After a week of websurfing, reading, watching TV, and attempting to catch up with my schoolwork, I finally had a productive day today. I got the enormous surgical dressing removed, met a prosthetist, and got handicap placards from the BMV.
The nurse removed the dressing using sturdy fabric shears. By my father's count, he removed seven layers, mostly thick cotton batting. He gingerly folded back the final layer of stretchy gauze, revealing the surprisingly small stump of my lower leg capped with a neat row of surgical staples. (No, I won't post a picture.) I was very relieved to get the massive weight of gauze and cotton off of my leg. I could move my knee again! And scratch the itch below my kneecap that had bothered me all week! Heaven!
My surgeon took a quick glance at the staples and decided they should stay in for another week. Fortunately, they did not require another dressing, but my surgeon recommended that I wear an ominously-named "stump shrinker". Essentially, it is an elastic tube, closed with a plastic ring at the bottom, that is worn to reduce swelling. The nurse fashioned a temporary stump shrinker, then sent us across town to a prosthetist for a more robust one.
The prosthetist, a jolly-looking bearded man with a slight limp, gave me a white stump shrinker that was functionally identical to the brown one I got at my surgeon's office. Then, he brought in four fake legs for "show and tell". The technology is amazing. The prostheses are held onto the stump with a silicone sleeve that has a toothed pin at the bottom. No straps, velcro, or buttons. The pin locks into a hard shell attached to the aluminum and carbon fiber foot. The ankle, heel, and ball of the foot are all articulated to simulate the pull of muscles.
They work better than the leg I lost!
The plan goes like this: in a few weeks, once the swelling goes down, a technician will take a casting of my leg. That will be used to create a temporary prosthesis with which I can practice walking while my leg shrinks further. After a few months, they will take another casting for the permanent prosthesis. Once I get used to that, they will enclose the shell in carbon fiber and, optionally, fake flesh. I, of course, plan to leave the carbon fiber exposed. So cool.
Next stop was the BMV. First, I wanted to get a handicap placard for my car. The second reason requires some backstory: two summers ago, I completed a two-week-long motorcycle training course offered by the state. (I never wrote about the course, so I unfortunately do not have a weblog link.) I got a certificate that would give me my motorcycle endorsement if I simply presented it at any BMV. I never did, so the certificate remained in my wallet until today when I decided to cash it in.
The BMV employee laughed when I gave her my unique request. I, a young man on crutches and missing part of his leg, wanted both a handicap placard and a license to drive a motorcycle.
Says:
Brett –
What a shocker! Hope you are doing well with recovery. Keep the attitude up!
Be blest!
CD