HI faith123. So happens my middle name is Faith and I too am 81. And Colleen is correct, I have not fractured my hip but.........!!!! I have been in PT for over 3.5 years with the same therapist and we have a ball together. I work hard in PT just to see his smile! Fortunately he is only 44 yrs old so will probably be around for me for the rest of my life. I am fighting to stay out of a wheelchair due to a Dr's mistake when he injected an overdose of cortisone into my knee that he had replaced two months previously back in 2006. Up until today, I do not use a cane in the house, but outside walk with two canes to prevent a fall. Just so happens, as of this morning, I have had severe hip pain for the very first time. I no longer drive and I recently got a scooter and there is a path between this retirement community and a great grocery store which is also a restaurant, gift shop and ice cream shop. But the path is gravel and very bumpy and I am afraid the bumpy path is precipitating hip pain. I was fine when I went to bed last nite and woke up with leg, knee, hip and back pain. That is why I wrote above " but............!!!!!". Until now today I have not had any pain, so I do a lot of walking. When I first started PT, I was doing Rx exercises in a pool but now, I just do about 15 minutes of Rx exercises first thing every morning, and last Aug I started a walking project. But before that, I used a walker but stopped using that as I think my gait got worse with it. So now I use no canes in the house but two canes outside to prevent a fall. I bought a measuring wheel and it is tied to my left cane and drags behind me and measures the distance I walk to a fraction of an inch. As of last weekend I reached 100 miles......yes, that is miles. But with this new hip and leg pain, I may have to curtail my walking for a while. I hope not. I usually see the surgeon who replaced my knees every 2 years , but with this walking, I decided to see him a year early to check to see what if any thing adverse is happening to my knees. So I had scheduled an appt with him this coming Thursday, but this time we will add the hip to his "looking". It is after midnight now, as I fell asleep in a reclining chair until just before midnight. and am writing to you.... now 12:37 AM. Do you use the walker for pain or because you are afraid of falling without it. If you use if for fear of falling, why don't you try using two canes. I started using the walker way back because I noticed that others with a walkers, their gait seemed very good, but I didn't want to be tied to a walker until I really needed it. WIth two canes, I pay attention to my gait and usually I can step out with it, however I don't' walk fast. It takes me about 12 minutes to walk 1000 feet! But I am still walking! I'd better get to bed. Hope to "connect" with you. Oh yes, before I close....when I reached 50 and now 100 miles I bought a cake to celebrate for my therapist and his staff. On it I had them draw a cane with a measuring wheel tied to it, and the words "XXX" miles.
Gail.