Update:
I had my first Physical Therapy appointment after receiving my
prosthesis. The appointment was on
Thursday morning. I cannot believe what
I did! The appointment was at 11 a.m.
Usually Karen and I try to walk out the door about 45-55 minutes before an appointment
so we have time to get parked, walk to the right place, get checked and then have a
few minutes to wait. Never rushed. Never hurried. I was working on Friday’s update and
totally spaced out on the time. I
glanced at the clock and saw that it was 10:14 a.m. I still had to shave, get my leg on, get
dressed, get myself loaded into the truck, drive to Eau Claire, pick up my son,
Joshua, get to the hospital, get parked, etc.
I didn’t speed and we made it one minute before 11 a.m. to
registration. We still had to check in,
then walk to a different part of the hospital and get upstairs to the physical
therapy rooms. The woman who was checking
us in, did a double take at Joshua and then spent four minutes or so telling us
and her co-workers how much her son and my son looked alike. I was polite and patient on the outside—on
the inside I wasn’t happy. I hate being
late and I caused this myself. Oh
well! We finally got up to PT and Randy
came and got us. It turns out he was
running late because of previous patient and was happy I was running
behind. My prosthetist, Leah, was also
running behind and arrived a moment or two later. So everyone was happy that everyone else was
late; except I was still a bit wound up because I was late. It took twenty minutes or so from me to
finally calm down completely.
I practiced walking and got instructions on what to do differently or
better. They decided that my prosthesis
needed some adjusting over at the lab after this appointment. I was shown how to go up and down stairs at
my request. It is not that I want to use
the stairs at home yet; I want to walk up onto the platform at church on Sunday
morning. Just three steps. I plan on getting a stool to sit on while I
preach. I won’t be strong enough to
stand for great lengths of time (like how long my sermon lasts) for some
time. I was told that I would probably
not need the wheelchair in about 2-3 weeks, so I am thinking ahead. My buddy Randy will have to install a
handrail at church before I can get up and down, so I am hoping by March 30 to
get up there instead of being pushed up a ramp in my wheelchair. I was also shown how to do about four
exercises that they want me to practice while I am standing with my prosthesis. One of the things that they stressed over and
over was that I was to work on my form rather than on speed. So I am to walk slowly and steadily using the
correct form and shifting my weight back and forth, etc. Some of the things they showed me took me a
bit of time to think about. I would try
it with my right leg attempting to determine what muscles were used and how I
did it. Then I had to replicate it with
my left leg. Like most of us, I did
those things naturally after years of practice; now I have to mental think how
it is done and retrain muscles to do their job.
I have another appointment with Randy in Physical Therapy next Thursday
morning so he can evaluate, reinforce what he wants me to practice this week
and then he’ll add a few new twists to what I am doing.
After the PT appointment, I went over to the lab and Leah made some
adjustments to my leg making it more comfortable. She shortened it just a bit, adjusted the
foot some (I was slightly duck feet), and then lowered the back of the
prosthesis where it was hurting the back of my knee/calf area. I’ve got another appointment with her
immediately following next week’s PT appointment. Leah says that there will be more tweaking to
do. She also thinks that I will be ready
to upgrade my foot/ankle by next week.
I’ve got the beginner model on right now. It is very stable, but doesn’t flex and move
much. My new ankle will be more
dynamic. I think that I will move up
through four ankles before I reach the one designed from my level of activity
(uneven terrain outdoors—think hunting!).
After that my son, Jon, joined Joshua and me for lunch at Buffalo Wild
Wings. It wasn’t the calmest place with
March Madness going on. The Badgers game
had just finished and the girl’s state games were on. Service was slow because of it; but the food
was good. Karen had asked me to cook
dinner and have it ready when she arrived home a little after 5:30 because she
had to leave by 6 p.m. for the evening.
So I thought like a man and ordered about 20 extra wings for dinner!
I got home and posted the update and then answered a few work emails
and then it was time to warm up everything for dinner. My wife was very pleased with my
“cooking.”
After my wife left, I made a couple of phone calls for work and then
strapped my leg back on to do some walking around the house and to do my new
exercises before I forgot everything I was told at PT.
The rest of the night was spent preparing the update for Friday along
with the video that Josh recorded. Here
is a link to a 6½ minute taste of my PT appointment.
Friday morning, my daughter Kate is coming to get me. I have an eye appointment. I’ll get my injection in my left eye. That will take about 45 minutes of prep time.
As I said before the eye is numbed so I don’t really feel the needle. It is the aftermath of the drops used to
clean the eye and prevent infection that end up hurting. It will feel like gravel is in my eye for the
rest of Friday and part of Saturday.
