I'm a bit late on this, but it's been a long week.  Lots of appointments last week, and even more coming up next week.

We have a new wrinkle to add to the amputation recovery story.  A few years ago, my cardiologist detected a "murmur" in my heart.  Since then we've been doing echocardiograms to monitor the heart valves.  As of last Friday, the Aortic valve  has reached the severe stenosis (restricted flow) stage.  This typically means repair or replacement of the valve.  Frankly, I find that a bit scary at the moment.  It's not like I've got a backup for this one.

Next week I have different tests done on 3 separate days to determine if I'd be a candidate for TAVR (Trans Aortic Valve Replacement) rather than open heart surgery.  In TAVR, a mechanical valve is inserted into the existing valve via a stent like process through a main artery starting in the groin and working it's way up to the heart.  This is the least invasive procedure and most patients go home the next day.  Given all the physical demands of the amputation recovery, this is obviously my preferred procedure.  There's risk of course, but so far I am confident in the team of Dr's and technicians who do this procedure.  Next weeks tests, followed by 2 separate Dr discussions the following week will determine the path forward.  I will provide another update when that path is determined.  

I'm still dealing with the left prosthetic that has a socket that's too large.  I won't be able to get a replacement until after May 20th, due to Dr. schedules and insurance requirements, so I'm just doing what I can with the existing one.  Just another delay.

The wound on the right leg continues to heal, with no signs of infection but it's slow.  Often in the last phase of healing, the pain from the would itself (which isn't terrible) stimulates the phantom pain which can actually be worse than the real pain.  The wound care team has given me some things I can do to desensitize the leg so I'm doing that multiple times a day.  Eventually, the phantom pain should disappear.

Due to all the increased appointments and uncertainty about the heart issue, driving with hand controls and an instructor has been halted for now.  I've got about almost 5 hours in the training vehicle, and I'm feeling quite comfortable with the changes.  I've got hand controls here at home that will be installed in our Subaru Outback sometime in the near future.  There's no rush to complete this process, since it's not like I've got to drive to work everyday.  Elaine's a super reliable personal Uber, so I'm always able to get where I need to be.  I even renewed my driver's license so I've got 4 years to add the hand control options.  (But I don't want to wait that long)

Thanks for going up and down the hills of this journey with us, please comment or ask questions if you wish.

Bill & Elaine

Defeeted, but not Defeated