Vacuum Leg

My mom and I tried a new Vietnamese restaurant that had just opened near us since our usual Vietnamese restaurant was closed. We were seated in the sun room type area, it was kinda nice except I think they may have forgotten about us a few times. There was one other little family seated across from us. The little boy was done eating and you know how they get restless when they are bored; he was walking around the tables. I could see his face when he noticed my leg. It looked as if his thoughts were written all over his face. If only! He went to his table and said, "Mom, she has a vacuum cleaner leg!" This mom was one of those moms that used it as an opportunity to teach the little boy. She brought him over to me and asked if I would explain to the little boy what happened. I went through my spill, " My leg was hurt in a car accident and the doctors had to make me a new one."

That little boy sure had an imagination and when you think about it, it kind of does look like one of those little dirt devil vacuums. I would be willing to bet his chores consist of vacuuming.

Lake time!

Yesterday I spent the day floating on the lake with friends. I have a water leg (my old leg) that I use when I am in or near the water. I don't take any chances with my c-leg. I mean I can't really even walk with my cell phone in my hand without dropping it and shattering the screen. I can only imagine tripping and falling in the water with my c-leg on. I don't think Otto Bock has an AppleCare type policy to replace my knee!

I switched legs at the car and headed to the water. Before we got in the water, two little boys walked passed us and one waved. They walked down the sidewalk a little ways and turned around and walked back past us. The older one said, "hi" this time. I asked him if he was having fun in the water? He said, "what happened to your leg?" He was so funny the way he asked. He just had a comical expression. I told him, " I was in a really bad car accident and my leg got hurt really bad and the doctors made me a new one." He said, "So you don't feel it." I said, "No." He proceeded to touch my toes and poke my leg in several spots asking if I could feel it. I continued to say, "No, not at all." He said he was never going to drive in the dark again. I asked him when he has driven in the dark and what happened? He has a little car that he drives and he hit a tree once.

We floated for several hours, I was getting out and jumping in just fine. I switched to floating with my legs hanging off the float and after a little while,I felt a cage like thing with my foot and freaked out. I fell off my floaty and was flailing in the water. Ryan, asked me if I took my leg off the last time I had gotten out? I said, "no,I still have it on." I knew I could feel the suction was still there. I felt down and the leg was GONE! The shell had separated from the suction piece. Velcro and water are not friends. I freaked out again and started flailing again! Now, after 2 flailing incidents, I have no idea where I was when it came off. I looked at Courtney and Ryan and said we have to start diving! Luckily the water was only about 5 feet deep. I had been trying to avoid touching the bottom, there's just something about the bottom of lakes; they're slimy and you never know what is down there. I had no problem diving down and running my hands across the bottom in search for my leg. Our floats started getting a little to far from us so I swam over to get them and I turn around to head back and I see Courtney and Ryan standing looking at each other and smiling and I hear "did you?" I said,"did you really?" He was tall enough that he could walk around and feel with his feet. Much more efficient than my diving! He reached down and pulled my leg out of the water! I was incredibly lucky! Can you imagine if we had not found it and someone else had found it?

At this point, I decided to take it off and leave it on the side. I was concerned about how I was going to get the two pieces back together so I could walk back to the car, but I have learned that it does no good to worry about the future. I would figure it out when I needed to walk. After we were done playing in the water, I looked at my leg and the Velcro had dried and was still sticking. I put it on and was able to walk fine! I've got to figure out a better system for my water leg. If you have any ideas, I am open to suggestions!