This is my “good” eye so I won’t be able to use the computer for emails
or FaceBook, etc. until Saturday afternoon.
That said, I probably won’t send an Update/Thoughts out again until
Monday. By Sunday, I’ll have some
discomfort but able to see well enough by then.
On Monday, I’ll have laser surgery in my right eye. I have no idea what repercussions that will
have or how that will affect my vision.
Usually I am very inquisitive and want to know everything upfront. At this point, I’m told that it is mandatory
and just told them, “Bring it on!” I
know they’ll give me details about it before it happens.
Thought for the Day:
I’m going to share what I read in my devotional time this morning. I have been reading a section of the Gospel
of Luke every morning during my time with the Lord through prayer and bible
reading. This morning I started on the
next section Luke 18:31. I reacted with
tears and sorrow as I read that Jesus would be “mocked and shamefully treated
and spit upon” (Luke 18:32). After
spending time to thank God that He was willing to endure this because of my
sinfulness and for my sake, I continued reading and came to Luke 18:35-43.
Luke 18:35-43 As he
drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he
cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came
near, he asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He
said, "Lord, let me recover my sight." And Jesus
said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God.
And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
With my current prognosis and treatment for my eyes, this struck me
very hard. I identified with the blind
man and echoed his request, “Restore my sight.”
I have to tell you that I’ve thought long and hard about the potential
of going blind. Most everything that I
enjoy would be stripped from my grasp: reading, working on the computer,
enjoying the sunset in the fall forest, driving, and enjoying my independence,
archery and hunting, motorcycle riding, watching TV, etc., etc., etc. How could I continue to prepare messages for
a Sunday service? I couldn’t use my
smart phone. I’m just learning to walk
on my prosthesis—could I learn to walk with a cane when I’m blind? No more working in the garage, if I could
continue as a chaplain—everything about it would change. I cannot even imagine the magnitude of going
blind. It terrifies me in a way that I
never considered before.
So I spent a good long time telling God what was on my heart and what I
desired. I desire that my sight be
restored to what it has been, not just stop the progression at its current
place; but to turn back the clock and restore my eyesight to clear vision with
my tri-focal lens.
Jesus said to the man, “Restore your sight; your faith has made you
well.” Those are words of great comfort
and hope for me. At this moment, my
eyesight remains the same; but I don’t doubt that God can and may still choose
to answer my prayer. Well, I know that
He WILL answer my prayer—just maybe not exactly how I prayed it. He may have something far greater in mind.
Notice what the man did afterwards.
He glorified God. The result was
that everybody who saw what had happened gave praise to God. That’s what I want to see happen. No matter
how God chooses to accomplish it—I want to glorify God with my life and help
bring praise to God from the lips of others.
He may choose to allow me to lose my sight to accomplish that
prayer. And I would be devastated and
yet at the same time okay with that. I
know that my personal happiness and comfort are not the most important thing in
this world, so with trembling in my heart, I submit myself to God’s will
whatever that may be. I’ve gone through
a lot of Kleenex this morning so don’t suppose that this has been easy for me
to proclaim.
Although I am afraid of losing my sight; I am confident and fully trust
God to provide for me whatever twists and turns my life takes. No matter where life leads me—I will be
hanging on tightly to Jesus; just like a child hangs on tightly to daddy,
burying his head into daddy’s chest. I
know that whatever happens—I’ll be safe in His arms. And He will give me the strength and courage
to stand victorious over whatever challenges I face in life.
I am amazed at how quickly life can pull the rug out from underneath
you. One minute everything is warm and
wonderful; and in the next moment you are flat on you back wondering how you
got there. I cannot change what will
happen to me (I can take some action in response; but I really can’t stop
whatever will happen to me). Like most
of us, I like to be in control—but in some respects our control is an
illusion. We can choose which side of
the boat we will paddle like mad on; but the white-water river will continue to
speed us onward despite how hard we paddle.
My choice is to cry out to God for deliverance and then hang on for dear
life and enjoy the ride as much as I can.
You’ve got about the same prospects as me. Right now your life might look like a calm,
serene stream meandering through a forest glade; but just around the corner
might be the first waterfall that changes your life into a crashing
waterfall. On all white-water rafting
trips there is an expert guide that you need to trust and then listen to his
directions. The water might be crashing
around you and the bottom of the raft just seemed to drop away; but with the
expert guide, you can be relaxed and enjoy the ride and at the same time be
terrified. Jesus wants to be your
guide. Will you trust Him? Will you listen to what He tells you to do? Enjoy the ride!
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