As a mom, running around like crazy and keeping our family’s life going smoothly is just part of the job. We routinely do carpool, throw some laundry in while making dinner, and run that last errand to get ready for an upcoming event, all without thinking much about our ability and mobility. What we lack as far as planning is how to keep our family life running if we have an accident.
One Friday night, I was doing a quick outdoor chore and stepped in a hole, tripping and fracturing two bones in my ankle. I knew the instant I hit the ground that this recovery would be long and filled with a lot of frustration. I hate to say I was right! I spent time in the ER and then saw an orthopedic surgeon. A plate and 10 screws now holds my ankle together. That was the easy part. The hard part: six weeks non-weight bearing, followed by four more weeks in a CAM (controlled ankle movement) boot, with a crutch, and then working up to actually walking on my ankle again.
My Mom came to help for a bit and my husband has been really great, but within a week, I was tired of being coddled. I know my family was trying to be helpful, but I was a stay-at-home mom (mostly) and having my job of providing for my family taken from me was frustrating. I got short-tempered with everyone, but I swore to myself that I would stay busy enough to avoid depression, which is a very common response to losing mobility. I am amazed at people who deal with limited mobility everyday of their lives. I have an end date to mine and focusing on that has been a life saver for me.
With all that being said, I thought I’d share some things I have learned during this process, which you can keep in mind in case you are ever in my position and lose your mobility temporarily:
- At first, just get lots of rest and let everyone else do everything for you.
- Make yourself a countdown. We do this for vacation and fun stuff, why not for the next stage of healing? I counted down until my stitches came out. I counted down until I could bear a tiny bit of weight. I counted down everything until I was back in business!
- Once you’re feeling better, start by making dinner and grocery lists. I found that my mom’s dinner menus were very different from my own and my family was grateful for the effort, but didn’t eat much of what she made. My husband thinks a well-planned dinner consists of a carb, a carb, and a carb. I finally planned a week’s menu at a time and made a grocery list, and this worked well for everyone.
- Catch up on easy and fun stuff (while sitting) at home. I did online photo albums for my kids. I planned my son’s graduation party (eight months in advance). I finished the couple of small crafts I had put aside.
- Figure out how to be somewhat mobile. This will help keep your stamina up and your muscles usable so that when the option for mobility comes again, you’re ready for it!
- Get out of the house. Some of my trips were literally just riding in the car to the grocery and sending my husband inside. Sometimes I went in too, but the nature of my ankle fracture made a knee scooter press on the wrong place and being active in a store for any amount of time was not without its own problems.
- It’s ok to be in survival mode. Skip the dusting. Don’t worry about scrubbing down kitchen cupboards. Just focus on the day-to-day things like getting kids to and from school, homework, basic picking up around the house, etc. My bedroom carpet has not gotten vacuumed for almost three months. No one (except me) has even noticed!
- The most important part is to focus on your healing. Do your PT. Rest. Hydrate. Etc. Make sure you are not in such a rush to get back to your mom job that you jeopardize your body. This time will pass and life will return to normal eventually.
I know it’s not fun to ever really think about an accident that will take you off your feet for months, but that is the nature of an accident — you don’t really see it coming. I sure didn’t, as a 40-something mom who had never broken anything in her life! I hope this list will help you if you ever do find yourself in my shoes…well, shoe. I am finally seeing the finish line. In less than two weeks, I will be out of a CAM boot, and in my regular shoes again!
