Feb 19 - Shoes and falling

10:00
I woke up at 07:30, and then fell asleep in the wheelchair in front of the coffee machine.
I have much that needs to be done today. I hope I don't nap the day away.
I worry about having a nap attack in a mall.

I need to buy new shoes. Shoes are not a simple thing for an amputee. I want good shoes to protect the vital good foot. The heal height is important. Otherwise the prosthetic leg will think it is on a slope, and I have talked many times about the dangers of slopes. Usually the prosthesis guy will readjust the prosthesis for each pair of shoes. So I plan on buying new shoes as close as possible to the heel height and slope as the ones I have now. If the shoes are identical in height and cushioning, then they can be swapped without going to the prosthesis guy.
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I prefer going to the mall with a friend. I worry about falling. My one friend has been given a lecture by me about how to handle things if I fall.
This advise is for a relatively strong amputee that has fallen. It does not work well with elderly, or frail people. They have a totally different fall recovery technique.

One thing is for sure....Never pick a fallen person up without their permission!!!

If I stumble and fall in a mall, I have asked my friend to:
1. Stand and block, so nobody will trip on me, or step on me. Make sure nobody tries to pick me up.
2. I will be in shock. I was walking along, and now the floor is in my face. This will take a few seconds for me to realize what is happening.
3.  Maybe I broke something, or injured a shoulder or wrist. If you try to pick me up you can cause major damage. Let ME safely check to see what I may have hurt.
4. If I have hurt something, or you can see damage, call 911 and get help. Let me just lie there and keep me safe from other people wanting to help stand me up.
5. If I am undamaged, then we can think about getting me back on my feet. Balance is more important than strength in getting up. If I am trying to stand, and someone pulls on me anywhere, then my balance is put off. Don't help me up.
6.  When I am ready to try to stand, I want someone standing close, and acting like a tree.
7. Stand with wide legs. Put one hand on your hip,and grip it with the other hand. I will climb up you like I would climb a tree. Don't help unless I ask for help.
8. If you are not strong enough to be a tree for me, then once I am sure there are no injuries, drag me to something I can use to climb up, or ask someone strong to be a tree.
9. Only as a last resort ask for someone to help lift me up.

If I fall in a house, bring a strong dining room chair, and put it close. I can climb up it.
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19:00
At about 13:00 I walked out to the beetle. It started right up, and I started moving out the emergency
equipment out of it into the Atos.
Then I decided to go shoe shopping at a big mall. Arriving there I realized it was 14:00 and I had not eaten anything all day. Nothing except lemon water and coffee. So I had a pepper steak pie.

I went to Takkie Town and looked at lots of shoes, and tried on many. I ended up with some New Balance for 799R.

Then I decided that since it was 16:00 and rush hour, I would walk up and down the ramps in the mall. So I went up and down and up and down the steepest ramp in the mall. I got much better, but still not comfortable enough to do it with out hanging on to the banister. Then I drove home in the traffic.

Once home I put on my new shoes to see if they would work with the leg.
They seem to. I was very careful about heel height and slope of shoe.
I decided to go for a walk. I tried Leonie's suggestions to walk fast.
I did 1 km in 18:30. That is 3.3 km/hr. Zoom Zoom. That would be a park run
in 1 hr 30 min. I'm getting there.
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