Living with my prosthesis

Today I watched an old video that my orthopedist made many years ago, for patients and their families who were deciding upon a fixator brace. My parents and I were a part of that video, and my mom and dad were interviewed in it. I was only 3 years old at the time. Dr. D, his nurse, and many other patients and their parents were also interviewed. The video explains the fixator, and what you could expect during the whole process.

After watching it, I am very glad that we made the decision to amputate my leg. I have always felt this way, but especially after watching this video, I am happy with my decision.

I am doing well with the prosthesis. I have had to have some adjustments made to the leg, and have found that the more active I am, new pressure points will occur. I don't exactly feel that I can do more now in the prosthesis, than I could when I had my real leg. Maybe as summer comes and I can be more active, I will find I can do more. I especially look forward to the summer months and being able to swim. I have never really had the chance to swim a whole lot in past years, because I was always in a cast or in the fixator brace.

Probably sometime this summer or next fall, I will have to have a new socket made for my prosthesis. My stump is still shrinking, but that is normal. By then, I'm sure I will need a new foot for it, because it is already starting to get beat up. ; )

Well, gotta go!

Continuing with the physical therapy

I'm still going to physical therapy. I have been going once a week. I only need to go for 3 more weeks, and then she will reevaluate me in 6 months. My therapist says that for the most part, my muscles are very strong. But, I do need to make them stronger. Plus, I need to build up my endurance. So I will just continue doing the exercises, adding weights to my leg, as time goes by. To build up my endurance, I am supposed to walk. In the spring, I will be able to do more, like ride my bike and roller blade. It will be easier to go walking when it gets warmer outside.

I forgot to update this blog two weeks ago, when the prosthetist finished my leg. I had to leave it there for a week, but he's done with it now. He added something to the outside that makes it look more natural. He told my mom and me that there was a problem, so the leg ended up being heavier than he wanted it to be. I actually can't tell a big difference.

We saw him today again, and he told us that my stump will continue to shrink. Once I get to the point where I need 20 plies worth of socks, that they will need to make a new socket for the leg. Right now I wear about 15-17 ply socks. All that means is the socks I wear have different thicknesses. They come in 1/2, 1, 3 and 5 ply. The amount I need changes a little from day to day. I just need to play around with it each day, but I suppose I will learn to recognize when I need to put more socks on and when I might need to take some off. He said it might be another 6 months before I will need a new socket. That would be about right, because usually the first prosthesis lasts about 1-1 1/2 years. I don't think I'll get a whole new leg though, just the socket. But, he tells me that I am walking very, very well! I am still very happy with my decision to amputate my leg. I'm looking forward to this spring and summer, when I can get outside and do more! If I keep up the exercises, I should be stronger by then and be able to do just about anything!

Doing physical therapy

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I've posted anything!

There really isn't much new. I recently started physical therapy. It basically consists of doing exercises, and doing them at home every day. I have been told that I am doing so well, that I really only need to go two more times. After that, it is just continuing to do the exercises and adding weights to my legs as they get stronger.

Next week the therapist will get me on the treadmill and see how walking at a fast pace goes. Being winter, I can't do much outside. But my mom has told me that I can go with her and my dad to the mall and walk around, in order to build up my endurance.

After therapy today, we stopped in to see the prosthetist and he told us to stop in after therapy next week, and then I will leave my prosthesis there so that they can finish it. He said that I am walking very well!

In the spring, I should be able to get outside more and ride my bike around and other stuff. Meanwhile, I think walking around a mall will be helpful.

I'll update when my prosthesis is completely finished. I'm anxious to see what it will look like.

I got my new leg today!!

Today I got my prosthesis! It is so cool! For the very first time in my life, my legs are the same length, and my feet are actually the same size! :D That's what is neat about having a prosthesis, is that the prosthetists can adjust my artificial leg as I grow, and make them the same length.

I have to learn how walk on it. It is very different having to actually *think* about the mechanics of walking. There is a lot of things to remember, such as how long each step should be, when to bend my knee, and when to straighten it out. I walked back and forth, holding onto these parallel bars. The prosthetist, Dick, said that I did very well for my first time walking on a prosthesis. It will take some time for it to become second nature, and not to have to think about each step so much. I saw Dr. Dahl today as well, and he was very surprised that I had just gotten my leg this morning, and was already walking as well as I was.

