Write From the Soul (no more numbers-I'm tired of them!)

SEVEN THINGS I'VE LEARNED AS A CAREGIVER FOR SOMEONE WITH 
                                           AN ORTHOPEDIC  INJURY

1.  Be sure there is at least one commode in the house that doesn't have an elevated toilet seat with handbars on it. It's kind of creepy to have to share those with someone!

2.  Make sure you have 3 days worth of clothes on the main level where the individual is temporarily living and EVERY possible toiletry. If you don't, you'll be running up and down the stairs just for a pair of socks, or a belt, or some more toothpaste.

3. Buy plenty of tennis balls and have a really sharp knife around to put a slit in them to go over the rubber stoppers on the person's walker. You'll need lots of tennis balls because if you plan to walk outside, tennis balls are not, I repeat, NOT meant to be all-terrain appliances! My mom took a short walk just once around the cul-de-sac and all the yellow fuzz was worn off of the tennis balls And a portion of the rubber underneath was gone too. Not to mention when you come back inside, all the dirt, twigs, and grime of outside will now be ground into your carpeting- NASTY!!

4. Did you know they make "skis" for walkers? Me neither! They are actually small (about 3 inches long) hard plactic skids that attach to the legs of a walker so your walker will become an all-terrain vehicle.We're trying them out today to see if they will work on the carpet as well AND if they transport the outside dirt onto the carpeting like the tennis balls.

5. Go to a web site like "The Wright Stuff" where you can buy all sorts of nifty, handy items for orthopedically-challenged people. You can even buy elastic, springy shoe laces for sneakers-which become slip ons- so the person has good, supportive shoes to wear but doesn't have to ask someone to tie their shoes for them.

6.  Be prepared to become a taskmaster when you get home from the hospital or rehab center. Even the most willing individual seems to procrastinate doing their physical therapy exercises once out of the "therapeutic environment!"  All the reminders about "you won't have full range of motion unless you do these" or"you want to be able to drive again, don't you?" will get you the appropriate responses BUT they won't necessarily produce the exercises!

7.  Don't get impatient, be nice and kind, and cooperative because you never know....you might turn into the orthopedically- challenged sometime and will someone to look after you!

ADDENDUM

Those "skis" work fine outside and are okay on carpet but they might be scraping on the hard wood flooring now that they are roughed up. We can't win.....