Readers may recall from Contemporary Compliance Case Study, a post published just over a month ago, that I was concerned about my own adherence to a Physical Therapy regimen for a pulled muscle diagnosis.
Well, not to worry. As it turns out, PT, treatment with which I was, of course, fully compliant, brought about no symptomatic improvement, so a second appointment with the primary physician seemed prudent.
That clinical visit occasioned an x-ray to rule out a hip fracture prior to an anticipated referral to an orthopedic/sports specialist. It required, however, only one glance at the completed X-ray to transform the rule-out into a confirmed diagnosis.
The New Compliance Challenge
Three days and three inserted pins later, I was home, with strict orders (indistinguishable to the human ear from threats) from the surgeon to avoid weight-bearing on my right leg. Compliance with these instructions requires my constant use of a walker and, for long journeys, a wheelchair.
Rehab Report
After reading posts on Heck Of A Guy, my personal blog, about my femoral neck fracture, subsequent hip pinning, and post-op orders to use a walker to avoid weight-bearing on the pinned hip, a younger friend suggested, “Please make sure to get a few ‘action shots’ of you [using the walker] walking around and post them!”
Now, one can hardly begrudge the inherent psychological drive of the young, hale, and hearty to observe the deterioration of their elders. Ridiculing photos of the impaired is, after all, at least somewhat more sublimated than shoving the old folks onto ice floes.
Still, because I found it difficult to believe a photo of me as walker-gimp would appeal to viewers other than (1) ungrateful whippersnappers all too eager to replace the Boomer generation who currently (and rightfully) run things and (2) individuals with a strong skew toward the sadistic, I deferred any action on that idea.
Since that original suggestion, however, I’ve received enough similar requests that, in acquiescence to the wishes of the Heck Of A Guy audience, and without passing judgment on the possible motivations - regardless of how sinister and perverse those may be, I offer this shot of me on my assigned apparatus, the pommel walker.
I apologize for the low level of expertise demonstrated. Snapping the shot by first setting the camera’s self-timer and then trying to be in the requested action pose when the shudder fired complicated the procedure to the point that I had little choice other than the simple loop dismount shown here. Despite several attempts, for example, I could never get the timing right for a photo of the handstands and as for those Russian Wendeswings, well, a picture of those would have just been grandstanding.