Update:
My appointment with my prosthetist, Leah, was very productive on
Tuesday. The needle-like pain and
itching that I was having came from a pinched nerve—the peroneal nerve as it
passes over the head of the fibula bone.
Leah reduced the padding in the foam liner in that area and actually
ground away some of the socket (prosthetic leg) in that area to reduce pressure
in the nerve. Aahhh! That really helped,
my prosthesis is comfortable again. With
my leg muscles continuing to atrophy, the head of the fibula became much more
pronounced and was easier to press the nerve against it.
More padding was added to the base of my foam liner to better secure my
leg. I’ve also been getting a red patch
across one side of my leg that we never have figured out what was causing
it. Leah finally concluded that it must
from skin tension from my silicone liner.
Some people’s skin is prone to getting stretched and irritated as they
wear the silicone liner. Although my
sensitivity only showed up in one small area, Leah gave me a “liner-liner” to
wear and that seems to have solved that long standing problem. The liner-liner is a special sock to wear
against my skin. The silicone liner
rolls on over the top of that, then I put on various layers of socks to keep my
leg tight in the socket, then I slip on the foam liner, and finally put my leg
inside of the socket. The only bad thing
about the liner-liner is it is one more thing that I have to wash each night
before bed. I did laugh when I saw the
name printed on the packaged it came it.
I have way too many different types of liners if one has to be called “liner-liner.” Ha!
The only unsolved problem that I still have is a slight clicking noise
in my prosthesis when I walk. The pin
that secures my liner in the prosthesis won’t seat completely in the lock. It slides back and forth between two
positions producing the clicking noise.
I am in no danger of my leg coming loose—just in danger of going insane
from the noise as I walk. There are only
a couple more tweaks that can be tried to eradicate the noise. Leah said that about one of her patients
every two years has a noise problem; and I am the lucky one from her current
patients. Yeah Me!!! She said that when my next socket is built
(in about one year), we’ll use a different locking mechanism (ratchet) which won’t
allow that noise. I asked why not use
that ratchet system in all the prosthetic legs—the answer was that they are
more complicated to ‘’unlock” and they don’t want new users of prosthetic legs
to have to learn how to do that in addition to everything they have to adjust
too. Besides most people have no problem
with the simpler pin and lock system.
So I might be unable to sneak up on anyone for the next year. Actually, yesterday for about five minutes
my prosthesis quit making noise while I walked and it was very unnerving not
having the auditory feedback. Pretty
strange how quickly I’ve grown accustomed to the noise that if feels wrong when
there is silence.
After my appointment with Leah, I forced myself to go to my office and
work all afternoon. It was such a
beautiful day that I wanted to go ride my motorcycle very badly instead. I fought the urge and stayed productive all
afternoon. I got a lot done despite the occasional
longing look out the window.
Thought for the Day:
Do you have an Eeyore in your life?
In the group of Winnie the Pooh’s friends, Eeyore was the one with the negative
outlook. “It’s going to be a perfectly
rotten day!” Always down. Always negative. He never saw the bright side or the potential
possibilities in any situation. Eeyore
only saw the cloud in every silver lining.
I remember wondering, “Why is Eeyore like that? What happened in his life to always have such
a negative viewpoint?”
I don’t really know of anyone who is exactly like Eeyore; but I do know
some people who are pretty close! I also
know some folks who are always mad, always frustrated, or always upset about
something. They may have a moment or two
of happiness and contentment but their default setting is on “grumble and
complain.”
The Eeyores of life are very draining people to be around. They can suck the happy right out of you if
you let them. I can only stand so much “Eeyore
time” before I have to go recharge my emotional batteries. I don’t know how their family and friends can
take being around them constantly.
Here is the really sad part.
Each one of us chooses the attitude that we assume. Yes, some people are predisposed towards a
negative, critical outlook on life; but none of us are forced to make that our
base personality. We can choose what
kind of attitude we have.
It takes work and a mental decision to choose an attitude different
than what we are feeling; but if we want to do it, we can.
I just think of how many things are so much better with a positive,
sunny outlook. No, the reality of my
world hasn’t changed; but my mental outlook determines how I will see and
respond to the events and people around me.
If I assume that the world hates me and everyone is out to get me; guess
what I tend to find. I can find all sorts
of evidence to support my supposition.
I’ve even seen this true in marriage.
If I get into a mood and think that my wife no longer loves me, I can
find tons of evidence to support my concern.
I can begin to believe my own propaganda and my feelings sour towards
her as well. Then I can easily pick out
her imperfections and start to wonder what happened to the woman I married
years ago. With a good mental slap to my
face, I can snap out of my negative thinking and reboot my attitude. If I start to look for and to seek the good
in my wife and in my marriage, guess what I find. Yep! I find plenty of evidence that is still loves
me! Is she perfect and is our marriage
perfect? NO! There are plenty of things that I would like
to see changed; but even if none of them ever do—I still have got it good.
With my physical limitations and disability it would be very easy to
slip into a negative, dour mood. But
what benefit would that be for me? And
all my friends eventually would go running, seeking a place to hide so they
could avoid me any time I came around.
Instead I choose to maintain a positive outlook and attitude. I’ll be much happier and healthier in the
long run.
The bible indicates that we have control over our attitude because it
tells us to choose certain attitudes.
Philippians 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus” (NASB)
I leave you with this quote about
attitude that I have used for over 30 years, and it still speaks to me…
“The longer I live, the more I
realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than the facts. It is more important than the past, than
education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than
what other people think or say or do. It
is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company... a
church... a home. The remarkable thing
is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that
day. We cannot change our past... we
cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one
string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10%
what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.” Charles Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip
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