How We Got Here

Hello! My name is Trish and I am a Fall Risk. At least that is according to the handy bracelet they gave me at the hospital.

In Winter of 2013 I came home from vacation and missed the last step going into my basement. This caused a hairline fracture on my right tibia that required me to be non-weight bearing for two weeks and then in a walking boot for an additional six weeks.

In Winter of 2016 I slipped on a small patch of ice in my driveway. This resulted in a dislocated foot followed by orthopedic surgery to have a plate and two screws inserted in my left ankle. Total damage was two weeks in a soft splint and four weeks in a plaster cast as non-weight bearing. Afterwards I spent an additional four weeks in a walking boot, still non-weight bearing, but able to begin strengthening and flexibility exercises.

Now that we have covered the Broken Bones part of this project, let us move onto the Bruised Ego. I am one of the 27% of Americans who live alone. Both recovery episodes were a testament to the need to graciously accept help from friends and family, but they also brought about anxiety as I had to give up certain amounts of independence.

My mantra became "Disabled; Not Invalid." Many of the strategies I write about are colored by the experience of recovering while living alone.

During these seemingly endless weeks of recovery I spent a lot of time on the Internet looking for advice, products, and strategy. Oh, and exotic places to begin wintering because it seems to have become my enemy.

I noticed that a majority of the blogs were happening in live time and focused on how much recovery sucked. While I could concur and empathize, they were not all that helpful.

Message boards were filled with questions and a majority of the respondents were "Me too!" without concrete answers.

Clinical websites helped when I could focus through the fog of pain killers long enough to take in the information.

I am posting to this blog NOT as a clinical expert but as someone with a bit of experience. Many of the links to products that I discuss are connected to an Amazon affiliate account that pays a small commission but I have not been paid by any of the companies to discuss their products. These were all products that I used during recovery. Consider use of these links as non tax deductible donations to my healthcare deductibles.