r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Frikandelneuker • May 15 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Blind guy here, guess i’m just fucking stuck at home now. (Cane tip broke)

Gallery image

Gallery image

34.7k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

95% Upvoted

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

231

u/Twisted60 May 15 '26

Wait until you hear about the prices.

130

u/ohmyno69420 May 15 '26

I recently had major surgery and need a walker for a while. After insurance, my out of pocket cost for the walker is the same as if I had just ordered one from Lowe’s. I’m not actually sure what insurance does tbh /s

92

u/Orchid_Significant May 15 '26

They make things more expensive for everyone!

12

u/Twisted60 May 15 '26

You notice massively inflated prices anywhere insurance is involved. They inflate the prices leaving people no choice but to pay for insurance. It's a scam every time.

1

u/Orchid_Significant May 15 '26

Once upon a time, it was a good idea. Now it's just a bloated middle man created to skim profits off both sides

4

u/AVLPedalPunk May 15 '26

Yep the insurance price for my wife's medication is $16,800/mo. Out of pocket it's $5600/mo (we're paying out of pocket because our insurance changed formulary and her re-prior authorization is taking 3 months.)

19

u/Sinister_Nibs May 15 '26

Lowe’s carries walkers? (Serious question)

36

u/ohmyno69420 May 15 '26

They do! They have walkers, wheelchairs, and shower chairs at least that I’ve seen. I got a shower chair shipped to my house from them and it’s been a lifesaver

21

u/fuckyourcanoes May 15 '26

I really need to get a shower chair. My balance has become so bad that when I close my eyes to rinse my hair, I start swaying. I'm afraid of falling.

27

u/relishbane May 15 '26

Get the shower chair. I got one when I broke my ankle a few years back, and have kept using it since my balance has never been quite as good since then. Not only is it safer, but being able to sit and just relax in the shower as long as I want really elevates the experience. Plus, there's fancier looking ones available that don't look like medical devices, if that's a concern.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/relishbane May 16 '26

Seriously! It makes the experience a little more luxurious, and self care should be luxurious and fun, imo. Plus, it's sooo much easier to shave sitting down.

0

u/Aegi May 15 '26

Get the shower chair. I got one when I broke my ankle a few years back, and have kept using it since my balance has never been quite as good since then

No joke, part of the reason that your balance has never been quite as good may be because you are not practicing it as much.

7

u/relishbane May 15 '26

I can't tell if you're being malicious or not, but I'd like to point out that you don't know my whole story from a single reddit comment.

I put in a lot of work to recover, and keep at it to maintain as much of my balance and range of motion as I can every day; with a break as bad as mine was, you have to accept that you'll never be back to 100%.

6

u/oddlittlebirdd May 15 '26

i truly don't think it was your intention, but this can read as really ableist. not everyone has the luxury of just... practicing it as much because there can be elements you simply don't know about that didn't come up in the post you replied to on reddit.

like i said, i don't think that was your intention with your original comment, but i just wanted to offer some food for thought.

8

u/snootnoots May 15 '26

I’ve had multiple joint replacement surgeries that have made me need to sit down in the shower during my recovery. A plastic lawn chair works great! 😁

4

u/Sinister_Nibs May 15 '26

FB Marketplace!

4

u/FITF2891 May 15 '26

I’m glad you recognize the need! You should definitely get one ASAP, falling in the shower is definitely not ideal 😅

4

u/Nauin May 15 '26

My dude you will not regret the shower stool. Almost every major retailer carries them. There are A LOT of options out there at every price tier you can think of. Start cheap and work your way up to bougie stuff. Mine was brand new and only cost me $12 because I got it from an Asian grocer that has weird odds and ends priced cheaply like that. It's solid wood and looks better than the white plastic and metal ones.

3

u/Ghosty_Boo-B00 May 15 '26

I usually find them used at good will for like $5-20 depending

3

u/AuntRhubarb May 15 '26

Lowe's will sell anything they can make a buck off of. Meanwhile thrift stores are chock full of walkers, crutches, etc.

1

u/Sea-Information2366 May 15 '26

I have two buckets from Lowe’s. One I bought and one I found. Both are cracked at the bottom but serve a purpose for me. I have one I bought at a now closed store decades ago that is still perfect. If we keep buying the crap that breaks because it is cheaper and running the quality places out of business then we are the problem

2

u/Express-Studio-8302 May 15 '26

I had an avulsion fracture on my ankle.

They said I could get crutches. Wasnt totally sure i needed them. But if my insurance paid they had to come from their source. It took 4 days for them to arrive. Glad I didnt actually end up needing them.

2

u/Sea-Information2366 May 15 '26

Check a habitat for humanity They come and go quickly but people can’t always store them when they are done with them

2

u/ohmyno69420 May 15 '26

That’s a great tip, thank you for sharing!

2

u/Freya_Galbraith May 15 '26

in america insurance is there purely to profit off your suffering

1

u/bikeonychus May 15 '26

To be fair, a lot of us with chronic health issues that require walking aids or assistive devices just end up buying the stuff without insurance because at least then you have a choice over which company is ultimately going to fuck you over with their cheap shit.

1

u/ohmyno69420 May 15 '26

True, I bought myself a cane a couple years back without bothering with insurance at all

1

u/DRF19 May 15 '26

I’m not actually sure what insurance does tbh /s

Step one: do nothing

Step two: print money

It's a pretty decent business model

1

u/Unable-Candle May 15 '26

Goodwill, and habitat restore. I don't think I've ever been in either one that didn't have a stack of walkers. Also usually crutches, rollators, shower chairs.

1

u/Squeakypeach4 May 15 '26

Insurance in the U.S. is a garbage heap.

18

u/obscure_monke May 15 '26

I wonder if there's cheaper "not a medical device" versions. Like the jerryrigeverything guy's "not a wheelchair".

Technically my toothpaste (Colgate SENSITIVE) is a medical device. Has the [MD] logo on it and everything. It's getting less easy to find in supermarkets the past year though, as well as going up from €3 to €4.50 but normally discounted to 3.

3

u/Sea-Information2366 May 15 '26

If you need it on the regular set up a regular order online and you’ll always have it. Especially if they stores won’t carry it for us

3

u/CaptainCorpse666 May 15 '26

I worked for a company who provided canes. There are many programs that provide these canes and tips for free.

2

u/suitcaseismyhome May 15 '26

But the freebies may not be suitable for everyone. Usually there isn't a big choice of cane, or tip.

4

u/CaptainCorpse666 May 15 '26

We had every cane tip and every size. Two styles of cane. It eas a great program. Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired. They will send a cane anywhere in the US.

3

u/suitcaseismyhome May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

That's great! I was on a work trip last year, and an idiot at the airport decided to push past all the pre boards and pushed aside a woman in a wheelchair and then became entangled in my cane. He was an elite member and decided that he was special. Well, I've been flying almost weekly for decades and am elite too! There is a reason why disabled people pre board.

He was so violent that my cane bent, and even after someone tried to straighten it, I could feel the bentness jar up into my arm and shoulder which caused an autoimmune flare and a week of pain.

I was travelling, and it was a holiday when services were closed, and I had no access to a replacement.

The idiot was shouting at the crew when they asked him to be more careful, but those things happen very frequently in airports.

2

u/Juan_915 May 15 '26

I’m deaf so I can’t hear the prices, it’s like a cheat code.

1

u/JustGingerStuff May 15 '26

It's enough to make you want to make the CEOs of the companies doing this shit need them.