[Maria]

Judy,
If your toe surgery bothers you anything like mine did the first week you won't even want to put your foot down re pain/swelling however after that period wears off should you go thru it then you'll want to be hobbling about no doubt.

I got around fine on crutches and had to go up and down a flight of stairs. I found my grabber/reacher to be invaluable during my recovery period (esp. initial) even though I did try to think of most things I'd want close to me and keep them near the bedside the first week or so.

Part of my freedom from back pain seems to be rooted in daily walking so the use of crutches limited that and my back pain was greatly increased from the hobbling of my gait, use of crutches (which also hurt my wrists/hands) and the arthritis I must have in my low back.
Using the crutches pretty much gave me a lot of tension in my cervical and accessory muscles as well combined w/the impaired gait that got to my low back. I had to use muscle relaxers to un-do this as spasms got pretty bad there for a while though I think that was after about 2 weeks of crutches.

I imagine you'll find a way to get around altho you might not feel much like vacumning and dusting! Then again after a while when your toe doesn't hurt in the dependent position you'll be getting around fine I imagine and crutches won't keep you down!