How to manage daily life after my son's foot operation

[elliejjtiny]

Ds is 12 and having a minor operation on his foot. He's had 25+ operations already and the last one he had complications so I'm really nervous.

Also he is really un-coordinated and falls over most days. gets his foot trodden on multiple times a day. He's got to have 2 weeks off school, then 2 weeks of leaving lessons early and 3 months with no PE. I don't know how to manage this. Do we all not go anywhere for 3 months apart from school and appointments? Do we try and hire a wheelchair/crutches and carry on as normal? Something in between? My older son ad this operation last year but he is a lot more coordinated and has a really high pain threshold.

Type in knee scooter probably Amazon
We bought our daughter one who after foot.surgery really struggled to use crutches x

Which mobility aids will be best suited will depend on whether he will be non/partial/full weight bearing post-op.

I would expect that the hospital OT will cover this with you. Your Dr whould tell you whether your ds needs to spend any time immobilised at home.

For longer days out the red cross (I think) do wheelchair hire, which was a lifesaver for us.

Thank you. We did this with my older son last year. He was fine with weight bearing but he needed to keep walking around to a minimum for the first couple of days. After that he was fine walking around, he just wasn't allowed to run. He is much more capable of standing upright and not falling over than my younger son though. Younger son also gets his feet trodden on by accident multiple times a day.

will he have any physio afterwards? They can involve OT if mobility is an issue but suspect he is supposed to mobilise and weightbear fairly quickly.

No, he won't have any physio. I asked the dr about it and about the previous surgery complications and he was quite dismissive and kept saying it's only minor surgery, like he was reading off a script. Last time he had day surgery he ended up in overnight with iv paracetamol, anti emetics and fluids. The nurses said that he would probably have to stay in overnight but the iv meds really helped and he was able to go home that evening.

Why does your son get his foot stood on multiple times a day?

If it’s because he can’t get out of people’s way quick enough, then he needs to be escorted to lessons (can be by a peer) because you say he is going to leave lessons early.

If he already has coordination issues then I would not suggest crutches but a wheelchair will help you when he’s out and about.

Presumably you can ask at the time what recovery period is and when he should weightbear. If the wound needs redressing you can ask the nurse who does it.

And of course he needs to return to normal routine asap within the parameters of the medical advice.

I'd not leave hospital until OT have seen him and have advised whether he'd be better with a wheelchair or crutches (which they will provide).

I'd also request a meeting for school to make sure reasonable adjustments are in place for his return. Why is he always getting his feet stepped on? Things need to be put in place so this can be avoided.

Thankyou. Not sure why exactly he keeps getting his feet stood on. He does struggle to get his foot out of the way in time and school is always busy with people rushing around so it's probably that.