Fractured hip- options?

[Raenstoirm]

Dh and I am heading to WDW in a week and a half. I have been marathon training the last few weeks and I "strained" my hip (not a strain apparently). I have been taking it easy for two weeks with little improvement, so I went to the orthopedist today. Stress fracture of the hip. No walking on it! Dh and I are commando tourers. I am at a loss as to what to do here. Doc sent me home with crutches. I cant do crutches in WDW. I may have to rent a wheelchair. I just want to cry. I can walk short distances, but the 12-15 miles we usually walk is out. I dont want to rent a scooter from an outside company. (Since I dont "need" the scooter, I dont want to have to struggle with it on the busses.). We are heading to WDW during a slow-ish time. Will I have the option of renting a scooter if I need one? How many does each park have for rent?

 

[tikistitch]

I had a stress fracture on my ankle & foot from marathon training before our trip last December. It happened about 4 days before the trip, I think? The doctor told me absolutely no walking on it and a Disney trip should be out of the question if I wanted it to heal within 4-6 weeks.

We rented a manual wheelchair our first day in the parks and I only relied on it 100% that first day. After that I was able to survive on a combination of over the counter pain relievers and a lot of small breaks to watch shows or scenery watch, and only used the chair toward the end of the day. I didn't get to ride everything I wanted because waiting in line didn't seem very appealing at the time, but I did get to finally see every show and parade WDW has to offer and I got to take in the atmosphere a lot better than I ever have. I also got to eat a lot of amazing food (totally a coincidence that most of my breaks happened to be on patios of food service) and talk to a lot of people from other places that were sitting nearby me during my breaks, and got some magical attention from CMs who took notice I was hurt and resting. It was a much more relaxing trip than the frantic trying to cover every ride all 4 parks has to offer while being on foot and going from park open through extra magic hours after close. I actually felt like I had truly relaxed, and didn't need a vacation to recover from my Disney vacation like I normally do!

But when we did to go rent the wheelchair on our first day, we saw a large handful of scooters available for rent. This was at the Magic Kingdom, but we glanced at wheelchair rental at all the parks, just in case, and it seemed to be the same. I would just be sure to rent one as early as possible, even during a non-peak time.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you rent an ECV from offsite you can get it with a crutch holder. And as most lines are mainstreamed you can get the ECV to Load on most rides.

Please ask the following questions. Here are the suggested answers to go with them.

1. Are you disabled (even temporarily)? Yes.

2. Do the people you are traveling with, such as your family, know you are disabled? Yes.

3. Do you expect to meet anyone you know during this trip who may not know you are disabled. Probably No!

4. Do you expect to meet a bunch of people who you will probably never meet again in your life? Probably yes!

5. Is there any reason at all that you should care what these people think about you? Absolutely No!!

6. Will using a wheelchair or ECV make for a better vacation for you and your family? Absolutely YES!

 

[50surgeries2012]

On one trip that my husband and I took to Disney World. We rented a scooter for me from one of the outside companies just so that he wouldn't have to be worn out from having to push me around in the parks all day in my manual wheelchair.

Having the scooter at the hotel waiting for me when we got there was awesome. I can't remember which company we rented it from. But, it was one of the outside ones that delivers power chairs, and scooters to the hotels. Once I got the hang of driving it. It was nothing compared to driving my own power chair here at home.

Don't feel bad about renting a scooter. If you don't want you husband to be tired out from pushing you all day in the parks in a manual wheelchair. Then, the scooter will be the way to go. It's so much fun to drive in the parks, and the wheelchair rental places in each one of the parks has a place where you can plug it in. They'll give you a rental wheelchair for free to use around the park if you don't want to remain with your scooter while it's charging. They also have charging ports (regular plugs) around the different areas of the parks too where you can also plug in your scooter.

I'm just like you. I can walk short distances also. About the same distance that you can. Before my second hip replacement surgery. I had a stress fracture in my hip also, along with a severe tear in one of my hip muscles that made it very painful for me to walk at all. If it hadn't been for my mom to beg my hip specialist to doing the hip replacement surgery because I was in so much pain when he was hesitant to do a second total hip replacement surgery on me when I am so young. I would still be in pain today. Even after the recent hip replacement surgery that I've had. I can still only walk short distances because the scoliosis in my back is now giving me problems.

I know that the parks have a huge supply of scooters as Tikistitch has said. But, you have to get to the parks early if you want to rent one because they are rented on a first come, first serve basis, and sometimes the wheelchair rental places run out of renting them faster than they do with the manual wheelchairs.

Samantha

 

[Piper]

The walk from where the buses let you off to where yourent the ECV is very long. If you have problems walking, you will be exhausted before you even start the day.......and then you have to do the same thing at the end of the day when you are tired.

Getting the ECVs on the bus is not really that difficult. If you truly need one, I would rent from an outside source. Then you will have it for use around the resort--which is a whole 'nother story!

 

[minkydog]

The walk from where the buses let you off to where yourent the ECV is very long. If you have problems walking, you will be exhausted before you even start the day.......and then you have to do the same thing at the end of the day when you are tired.

Getting the ECVs on the bus is not really that difficult. If you truly need one, I would rent from an outside source. Then you will have it for use around the resort--which is a whole 'nother story!

I agree with this, 1000%. Those crutches are going to tear you up. I've been on crutches a number of times for foot and ankle injuries, and the crutches always cause me considerable pain in my wrists, from bearing weight, and my underarms, from chafing on the crutches.

Distances are deceiving, even at the hotels. 8-12 miles a day on on crutches? Not happening. And I highly doubt you will be able to propel yourself around the parks for several days. It's not fair to your family to have to push you,either; they will be utterly exhausted before the end of the day. I do not find the buses hard to manage at all. In fact, last time we were there we had DH in an ECV and DS in his w/c. And it still was a piece of cake!

~Get the ECV.

 

[cindy0519]

Stuggling with nearly the same issue Raenstoirm. Fractured my tibia plateau training for the PHM. I now face 8-12 weeks non weight bearing in a immobilizing knee brace and using crutches but thankfuly no surgeryas long as I stay off the leg and things heal well.

My ortho said Disney = yes, walking (even on crutches) = NO WAY!!. He very forecfully said wheelchair or ECV but no long periods of walking, even on the crutches. I have struggled with the same issues regarding renting an ECV. It's so hard to feel like you "need it" when on a normal daily basis you certainly do not. DH wanted to rent and push a wheelchair but I feel that I have no independence at this point and the thought of the wheelchair compounds that even more.

After a trip to the mall and a couple to our local Target (where they chased me around with one of their electric cars until I finally caved and got on it. It was during Black Friday and I think they were worried I might fall or trip someone). I am renting an ECV from Apple for our trip next week as I have come to the conclusion that it will make the trip much more enjoyable for everyone and I just need to let go of my pride and use the darn thing. I am also fearful of navigating the bus steps on crutches (I am not coordinated at all) and having the ECV will make the bus process easier too.

Hope your hip is better soon and you enjoy your trip!!

 

[Raenstoirm]

Stuggling with nearly the same issue Raenstoirm. Fractured my tibia plateau training for the PHM. I now face 8-12 weeks non weight bearing in a immobilizing knee brace and using crutches but thankfuly no surgeryas long as I stay off the leg and things heal well.

We are down there the same time as you. Maybe we will bump ECVs!

 

[cindy0519]

LOL! That would be funny. Just look for a redhead that looks like an unhappy control freak on a scooter