an extension of my sicknote until after Christmas, as I am just not thinking straight enough to advise anybody on anything that matters.
 
Cinnamontoast said:
An accident like this knocks you sideways, take all the time you can. Your routine is screwed and you need time to recover mentally as well as physically.

Allevyn pink one that peels off easily? I loved those, gave spares to Snowy for her mum.
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Yes, those are the ones! I have just realised that the 'infection' in the pinsites is actually an allergic reaction to something, probably the anti-bacterial wash but it could equally be my own showergel. So I have just spent another small fortune on Amazon buying a suitable showergel and a load of saline pods to wash the sites each week. Goodness knows how I missed that it is an allergy, all things considered but then, I have never had a frame on my leg before and tbh the support from the Frame Nurse can best be described as 'minimal'.
 
Saline is key! I had to put a pod in one hole and squirt it so it came out the other before the gap in the skin graft closed. I can highly recommend saving a fortune by boiling salted water and employing a horse sized syringe. You could sterilise containers in the oven like you do for jam. Necessity is the mother of invention and all....
 
Cinnamontoast said:
Saline is key! I had to put a pod in one hole and squirt it so it came out the other before the gap in the skin graft closed. I can highly recommend saving a fortune by boiling salted water and employing a horse sized syringe. You could sterilise containers in the oven like you do for jam. Necessity is the mother of invention and all....
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?? curiously compulsive reading ?
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Yes, those are the ones! I have just realised that the 'infection' in the pinsites is actually an allergic reaction to something, probably the anti-bacterial wash but it could equally be my own showergel. So I have just spent another small fortune on Amazon buying a suitable showergel and a load of saline pods to wash the sites each week. Goodness knows how I missed that it is an allergy, all things considered but then, I have never had a frame on my leg before and tbh the support from the Frame Nurse can best be described as 'minimal'.
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If that doesn't work, PaS, don't rule out the possibility that you are allergic to the metal, it's not unknown. I can't have nickel on my skin, for example, which is a common one.
 
Cloball said:
I appreciate you've bought a lot of stuff for yourself already but I recommend stericlens spray it's literally just saline in a spray can but it's excellent at getting into difficult places.
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Thanks for the suggestion, the moaning was rather tongue in cheek, tbh. I can afford to buy whatever I need (within reason) to facilitate the healing. I am not sure about using a spray, though as I am meant to leave the scabs in position if possible.


@ycbm, you are right of course, and I hadn't thought of that but I can't wear nickel, either. I thought that the metal used was stainless steel but noticed recently that there are marks on the 'pins' that actually go into the leg/bone, we were joking that they are are going rusty - or at least I hope we were joking!:eek:
 
Cinnamontoast said:
Saline is key! I had to put a pod in one hole and squirt it so it came out the other before the gap in the skin graft closed. I can highly recommend saving a fortune by boiling salted water and employing a horse sized syringe. You could sterilise containers in the oven like you do for jam. Necessity is the mother of invention and all....
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Just one small problem there ...........


the dogs found our irrigation syringe a couple of weeks ago and left it unusable! Something else to ask Amazon for;)
 
Another milestone passed!

I am at home on my own this afternoon and I have just been up to the bathroom and *washed my hair* over the bath. Then I got myself back down to the bottom of the stairs without breaking a window with the spare crutch, which I must admit has been one of my real fears, by dint of pushing the crutch up/downstairs before I set off, then doing the same again on the half-landing.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Another milestone passed!

I am at home on my own this afternoon and I have just been up to the bathroom and *washed my hair* over the bath. Then I got myself back down to the bottom of the stairs without breaking a window with the spare crutch, which I must admit has been one of my real fears, by dint of pushing the crutch up/downstairs before I set off, then doing the same again on the half-landing.
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Yay, you go girl!
 
Tiddlypom said:
Can you park a third spare crutch either at the top of the stairs or the bottom of the stairs (depending where you are) so that you don’t have to manhandle a second crutch on the stairs if you are alone?
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I have considered doing that but this was a spur of the moment, well, of the afternoon, decision and I don't have a 3rd crutch available but I may have to get one.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
@ycbm, you are right of course, and I hadn't thought of that but I can't wear nickel, either. I thought that the metal used was stainless steel but noticed recently that there are marks on the 'pins' that actually go into the leg/bone, we were joking that they are are going rusty - or at least I hope we were joking!:eek:
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I've done a bit of google PaS and there's some stuff on sensitivity to various metals in implants and in frame pins. Given your allergy history.........

One relevant research paper:

https://europepmc.org/article/med/32176224
 
ycbm said:
I've done a bit of google PaS and there's some stuff on sensitivity to various metals in implants and in frame pins. Given your allergy history.........

One relevant research paper:

https://europepmc.org/article/med/32176224
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Thank you for that ycbm, I really appreciate your efforts. :)

I will use the saline and hypoallergenic showergel on Sunday when I have my weekly shower and pin cleaning session and if that doesn't solve the problems, I will speak to the frame nurse, or my GP, who I might get more sense/response from, and ask that allergic reaction to the metals is investigated.


ETA, the temporary fixation wounds have healed well, so I am hopeful that the problems are being caused by the antiseptic that I have been given to clean the wounds with, rather than by the actual metal. Keep your fingers crossed, please.
 
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Pearlsasinger said:
Just one small problem there ...........


the dogs found our irrigation syringe a couple of weeks ago and left it unusable! Something else to ask Amazon for;)
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Ask your vet, probably get it for free given your circs!

Pearlsasinger said:
Another milestone passed!

I am at home on my own this afternoon and I have just been up to the bathroom and *washed my hair* over the bath. Then I got myself back down to the bottom of the stairs without breaking a window with the spare crutch, which I must admit has been one of my real fears, by dint of pushing the crutch up/downstairs before I set off, then doing the same again on the half-landing.
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That’s huge! Well done!
 
neddy man said:
When I had my hip done a trick for making stairs easier was = one step at a time going up best leg 1st then bad leg to same step ditto to the top, = when coming down one step at a time bad leg first then good leg to same step ditto to the bottom it means all the hard work is done by the good leg.
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That is indeed how the physios told me to approach steps, the frame stops my knee bending beyond 90'.
The issue is complicated by the frame and by our steps, which are certainly not akin to those in the hospital.
Ours are 170 yrs old, wooden, narrow, bordered by a window on one side and, because of their age, no two treads are the same width. My foot does not fit completely onto any of the treads. Going upstairs, that doesn't matter so much because the frame sits behind my toes. However going down that is an issue because the frame sits behind my heel, so I have to put my 'frame foot' sideways onto the step, or plummet top to bottom. I did wonder at first if sliding down the banister might work better, because that is so shiny that I have to wear rubberised gloves in order o be able to be able to rely on the handrail but I decided that the frame would unbalance me too much:eek::D:D:D:D
 
Tiddlypom said:
Someone else to keep you company in the Dog Walking is Dangeous club.

His fractures aren’t as impressive as yours, mind.

Joe Biden: President-elect fractures foot while playing with dog https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55127559
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I saw that just a few minutes ago:) He is very welcome to join my club but he will certainly find it easier to get about with his injury. I fell off the kitchen step a few years ago and blamed the Rotts, who stood on the back of my clog-style sandals (I haven't had any like that again). I had a walking boot and managed to get around very well, up and down stairs and the lot. I even attended a 2-day Conference in a large hotel, where I had to use the goods lift to access some of the rooms.:eek:. I wish him well.
 
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