Update:
Wow! Monday was a day of great
progress towards walking again.
My first appointment on Monday was with my Physiatrist—Dr.
Schmidt. We reviewed my progress and
what the next few steps would be. Most
of the time spent with her today was reviewing my exercise program and then
refining it. Instead of so many sit-ups
(I am doing 2 sets of 25 each 3 times per week) she wants me to do more
crunches. She said those work the
abdominal muscles more than the sit-ups.
Then I also need to do a number of my exercises while I squeeze my
shoulder blades together. That will help
strengthen the mid-trapezius muscles. I
am already doing plenty of exercises to work the upper part of that
muscle. I also have to increase the
amount of time I am standing to strengthen the hip area. One major caution was to not to not injure my
shoulder or hip joints, tendons, muscles.
If I do, I will have to wait for those to heal before I can walk with a
prosthesis. I will find out exactly how
and how much energy it will take in just a couple of weeks. So she advised me to tone down some of the
things I was doing and step up a few others.
That means a good portion of exercising this week will be mental and
working things out. “How exactly do you
squeeze your shoulder blades together while doing a push-up?”
My second appointment of the day was with Leah, my prosthetist. On Monday she made a cast of my leg to use in
fabricating my prosthesis. We started
off putting on the silicone liner that I will always wear with my
prosthesis. It reminds me of wet suit
for scuba diving. It goes all the way up
my leg to my mid-thigh. The liner is
kind of sticky or tacky on the inside. I am supposed to wear it at least six
hours on Tuesday; then 7½ hours on Wednesday; nine hours on Thursday, etc.
until I am wearing it all day. With that
on, my stump will never get cold during the winter! Before bedtime, I have to hand-wash it each
night so it can dry overnight. While I
sleep, I will wear the shrinker sock and nylon sheaths. The nylon sheath has to be hand-washed and
hung out to dry each morning. 
After showing me how to don the silicone liner, Leah wrapped it with
Saran wrap (so the plaster cast would slide off my leg when it was finished),
and then covered it with a thin cloth sock.
She marked on the cloth where my bones were (knee cap, tibia,
etc.). She took some measurements
(length, widths at different points, etc.) and then began to plaster my leg,
making certain that it was all tight to my leg.
After the plaster dried, she slid the cast off of my leg. She’ll fill
that with plaster and make adjustments based upon areas that she wants tight
for support or looser so that it doesn’t rub on my bones. After she makes the necessary adjustments,
the plaster leg gets sent down to Rochester, MN for fabrication. She gets my prosthetic leg back and adds the
hardware and make certain that my new foot fits well within my shoe.
Watch an 8-minute video of the process:
On Monday, March 17th I have my next appointment where I put
on my leg for the first time and take my first step. The day is coming soon!!! After that I have a series of appointments
for training in walking and making numerous adjustments so that the leg works
just the way it should.
Thought for the Day:
Sometimes life seems overwhelming.
We look at our schedule and we think, “This is impossible!” By the end of the day we have run out of time
and energy; but not out of things that should be done. We are at the end of our
rope and people keep putting additional demands upon us. We don’t think we can take one more thing and
the car breaks down on the way to work or the tire blows out. We think to ourselves, “Can one more thing
possibly go wrong?” And we find out, “Yes,
it can!”
Or maybe what overwhelms you is physical pain. The level of our pain can easily overwhelm
us. We can tolerate some pain, but if it
is constant, if there is no relief or end of it in sight, or if it reaches a
certain level, we come unglued. Pain can
stop us in our tracks and it can bring us to tears.
No matter whom you are or how strong you are; life will get the better
of you on occasion and you become overwhelmed.
You might be able to do something with your schedule and cut back on
some of your activities; but there isn’t much you can do about your pain. We may be able to tough it out for a while
but eventually we cry, “Uncle!” hoping for relief.
We cry out to God for Him to rescue us from our situation. Sometimes He does. Sometimes He does not. Sometimes the storm breaks and warm sunshine
breaks through to our lives; sometimes it just keeps on storming.
What relief can we hope for?
Warren Wiersbe writes, “God never promised to pamper and shelter His
people. He did promise to strengthen us
for the battle and help us to win the victory. ‘Do not pray for easy lives,’
said Phillips Brooks. ‘Pray to be
stronger men. Do not pray for tasks
equal to your powers. Pray for powers
equal to your tasks.’ The apostle John
echoed that admonition when he wrote, ‘This is the victory that has overcome
the world, even our faith’ (1 John 5:4) [Looking Up When Life Gets You Down].
1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on
your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”
Lord, we ask that you would
calm the wind and cause the storms in our lives to be still. But we accept that sometimes that is not what
will happen despite how much we desire it or for how long we pray. In those times of extended struggle, give us
the strength, the courage, and the tenacity to bear up under it. Give us wisdom to know how to lessen the load
to whatever extent it is possible. Strengthen
us for the battle and help us to win the victory, no matter what we face. AMEN
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