Why the delay?

April 22, 2013     At last check, Dennis was back in the workshop fabricating a second permanent socket with the goal of making it more lightweight than the first one (which I am currently using). I need to back up a bit and explain another ongoing issue I've been experiencing. As I've shown, this prosthetic system has 3 parts, 1) the gel liner which is applied over the limb, 2) the socket that goes on next and to which the foot is attached, and 3) the knee sleeve, applied over the top of all which is the final 'lock' on the suspension. I will be receiving 2 gel liners and 2 knee sleeves, one to wear and one to wash, so that I always have a clean set. The first gel liner I was given worked perfectly with not a single problem with the fit or any skin issues. When we were sure the liner was working, the second one was fabricated from the same mold as the first. So, no problem. Well, not exactly. For some reason, the second liner was too tight. After a few minutes of wear, it felt as though it was strangling my leg and my leg felt tingly and began to become numb. Sure enough, when I removed the liner, my leg was bright red and I felt 'pins and needles' for about 15 minutes. After discussing this with Dennis a new, second liner was made. I have had this one since April 2, nearly three weeks. This one is not as tight as the one that was replaced, but I did continue to have some milder tingling and tightness, making it difficult to wear for longer than 4 or 5 hours. After talking to Dennis, we came up with an idea to relieve this problem. We drilled a 1/4" hole at the base of the socket. This allows air to escape as I slide my leg into the socket, relieving some of the tightness of the liner. This has made the difference and I am now able to wear the second gel liner comfortably all day.

A tiny change that made a huge difference.

Dennis needed to wait until we solved the liner problem before starting the new socket because the alternative would have been to start from square one with a new original cast/mold. We are both extremely happy that we did not have to go there.

I received a call today that the newest socket is ready for a fitting, so next week I will give that a try.

A Few Vignettes

I have been reflecting a good bit on why this blog has been hard for me to write. Actually, with each entry it has become decreasingly difficult, so I think the exercise has become therapeutic. I have felt very resistant to being candid about the fact that I have no foot. Why? Well, it's different. Most folks have two feet and I have one. I've never enjoyed being singled out for anything and have always preferred the behind-the-scenes jobs when I've had a choice. But, writing about my experiences has given me some freedom from the fear of what others may think. Anyway, I thought I would share some mostly-humorous vignettes of experiences I've had over the years related to being an amputee.

When our 9 year old son saw this, he exclaimed, "Is that YOU in there?!"  No, but that was the point we were trying to make to the county roads division. They repeatedly filled in this sink hole on our street with asphalt and it repeatedly eroded away. So, we set up this photo by placing my unoccupied prosthesis in the sinkhole and sent it along to the county to make a point. They did finally repair the hole properly.




My sister Mary reminded me of this story. She and I played high school field hockey together. Field hockey is a fall sport and in the summer, in order to swim, we had to apply a rubber sleeve over my prosthesis to keep it from getting wet. So, the rubber sleeve was still in place as we competed in a field hockey game one fall afternoon. Good thing. The rubber sleeve was not a perfect system and over the summer, the moisture must have corroded the bolt that attached my prosthetic foot to the socket. As I ran down the field during the game, I felt something snap in my foot. I knew immediately that my foot had snapped off of the socket, but because the rubber sleeve was still in place, the foot remained in place. I couldn't continue in the game, so I had to call for a time-out, telling my coach that my foot had fallen off! We did have a good laugh over that, though I think the other team was a bit confused....

Somewhere in my 'tweens, I was priveleged to be invited on a Florida family vacation with my good friend Melissa. We traveled in their RV. One day after a swim, I briefly left my prosthesis upside-down in the tub to dry. Melissa's brother Scott later opened the bathroom door, and had quite a shock when he first spied a leg sticking out of the tub!

After I moved to the Chesapeake Bay area, some friends and I decided to take sailing lessons. After completing our lessons, my friend Jean and I borrowed my then-friend's-but-future-husband's day sailer for an afternoon of sailing. We were having a great time until we tried to come about with the jib too tight and the boat almost capsized. Jean, being a more experienced sailor than I, released the jib in time to right the boat, but it was pretty well swamped. Having no instrument with which to bail the boat, I looked at Jean and said, "Wait! We can use my prosthesis to bail!" So, I took off my prosthesis and it worked like a charm. We had her bailed and were on our way back to the dock (we'd had enough sailing for that day) in no time.

One Step Closer...

April 3, 2013     

Yesterday I received my permanent socket, but it's not really my permanent socket. The one on the right is the test socket which I've been wearing for the past several weeks/months. The one on the left is the new socket. Dennis is not happy with the result, so he is going back to the workshop to make a new one.
I am now wearing the new socket and he is keeping the test socket to use as his mold. Why is he not happy with the result? He feels that the new socket is too heavy, and when we compare it to my old prosthesis, is does feel slightly heavier, BUT it is much lighter than the test socket, so walking is easier and my knee is happier.
Without going into too much detail, Dennis used some materials for the socket that he hoped would increase the ease of donning and doffing, but that he feels resulted in the socket wall being too thick and therefore too heavy. So in the re-do, he will use some alternate materials which are lighter and thinner to create an overall lighter socket. Then, if issues arise from too much friction during donning/doffing, he can create relief using other methods.

Life does not stop for my prosthetic appointments. Here the kids are doing their school work during my fitting.