perception is key

[jinian]

Went to the doctor this morning to get my foot looked at, since after a month of trying to stay off it and applying NSAIDs it's really not any better than the morning after I jammed it. (Okay, I was not always good at staying off it, I admit. Still, a broken toe heals faster and more easily than this.) I got X-rays and will hear tomorrow whether it's a fracture. The treatment is basically the same either way, it just takes longer if there's broken bone in there, and at this point the doctor and I are both curious what is up with that metatarsal.

The interesting thing that's happening is this: After the X-rays, I got a stiff-soled velcro thing to wear, which works about ten times better than the hiking shoes I was trying to immobilize my foot with before. I am limping less and feeling about the same level of pain. But now, several people, including one in my lab whom I see every day, have expressed concern. Does it hurt much? Yeah, about the same as yesterday, and the month before that. I know I can't really expect people to perceive what's up with me if there's nothing visible, but I'm pretty sure the limp was visible, though it didn't make the audible velcro-crunching noises that now accompany my every step. Does it have to be a medical appliance to elicit this effect? What if I just taped a sign to my foot reading "busted foot" instead?

Comments

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

No, it actually does have to be a medical appliance-- and not only that, one of several specific kinds of medical appliance. I empirically tested this right after I got my foot tattoos; I went to a large anime convention and I varied what I used on my feet to try to get people to give me the space and ability to sit down that I needed. At one point I did have a sign. The only thing that worked was a thing that was basically a walking cast. That by itself beat out sign + cane + giant frickin' bandages.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I love that you know this. Thank you. Now, did this walking cast have velcro? Could that be the magical ingredient?

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Yes, you do want velcro. You also want it to have hard lines, if possible, like plastic or metal edges that you wouldn't get on an ordinary shoe-- mine didn't really have that, but the lines of it were different from anything someone would wear for a non-medical reason. And you want it to be visibly very different from whatever you're wearing on your other foot. Put all that together and suddenly people start giving you chairs and things. Which they don't for a cane, which kind of pissed me off, actually.

But it was a much more fun con when I thought of it as a directed experiment rather than as a large set of ways people are oblivious. ^_^

I hope your foot gets better soon and that it isn't anything too nasty.

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I get seats offered with a cane sometimes (probably more than half the time, actually) - but that's in Seattle. In Cambridge (where I used to live), people often didn't get up even when I asked for a seat on the #1. Seattle does seem to be more disabled-friendly than Cambridge, unfortunately :^P

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I get seats with a cane almost all of the time in Montreal and essentially none of the time in the UK -- so I think this is culturally variable.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

maybe if we just wrapped your leg in velcro cable ties. hmmm.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

... and filmed some really specialized porn?

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

okay, now if we can just find a few hour block at wiscon where we're not doing anything else...

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Oh! I didn't realize it was THAT thing, I have one of those! For me it was when I used a cane, that meant people took my gimpiness seriously, when the same gimpiness without a cane just meant I was fat and slow or something.

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

Oh grar. You have just touched on an issue that pisses me off so very dearly, as you are well aware :^) I could insert-rant-here-concerning-chronic-pain-and-invisible-joint-issues-and-disabilities, but I won't (or maybe I just did?).

I've found a cane to be quite helpful here; part of it is the visible "hey look, I'm hurt" and part is the extra self-confidence to ask for what I need since "clearly they won't begrudge me it because I look hurt." It's a bit poisonous, almost. With the cane and my ankle, people keep expecting it to be temporary, which does have its own issues.

*hugs* Hope it gets better RSN! (*shakes cane at your foot/labmates, at a safe distance*)