13 items I've found to help recovery from ORIF and foot surgery

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share some of the things I have found that have made my recovery thus far just a tiny bit easier to deal with.

I also ask if anyone has anything they have/are using that they would recommend please comment below.

First let me give you a little background. On 22May21 I fell stepping off my front porch and broke all three bones in my left ankle as well as two in my left foot. I underwent ORIF surgery on 23May and surgery fusion of the mid foot bones on 11Jun.

Things I recommend getting; (in no particular order)

1. Crutches- yes I know that's are given Crutches but not everyone. I know that they are difficult to get used to but for things like going up or down stairs or navigating narrow spaces they are useful.
2. A knee scooter with a front basket - this is a life saver. I paid about $120 for mine and I don't know what I pull do without it.
3. A padded cushion for the knee scooter - it may be because I purchased a cheaper one but the knee part was uncomfortable and put too much pressure on the front of my leg where the cast stopped. You can probably make some extra padding but it was only about $20
4. A grabber tool - I already owned one for reaching things that fell behind furniture (eg the washing machine). On the bad pain days I don't know what I would do without this. Plus no risking losing your balance by trying to reach something too high on your one foot.
5. A wedge shaped pillow specifically designed for keeping your foot/leg elevated - You can buy one that only elevates your injured leg or one that does both. I purchased one that only raises my bad leg. A pile of pillows felt too precarious and I worried that in order to keep my foot above my heart if I twitched or shifted in my sleep my leg would fall off.
6. A sitting pillow for your back - There are a lot of different types. I have one with arms that I bought for about $10 years ago. I do not normally sleep on my back and I found out while in the hospital that being slightly elevated kept me from trying to roll over on to my side.
7. A heating pad - My hips start to hurt periodically from spending so much time lying down. I've found that using a heating pad help ease the ache. I highly recommend a plug in one rather than one of the microwave ones so it's always ready to go when you need it.
8. Ice packs - This may seem redundant but I have 4 of the flexible ice packs. This might sound like too many but I have two different types. I have two large flat square ones (it says large back size on it) and I have two small almost butterfly shaped ones with velcro straps. The larger ice packs are for laying across my calf but I found they don't work too well for my foot. I can never seem to get them where I need them. Thats where the other two come in. I can place them on my foot, top bottom or side and wrap the strap around my foot and cast to velcro it in place. They have a layer of material on them to prevent direct contact of the ice pack and skin/cast so I don't have to put any cloth under it and the shape makes it form pretty well to my foot/cast
9. Toilet rails - I actually don't own these because my toilet is so close to the counter I can brace my arm across the top to stand. Others may not be so lucky. I had researched these before being released from the hospital on the chance I might need one. There are three different types. ones that just sit on the floor around the toilet bowl, ones that attach to the toilet, and ones that attach to the wall behind the toilet. If you do not have a way to leverage yourself you should get one of these. you can also get a bar that goes on the wall next to the toilet. Just be sure you can put it on the correct side (the same side as your injured leg)
10. A shower bench/chair - If you have a walk in shower you can get the chair style but if you oy have a shower/ tub combo you'll need the bench as part of it sits outside the tub allowing you to sit down and slide in without risking a fall by trying to climb over the lip of the tub
11. A shower head with a wand - Sitting on a chair/ bench will put you too far from the shower head to really feel clean. A wand allows you to bring the water pressure down to your level by allowing you to hold the wand. Or you can buy a suction cup specifically designed to hold the wand at whatever height you want. We purchased a double shower head which included both a regular head and wand for about $30
12. A bath pillow - This is for your foot to rest on while you use the toilet or shower. You can buy a blow up one or a waterproof cover for a throw pillow you already have.
13. A long handled shower scrub - This will just make washing that much easier

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