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In January 2011 we flew to New Zealand once more to visit
friends and have an extended holiday. This time all went well with the check-in
at the airport and we arrived in Auckland with Daisy in her bag. A medical
examination before I went had shown that I was intolerant to carbohydrates and
that I needed to change my diet and to loose a little weight; so over the next few weeks a
few pounds dropped off (believe me it was not as easy as it sounds). We then moved on to Australia to stop with my
brother, but by this point the loss in weight meant that Stumpy had also shrunk
and the prosthesis would no longer retain suction and so we had to live without
the use of the leg for the next three months. On my return to the UK I arranged
to have a new socket made. When I went to collect it unfortunately the new
socket was also
too big so I now faced another month without my leg. Another two weeks passed
until one evening Cedric said to me, "Is it worth getting a new socket
made?" Sometimes you just need someone to tell you what you need to hear;
so we sat and discussed the option well into the early hours of the morning. I
had managed for four months without a leg and when I considered the pro's and
con's it was obvious that I felt more comfortable in living life without the use
of an artificial limb.
It had been 5 years since I first had my artificial leg and over that period I had
persevered with it, but looking back I can now evaluate the way forward for me.
- When walking with the leg I did not get to see anything around me as my
focus and attention was wholly on the leg and where I was walking as with
an above-knee prosthesis you have to be certain that the leg has swung
forward and locked in position to take your weight.
- Because of the positioning of the knee when I sat the foot did not touch
the floor, this meant that the weight of the leg was continually pulling
the socket from the stump and often resulted in it becoming detached.
- When sitting down the socket became very uncomfortable over a period of time.
- When walking I got soreness where the socket rubbed in the area of my
groin.
- I did not wear the leg around the house as it proved a hindrance and was
uncomfortable to sit in.
The decision was mine and after consideration I chose to continue life without the use of a
prosthesis. This choice would offer challenges but we would overcome them; one area was
how we would get about when visiting friends who had limited wheelchair access.
We decided to buy a lightweight folding transit chair which resolved this
problem and would also allow me to get from the bedroom to the bathroom in the
morning when we were staying with friends and relatives.
I am glad that I had a prosthesis initially as I can now look back and see
both the benefits and the draw backs; but things change as we change and you
need to be able to look at things objectively and reconsider your choices. There
will be definite losses like visiting National Trust buildings, but there are
also gains. I went out to a local beauty spot recently and was able to view the
countryside around me and the lake beside me; free from the need to concentrate
on my walking.
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