Saturday, October 24, 2015

Saturday (10/24/2015) Video

Update:

Here's my latest video.  I could just sit back and allow my limitations to rule me OR I can fight back and squeeze whatever I can out of life.  









I also spent Wednesday of this past week with several firefighters teaching fire prevention classes to elementary students.  It was awesome fun to be with the kids and it allowed me to contribute something.  Sometimes it is the feeling of not being as useful as I used to be (prior to my disability) that is so crushing.  This was good therapy for my soul.   Here's a picture of me with one class after the presentation.  During the presentation in the smoke house most students didn't realize that I was missing my left leg.  I was able to stand up, half hidden by the stove.  It wasn't until afterwards when I got in my wheelchair that they found out.  The kids were surprised and wanted to know about my missing leg.  Interacting with the kids and their teachers was so much fun!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Tuesday (10/13/2015)

Update:

Those on Face Book, know that Monday (10/12) was an emotional roller coaster for me.  I was scheduled for a consult appointment with Dr. Robert Spinner at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester the following day (10/13).  About 2:00 p.m. on Monday, I received a phone call saying that my insurance company had denied to authorize the appointment because it was “out of network.”  I was advised that I could contact my insurance company to see if they would reverse their decision, or we would need to reschedule.  Those of you familiar with medical scheduling know how long you can wait for an appointment to become available.  There was a cancellation and I was given this appointment just a few days ago.  I didn’t want to lose it and have everything delayed.  I’ve already been in a wheelchair since February.  I want to make forward progress and get back to walking as soon as I can!  When my wife called the insurance company, she was informed that my local Physical Rehab Doctor would have to call them to request the appointment after she had contacted the local neurosurgeons to ensure that my case could not be handled by them.  I needed the experts at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester because my local medical team isn’t able to take care of this issue (I’ve been uniquely challenging all along since this began).  If my doctor called before 4:30 p.m., there was a chance that the insurance company could review the case and authorize the appointment so I could keep it.  By the time my wife got this information, it was after 3 p.m.  Do you know how unlikely it is to be able to contact your doctor and get them to confer with other doctors and then call your insurance company in less than 90 minutes?  I knew it would take a miracle, so I asked friends to pray.  My Physical Rehab Doctor, Dr. Schmidt, and her nurse, Mark, did extraordinary things and got the call in on time!  Wow!  And the insurance company changed their ruling and authorized my appointment about three minutes before their office closed!  Double Wow!  I was an emotional wreck waiting to see what would happen after that first call.  I’m grateful for my wife’s labor in chasing this down and getting it done.  I am also very grateful to Dr. Schmidt and Mark for making time in their busy day to get this accomplished under such a deadline. 

So on 10/13/2015, I had a consult appointment with Dr. Robert Spinner, head of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo in Rochester. After examination, he feels that my problem is more related to my fibula rather than a nerve issue directly.  He is recommending an MRI to determine exactly where the nerve and bone structure lies, etc.  Dr. Spinner then wants me to return for a joint consult with him and Dr. Thomas Shives, orthopedic surgeon who does many of the amputations there at Mayo.  At this point, Dr. Spinner thinks that my fibula needs to be shortened which would take pressure off of the nerve that has caused me so much pain.

Although this is a 180 degrees change in thinking, it makes sense.  When I had the Ultrasound and nerve block done, since the pain went away I was told that it proved that it is a nerve issue.  Dr. Spinner said that the specific nerve block that was done could also have numbed the bone, etc.  So the Ultrasound was not conclusive evidence.  He did say that the MRI will give us the evidence that we need for a conclusive treatment plan.

So now it is scheduling the MRI and then the follow-up joint consult.   I hope they can be done soon, but I am expecting that it will take at least a month or two to get them finished.  If we go to surgery, who knows how far out that will be scheduled.  Right now, I am mentally hoping that I could be walking by next spring if all goes well.


Let me tell you my adventure driving to Rochester today.  After picking up a friend to ride along with me, I decided to try a different route to get to Rochester.  It took longer than I expected.  Then when I got to the parking garage, the thing was filled to the top!  There were no handicap spots open and I had to wait for car to pull out before I could squeeze into a normal slot.  I was barely able to get my wheelchair out.  Then someone blocked the crossover to the elevator.  We had to fold the chair and I had to hop between cars (I’m not supposed to do that!).  We raced into the building taking a wrong turn along the way.  When we arrived on the eighth floor, I realized that I wasn’t told which eighth floor desk to check in with.  Oh my!  With all of the delays, I still managed to check in for my appointment with one minute to spare.  Not fun!  After the hassle to get the last minute approval, I certainly didn’t want to miss the appointment!  I don’t want to ever cut it that close again!  What a goof ball I am!  I’m thankful for all the answered prayers that allowed this to happen today.  With all that, it was a pretty drive with a few spots of color in the foliage.  Hopefully, the fall foliage will be in full color the next time I drive over.  

