Bibliotherapy for Legs that Don’t Move the Way They Should

I started using a cane in December 2013 and six months later I was using a walker. Walking, even across the living room, was painful and to be avoided if at all possible. My world shrank to include only locations with parking outside the door. I no longer shopped at a supermarket – the distances were just too great.

I had a hip replacement in September 2013. It felt like a miracle. I could put weight on two legs. No more standing on tiptoe! But three months later I had back surgery. Recovery, this time, was slow and painful. I felt isolated and very much alone. I wanted desperately to walk again so I spent one and a half hours a day doing exercises, swimming, walking, and eventually climbing stairs.

I've never put much faith in bibliotherapy, but I found companionship and inspiration reading about Franklin Roosevelt (The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin) who looked like a shoo-in to be president until he developed polio. But he persevered, exercising and swimming, and he did become president, in spite, or perhaps because of, the braces and wheelchair.

Gail Caldwell (New Life, No Instructions) had polio before she learned to walk so when her leg was in pain and movement was difficult she – and her doctors – blamed it on post-polio syndrome. It was years before someone x-rayed her hip and realized she needed a hip replacement. I could really empathize with her struggles to get her muscles working again and I deeply admired her perseverance. And she loved swimming too because the water provided freedom of movement.

We take walking for granted. And yet, it is a complex symphony of muscles and tendons and joints, moving in harmony, propelling us forward. Walking is a miracle – whether it's across a parking lot or beside a river. I am profoundly grateful to be walking again.