My friend Sherwood running on his new leg.

I need a new leg. This one is almost a year old and my stump has shrunk considerably. I'm using 23 plies of socks to keep Mr. Stumpy comfy. It's odd that I can consider this comfy, but it really isn't too bad.

It will be strange to go to Sabolich for a new leg and not see Theron. For those who dunno, Theron has been my legman since November, 2004. He was with Scott Sabolich for many years and had been an amputee himself for 25 years. He was killed Dec 12th by a hit and run driver. He was responsible for me being so comfortable and he always took care of the little things. He also helped make my prosthetics somewhat affordable. My insurance only pays $10K per year which usually leaves me with an out-of-pocket expense. Since these legs cost from $12K and up, he would try to discount everything he could to keep this at a minimum. He even got Ossur to comp the patent rights on my last socket. Thanks Theron. I hope you RIP.

I will be seeing Bill Etheridge who has been with Scott Sabolich for many years. Even Theron thought he was one of the best BK legmen around. I have full confidence in him. We are going to try the new Ossur Seal-in liner. It has 5 seals instead of only one. I tried the one-seal variety with no success. I also think I've shrunk enough to where I'm stabilized more. I've been at this 23-plies since Jan, 2008. I also am going to test drive a Perfect Stride foot. I hate the drive back and forth to OKC from here, but I feel that Sabolich is more on top of technology than the locals. It should take a minimum of 4 weeks since I can only go once a week. Maybe longer if we run into troubles.

I purposely waited til after I attended the ACA conference. I always like to see what new technology is out there. I've really enjoyed the comfort of this socket, it is a vacuum system, but I hate sleeves. For those who dunno, a sleeve is what forms the suction between the socket and my thigh. It keeps air out and the leg on. That's why I want to try the seal-in liner. If it fails at all, I'll be going back to what I now have.

More later............................

I haven't posted here in over a year. A bit of an update is due.

My life is as hectic as always, just more so. Mavis, my wife, has had a bad year and most household duties now fall on me. It started in April, 2007. The docs detected a tumor on her pancreas. Everyone thought it would be cancer, but the pathology showed it was an ovarian cyst. Good news there. She showed great signs of improvement and came through the surgery well. All started downhill a month later when I had to rush her to the hospital. Her stool was black and she was weakened and pale. She had almost bled to death because her coumadin was out of whack. 10 days in the hospital plus many transfusions brought her back to life, but she was very weak. We had to put her in skilled nursing for two weeks to build her strength back.

All was well until Dec. She fell on the 12th and broke her femur just below the hip. Surgery on the 13th and back to skilled nursing for 8 weeks. She was home for one week when I had to call EMT. She had fallen again and was totally non-responsive. The flu and pneumonia were the culprits this time. Another week in the hospital.

She has done alright since then, but needs knee replacement surgery. She can't walk at all because of the amount of damage done to her left knee. We had surgery scheduled for June 12th, but the docs won't operate til she's seen a cardiologist. We're still waiting on insurance approval.

It is December 1st and we have had a record breaking snow and ice storm. It won't sound like much to you northerners, but we had 1-2 inches of freezing rain/ice/sleet followed by 4-12 inches of snow. We had 4-5 inches in the south part of town where I live. The heavier snow was north of me. This is very heavy for November. Most of our heavy snows have come in March. Everything is shut down.

I did the route this morning with no problems. I found a pair of snow boots, Timberlake type, that I had never worn. I thought I would have trouble getting them on the prosthetic leg, but didn't. They have been quite nice to wear in this weather. I measured each step I took so as not to lose my footing. I still don't like walking in the snow and ice with this prosthetic leg. It is really different.

Will stay home today as all my clients cancelled their appointments. We can decorate the tree if I take the notion to get the tree and decorations out.