On to a prosthetic leg

The design of my soon to be prosthetic leg began last week. A soft gel liner was peeled onto my stump and many small reflective dots were applied. The tech then ran a hand held scanner all around the gel liner, picking up the dots and transferring the dimensions and contour of my stump into their computer. That data will be used for a CNC machine to mill out a socket that will fit over the gel liner. The components of the new magic leg will be attached to the socket and at my next appointment in week I'll be able to try out the first pass of the prosthetic in the halls of the clinic. I won't be ready to walk outside for about a month, but the process has begun.

I have physical therapy beginning this week to begin training for my new leg. I'll be going 3x a week for 6-8 weeks to learn how to attach the leg and how to walk with a new knee, shaft (shin/calf), ankle and foot. I am not going to have the cosmetic cover for the shaft, just the shiny metal piece that will get me to where I want to go. The foot will be there because it has to fit into a shoe. I want to hurry, but I won't rush anything. All in good time.

Phantom pain is an issue at times, usually in the evenings after an active day. I expected to still have pain on my left side, the pain that generates from the brain but the nasty physical nature of my left leg/foot/toes is gone. Most of my day I'm a comfortable 5-6/10 pain score, with flares of 7-9 in the evenings. When I get up in the mornings, my pain is back down to a 5-6/10. Before my above the knee amputation, I was a constant 9.5+++/10 all the time, every day without ever any relief. The pain only got worse; it never, ever got any better.

The stitches are out and I've been cleared to resume swimming. My stump is healing very well and there isn't any indication of EM in my stump. Before amputation the EM was into my knee, both front and back. I'll wait another week or two before getting back into the pool to lap swim. The incision is healed but still needs work to be desensitized. I massage the end of my stump several times each day to toughen up the skin and get it used to different sensations. I get around my house with an electric scooter and use crutches when I leave the house on daily excursions. When I have an extended stay event or one with an extra long walk, I'll use a wheelchair. I'm building up my stamina since the six months prior to my amputation on February 15, 2012 I rarely went outside my house because the pain was so excruciating. I am in decent physical condition since I trained for this operation. I'm excited for the PT and have been diligent with my post amputation exercises to be ready for my prosthetic leg.