Learning to walk
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Then came the time when I had to go home and leave my new leg behind. It was always going to be hard, but until I had mastered all of the complexities of walking, standing, turning, climbing stairs, slopes, putting on the leg, etc, I would have to be patient, which is not something I find easy. Karen also discussed with me whether I would want the new leg covered. You can have a leg shaped cover that fits over the leg so that when you walk it is less obvious that you have a prosthesis. I declined this as I was quite happy to wear my new leg with pride and it would be obvious that it was artificial, and so would cut out the questions in peoples minds, 'has she got a bad leg or is it false'. Stump socks were another thing that I had to get used to. They come in various thicknesses, and each time you put on the leg you have to find the right fit for the day. Twice a week an ambulance would come and take me down to ARC and I would practice until the day came when I was able to walk around the outside of the clinic with two sticks in my hands to steady me as I progressed. Then I was told that I could take Gerty the leg home with me and I should start off by just sitting with her on for a few hours to get used to it.
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 Slowly is a word that you get used to, and progress is a little at a time,
but slowly I improved and stretched my ability to walk. Two months later I asked
Cedric if he would hold my hand while we walked across the room without sticks
and then I walked across the room on my own without sticks. We then walked
hand-in-hand out the house and across the road to visit my friends, which meant
negotiating the kerb stones. I have now bought a pair of trainers and as the
spring weather comes we intend to go out and walk a little more each day. I still
use Annabelle the wheelchair around the house as it is easier, quicker and
more comfortable, also for shopping where I feel safer as people barge around
without thinking that their shopping trolley will knock me off my feet, but the
important thing is that I now have a choice and I can visit friends and
negotiate their front door steps. |
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There are days when I do not wear Gerty at all. There will be days when I will not feel up to wearing Gerty. I have to be careful not to rub the stump and avoid sore patches as the reason for my problem was circulation and I have to avoid the problem re-occurring in the top of my leg. I have not gone out on my own and still find many areas challenging, but Gerty has given me a new level of freedom. Annabelle the wheelchair will have to go with us where ever we go in the future as a backup, for example at Christmas we drove down to see some friends and when I got out of the car I had a painful sensation in my leg when I put weight on it and so had to resort to the wheelchair. |
Once the leg has been built up onto the socket, it is time for your first
fitting. There may be minor adjustments to make to the socket and the leg will
need tweaking. As I made my first steps walking between the parallel bars I was
filled with all sorts of emotions, fear, excitement, joy and enthusiasm. Karen
got me stood up and then asked me whether I initially wanted to walk with a stiff leg,
which is easier, or to go for the swinging leg which is harder. I said "I would go for the
swinging motion", as I now had such a lovely leg and wanted to make full
use of it. Made of carbon
fibre and anodised aluminium (might be titanium), it looked really smart. It was hard at first, but
I soon got going. At
the end of my second run we decided that the new leg was a little longer than my
real one. Unfortunately the leg could not be shortened without a new ankle
section, but for this session we could get around this by fitting a spacer
sandal on my good leg. This made a big difference and I was soon walking back
and forth, but the effort was exhausting and I had to take a rest after a couple
more goes up and down.