40 weeks pregnant, need crutches before 9am tomorrow... anyone?

[bluechik]

Hi there, we live in London N16. My partner is 40 weeks pregnant ('due' date tomorrow) and earlier today fell and sprained her ankle. It's definitely a sprain, she has an old injury and has sprained it several times in the same spot over the years. We have been doing the RICE thing which has eased it slightly but she still can't put any weight on it. We've been talking to the NHS after hours service about getting hold of crutches but they're not keen without her going off for an x-ray to A&E which she's not keen on as she knows herself that it isn't broken, as well as not wanting to spend ages in A&E tonight. And nobody to look after our toddler either. Problem is -she's meant to go into work at Canary Wharf tomorrow to attend a special presentation, get leaving gifts, hand over laptop etc and the presentation is at 9am - she really wants to go but completely not practical unless she has some crutches to help her move around. We have been checking Argos but can't find a store opening before 9am that has crutches in stock. I also think she's a bit worried about being immobile in case of imminent labour (went to acupuncture today and feels things are moving on a bit).

Sorry for the long post, but does anyone know where we could hire/buy crutches in North/East London tomorrow morning around 8am? Are there any early-opening chemists that have them in stock that you know of - I've done a Google search but only seem to find online sellers that would home deliver in a couple of days.

Trusting in the power of Mumsnet

bump

I would be slightly concerned about the old injury - particularly as everything is so much looser prior to delivery, and the ligaments may not have given the support they would have done before the preganancy. My father manged to walk on a broken ankle for 2 days before her finally went for an xray and was very lucky not to require remedial surgery.

Even with all the toddler hassle I would go for the xray...

Sorry that's probably not the 'help' you want but at least it's bumped.

Good luck with the immenient arrival.

x ray.

Hmm, thanks, will just go and mention this to her..

She's still not keen. Said the NHS online people said that they may well not want to x-ray because of the pregnancy.. but that a doctor would want to visually assess the injury.. she reckons it looks and feels exactly like the other 4 sprains she's had before.. So we are back to crutches, I think if she can get to this meeting tomorrow she will feel better and I'll be able to persuade her in for an x-ray afterwards.

shame you are in london as i have a set you could have borrowed but im in the NW...not helpful i know

i would go for the xray and they will most likely give a set of crutches to you once thats done...does your DW not have a friend or family member to go the hospital with her and you stay home with the DC? or friend to sit with the Dc while you take her to hospital?

why not start a new thread asking if you can borrow crutches from someone in your area - you never know, a MNer nearby may have some?

She could go to the meeting, then you could take her straight to A&E

Thanks NoMoreMarbles! That's a very kind thought - not sure you will be on our commute though

No family in London for either of us, but yep, we could ask our neighbour to sit with DS and I have already suggested this. But she is v reluctant. And also 40 weeks PG - don't really want to argue too much.

Panda, that's a great idea, will do that now. I agree, would be much easier to persuade her to go to A&E after the meeting in the morning.

OK, have set up thread in Mumsnet local as well... hope it's not against the rules to have the same topic in 2 places at once..

Try your local freecycle, I got a pair for a friend that way.

Ooh, thanks for that suggestion Married, will do that now

Do you have a big Lloyds Pharmacy nearby? Some are open until midnight and as you can see from the link there are crutches on their website. You might get lucky? There's a late-night one at Brent Cross which probably isn't ideal, but maybe worth a call?

I do think your wife should be seen at hospital. She is about to have a baby! She does need to know exactly what is wrong, rather than making medical decisions her self.

Thanks PastGrace. I've just checked their website, think we could get across the river to either the Bermondsey or Kennington branches before heading to Canary Wharf.. but none of them are open before 9am and closed now :-(

Susan, I agree, but really she is probably right about her ankle, she knows her body pretty well. She is resting quite comfortably now and the baby is moving as usual - it was really quite a little fall (tripped over the gutter) and she landed on her bottom so unlikely that any harm was done to the baby, or to herself other than the sprain. It's very frustrating for her not to be mobile though, and crutches would help her a lot - not easy to hop when 40 weeks pregnant. She has already had a callback from a doctor on the after hours service who agreed it sounded like a sprain, although they wanted to double check it visually, and possibly via x-ray.

Legendary! Just got a pair on Freecycle that we can pick up tomorrow morning at. 8.30am - one street away from us. What did we ever do without the Interweb... And Mumsnet.. Thanks so much everyone :)

Small point- make sure you adjust them to her height in the morning even if in a rush as it's possible to injure yourself quite badly if you use non-fitting crutches badly

hope it goes well tomorrow. I had an x ray when pg- just a matter of holding a lead apron over the bump!