I'm Back . . . .

Well, what a difference a week makes. Last Thursday evening, my wife and I visited our daughters' home so we could see the grandvarmits. After all, we hadn't seen them for almost 36 hours and missed them.

As we were leaving via the 4 steps from her mudroom to the garage, I missed the last step (it was dark - or maybe my wife, who was behind me, pushed me ;-)) and found myself on the floor in a great deal of pain. My head bounced off the concrete floor and hurt real bad. In addition, there was some blood from my head injury and a great deal of pain in my groin area. I thought I had pulled a muscle in the fall.
After a few unsuccessful efforts to get up, we dialed 911 and asked for an ambulance.
So to the hospital emergency room we went. After an x-ray of the area, it was determined that I had broken my hip in the fall and needed to have surgery to replace the hip bone. Triple yuk!, but I was hurting so bad, I didn't really care.

Anyway, after the surgery and a few days of recuperation and physical therapy, I could walk a few steps on one foot - no weight on the other - with the aid of a walker). On Wednesday, the physical therapists asked to see the Segway so they could see what physical effort was required by me in order to get on it. I had absolutely no intention whatsoever in riding it. After Courtney Simmons brought it to the room, one of the physical therapists came in to see it and said "OK, now show me how you would get on it." I replied, "You've got to be kidding me." He wasn't - so I thought about it and decided that if I sat on the end of the bed, raised the foot of the bed as high as it would go, then let my feet dangle off the bed and touch the platform, and grab the handlebars with my hands, I could push the machine forward and it might help pull me up. To my utter amazement, it actually worked, and here I was, a person recuperating from hip replacement surgery, who could only take a few baby steps (with a walker), standing up and being taken care of by my 'miracle machine'. The therapist was amazed too and said, "OK, now lets go for a walk", which we did. We 'walked' to the hospital lobby, where we ran into the surgeon who had performed the operation just 5 days ago. The look on his face was priceless. The therapist quickly explained that we were 'just trying the Segway out' . Later that day, I had to show the occupational therapist how I could perform certain daily skills while aboard the Segway, like brushing my teeth, shaving, etc. It was easy, and after another couple of long 'walks' outside (where I couldn't resist the urge to jump some curbs and play around in the grass), they decided to let me go the following morning. Egad! I was mentally all settled in for at least a 2-3 week convalescent period before seeing home again. In analyzing what would be required for me to adequately function at home, it was determined that I had to have an access ramp to the house so I could avoid any steps (I still can't put any weight on my right leg), so we contacted a friend who built the ramp in a couple of hours.

So, we were released Friday morning, just 7 days after the surgery. I'm now using the Segway around the house and it's working remarkably well. I just need to use it to get me to a seated area, backing the Segway up to the chosen spot, and then easing my rear end down to the seat. Getting up is just a matter of reversing the procedure. The seated area just needs to be high enough so that I can get the machine to sit me down and pull me up. Even though there are only a few seats in the house which will allow me the access height I need, I can still go just about anyplace I want to. We use a 'lift cushion' to help provide the extra height needed for me to be seated. Yesterday afternoon my wife panicked a little when she couldn't find me. I had used the ramp to go outside and ride up and down the street. It was a beautiful day.

I know that the recovery period ahead will not be short nor sweet, with the outpatient physical therapy, etc., but the Segway has sure made everything much easier for me during this difficult time.

I'll try to post a few pictures, because it is a very interesting sight. Again, just when I thought my appreciation of the Segway was at an all time high - it just got kicked up another couple of notches. Unbelievable!!