DD on crutches

[Geldhart]

My DD11 has hurt her ankle and surgery is a possibility. This means she could be on crutches when for our cruise on Freedom of the Seas.

 

Any suggestions on how to handle this. Crutches are a pain just around the house and school, I can't imagine how she would handle them on a cruise, especially considering she's never been on one before.

[Umbarger]

Rent a wheelchair. Make sure to get one that folds up so you can get it into the cabin. Usually cruise lines do not loan out wheelchairs so you need to bring your own or rent one.

[rhondar]

You could check out the following link re a knee walker. This is an alternative to crutches and would give her more mobility.

Sorry link didn't work . Just google knee walker for info.

[Geldhart]

That's what I was thinking - the wheelchair.

 

The knee walker looks cool, not sure if I can find one locally, and not sure if I can rent it for the ship, but will keep looking. She loved watching a youtube video of it.

[Umbarger]

That's what I was thinking - the wheelchair.

 

The knee walker looks cool, not sure if I can find one locally, and not sure if I can rent it for the ship, but will keep looking. She loved watching a youtube video of it.

 

The knee walker will give her more independence than a wheelchair. Keep looking. Good luck.

[Jenjer]

Order her a knee scooter today!!!!!! :-)

 

 

I broke my foot bad and just got back from the Freedom of the Seas. I use a knee scooter that I bought on Amazon for under 250. If I had known the amount of time I would on it I would have bought the better one but hey it still works.

 

We rented a wheel chair for me to use. I never ever did. I used my scooter. Was it easy? No, but I had more Freedom on my scooter, easier to fit into the elevators into places. Easier to get it out of the way. when I was seated.

 

On knee scooters you feel ever surface change every strip of meltal between carpet, tile, ect. We had a blacony room and I could get around the room okay in the scooter no way in the chair.

 

Buy her one today she will love you for it. So much easier than crutches by like 1000%

 

This is mine. When I bought it I was hoping to only ave to use it for a few weeks but since my facture is still there I have a min of 16 week on this guy I am currently on week 9.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-790-Steerable-Walker/dp/B003VMAKVS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338311198&sr=8-1

 

Feel free to email me if you want any advice on getting around Freedom with a broken foot. Scrappingjen@hotmail.com

[Geldhart]

Order her a knee scooter today!!!!!! :-)

 

 

I broke my foot bad and just got back from the Freedom of the Seas. I use a knee scooter that I bought on Amazon for under 250. If I had known the amount of time I would on it I would have bought the better one but hey it still works.

 

We rented a wheel chair for me to use. I never ever did. I used my scooter. Was it easy? No, but I had more Freedom on my scooter, easier to fit into the elevators into places. Easier to get it out of the way. when I was seated.

 

On knee scooters you feel ever surface change every strip of meltal between carpet, tile, ect. We had a blacony room and I could get around the room okay in the scooter no way in the chair.

 

Buy her one today she will love you for it. So much easier than crutches by like 1000%

 

This is mine. When I bought it I was hoping to only ave to use it for a few weeks but since my facture is still there I have a min of 16 week on this guy I am currently on week 9.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-790-Steerable-Walker/dp/B003VMAKVS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338311198&sr=8-1

 

Feel free to email me if you want any advice on getting around Freedom with a broken foot. Scrappingjen@hotmail.com

 

I really like the look of the Knee Scooter, my question though is "How is she supposed to carry stuff?" (Like say her lunch at the Windjammer)

[xxoocruiser]

I really like the look of the Knee Scooter, my question though is "How is she supposed to carry stuff?" (Like say her lunch at the Windjammer)

 

The minute she goes into the Windjamer staff will immediately assist her . They'll walk around the buffet with her as she makes her selections , assist her with getting a table and make certain she is well taken care of.

 

For stuff she might want to carry with her throughout the day, she can hang a small tote bag on the handle bars.

 

If dining in the Main Dining Room, once seated the waiter will take the knee roller and place it out of the way. Than retrieve it when she's ready to ,leave

 

I use both a walker and a scooter in cruises. There's always been someone from staff to assist when needed. In fact sometimes too much help .

