Nothing massive happened today but there were lots of little positives. I love my prosthetist she is just amazing and I don’t know what I would have done without her. Yet again Lynne came to the rescue, she managed to fit me in while I was over for physio to solve another problem. Following her wizardry with the socket the shortness of the prosthesis started to cause me an issue. I got to clinic 9, went more or less straight in and in no time, like the shopkeeper, as if by magic Lynne appeared (that last bit will only make sense if you are old enough to remember Mr Ben). I showed her the two different trainers I was wearing so she had an idea of the difference and then we swapped both the odd trainers for my new ones. Lynne placed the sandal on which allows her to place insoles under the sole of your shoe to see how far she needs to lengthen the leg. The first insole went in and I trotted (I use that term exceptional loosely) up and down between the bars but it felt a bit low and on feeling my hips Lynne agreed. Another one went in and off I trotted again, after feeling my hips it was just a tads lower but she told me that they do tend to have the prosthesis slightly shorter. Lynne did comment that I was bending the knee well and walking much better and that it was looking really good. To get there a have a comment like that felt really nice. I had mentioned what happened yesterday and she told me that if there is a camber or slope sideways when walking to make sure my right leg is on the highest side. She told me to go round to physio (I was in my wheelchair) and she would pop my leg round.
I started the physio session on the rowing machine this week which was a bit of a strain on my right leg, as I didn’t have my prosthesis on, but no more than on the bike. I managed to do my 10 mins without a break and maintained an average of 34 mph which I was quite happy with. I went for it on the last minute to try an get in an extra bit of distance in. When I had finished Lisa asked me how far I managed to go but when we looked on the screen the distance wasn’t on there. I pressed the distance button but it had not recorded it. I was a bit gutted to be honest but someone had messed about with the buttons, there is always next week if I get to go on it again. I preferred the rowing machine as it’s more of a workout because you are using your arms as well. Just as I finished Lynne came in with my leg which I put straight on. There was only two of us there which was OK and sometimes I think that is better. We used the Wii this week and I was doing the downhill skiing and moving a bubble along a river which was good for balance. I had to walk over sticks that had been placed on the floor with alternate feet going over the sticks, doing a three step turn and going back over them again. The three step turn was really difficult and something I am going to have to practice. There was a massive step which was probably about 12″ height that I had to step on with my real leg and then put it back on the floor again. This was to work on balancing on the prosthesis and use the stump, core and bum muscles to control it all, easier said than done. I also had to do a test today, there was a chair with arms put at one end of the gym and a cone was placed at a set measurement away from the chair. I sat in the chair and when the trainee physio said go I had to stand up, walk around the cone, go back to the chair and sit down. It was timed and I had one practice and then three goes, this was done without using sticks. We did the obligatory stretches after the warm up and finished with some tough sitting Thera-band exercises. I went home with my leg on and Lisa walked me out and she went over the stairs with me for the first time which was really good. I did notice that the prosthesis was longer which took a little getting used too but it felt much better. I got a lot out of today and wish I could have more days like this one.
