# I'm On The "Disabled List" ;) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868 "2009-08-27T03:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/1 "2009-08-27T03:34:10Z")
Okay. It’s a broken ankle, but it’s a “clean” break and will require no surgery/pins. The way it happened was this: I was helping D with the washing and was carrying a clothes basket down the stairs (bedrooms are upstairs). This is an older house and each step of the stairs is only about a foot wide. The basket was fuller with clothes than normal and It was hard for me to gauge where to put my feet, so about half way down, down I went. Didn’t know it at the time but yeah, I broke the ankle and hit my head on the wall. The reason we didn’t know it at the time, is because the new B/P meds I am on are making my hands and legs swell, so, because I could walk up the stairs last night we just thought “twisted ankle”. Wrong. So I’m in a temporary cast till next week and when the swelling recedes, they’ll put me on one oc those “walking” casts and I shold be able to get around a bit better. My computer time is going to be minimal because I have to keep my left leg elevated for now, and I’m being petted rotten by my wife, and I’m “eatin’ it up!” _LOL_ So consider me as being officially on the (physical) disabled list. (We already knew about the mental list, right?;)) Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/2 "2009-08-27T03:43:08Z")
Feel better, hon! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/3 "2009-08-27T03:44:07Z")
Tough break, **Quasi**! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/4 "2009-08-27T03:47:15Z")
Bask in the pampering! ---
**Author:** ![purple\_haze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@purple\_haze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_haze)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/5 "2009-08-27T04:11:01Z")
Ooh, I’m sorry to hear that you got hurt. How does your head feel? I hope the swelling in your ankle goes away soon, and it isn’t too painful. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/6 "2009-08-27T14:36:38Z")
Ouch–I’m glad it was “only” a broken ankle. (A few years back, my aunt had a spiral fracture in her lower leg from a fall on her basement stairs–surgery and metal and lots of recovery time.) Best wishes for a quick recovery! And enjoy the pampering. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/7 "2009-08-27T14:56:56Z")
Ouchies! Ice it occasionally, that might help the swelling go down and reduce the pain a bit. I also recommend applying the cold stuff internally though that’s best done in the form of ice cream, not just plain ice 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/8 "2009-08-27T15:06:33Z")
Ouch! You’re going to be in some real pain for a while. Get that pampering while you can! But realize that in about 10 weeks, you’re going to barely remember the pain. It’s all just going to feel like some weird dream. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/9 "2009-08-27T17:57:14Z")
Insist on the codene-laced asprins from your doc. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/10 "2009-08-27T18:58:31Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Ice it occasionally, that might help the swelling go down and reduce the pain a bit. I’d check with the doctor on that one. I don’t know about breaks, but for sprains you generally only want to ice for the first 48 hours or so–after that, apply **heat**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/11 "2009-08-27T19:04:33Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’d check with the doctor on that one. I don’t know about breaks, When I broke both of my feet last year, I was told to apply a bag of frozen peas for several days. That would take the swelling down. I didn’t have any frozen peas (and I wasn’t about to skip down to the local store), so I used frozen broccoli and water chestnuts in a butter and garlic sauce. I guess that’s what they call alternative medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/12 "2009-08-27T19:40:02Z")
Thanks for my official Chortle of the Day, **tdn**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/13 "2009-08-27T19:52:16Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Thanks for my official Chortle of the Day, **tdn**. 😃 I think the reason you put heat on a sprain is to loosen the muscle up. With a break, that’s probably not necessary. You just want to bring the tissue swelling down. IANAD, though, so take that with a grain of frozen salt. How long to keep the frozen veggies on? I don’t know. After two days, I was pretty sick of the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/14 "2009-08-27T20:27:36Z")
The explanation I always heard was that you ice to reduce initial swelling (which could lead to further tissue damage), and then a few days in, after the initial immune response has calmed down, you apply heat to increase circulation, which speeds healing. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/15 "2009-08-28T01:57:44Z")
Ice wouldn’t get through this cast material anyway, so it’s a moot point. 😉 I did, however, take **Mama Zappa’s** advice and asked for some orange sherbet (my favorite ice cream), some Batman comics, the latest Dean Koontz, and some new jammies. When I get sick, I play that shit for all it’s worth! 🙂 On another note: A friend brought me a cane (our upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms are kinda narrow for crutches or a walker), and man! I thought I knew how to use this thing, having watched House as much as I have, but there’s a fine art to it, isn’t there? I mean you really have to hold it close and make it “be” that affected limb. Also, I make quite a comical sight, scooting up and down the stairs on my butt! Thanks for all the advice. I figure I can squeeze one more week of sympathy out of this thing before I’ll have to start doing stuff again! 😉 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/16 "2009-08-28T02:04:25Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Also, I make quite a comical sight, scooting up and down the stairs on my butt! Now’s your chance to install a zip line in your house! Won’t be much good getting _up_ the stairs, but think of the fun going down! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/17 "2009-08-28T02:07:12Z")
The usual advice on using a cane is opposite hand to the affected limb. It’s how I use mine but I know they show House using same hand. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/18 "2009-08-28T15:58:19Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > A friend brought me a cane (our upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms are kinda narrow for crutches or a walker), and man! I thought I knew how to use this thing, having watched House as much as I have, but there’s a fine art to it, isn’t there? ACK! No, no, no, no, no! Do \*\*not \*\*use \*House \*as a guide for how to use a cane. You want the cane on the \*\*opposite \*\*side from your injury–you want to be kind of making a triangle with your injured leg on one side, the cane on the other, and the good leg in the middle. Side note: the latest season’s DVD set is supposed to be shipping on Monday! Woohoo! I can finally get caught up. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/19 "2009-08-28T16:24:38Z")
_SIGH_. I knew _something_ wasn’t right! I scare myself with my “Dummkopfedness” sometimes, I swear! :smack: Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868/20 "2009-08-28T16:43:59Z")
It’s an easy mistake to make–putting the cane on the opposite side seems kind of counterintuitive at first. I mean, the other leg isn’t injured, so why would you have it over there? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-on-the-disabled-list/507868.md?page=2)