[bluehenfan]

I live in a rural area but my adult DD was still able to find a place that rented medical equipment to get a knee scooter when she had major foot surgery. She used it on our cruise and it was a real conversation starter! Made a big difference in her being able to get around the ship and ports. There are actually cruise staff walking around buffet just looking for people who need assistance. As someone else posted, they'll carry her tray and help her with selections. In our case, my teenage DGrD helped her mom with her tray and selections and then went to get her own food, but I have mobility issues and have had staff help me on other cruises. There was a medical supply store in town near us where she could rent one, but she also called pharmacy and they gave her the name of another pharmacy even closer that rented wheelchairs,walkers and knee scooters. Hope your daughter has a quick recovery and that you all have a great cruise !!

[Jenjer]

Around here they rent for $80 a month. But I just went ahead and bought it.

 

I hung my "purse" from the handlebars or my kids backpack if I needed more than my little purse would carry.

 

When we took a cab in St Marteen they put it in the back its lightwight and easy for anyone to manage.

 

We always came in as a family so they never helped me with my tray I made the kids help me but I am sure if I was alone they would have.

 

When we went to Coco Cay they had called ahead and met me with a beach wheelchair and I left my scooter at the dock. Very helpful.

 

Now there are about 1000 surface changes on Freedom and so its a bumby ride but still very doable

[Geldhart]

Both her ankles are now hurting real bad and she is unable to walk even with crutches. We were able to buy a 2nd hand manual wheelchair that had only been used once (the sellers MIL tried it and hated it, went back to her old one).

 

We see the specialist on Wednesday, hopefully we have some more concrete answers then.

 

She can take a few steps on her own, and the chair does fold up, so I don't think we will need an accessible cabin - it would likely be too late anyway, and we do need two rooms next to each other so parents in one, and kids in the other.

 

Assuming she is in the chair for the cruise....

 

For the Muster Drill, I am assuming she can take the elevator, but how would they handle her in the event of a real emergency when the elevators are unusable. I could imagine us being in the Windjammer when the emergency signal goes off, no way she could walk it if we were on the ship today. Even worse is if we are separated. . . (I had enough troubles carrying her from her bedroom to the car to take her to the doctor after her other ankle collapsed).

 

(RCCL Freedom of the Seas if that makes a difference)

[CaptData]

Both her ankles are now hurting real bad and she is unable to walk even with crutches. We were able to buy a 2nd hand manual wheelchair that had only been used once (the sellers MIL tried it and hated it, went back to her old one).

 

We see the specialist on Wednesday, hopefully we have some more concrete answers then.

 

She can take a few steps on her own, and the chair does fold up, so I don't think we will need an accessible cabin - it would likely be too late anyway, and we do need two rooms next to each other so parents in one, and kids in the other.

 

Check with special services and see if one is available with a room near by for you.

 

Assuming she is in the chair for the cruise....

 

For the Muster Drill, I am assuming she can take the elevator, but how would they handle her in the event of a real emergency when the elevators are unusable. I could imagine us being in the Windjammer when the emergency signal goes off, no way she could walk it if we were on the ship today. Even worse is if we are separated. . . (I had enough troubles carrying her from her bedroom to the car to take her to the doctor after her other ankle collapsed).

 

 

Yes, use elevators before and after drill. For a real emergency go to Front Desk when you first get there and have her registered as a guest who will need assistance for emergency. They will ensure they someone is assigned to her for a real emergency no matter if she is with you or not. They will carry her down the stair and put her in a chair until she needs to go into a life boat. This is good for any ship.

 

(RCCL Freedom of the Seas if that makes a difference)

 

 

Have you thought of renting a scooter for her. It will allow her far more Independence then a wheel chair. If you can not get a H/C room once you board just ask where to plug in the scooter at night. They will show you. Let your daughter go to the room and you take the scooter there for recharging every night. You can get a scoot at Carevactions.com or Scootaround.com

 

 

They deliver the scooter to the room and you just eave it when you depart the ship. To get on when you arrive ask for wheelchair assistance and they will come with a wheelchair and push it for you so that you can carry your stuff.

