Take it easy on yourself
Feb. 29th, 2016 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaThe story begins at Day 1. The short version: I ruptured knee ligaments skiing, and am currently experiencing life with dramatically-reduced mobility.
Part of the process of getting on with life at the moment is just working out how to do things. I can stand for short periods of time without crutches (by standing on one leg, and concentrating so I don't lose my balance). So I can make myself a cup of tea. What I can't then do is carry it anywhere, because crutches and carrying things is not compatible. (Another part of the process is working out what not to do... surprise thing that requires functional medial ligaments: the side-to-side swooshing leg movement used to encourage hot water up from the tap end of the bath!)
My new best friend is a zippy fleece jacket I bought some years ago. It has huge, bucket-like inside pockets. ChrisC has dug out from the back of the kitchen cupboard the one-cup flask I used to use to take tea to the Engineering Computer Science building when I was a post-grad. So now I can make a cup of tea in the flask, put the lid on, put it in my pocket, and transport it safely back to the sofa. Hurrah!
Add to that my improving ability to whizz round on crutches, and I encouraged ChrisC to head off to work for the day. He consented to leave me unattended, but on condition I promised to keep my phone on my person at all times in case of emergency. Since it seemed like a reasonable request, I agreed. And then promptly managed to abandon my phone in different bits of the flat on no fewer than three occasions while he was getting ready to leave...
I dug out my Glastonbury Festival don't-drop-your-phone-down-the-bog strap, and tied my phone to my trusty fleece. OK. Now we are ready for anything. This isn't so bad.
Also, someone on Google+ pointed out that Kate Moss has recently had a skiing incident and is sporting a legbrace and crutches. So apparently I'm bang on trend as well. I know you were all worried about how this was affecting my fashion choices.
My hip was still pretty sore, so I made sure I never sat for too long, going on little jaunts down the corridor or to the kitchen. By the end of the day, I'd discovered a new problem.
All this walking around was probably great for Right Leg, safely wrapped up in its brace and only having a fraction of my weight on it. Left Leg, however, which was doing all the work, was reminding me (with increasing frequency and ferocity) that it also has ruptured ligaments and would I please stop with all this racing around.
Bother.
I also remained uncertain just what exactly was upsetting my hip. Sitting still? Sitting wrongly? Sleeping with my leg chocked up with pillows? Just the exertion of lifting my leg awkwardly around? I experimentally went to bed wearing my leg brace, with my leg flat on the bed.
No specific heroes today, but ChrisC is clearly Designated Hero of the Week.
Part of the process of getting on with life at the moment is just working out how to do things. I can stand for short periods of time without crutches (by standing on one leg, and concentrating so I don't lose my balance). So I can make myself a cup of tea. What I can't then do is carry it anywhere, because crutches and carrying things is not compatible. (Another part of the process is working out what not to do... surprise thing that requires functional medial ligaments: the side-to-side swooshing leg movement used to encourage hot water up from the tap end of the bath!)
My new best friend is a zippy fleece jacket I bought some years ago. It has huge, bucket-like inside pockets. ChrisC has dug out from the back of the kitchen cupboard the one-cup flask I used to use to take tea to the Engineering Computer Science building when I was a post-grad. So now I can make a cup of tea in the flask, put the lid on, put it in my pocket, and transport it safely back to the sofa. Hurrah!
Add to that my improving ability to whizz round on crutches, and I encouraged ChrisC to head off to work for the day. He consented to leave me unattended, but on condition I promised to keep my phone on my person at all times in case of emergency. Since it seemed like a reasonable request, I agreed. And then promptly managed to abandon my phone in different bits of the flat on no fewer than three occasions while he was getting ready to leave...
I dug out my Glastonbury Festival don't-drop-your-phone-down-the-bog strap, and tied my phone to my trusty fleece. OK. Now we are ready for anything. This isn't so bad.
Also, someone on Google+ pointed out that Kate Moss has recently had a skiing incident and is sporting a legbrace and crutches. So apparently I'm bang on trend as well. I know you were all worried about how this was affecting my fashion choices.
My hip was still pretty sore, so I made sure I never sat for too long, going on little jaunts down the corridor or to the kitchen. By the end of the day, I'd discovered a new problem.
All this walking around was probably great for Right Leg, safely wrapped up in its brace and only having a fraction of my weight on it. Left Leg, however, which was doing all the work, was reminding me (with increasing frequency and ferocity) that it also has ruptured ligaments and would I please stop with all this racing around.
Bother.
I also remained uncertain just what exactly was upsetting my hip. Sitting still? Sitting wrongly? Sleeping with my leg chocked up with pillows? Just the exertion of lifting my leg awkwardly around? I experimentally went to bed wearing my leg brace, with my leg flat on the bed.
No specific heroes today, but ChrisC is clearly Designated Hero of the Week.
