Friday, March 19, 2010

March 19, 2010

Had a phone conversation this morning with Dave, the prosthetist - one of my new best friends. (Didn't ever pay much attention to the existence of such folks before this new process began). We talked about rehab facilities - inpatient vs outpatient - need to check my insurance here, but I am hoping for maybe a week of inpatient rehab.

We talked about how you shower if you are not good at standing on one foot like a crane. Turns out, if you don't have a cosmetic covering on your foot/leg, it is okay to get it wet. And, you can also get a "shower foot", that is rubber, not good for walking, but good for showering. Need to evaluate whether or not I want a cosmetic covering or if I want to show off my bionic leg.

Then my questions were: 'Can I wear clogs with my bionic foot?' Answer is 'Yes'; 'Can I wear sandals?' Answer again is 'Yes, and remind me to work with you on getting a foot with a sandal toe, so you can wear thongs.' Who'd a thought it???

And what about the different kinds of feet and ankles. Dave said your requirements are assessed but he would guess that I would want an energy-storing multi-axle-ankle foot. Does begin to sound really space-age, doesn't it? This energy storing stuff stores energy when you move one part of the foot (the toes I think) to be used by another part. This is not a "run a marathon" foot, but it is a walk in the park or stroll around Brussels or Paris foot.

I asked Dave what the name of the Brace I currently wear is - because I forgot and wanted the name for future reference and it is an Arizona brace. This did not work to keep my foot in place, but I can't imagine where my foot would be now without it - probably handing off the side of my leg.

I see the doc again this coming Tuesday and we will move this process forward. There are lots of interesting options and associated decisions to make. I can start working on some of them sooner - like rehab facilities - and some of them come a bit later - like kind of foot. But, I'll get smarter before I have to lock in the decision.

And that's today's report.

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