Good afternoon and welcome. For those who are new to this blog site, I am a rbk amputee, that is a right leg below the knee amputee. This all came about last August thanks to two broken bones and infection in my lower right leg.
Not long after I started blogging about this journey that I have been on, you can check out my past blogs to see the results and reflections of this journey. I last posted in February because I was running out of new updates. But now I have a few more for you, and I pray you find them helpful or at least interesting.
First up is a recent experience or I should say nightmare. I thought it would be a good idea to change out an brown sock that I had on my foot for a cool looking blue and orange compression sock that I had. After all I wanted to keep good blood flow to my fake foot and ankle. No really I thought it is a cool sock for summer time. Boy was that a bad idea! My wife and I like to never have got that sock on my fake foot. What I thought would be a 5 minute, maybe 10 minute job took almost a half an hour and my wife saying, "We will never do this again!" When it come time to change the sock we are cutting this one off. So what is the lesson here? If you have a size 13 or better like me don't try and put a tight compression sock on your fake foot. I think a good rule of thumb would be if it's easy to put on your real foot then it will be just a little harder to put on your fake foot.
At our last visit to Mahaffey Orthotics and Prosthetics I ask Jeff about wearing sandals and he say no problem and that if I had the open spot between my first two toes that I could even wear flip flops. Well guess what:
I guess I could wear flip flops except for one thing, I have a tendency to walk out of them. But I can wear regular sandals with straps or my clogs. But mostly I guess I'll be in my tennis shoes.
I have been walking with my cane mostly when I'm out now. Before I started to walk with it I didn't know if I was suppose to use it on my bad leg side or my good leg side. Thanks to some PT with Breck at Boise City Hospital I learned that its used on you're good leg side and that you put it forward when you step with your artificial leg. So step with your good leg and then cane out and step with you artificial leg. I also learned the distance you put your cane out to the side and in front of you depends on your normal gait.
Around the house I use my Mule (that's what I call my walker) whenever I need to carry stuff. I have a cup/phone holder on it and I can load one hand up with stuff like my tablet and get around the house with it. I also use it to help haul in groceries and other stuff from the car. Here's a picture of me unloading groceries.
When I'm not carrying much or anything I have gotten to where I can walk around the house without the walker or cane. I definitely walk with a limp, but I am walking and that is a positive.
I have to tell you driving is something I miss and my wife tells me she misses me driving. I have tried to drive and I do okay with our Montana but just okay. Our car on the other had is totally different. I have to look down to make sure I hitting the pedals. Also with my big feet and a real close break pedal My foot slips under it and get stuck for a second or two or I just over shoot it all together. This happened to me and I broke the lid on a tub and bent the tub before I got the car stopped, it was a scary few seconds. I have had friends tell me I should learn to drive with my left foot so I have tried. There's just one problem with this, well no its two problems and they are my size 15 wide feet. I get my left foot tangled up with my right foot. I try to keep my right foot out of the way but there's just no way to get it out of the way so my left foot can't get passed it. This leave me with one option that has many different outcomes. More on that later as I look into it closer.
I am posting this on Easter also know as Resurrection Day. Luke 24:5-7 "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7`The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" (Luke 24:5-7). This is one of the greatest days in my life, the other is when I place my trust in Christ Jesus and asked Him to be my Lord and Saviour. Romans 10:9-10 says,
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Because I placed my faith in Christ Jesus I find that in most cases I can face adversity (such as the lost of my lower right leg) with a since of peace. I pray you will find that peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Bro. OH (a panhandle pastor)
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