Dick says that my stump will continue to shrink and expand on a daily basis. Some of that is due to just having had the amputation. Some of that I will experience for the rest of my life. He says that barometric pressure will affect my stump. As it rises, my stump will expand. He says they don't know why it happens, just that they know it does. Also, until my stump gets used to the prosthesis, I should really take it easy, and should only walk on it 15 minutes out of every hour. I can gradually increase that as time goes on. So it will be a while, before I can do those cartwheels, and bike riding and roller blading. ;)

I will accomodate the shrinking and expansion by the number of socks I wear under the prosthesis. Also, each sock has a different thickness too. I really have to pay attention to where the pressure is being put on my stump. I should expect there to be pressure, but not really any pain. I guess I will learn as I go along, and eventually it will all become easy. Right now, it just seems like a lot to remember.

I will have to go in for physical therapy 2-3 times a week. I don't know for how long, though. I did get to take my leg home, even though it is not completed yet. He decided to let me, because I was walking pretty well with it. At some point, I will have to leave it there for a day or so, so they can finish it. In the meantime, I have to continue to walk with my crutches. When we got home, I took a few steps without them, and it hurt too much. So it might be a while, before I won't need them. It is easier to use just one crutch, than two crutches. So maybe I can get a cane instead.

I just wanted to share my good news with everyone! I am so excited!

Saw the prosthetist today

My mom and I went to see the prosthetist today. I thought he would just look at my stump, and decide that it wasn't ready to mold it for the prosthesis. But, the head guy (Dick) was there, and they did mold my leg for the socket. That is the "suction" part of the prosthesis, that goes over the stump. The pylon (which is like a pole) attaches to the socket and also to the foot. From a booklet he gave my mom, it looks like they can put some sort of foam covering over the whole thing, to make look more natural.

Dick told us that from now on, until the time I stop growing, I could go through 4 prostheses. He kept saying that he is excited about my prosthesis, and thinks I will do very well. Because I've never been as active as I've wanted to be, it will take some time getting used to it, but I'm likely to wear them out quickly, just from being so active.

It should take about two weeks for them to make the prosthesis. When I go back in, they will have me walking on it, while I hold onto these bars. When I'm at home, Dick told me that I need to take it easy at first. I will have to get used to the pressure points in the socket. They can adjust the length of the pylon, to make my legs even. When I put my prosthesis on, it will be the first time in my life that one leg won't be shorter than the other!

I took pictures of my leg before my surgery, and I will take some now, and then in the prosthesis. I will look into what it takes to put load them into the blog. Then you can all see what I'm talking about.

I don't have much pain anymore during the day, but I still have some pain at night. I don't really have the spasms anymore. I do need to do exercises to stretch out the muscles in the back of my knee. Otherwise the muscles will tighten up, and I will have trouble walking.

I can't wait to get my new leg! I'll write more in a couple of weeks.

Back from the doctor!

I was at the clinic today, and I now have my cast off! It feels so good to finally be out of my cast! I only saw Dr. D briefly, and then I saw one of the prosthetists. He gave me some stockings to shrink my stump, that I have to wear all of the time. I have to go back in two weeks and if the swelling is all gone, then they can mold me for the socket that attaches to the prosthesis. The socket goes on the end of my stump.

I have to start doing exercises to stretch the muscles in my leg. I couldn't really do them before, because my knee was bent in the cast. Once I get the prosthesis, I can start to walk!

I haven't been in a whole lot of pain lately, and the spasms pretty much went away, but this afternoon, they (the spasms) are starting up again. I don't know why. But they will go away eventually.

I'll write more later.

My 2nd doctor's appointment since my surgery

I saw the doctor again today. The staples were removed from the stump. The nurse had some trouble getting them out so she asked Dr. D to come in and remove them. He got them right out. It kind of hurt. I still think the stump looks cool.

Before I had the amputation, I always thought it would have to be right below the knee. But it was done about 6" below the knee. I have been in a cast for 3 weeks now and my knee has been bent the whole time. So the two times I have had the cast changed, it has been hard to straighten my leg. Once I get out of the cast for good, I will probably have to do some exercises to strengthen it.

I am supposed to go back in two weeks to get this cast off, have an xray, see Dr. D, and maybe start the wrappings that the prosthetist will do. I guess because there is still some swelling in the stump, they can't start that yet. I can't wait until I can get the cast off!

As far as the pain goes, I am usually always in pain. My leg jerks on it own a lot too. The medicine does help, but it doesn't take all of it away. I just try to not let it bother me.

I am still glad I had it done, even though I am in pain. Years ago, when my mom and I would talk about maybe needing an amputation, I thought that I would not want it done, I thought I would miss my leg. But now I feel differently about it. My own leg kept me from being able to do a lot of things I wanted to do. Or at least from being able to do them for longer than an hour or so. I am looking forward to getting a new leg and being able to do a whole lot more.

Well, I am tired and my leg is hurting so I will go now and write more later.

John