Who knew you could buy sanity on Amazon?

[swan_tower]

So as many of you know, my husband had ankle surgery recently. He’s on crutches, putting no weight on the affected foot . . . for 8-10 weeks.

That’s a long time.

And while I can’t rightly compare my own difficulties to his, it’s going to be a long time for both of us. All of a sudden, I’m carrying most of the household on my own shoulders, because he can’t. Many tasks that I’m used to sharing with him (laundry, taking out the trash, etc) are now mine alone. Things that didn’t use to be tasks suddenly are: I have to be available when he goes to bed, because while it’s possible for him to drag his crutches and the pillow we’re using for his leg up the stairs as he slides up them — they’re too narrow for him to crutch up — it’s a pain in the neck, and much easier if I carry those for him. Some tasks that I would normally let slide for a little while now have to be kept 100% up-to-date; the ant infestation plaguing this entire city isn’t related to his surgery, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have to wash the dishes right away or risk finding a conga line of ants making their way across our kitchen to whatever I left out, and I have to keep the living room constantly tidy or he won’t be able to cross it safely on crutches.

But. My friends, I had a stroke of genius, and it already promises to do wonders for my sanity.

We’ve been making extensive use of stools and folding chairs in various places so he can kneel on them(1) while he showers or washes his hands or whatever. I found myself wondering whether it would help to put one of those in the kitchen, too — and then I thought, no. What we want in the kitchen is one of these.

It arrived this afternoon. Today, for the first time since his surgery, my husband scrubbed some dishes. He loaded the dishwasher and emptied it, too; he put dinner into the oven and took it out again. He can’t do everything; kneeling for too long is uncomfortable, and he has to be careful that it doesn’t roll out from under him and drop him into an unexpected split. But he can function. He can probably manage to bake some brownies if he wants to — and if you know my husband, you know how much that means to him.

And me? I was giddy with delight. The sheer fact of knowing that I don’t have to do everything kitchen-related is a relief all out of proportion to its actual size. Sure, I’m still facing another two months of having to carry his plate to him and then carry it back when he’s done, because you can’t really do that on crutches and the stool doesn’t transition well to carpet. But he can make his own sandwich for lunch without having to balance on one foot while he does it, even if I’m the one who carries it to the couch. He can wash dishes, which is a task that normally falls about 70-80% in his bailiwick instead of mine. He can prepare simple dinners. All of these are things I expected to have to do myself for weeks to come and now . . . now I know that he can help.

I’m well aware that the situation I have with him is business as usual for a lot of people. If you’re a single mother with a toddler, you’ve got to carry every bit as much weight, without the compensation of a charge who continually thanks you and can at least accomplish tasks that don’t require standing. And they don’t sell products on Amazon that will magically turn your toddler into more of a functioning adult. But if you ever find yourself dealing with a similar situation, remember the merits of a simple, flat-topped, caster-mounted stool. It can work wonders.

(1) Some of you will now be thinking of those kneeling scooters you’ve been seeing around lately. We rented one, but they don’t corner well at all, and our place is too small for him to easily navigate indoors on that thing. It’s useful only for when he leaves the house; the rest of the time, it’s crutches, which are far more maneuverable.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[dhampyresa]

Off-topic, but I found some Disney princesses with lightsabers and thought you might be interested.

[swan_tower]

Eee, thanks!

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

There's room for invention there. A kneeling scooter that corners. Hmmm.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

We're pretty sure they restrict its turning radius on purpose, because otherwise it would be really easy to tip over. (Heck, it's pretty easy to tip over even in its current form.)

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the improvement!

Out of curiosity, are there isometrics or something he can do for that leg? 2 weeks in a splint made my arm shrink visibly; 8 weeks... eek.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Not really. He's going to have major atrophy by the time he gets out of it; we're prepared for this fact.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Good luck and best wishes to him!

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

I'm glad y'all found Useful Thing! Best wishes to your husband for his recovery.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[novalis.livejournal.com]

My colleague recommends (from experience) the iWalk, which is like one of those scooters crossed with a peg leg. Might be worth a try.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec! We tried it out, but sadly, it doesn't work for Kyle -- he's technically within the height range, but his proportions are such that even at its greatest extension, it's just a little bit too short for him. But we really appreciate the heads-up about it.

[novalis.livejournal.com]

Too bad! I'll keep that in mind before recommending it again.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

It should still work for people of his height; it's just that his proportions (leg length to overall height, lower leg to upper leg) are completely wrong for the device.

[dyvan.livejournal.com]

Two words: Robotic Legs. :)

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant, and it is great that brownie making may continue. :)