Yesterday, I received a gift. Ok, well, I paid nearly $3000 for this gift, but it’s a gift nonetheless. I got my bionic legs. These legs were custom made by this amazing prosthesis guy near my house. My mom and I went to his office two weeks ago. He put molding stuff on my legs. It was similar to the stuff they use to make a cast when you break a limb. The molds went all the way up to my hip. Very awkward.
He told me they would take about a week and a half to make them. He wasn’t lying. At exactly a week and a half, I got a call that they were ready. We made an appointment that coincided with physical therapy, so I could pick them up and then take them exactly to 5 O’Clock Shadow (my physical therapist’s new name, since he always sports a very well manicured stubbly beard) to show me how to use them well.
I showed up at the office, a little nervous. I’d been hanging my hopes on these braces. In my mind, these would be a game changer. Once I get braced up, I’d have no more excuses. But, what if they didn’t work right? What if my legs still couldn’t hold me up or work? Rolling into the office, I was so nervous I was almost in tears. Thank goodness for large sunglasses and beautiful Southern California weather that necessitates the wearing of said glasses!
Then I saw the braces. They were awesome!
The braces were put on me, as it’s kind of awkward to do it myself. Granted, I will learn and get better. But for the first time, they were put on my. I stood up. It was amazing! I stood better than I had in months. My legs felt straight. My back felt straight. I decided to go for it, and took off walking along the parallel bars.
Obviously, I got tuckered out pretty early on! But it was a great start. The prosthesis guy said that I had more determination than most people. That made me happy. I’m a sucker for positive feedback! I then went to PT with new legs in hand. 5 O’Clock Shadow seemed happy with them. We spent the whole session playing with them. He’s going to try me on arm crutches as well as the walker to see what I do better on. He said I’d have more independence with arm crutches. So, it seems like a no-brainer to me! Harder but more mobility seems like the way to go! I do love a good challenge anyway.
5 O’Clock told me to practice standing at home this weekend. He also told us to get a gait belt for if we practice walking. The hubs could follow behind me with my wheelchair and grab on to the gait belt if I started to fall. We obviously listened:
If you’ll notice, my wheelchair is far behind me, and the hubs is in front of me filming. Oh, and no gait belt. Whoops.
Now, I am more motivated than ever to walk! It’s going to be hard. But, what about this journey hasn’t been hard? But at least I’m feeling progress. And that speaks volumes! And my new mini-goal (cause my mom said I have to have one) is to walk into my neurosurgeon’s office next time I see him in July. I think he’ll be awfully stoked to see me cruising in. I know I’ll be stoked!
I also know that with my new bionic legs, there’s no stopping me now!
