Wednesday (9/12/2018):
I traveled down to Newport, KY (Cincinnati metro area) on Labor Day (9/3) so I’d be ready to see my prosthetist bright and early on Tuesday morning (9/4). Traffic was terrible and I was nearly in three accidents. One I avoided by inches. That was by the grace of God! With the weather, road construction, traffic jams it turned into a 13-hour trip. Whew!
On Tuesday, Rob made a static check socket and it felt great, then he put a foot on it so I could walk in it. Once again I struggled with discomfort/pain on the radial edge of the limb. He started trying all sorts of adjustments. They seemed to help somewhat, but for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. We struggled with doing too much and causing new problems, etc. It was rather tedious work for both of us. Imagine going to the eye doctor for a vision test, “Tell me which is better—1 or 2?” He can flip the lens back and forth repeatedly and quickly. Many of the changes we were trying would take several minutes to switch over. Then I had to decide which was better based on a memory, sometimes up to 30 minutes. I find that very difficult to do. I was very frustrated by Thursday. Things weren’t progressing well. We weren’t finding answers and seemed like we were going in circles.
Mentally I was discouraged. Should I head back home once again and give it more time? Why am I so difficult to fit? Should I just accept that the best we can do is going to result in an uncomfortable leg? That just seemed wrong! It isn’t what I wanted; but what was I to do? I spent Thursday afternoon and evening icing my leg and doing a whole lot of prayer and soul-searching. That continued on into Friday morning when finally I felt the right thing to do was to finish the socket. We had come to the conclusion that most of my pain was located where the doctor shaved the bone back. That area was just taking longer to heal. We did a few more adjustments and then Rob took my socket to go start building my new permanent (or definitive) prosthesis. That meant I would be in my wheelchair all weekend and get my leg sometime on Monday.
I was surprised by a phone call on Saturday afternoon. Rob had stayed late Friday night and worked all day Saturday (his day off) to finish my socket early. I picked it up on Saturday at 4 p.m. to “test drive” it for the rest of the weekend. That gave me time to wear it and walk in for a couple of days before going in on Monday morning.
Monday morning was spent doing a few extra checks, getting some training on replacing parts, and finishing up paperwork.
This leg isn’t perfectly comfortable; but for now, it’s as good as we could get it. Over time, I think it will get better. One way to describe it is like breaking in a new pair of tight dress shoes—it hurts and pinches, but slowly they start to feel better.
Rob was even able to fabricate a water leg for pool therapy from old parts that I had at a very low out of pocket cost to me (my insurance only pays for one prosthesis). The pool at my gym, my friend’s pools, and the ocean are all salt-water. My normal leg is not rated for salt water (the vacuum pump). Now when I go to LA to see the boys or FL to visit my brother, I can get into the ocean by walking into it!!!
I was back on the road north headed home by about 1 p.m. on Monday. With the late start, I broke the trip into two days. I don’t do well driving at night on unfamiliar roads. I made it to the western suburbs of Chicago and had an easy drive home on Tuesday. The roads we much less congested and made it a more pleasant drive.
After being home for only two hours, I was back babysitting my 9-week old twin grandsons and 2-year old granddaughter. Then I was at the Fire Department for part of the evening afterward. I slept well last night in my own bed. So glad to be home!
Now I am slowing trying to work back into to life. I’ve been walking about 2 miles a day on this new leg. I’ll slowly increase my distance as my leg adjusts to wearing this new prosthesis. Rob made some great improvements and we greatly improved the range of motion on my knee, so I can bend it to 90 degrees. That makes getting in and out of vehicles much easier. I should be able to ride my bicycle again.
With this better fitting prosthesis, there is so much that I can do and so much that I want to do. I just have to be wise not to overdo too soon. Walks, riding the bike, pool therapy, swimming laps, lifting weights at gym, start back shooting archery, maybe get out deer hunting, yard work, ride my motorcycle, keep babysitting about 4 hour each day, continue volunteering as a chaplain for the police and fire departments (and resume a more active participation).
Live my life! That’s all I hope to do.
