Update:
Went in on Thursday for the initial fitting of my new leg. What was hoped to be a relatively simple
fitting, since it was made from a brand new cast, turned out to be a long,
painful ordeal. I ended up being at the
prosthetist’s office for 4½ hours. Some
of that time was just sitting between “rounds” for me to catch my breath, allow
the agitated nerves to calm down, and for me to build back up the resolve to
try walking again. It wasn’t a pretty
experience.
Adding a bit of humor to the experience was when the foot completely
broke off of the socket while I was walking.
I was using the parallel bars so I didn’t fall or hurt myself; but I
heard a loud crack and on the next step the foot goes rolling ahead of me on
the floor. Wow! That would have been fun to have on
video. While I’m at the office, all the
fiberglass wrap reinforcement is off of the socket to allow for
adjustments. Now I understand why they
wrap that socket before they let you wear it home! The foot was re-installed and strongly
wrapped before I left the office that afternoon, so there is little chance for
a repeat. Timing is everything! After walking back and forth in the bars for
hours, I was getting very bored of the room and the short walk. I felt like a jungle cat nervously pacing in
a small enclosure at the zoo. The
prosthetist is sitting there watching my every move. I had just decided to ask her if I could walk
up and down the hallway for a while instead of in the bars. No sooner had that thought entered my mind
and the foot broke off. So glad I didn’t
have a chance to ask before it happened!
That would not have been pretty without the bars to catch myself!
The pain I was having felt like it was along the bottom edge of my
tibia. I’ve come to realize that the
actual problem is not necessarily where you feel the pain because the nerves
are cut during the amputation and you don’t really know where they are going to
end up. Sort of like having a wet, leaky
spot in your ceiling. Finding where the
actual leak in your roof is can be challenging because the water might have
traveled quite a distance before hitting the ceiling. So I know where my brain tells me it hurts
but it doesn’t necessarily mean that is where my socket needs to be adjusted.
Once I got back into the house on Thursday, I didn’t take another step. I was fearful of additional pain.
On Friday morning (1/16) I went back in for another appointment. Steve, one of the co-founders of the company
with over two decades of experience, was coming up from Rochester, MN. My prosthetist wanted him to help evaluate
and troubleshoot my leg. It wasn’t quite
a repeat of the day before, but there weren’t any easy solutions found either. They made a few adjustments and sent me home
to try it out over the weekend. I am to
keep a detailed log of what happens and how it feels until I go back in on
Wednesday.
Wednesday.
I did have two nice things to report to my wife about Friday’s appointment. Steve commented how nicely shaped my residual
limb was. Of course from there it went
south. “You would think it would be an
easy fit with such a perfect looking leg…”
The other comment was that I have a very nice gait. They really like the way I look while I’m
walking. So I get points for my form and
style. Now if I could only do more of
that walking and be pain-free!
So far, on Saturday it hasn’t been pretty. Oh, how I miss the “good old days” of pain-free
walking in my prosthesis! I am really
having to apply that Thomas Edison type of determination to myself right now
(See Wednesday (1/14/2015) update). I
don’t know how long or how hard the road is going to be; but I still believe
that I will eventually arrive at where I want to be. So for now… I’m just taking the next step
forward. Just putting the one foot
forward and taking the next step.
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