The woman with the catching crew

You fall off a pair of crutches once, and you get a reputation....

It took me about half a day of my family's increased vigilance before I wanted to say "Damn the leg" and just run away. Fortunately(?) the Thursday was partly taken up by needing to get my cast replaced because it was too tight on the toes, so I had a bit of time being wheeled about in a chair to entertain me, but otherwise every move was shadowed by various family members.

Oddly - the new elbow crutches felt a lot less secure than the perilous under-arm ones, though it was obvious that they were much easier to rebalance by moving the upper body about. That was a relief - I still was never quite sure how far forwards any hop would take me.

Friends and family had been communicating with me via Facebook - everyone had ideas about how to keep myself busy, but they seemed to have voted that I should learn to crochet for some reason. I wasn't averse to the idea, but a bit daunted by the codes that the crochet crowd seem to use, and also found myself recoiling in horror at some of the froufrou stuff that could be made. Several friends had an idea - crochet a squid.... Really?!

In the absence of crochet kit, I found my felting kit, and had a bit of a play. When you are frustrated, a craft that involves repeatedly sticking a pin in things does seem to help a bit! Sadly, I also had to stick a pin in myself every day (not just my many felting miss-hits), to give myself a dose of blood-thinners. I'd been told at the hospital in Scotland to put the needle just under the skin, but I found that this either caused a huge bruise or, once, a kind of bubble / blister to form, so I did a bit of googling. Those that have to dose themselves regularly seem to think the needle should be quite a bit deeper, and to pinch the skin as you do it, so I went with that and it seemed to bruise less. The pain seems to come more after the injection, but it's not that bad - certainly not as bad as a broken ankle!

I was becoming better at going upstairs on my backside too - muscles getting stronger in the upper body and left leg, so, whilst it didn't look elegant in any way, at least it was effective and felt secure.
Tracey's patent going upstairs sitting method -

Stand by bottom of stairs facing away from them. Sit back carefully trying to hit the highest step your bum can get onto.
Hold onto the bannister with one hand and the step above your bum with the other (or if you have a 1960's build house like ours, hold onto whatever they left you with that you can reach)
Lift your good foot onto the step just below your bum
Push with arms as you push with your foot, so you don't overload your knee as you lift yourself onto the next step up.
At the top of the stairs, you might find it easier to pull yourself up onto a stool or low chair placed on the landing, rather than try to pull yourself up on the top bannister or getting hauled onto your good leg by a helper.

Of course, the hyper-vigilant family meant I was doing this with someone below me on the stairs in case I somehow managed to fall off my backside, and someone above me ready to help me onto the stool at the top, so once I was up, I was up, and not too keen to go back down if I could help it. This meant I wasn't overdoing it too much - not really a problem - my left knee hadn't enjoyed it at all to begin with so I wanted to pace myself.

Early bed for the woman with the broken leg...


Lessons learned:

When injecting yourself with blood thinners, swab the area with antiseptic, pinch the stomach fat on one side of the belly button (but at least 4cm away from it) and put the needle in most of the way. Depress the plunger at about the same speed as on a cafetiere! Remember to swap sides the next time as well.

If you want to walk upstairs on crutches, avoid living in a 1960's build house...

Crafts will be thrust upon you - this may be a good thing.

There is such a thing as a crochet pattern for a squid.