June 26 2016 - No News Blog

Very little has happened since my last blog.

There are so many people trying to help me with my prosthetic problems, in so many ways, but I am still in the wheel chair, and still have deep strong pain in my stump. It is sad.

I went for x-rays, and a sonogram on the stump. My surgeon also saw my good right leg,

and he got very worried about it, so I had x-rays and a sonogram on that leg also. The calf muscle is very hard. As if there is a blockage somewhere. The toes are a constant 10 degrees C (18F) lower in temperature than the thigh.
The x-rays, and sonogram gave good news and bad news. Good news was no physical injuries in either leg. No tumors, visible damage, blockage, and no blood clots.
The bad news was that the cause of the stump pain is still a mystery.

It is now 14 days since the stump hurt itself. It is a bit better, but still a long way from able to get a prosthetic socket on.
Today with only a nylon compression stocking on, I tried to put the socket on. It made it in about 10 cm (4 in) then the pain started. I then tried my old socket that was replaced because it was too big. It also hurts, but not as bad. The silicone liner is much thicker than the nylon compression stocking, so it would be much more painful with the liner on.

My prosthesist has loan of a fancy bionic knee that I can use for 2 weeks. I am sad that such wonderful opportunity is wasted.
My Brother has bought an old, worn, leaky Total Knee 2100. If we can somehow fix it up, I would then have a super knee. But I can't even get a socket on. Grrr!! :-(

I read online about a woman that also had a similar pain to my stump pain. She said:

Things were looking good, but then about a month later, disaster struck.  A sudden pain in the back of my stump caused me to stop immediately and I could walk no more.  I had to be helped and could not even walk or put my other leg on  – the pain was so intense.  From then followed six weeks where I could not walk, I was back on crutches and could not work.  I was devastated.  Worst of all, nobody could really tell me what I had done.  It was put down to nerve pain and I was on a lot of painkillers.  It turns out that it was probably a muscle tear. Eventually, after about six weeks I could wear my walking leg for a few hours a day pain-free until gradually I could wear it all day.  But, I had lost a lot of muscle strength in my stump and that had to be built up again.  

So quickly things can go so wrong. That will make me wary of doing long walks, or doing anything on my own.

One thing I am very fortunate about, is my love of programming. So the last few weeks stuck in a wheelchair have given me lots of time to work on programming different algorithms for the routing of train, internet packets, and chess pieces. I have truly enjoyed doing that.
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