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Marcy - 27 Aug 2005 03:48 GMT

Hello Group,

My mom is having her foot operated on and she will be non-weightbearing
for 8 weeks. She'll have to use a walker instead of crutches and I
have been trying to figure out a way to make it easier for her to keep
her foot off the ground while moving the good leg forward. She can
sort of hop but considering her arthritic spine I don't think she'll be
able to keep that up for 8 weeks.

I have been considering attaching a small padded shelf across one side
for her to rest her knee on while bringing the good foot forward.

I was also thinking about attaching a sort of light plastic pipe to a
knee pad with velcro straps as a sort of "pegleg".

I didn't find any ready-made attachments in the medical supply store
nor a walker that would keep her foot off the ground. Any ideas for
me?

I would appreciate an email to greensilly@comcast.net or a post here.

Many thanks.

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Newsgroup Spambuster - 27 Aug 2005 07:25 GMT

Marcy,

You may want to check into either renting or purchasing one of those
wheeled walkers with a seat on them. I got my insurance company to pay
for mine when I had some knee surgery done a few years ago. I have
oxygen so couldn't carry my tank and use crutches. Also couldn't carry
the tank or hop around with knee surgery, so the insurance company
sprung for the wheeled kind with a seat. I had to get a letter of
medical necessity from my orthopedic surgeon and also had to write my
own letter as to why I felt the need for the special type of walker, but
it all came out ok. If your moms insurance company doesn't want to pay
for one, they might consider either renting one for your mom or renting
her a wheelchair so she can kind of wheel around with the use of her one
good leg. Do some more digging around to see what you can come up with
and best of luck to you and your mom!

Donna G

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Jo Firey - 27 Aug 2005 16:33 GMT

> Marcy,
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> good leg. Do some more digging around to see what you can come up with
> and best of luck to you and your mom!

I certainly wish I'd done that when Charlie had his broken heel. He either
could not or would not use crutches. And crawled to get around the house.
He ended up trashing the opposite knee.

When my mom was in an independent living place, almost everyone had one of
those walkers. The halls were long, they often needed them just to help
with carrying something or to sit and catch their breath. And some were
very creatively decorated. (Otherwise they all looked a lot alike except
for red and blue)

Jo

Jo

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Marcy - 27 Aug 2005 18:58 GMT

Thank you Donna and Jo. If the insurance won't buy one, I think I
will. Great suggestion.

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