Finding a comfortable way to work has been a considerable challenge. Sitting for eight hours a day is definitely not an option, but that is unfortunately the default.
In the early days when I was still able to sit, I got a lumbar support cushion which attached to my office chair by means of two elastic straps. It helped enormously, but as my symptoms grew worse I had to abandon sitting altogether.
I was fortunate in that my company had an ergonomic specialist on hand, and he set me up with a Varidesk. Since my company ordered and installed it, I’m not sure which model I actually got, but it was similar to this one.
I had been resistant to the standing desk idea because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to concentrate properly on my feet. As it turns out, not having to focus on my sitting pain all the time was also nice. I liked the Varidesk because it was so easy to switch between sitting and standing, and back then I hadn’t built up the stamina to stand all day. I would still recommend it to anyone who regularly switches between sitting and standing.
Because my desk was right by the entrance to our floor and because I was head and shoulders above the surrounding cube farms, I attracted a lot of attention from visitors. I became an unofficial spokesperson for Varidesk as I was regularly asked to demonstrate how it worked and recite my glowing review.
The one thing I didn’t like about my Varidesk is that I could never raise it high enough. I had to bend over and type at an awkward angle, which ended up causing forearm pain.
I didn’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for a similar setup at home, so for months I used the top of my dresser as a desk. When my Mom visited after my surgery, she found a coffee table that matched my desk and sawed of the legs so it would be the proper height. Voila. Instant standing desk.
Of course, it’s nice to be off my feet sometimes too. When I’m at home, this is my secondary workstation.
When I was at work and needed to get off my feet for a while I often retreated to our building’s maternity room. They had a wonderful first aid bed in there, firm but with an adjustable back, and there was a water facet inside.
Sure, I wasn’t sitting in there pumping, but since I’m a woman of childbearing age I was able to hole up in there without attracting attention. Once, I heard some gossip from a couple women in my office. They said a man went in there sometimes and they thought it was suspicious. I spoke up with my own story and defended him on the grounds that there are other valid health reasons for using the maternity room. But this incident underscored how much leeway I am afforded in doing weird things for my health.
My office also had a room full of treadmill desks. I suspect this was yet another seemingly progressive choice my company made for the sole purpose of impressing visitors (such as the dedicated parking spaces for electric cars out front) rather than improving employees’ health, but the treadmill desks were there so I made good use of them.
Walking is much easier for me than standing, and it is actually something I do as a therapy. So the treadmill desk allowed me to work more comfortably, and allowed me to do something productive while I took my mandatory walks.
Even though I loved the treadmill desk, it took me a while to get one for my own use. I was worried about the cost, yes, but I also lived in a small apartment without air conditioning. It was only when I left my job and moved into my husband’s house that I had the space for a treadmill desk of my own.
I ordered this monster (aka the ProForm Desk Treadmill) from Costco for $750. It is incredibly heavy (I couldn’t even budge the box), and came with a parts list as long as Anna Karenina and instructions as inscrutable as Finnegan’s Wake.
Once again, my husband came to the rescue, and assembled the whole thing for me one Sunday night. Curse words were needed. I tried to help, but the dining room chair proved to be a more useful assistant.
Once it was assembled, it was very helpful. My 2-3 hour walks can be such a time suck, so being able to multitask is a huge boon. I now do most of my work (and internet time wasting) at the speed of 2.5 miles per hour.