PT continues to go well, at least according to my excellent therapist.  In about 5 weeks I have progressed from being unable to stand on the prosthesis to as much as 12 minutes of standing with the left leg prosthesis while excercising my right leg.  I also do a lot of sit to stand excercises where I stand for a minute or two, place my hands on a table and raise the hands one at a time to gain more balance and strengthen muscles needed to stand and sit.  I've managed to get to 21 of those in a row which is my current personal record.

I'm doing transfers to surfaces from the wheelchair using the prosthetic instead of the prior sliding board transfers.  I've also been able to transfer from the wheelchair to the car and back.  All of these take practice and are somewhat difficult and painful, since they also involve the need for me to pivot on the prosthetic foot.  The socket of my prosthetic which fit fine at first is now to large, due to changes in my residual limb.  That's normal, but it has occurred more quickly than anticipated.  So, I have to make up the lost volume with "socks" made to go over the liner and residual limb.  I may start the day with 6-8 layers of socks and that may increase to as much as 13 layers.

The more layers, the more my leg tends to rotate within the socket, making pivots and leg bends much more difficult.  The solution is to make a new socket to fit the leg in its current state.  I've started that process, but it's likely to be 2-3 weeks before the new socket is available to me.

In the mean time, I continue to work on strengthening and improving my balance and endurance.  We recently added hopping, which includes the use of a walker.  I have not done this since last September, so the first time was a challenge but I managed to make it 26 feet.  I've included a photo that Elaine took of me and my therapist, Alecia doing that first hopping exercise. 

Sadly, home care with Alecia for PT and Molly for wound care will stop at the end of April.  I will have to continue both at the clinic instead, since I am no longer considered home bound.  Our home care assistants have been essential to my recovery.  Their care has been excellent, and their compassion has been appreciated by both of us.  We'll miss them, but hope to continue our relationship as friends.

As usual, Elaine is by my side for all of this.  I'm able to free her up from some things that used to require her help, but she's right there if I need something.  All of this would be impossible without her.  We'll celebrate her birthday this weekend, but it may be a bit more muted this time.

Thanks for sharing our story, please comment or ask questions if you wish.

Bill & Elaine