Update:
Monday is my day off and usually I would have gone to work out at the
gym and then gone deer hunting in the afternoon. But my prosthetic leg had different
plans. Last Thursday, I had excruciating
pain because of the improper fit of my prosthesis. Then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I chose
to minimize walking and see what would happen.
I was in slight pain; but it was bearable. On Monday morning, I had planned to go to gym
but my leg hurt so much and I couldn’t get it adjusted so that I felt like it
would do any damage the tissue; so I decided not to go. I was hoping to get my issues worked out and
find just the right combination of socks so that I could go hunting. Sadly, it became abundantly clear to me that
I wasn’t going anywhere that was more than a couple of dozen steps on Monday.
I put a call in to prosthetist’s office letting them know I needed help
and then went to lunch with my youngest son, Joshua. After lunch I got my mother-in-law’s cell
phone repaired (she’s on our plan) and then picked up a few items at
Sam’s. Side Note: I’ve got to say that
Sam’s has the best handicapped parking and the best motorized carts of any
store in the area.
After Sam’s I went to the prosthetic lab for an appointment. I spent 2 ½ hours there as my prosthetist tried
numerous adjustments. Between each
adjustment I had to walk until I was experiencing pain (which didn’t take more
than 20-30 steps each time). Then I had
to describe exactly where it hurt and what it felt like. We did this over and over again for the
entire time. The pain was never
excruciating; but it was fairly constant and instead of trying to ignore it, I
had to focus on it to describe it—that only intensified the pain. By the time I got home I was pretty well
wiped out from the strain. I was told to
go home and rest the leg for the rest of the evening.
On Tuesday, I am supposed to try the leg again on the chance that some
of the pain was due to all the abuse the leg took on Monday afternoon’s failed
attempts. Most likely I will be in pain
and severely limited in my mobility. I
am supposed to keep a journal and then let my prosthetist know all the details
each day (I did that over the weekend and she really appreciated the info). She told me that the next couple day will
probably verify that it is time to build a new socket. My leg is now such a different shape from
what it started out as in March that we can no longer make the adjustments
necessary to relieve the pain. Measurements
indicate that my residual leg is almost an inch shorter and about 2 inches
smaller in diameter since the initial measurements taken in March 2014. As is normal, the size change is not uniform. A new socket will be perfectly shaped to fit
my leg, so I won’t have any issues with the fit and resulting pain. The new leg should last 3-4 years. I am progressing normally for an amputee. I have added the twist of losing over 40
pounds so far which adds an additional level of difficulty in keeping me
fitting well.
So it is time to get serious about finding the t-shirt design for my
next prosthetic leg. I really like how
my current leg turned out. Maybe I’ll
just do that one again. We’ll see if I
can find another design that is something I’d like to wear for the next few
years. It is sort of like having a
short-term tattoo.
I am grateful for the great care I am getting from my prosthetist and
medical team. Much of what they are
doing for me is similar to a sharpshooter trying to hit a moving target while
riding on a horse. I’d be so lost
without their expertise and experience.
Thought for the Day:
With it starting to get into the prime bow hunting, the timing of my
leg not fitting properly is a bit frustrating; so I hope that I can still manage
to get out to the woods over the next few weeks. No matter what happens I have been able to get
out and enjoy the woods more this year than I did last, so I will be content
(yet somewhat disappointed) if I cannot.
Contentment is difficult to obtain at times. We face disappointments, change of plans, and
reversals of fortune all the time.
Things just don’t work out.
People fail us. Situations change. Most of these things happen outside of our
control. It would be so easy to become despondent
over these loses; but why should we let them do that? If we did, the end result would be that these
uncontrolled events would suck all the joy of our lives out of us. We’d be left with dried up husk of bitterness
and disappointment.
While it is true that we face disappointments and loss, we also
encounter moments of joy and beauty. I
believe that by a significant margin these positive aspects seriously outnumber
the negative things that happen to us.
We tend to focus upon the negative and forget to notice the
positive. You might have a number of
positive things happen to you in a day; but let just one negative thing happen
and what do we focus upon and remember?
One of the things we must do is learn to look and remember all the good
things that we have encountered recently.
We need to magnify those things and minimize the negative things.
If we choose to focus our attention on the positive, our hearts will be
lighter, our thoughts will be brighter, and our outlook will be sunnier. This is not to say that hard and difficult
things are happening to us; but we just don’t benefit by continual
introspection and dwelling upon those things.
Although it may feel like it, our lives are not ruined and certainly our
lives are not over because of the imperfections we face.
The way most of us go through life is like finding a $100 bill on the
ground and then focusing on the fact that it isn’t crisp and clean and it has a
slight tear in it, instead of realizing that WE ARE $100 RICHER!!!!!
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