[katisdale]

In the event of a real emergency I have been told that I woud be carried to the muster point. I felt really good about that when told it by the 6 ft 5 Ukranian steward who looked like he lifted weights for at least 4 hours a day. I got the same message from a small Thai lady who also said she would bring others. If it came to it I would go down the stairs on my bottom and get to the life boat one way or another. I have seen photos of wheelchair lifts being used on stairs during drills and that would work also.

[emmtee]

I actually broke my ankle on a shore excursion in Estonia. (My avatar is my actual x-ray.) I had to leave the cruise for a few days to have surgery, but I rejoined the cruise in Helsinki. Normally, cruiselines don't let you borrow wheelchairs, but they made an exception for me. It probably helped that I was on cruiseline sponsored tour when I broke it. I have to commend NCL on the way they handled everything. They were wonderful.

 

I was absolutely forbidden to put any weight on my ankle for fear of breaking one of the screws, and I was really afraid of losing my balance on crutches and accidentally putting my weight on my bad ankle, so once I got home, I rented a knee scooter.

 

This is the one I rented: http://www.rolleraid.com/patients.html

Even the rental was kind of pricy, but this one is really stable and it has a basket so you can carry things.

 

You mentioned that both your daughter's ankles are hurting now. I still think a knee scooter would be a good option for her. When you use crutches, all your weight is on your good leg, but when you're using a knee scooter, most of your weight is really on your knee. You only use your other leg for steering and propulsion. When I encountered a long line, I would just sit down on the knee pad.

 

Knee scooters are so much easier to manage than wheelchairs. I was totally independent. I drove myself, worked, shopped, got in and out of the shower, etc. all using my knee scooter. It folded up, so when I drove, I would put it in the back of my car. I kept a pair of crutches in my car to get from the back door to the driver's door, but that's the only time I needed them.

[Geldhart]

The reason she is in the wheelchair is that BOTH ankles are killing her. A knee scooter would be unusable, and so are crutches.

 

Update:

 

She saw the orthopedist today and we were told the problem isn't orthopedic. All the bones, tendons, ligaments are all perfect. He suspected Rheumatoid Arthritis, and called in a pediatrician.

 

The pediatrician checked her out briefly and provisionally agrees with that diagnosis. She has been prescribed some medication that will help if RA is indeed the problem (and a brief search seems to show her symptoms match that of RA). Blood was taken as well, and she will go back next week for more followup.

 

So, she may be okay without the wheelchair come cruise time. Here's hoping. And here's hoping that RA is relatively treatable.

[fabnfortysomething]

To Geldhart

 

my advice to you is to search out patient support groups-here in the UK we have NRAS the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society-they can be great help as this is a disease where the patient needs to be actively involved in their own treatment

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis is treatable but not curable and it may take a while to get onto a drug treatment that works-there are several different classes of drugs and some people react better to one than another.

 

Personal experience-my husband developed symptoms of pain and swelling in several joints in his mid 40's but was misdiagnosed for several years with the result that by the time RA was recognised irreversible damage was done to several joints.

 

The good news is that it sounds as if your daughter has been caught at an early stage and drug treatment can stop that damage occurring.

 

However fatigue is a common symptom and the pain and inflammation is unlikely to disappear overnight.Therefore plan to use that wheelchair and in fact a mobility scooter would give her more independence

 

best wishes and keeping fingers crossed that your daughter does well

[emmtee]

I'm glad you have a diagnosis now and that her condition is treatable. Have you had your daughter's Vitamin D levels checked? There's a lot of evidence that low Vitamin D levels can contribute to development of autoimmune diseases. Don't supplement without checking with her doctor, though. http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/24/vitamin-d-affects-autoimmune-diseases-and-cancer-genes/

 

Now that she has one autoimmune disease, she's at greater risk for developing others. http://www.aarda.org/research_display.php?ID=47

 

Best of luck to your daughter.