Last Friday night I bought this. It's an iWalk 2.0 hands-free crutch. I can't wait to get it. Living with crutches is not fun. Being NWB (oh the acronymns I am learning - this stands for "non-weight bearing"). I am hoping this is life changing but I'll have to let you know.
image via Amazon
I am finding that multiple transportation modes are helpful. Here's another acronym for you: DME. This one is full of frustration because it's totally wrapped up in insurance and medical red tape. It's taken almost 3 weeks for me to get everything in order to finally get my knee scooter.
This one above looks a little crazy, right? But the reviews and testimonials say that this could be a great option for walking around the house, doing productive things like cleaning, carrying things, and being able to stand up and do things. If doctors can operate using this it should help me be able to do dishes, make meals, do laundry and other exciting things. I can't wait to see how it works.
I hear you have to be willing to have a lot of people either freak out at it or ask you lots of questions so either way it seems like a big attention grabber. That should be interesting, since I already feel like everyone is looking at me with pity when I approach a door, hop a curb or am struggling a bit getting out of my car.
Hopefully by the time you read this I also have my knee scooter which will help transport me around. None of these implements will make having a broken foot okay, but it will certainly make it easier to get around and lessen the wear and tear on different body parts that are taking up the slack for the broken foot. Ideally I think having these three different options will make life a little less exhausting and frustrating.
I still keep forgetting at times that I'm wearing a cast. Got good news from the doctor this past week that my NWB time may be cut shorter by six weeks. That is extremely exciting. Being NWB for only six weeks instead of 12 weeks is MASSIVE! Won't know for another month, but I'm hopeful. I'll fill you in on what it's like to wear a peg-leg cast soon. Hope all is going well for you. I sure like being here and interacting more with you. I've missed it.
Update: Today I went up and down stairs at home and walked all around the office on my iWalk2.0. Still stumble a little occasionally but loving this piece of equipment. My arms and shoulders are rested and I feel much happier being able to stand up straight, look people in the eye, use my hands to carry things and not have to depend on other people to bring me food and drinks and all the little things I need during the day.
The only thing that is a even the slightest challenge is that if you want to sit down you have to take it all off and then put it back on again. But I am getting pretty quick at that so it's not so much of a problem. I find that I would much rather put it on and take it off for short walks than drag myself across the room on my crutches. Crutches hurt, iWalk doesn't. I have had to adjust it a few times and am still experimenting to find the most comfortable settings but with each tweak it gets a better.
I have so much more freedom and I can say that I have felt much more upbeat and happier the past two days totally because of this device. That alone is worth far more than I paid for this hands-free crutch! Getting through the "no weight bearing" phase of this broken foot business is going to be much more bearable now. Totally recommend it. Check out the reviews on Amazon.
Update: Today I went up and down stairs at home and walked all around the office on my iWalk2.0. Still stumble a little occasionally but loving this piece of equipment. My arms and shoulders are rested and I feel much happier being able to stand up straight, look people in the eye, use my hands to carry things and not have to depend on other people to bring me food and drinks and all the little things I need during the day.
The only thing that is a even the slightest challenge is that if you want to sit down you have to take it all off and then put it back on again. But I am getting pretty quick at that so it's not so much of a problem. I find that I would much rather put it on and take it off for short walks than drag myself across the room on my crutches. Crutches hurt, iWalk doesn't. I have had to adjust it a few times and am still experimenting to find the most comfortable settings but with each tweak it gets a better.
I have so much more freedom and I can say that I have felt much more upbeat and happier the past two days totally because of this device. That alone is worth far more than I paid for this hands-free crutch! Getting through the "no weight bearing" phase of this broken foot business is going to be much more bearable now. Totally recommend it. Check out the reviews on Amazon.
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