It has been a considerable time since the last update. Since then Carol has continued to move on with her life. Each event has been slightly harder than anticipated, took longer than expected, and generally took more out of her than she probably expected. That being said, she has made tremendous progress. Today she went in for yet another prosthetic fitting. This time she got her "final" prosthetic design, though her new foot isn't due in until this Friday.

Her previous prosthetic, though heavy and someone problematic, she had adjusted to. It was held onto her stump via pressure against the patella tendon. Her knee didn't really appreciate the added pressure and it was decided to go with a design that utilized a vacuum. The new design has her putting significant weight onto the bottom of her stump. It caused her a lot of pain today. She is hoping that the final one will fit better than this one and will be more comfortable. If the past is any barometer of what to expect then she will have a few more "adjustments" ahead of her.

She has adapted to getting around the house. This house is not friendly to crutches. There are stairs at all the entrances, stairs down to the family room, stairs to the bedrooms, and a steep driveway. Even so, she managed to learn to walk up and down the stairs one foot over the other just as anyone else would. That may not seem like, much, but when your ankle doesn't bend and you can't feel the stairs, walking that way can be more than a little scary.

We went to Myrtle Beach, SC over the summer and she walked out onto the beach through the heavy sand. I carried into the ocean and back since she wasn't sure the foot she had was okay to get wet and even if it was, she didn't have extra socks that were necessary to keep it from falling off.

Her stump has shrunk to the point where it is now smaller than her other leg. Each time we think it has reached the smallest possible size it seems to shrink some more. She was wearing so many socks with the other prosthetic that she couldn't put long pants on. With this new one she doesn't need any socks.

She starts her new job tomorrow so yet another chapter begins.