Friday, October 9, 2015

Friday (10/9/2015)

Update:

Back on September 25, I had my ultrasound appointment in Rochester, MN concerning the hypersensitive nerve in my residual limb that prohibits me from wearing my prosthesis.  The doctor found that my nerve was “abnormal” from mid-thigh down to the end of my limb with several places that were “extremely abnormal.”  This result prompted my Physical Rehab doctor to refer me to a neurosurgeon for examination.  I’ve been waiting the last couple of weeks to hear from neurosurgeon to set up the appointment.  Frankly, I was starting to get antsy waiting for the appointment to be set up because I assumed I’d have to wait a month or two to get in to see the doctor.  So I was pleasantly surprised when I got a call this afternoon that I have an appointment for next Tuesday!!!  Wow!  I had just had lunch with a couple of buddies and asked them to pray for me concerning this appointment and the issues I’m having with my leg.  That was a quick answer!  I think I’ll ask them to pray for me more often!!  LOL.  So next Tuesday, October 13th, I have an consult appointment with a world renown peripheral neurosurgeon.   We’ll see what other evaluations and treatment recommendations he has to offer for me.  I view this as the next step on my quest to walk again.

Last week I posted on Face Book that I had swept and mopped my wood floors from my wheelchair.  I’ve done it before and it takes a fair amount of energy.  This time a few hours after I was done, I got a back ache.  By the next morning I was in a lot of pain.  I had to lay flat on my back on the floor for several hours to ease everything back into place.  I’ve taken it easy since then (not going to the gym) to let it heal.  What a mess I am when just a little twisting throws me out of whack!

Since my amputation, I’ve needed more sleep each night than I used to need.  This past week, I’ve had to get up earlier than I am used to doing.  By dinner time the other night I was so weary that I told my wife that I might go to bed as soon as we finished eating because “I ONLY got seven hours of sleep last night.”   Some of you probably hate me right now because you are forced to get by on much less sleep.  If so, I hope you get a few extra hours sleep this weekend!

One of the fun things that I have been able to do this past week is to help out the firefighters that I serve as chaplain by doing fire safety presentations for school children.  That has been an awesome time!  My amputated leg confuses the little ones but after I tell them that I have “a robot leg at home; but it’s broken right now so I cannot walk and I have to ride in this wheelchair” they think it’s pretty cool.  One little guy was still very concerned and kept whispering to his teacher.  I couldn’t hear him but I hear her answer, “No.  He isn’t hiding his foot.  He really doesn’t have one.”  Kids are awesome!  I’m grateful that I have had the opportunity to be with them.   October is Fire Prevention month, so change the batteries in your smoke detectors and talk to your family about what to do in case of a fire!


Thought for the Day:

After seeing the news recently, I got thinking about the 10 Commandments.  I smiled at myself as I realized that I’ve started having trouble with the one that says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s [things].”  I’ve never been overly materialistic and never really considered that I had a problem with this one.  I’ve never really looked at others and wished I had their stuff, so I’ve not felt the sting of disobeying this one overly much.  But lately I’ve wanted other people’s legs!  I look longingly at others who are able to walk either with their God-given legs or on prosthetic ones.  I’m grateful for what I am able to accomplish in my wheelchair and for all the mobility and freedom that I have; but I’d really like to walk in the fall woods, mow my own grass and shovel my own snow this winter.  I want to ride my bicycle, walk into stores, and climb stairs on my own two feet (even if one of my feet is metal and composite materials).  I want to get back to the two-legged life!

I thought that after my amputation that I had the concept of patience down pretty well.  Now as I continue to remain in the wheelchair fulltime since February, my lack of patience is rearing its ugly head again.   Early this year, I had hoped that I would be walking by the summer.  Then it was by fall.  Now it is by Christmas.  But honestly it might be much longer in coming.  And perhaps it won’t happen at all.  I may never walk again or it might be years from now.  I don’t know.  Only time will tell.  So ultimately I have to put all of my desires aside otherwise I will go crazy, becoming unhappy and bitter.

Contentment:  The state of being mentally or emotionally satisfied with things just as they are; a feeling of calm satisfaction.

There is nothing wrong in wishing and working hard towards a better future.  There are some things that we MUST achieve and some changes that HAVE to be made.  But for most things, there is a line that we shouldn’t cross in striving too hard and giving up too much in pursuit of them.   There are some things that we cannot change or that would cost too much of us to achieve.  Learning contentment and striving for a calm satisfaction with the status quo may be the best thing that we can do for ourselves and for our families.

So I am choosing to remind myself to be content and to be at peace with my circumstances.  I hope that someday that I’ll walk again; but I’m not going to waste a lot of emotional energy craving for that day to come sooner than it will.


What are you allowing to damage your calm?