This is a reminder to all of my friends
who do not do a lot of "weight bearing" (standing, walking), and have
Osteoporosis. If you do not know if you have the illness, be tested
before you begin a stretching/exercising program.
When I broke my legs, I was doing careful, gentle stretching
exercising of my calf muscles. I did this by holding my heel in my
left hand (because I am right handed) and with my right hand gently
cradling the "ball" of my foot and under the toes, I then pushed
towards my knee, thereby stretching the calf muscle on the back of my
leg.
By doing so, I broke both the tibia and fibula bones in both
legs. And, let me tell you...it's hard to explain because as
paraplegics we are not supposed to feel anything (sensation), but there
was a loud cracking noise and an immediate hot, burning pain way down deep
inside my foot/ankle area. I immediately knew that my foot was
broken, and while showing my husband, on the other foot, what I was doing,
broke that one too. And that one was broken badly enough that if I
were going to ever be weight-bearing, fixing it would have required
surgery using pins and rods in order to keep it in the proper position
while healing. But, because I do not weight-bear, the doctor said
that he would be set so that it was "satisfactory." It is
now so crooked, to the side and bent upwards as well, that I will never
again be able to put a shoe on that foot unless it is some kind of shoe
that is built up on one side to accommodate the difference.
I am so upset that I was never told that I would get
osteoporosis, nor treated for it until after the breaks, that I could just
spit! Medication for Osteoporosis ought to be given right from the
onset of the Transverse Myelitis, not four years down the
road!
My specialist is now having lots of trouble designing an
orthosis that will work in order to make my foot look like any kind
of "normal" foot and so that it will fit into some kind of
shoe/boot/protective device. So far he has had no luck coming up
with anything that works without causing me lots of
problems.
Please email me before making any kind of decision pertaining
to stretching exercises. I know how important stretching is when it
comes to "range of motion" in paraplegic patients. It's something
that must be done forever unless one wants "drop-foot" or some other type
of additional disability of the foot/ankle.
I can only write of my own experience and it happens to be
negative in nature, so that is the type of answer you will
get.
But, my answer will be truthful based upon my own experience,
and I will do my best to be unbiased and truthful about what stretching
exercises will do for you...
Lots of love and luck to you,
Jude
