My Tripod Walking Style

The past few months were very slow and rough to say the least. I broke my tibia at the plateau in November and that meant that I couldn't walk for 3 months! This is the first bone that I ever break in 32 years at a very inconvenient time in my life (with an active infant). I cried for at least 5 days thinking what was I supposed to do with a little girl and a demanding job where I had already taken 3 months of maternity leave this year.

When the doctor first delivered the news, I was mostly thinking about the trip to Colombia that we had planned for months. We canceled the trip and stayed home instead of joining my family. I'm glad that we canceled because I had no idea what it was like to be on crutches. I always knew that it looked difficult, but it is a workout where your arms and the good leg get extremely tired. I really didn't think how the simplest things in life were also going to get extremely complicated. I read somewhere that stairs and crutches are mortal enemies. It is the perfect description on how I felt about them. We have been living with my parents because just thinking about going up or down the stairs in our townhouse gets me nervous. I did it a few times using my arms and my bottom but I don't want to do it everyday. My biggest challenge to this day is to be creative on how to take care of Emma and show her my love. She is already used to me not taking her to turn the music on or she doesn't show me things like other people who can take her there. It breaks my heart that I'm not her favorite person anymore. I also had other challenges like taking a shower. The fear of slippery surfaces and more broken bones had me taking sponge baths for several days at the beginning of this "journey". I asked someone to be next to me when I went in and out of the tub until the past week.

The pain was gone 2 weeks after the injury. I lost my balance once on my way to the bathroom the first week and hurt myself. After that I only went to the places where I really needed to go. I decided that to get some air and also some holiday shopping done, the best way was to rent a wheel chair. When we went out, Andre pushed the chair and I took Emma on my lap. She got bored after a while so he had to walk her around. Andre was a wonderful husband and father taking care of both of us without complaining about it.

I'm blessed with my family who helped me unconditionally and Emma's nanny was also wonderful taking care of Emma and me when my parents were on vacation and Andre was at work. I asked a few friends for help babysitting since I couldn't stay alone with Emma. My dad drove me to the orthopedist appointments and physical therapy twice per week. Things also worked out well thanks to the help of my my boss who allowed me to work from home as long as I needed. I returned to the office part time last week and full time this week.

One of the hardest things was reminding myself that this was only temporary. The limitations caused by crutches were annoying, and I couldn't wait for the day that I could be independent again. During my 2 months of no weight bearing and 2 weeks of weight bearing I learned many things. Besides knowing how to go up and down steps, I learned how to be more patient. Being restricted to move was an opportunity to stay at home and watch my baby grow and for that, I am grateful. Today, during my physical therapy appointment,  my therapist took my crutch and told me to walk. It was surprisingly easy. I was using only one crutch for the past week and taking occasional steps when I had something to hold on to in case of emergency. I started driving yesterday and today I walked. I am excited to finally say that after 2 and a half months this broken leg is healed. I still have a lot of work to do to get my strength back. I'm just happy that I can finally say today: GOOD BYE crutches!