Laura gets a New Leg
Day 80
Laura went for her leg fitting early in the morning. They took pictures and measurements of her good leg then casted her stump and let the plaster harden in place. The cast was taken off and she was told to come back about three.
Laura was back at the prosthetist's office at two forty five. She was taken back to the fitting area. The prosthetist's brought in a socket and slid it on her stump.
"How does that feel?"
"Better than the one I have."
"I hope we can do better than that. The one you are using was made quickly in the OR on a stump that had not had time to mature. We had a better shot at it now. And now we are going to fine tune it." He put a pylon in the adapter on the socket had her stand. Several times he adjusted the length until he was satisfied. Finally he marked the length on the pylon and slid the socket off her stump and sprayed something into it. He slid the socket back on her stump and had her put her weight on it. After a few seconds he had her sit and he took off the socket. The assistant carefully cleaned her stump while the prosthesist looked inside the socket. He took it off to another room for a few minutes. When he came back he put it back on her stump and had her stand. He asked if there were any spots that felt like they were pressing more. She sat and pointed to a couple spots. He went out, did something to the socket and made some changes. This was done three times. When there were no more pressure points the prosthestist removed the marked pylon, marked the hinged pylon and put it on the new socket. He showed her the suction valve that released the socket.
Laura stood and tried walking on the new socket. It was much more comfortable and felt far more steady than the one put on her stump in the OR. After some walking around the office the prosthesist took the socket in the back room and invited Laura to come with him. He took the pylon off the socket and sat it on a shaft the size of the pylon. He placed a sheet of plastic in the machine, closed a cover and turned it on. Through the cover Laura watched as the plastic sheet with a pylon attachment was translated to a socket like the one she was wearing. She asked about the process. He told her it was not only creating a second socket, it was also recording the information on a CD so they could create another socket for her if needed. They went back to the fitting room and the new socket was fitted to her stump. It fit as well as the original. He re-assembled her pylon with the new socket and gave it back to her. She would now be using a new socket with her pylon.
The assistant packed the old plaster socket in a box. "If something changes you can use this one. I suggest you store it in a dry place in case you would need it. We will see you Tuesday."
The assistant put the box with her old socket in her car and she headed home.
When Laura first came home from the hospital she wore slacks to hide her prosthesis but after a few days she realized it was obvious even when hidden. She started wearing shorts most of the time, they made it easy for her to release her knee, remove and replace the pylon and even remove her leg. The new socket not only fit her stump much better, the outside of it also was shaped like her other leg. Unlike the old one that was a dirty white, this one was flesh colored. From her hip to where her stump rounded it was shaped almost like her other leg. At home she took off her shorts and stood at a long mirror.
Kathy had told her this leg would be cosmetic, to wear when dressed up and that it would not be as good for walking. As Laura tried out the socket with the pylon she found it to be a big improvement.
Day 82
Laura went to church with her family on Sunday. Part way through the sermon the pastor talked about how God could use circumstances to bring about good. On the way home Lem asked the question that had been bugging him for some time. "Was it God's will for Laura to loose her leg?"
Laura had dealt with this and before her parents could answer she got out the one-word reply, "No."
