Spasticity and Splints - Part 12: Post Op 2 (Moving Around)

Along with not having a shower, I had to change my personal care and my standing transfer routines as well. As part of my routine I have to roll onto my side, and I have always rolled onto my right side because it worked better for both me, and my carer. As I had my arm in a cast and sling, I couldn’t really roll onto my right side due to the pain and the sheer awkwardness of my arm being immobilised. It was really weird for both of us, and kept having to think about which way I was turning.

As with the standing transfers, I’m going to attempt to explain how I do them. When I do a standing transfer, I do not need the carer to do any lifting; they are just required to help me keep my balance. They did this by holding my right arm and putting their other hand in the middle of my back, however after my surgery I had my right arm in a sling so we had to adapt by holding my left arm and letting the sling and their body support my right arm.

At home, I move around on the floor because I’m restricted to what I can do when I’m in my wheelchair. As you may know, my computer setup is on the floor, so I am always on the floor. Depending on how my body is behaving on the day, I either crawl on my hands and knees, walk on my knees, ‘bunny hop’ or a mix all three. As my balance is affected by my Cerebral Palsy, I fall over when I’m on the floor sometimes.

When I came home from hospital, I found it extremely difficult to move around without falling ass over tit. This greatly impacted on my mental health because I can’t do a lot on my own, and having the ability to move independently significantly reduced really took a toll on me as I had to rely on other people a lot more. I was almost scared to move for fear of falling over. For the first few days, I was constantly over-balancing and falling over because having one arm immobilised was weighing me down and sending me off balance. It took a lot of getting used to, but eventually I figured that the best way for me to move was to bum shuffle using my legs and left arm to push myself.