Update & Thought:
Had a good
visit with my prosthetist on Thursday morning.
We both realized that one of my main issues was with nerve pain. So she gave me a little more room over the
nerve that runs down the fibula. Leah
also recommended that if this adjustment doesn’t reduce the phantom pain that
I’ve been experiencing that I should talk to my physical rehab doctor
(physiatrist) about medication. I really
don’t want to go that route so I am hoping this adjustment makes major
improvements. I’ll need to wait about
two weeks to give my “abused” nerves some time to respond.
We also
decided that I’m hypersensitive to the slightest touch down at the bottom of my
tibia and along the front edge of the bottom of my stump. So she stretched the socket out a little more
in that area as well. That will reduce
any potential pressure in that spot to the absolute minimum.
Hopefully
these two changes will produce positive results. I’ve got my next appointment on Monday for
further evaluation and adjustments. We
are still trying to figure out the major changes and we haven’t begun the minor
tweaks. I would foresee having
appointments with the prosthetist at least twice a week for the next several
weeks.
One thing
that hasn’t changed over the last month is my left knee keeps popping. Most of the time it is noticeable but not
painful. Occasionally it will really
make a loud snap and is painful. The
prosthetist said that it is time to make an appointment with the physiatrist to
determine what is going on. This started
with my old socket when it wasn’t fitting well and it was assumed that it would
stop with my new one. The knee is one
area where my new socket is fine so it should have stopped by now. There is concern that my patella is out of
alignment or there is some other damage causing the popping. It happens whether or not I have my prosthesis
on. I think there is a concern that if I
let go, some major damage might occur in the knee and I would lose the ability
to walk on it. That won’t be good!
I did talk
with the prosthetist about the wisdom of going out hunting, shoveling snow,
etc. especially while we are still adjusting the leg. She told me to keep on doing my normal
activities, just to be ready to stop if the pain gets too bad. Maintaining my normal routine will help in
the evaluation process to determine when we have everything properly
adjusted. As long as I don’t abuse my
leg, it will be fine. The phrase I hear
so often is, “Discomfort is fine; pain is not.”
So what happened early this week with working the leg hard and then
ending up needing to take the prosthesis off and spend the rest of the day in
the wheelchair is exactly what I should be doing.
That being said,
I went out to the place where I will be hunting on Saturday to look around (and
to try walking in the snow out in the woods in my boots). Although the distance I covered would have only
taken me twenty minutes (back when I had two functioning legs) and it took me
an hour now, I did fine. I found quite a
few tracks in the snow near where I plan to park my truck so I don’t even have
far to walk. Since the walk on Thursday
went well, I plan on going hunting on Saturday.
Don’t know how long I will last and whether or not I’ll see any deer;
but I’ll be out there. Now that makes me
happy! I’ve got some work to do on how
the boot fits on my prosthetic leg and figuring out what I need to take with
me; but it should be a good day. Three
of my friends will be hunting in close proximity to where I will be so if I
need help, some will be nearby.
I was
wondering if after all my activity I would cause a return of the intense
phantom pain (shopping cart repeatedly banging into my Achilles’ tendon); but
it never occurred last night. I was a
little tender down at the bottom of my tibia; but even that was less than what
I had experienced previously. So my conclusion
is that the adjustments made yesterday really helped. We’ll see how it goes until my next
appointment.
Along with
the reduced amount of pain is an improved amount of positive outlook. I have a much more upbeat attitude
again. I think part of that “downer
attitude” had to do with the fact that it seemed like we had tried everything
and there was nothing else that could have been done. Yet after me describing what I was feeling
and my guess at what was going on, my prosthetist came up with a couple of
ideas to try—and they seemed to have worked!!!
Communication is the key to making progress. It is amazing how just a few of the right
words can spur thinking in a new direction and achieve the desired results.
I’m not
alone as an amputee struggling to get a good fitting prosthesis and struggling
emotionally through the process. There
was a long discussion on one of the amputee sites I belong to on this very
topic this morning. Someone asked, “How
do you maintain hope in the face of setbacks?”
Most responses dealt with keeping the long view in mind (don’t just look
at current problems or lack of progress), keep a good sense of humor, and don’t
give up—keep fighting and stretching for the goal. Also recognize that being an amputee is just
one small part of who you are—so don’t let a difficulty in this area of your
life define you. There is much more to
you than the problem you face. That’s
good advice for anyone, no matter what you are going through.
Switching
gears here, I am also aware of how easy it would be to lose hope and just give
up instead of fighting and working towards a solution. A solution that might be amazingly close at
hand if we just don’t quit. I wonder how
many failures are a result of someone giving up just a little too soon.
And to put
this all in proper perspective, I have a friend who beat cancer into remission
a while back. He just got word that the
cancer is back in two new locations. He has
started radiation treatments and will soon start chemotherapy. Please send some prayers up for him and his
family as he battles cancer once again. Comparatively, I’ve got no problems
worth mentioning.
No comments:
Post a Comment