Buckeye Bound

Off to Cleveland tomorrow morning, and stitches come out on Monday. Corrine almost convinced me to snip a few of the really painful stitches that are cutting deep into the skin, but I decided just to leave them alone. The incision is completely healed now, so the stitches truly are doing more harm than good.

Even though my thigh has atrophied down to nothing, my lower leg actually does feel quite strong. I can push with my palm against the end, and I have absolutely no sensitivity. This probably doesn't sound particularly remarkable, but I could never do that with my old stump. My old stump was basically just a big nerve ending.

I hope they clear me for prosthetics at my appointment on Monday. I don't know how I was able to handle crutches for almost 9 months back in 1995. I am really quite fed up with hobbling around on one foot. I also can't stand parking in handicapped spots. I've had a handicapped placard for a while, but just ask Corrine: I'll park half a mile away, rather than use handicapped parking. I never limped, and my prosthesis basically looked like an ordinary leg, so I assumed that everyone thought I was a fraud when I parked in a handicapped spot. I distinctly remember one time we visited the Kinzua viaduct. I was actually in some pain that day, and the lot was full, so I asked the parking attendant to direct us to the handicapped spots. She glared at us, assuming that a male in his 20s couldn't possibly need handicapped parking. As Corrine and I later walked past her, I heard her say, "Oh, there goes the handicapped couple!" I definitely stopped dead in my tracks, and thought about taking off my leg and waving it in her face. I opted for decorum, and I let it go.

I work with an amazing troop at Lockheed. Engineers have an undeserved reputation for being socially inept, maybe even antisocial. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every single person I work with has been supportive beyond my expectations. I guess that's why I returned to a full-time schedule so quickly.

When I was in high school, after I was fully recovered from my accident, there was a kid from Erie who managed to get his bicycle entangled with a train, and his leg was severed below the knee. (This was back when West 19th street had railroad tracks literally right down the middle. Yes, mile-long freight trains instead of streetcars.) I decided that I really needed to find this kid, and assure him that everything would be fine. I found out where he was taken, and I visited him in the hospital. A few days after that, one of the nuns at my school came to me and suggested that I go visit this kid in the hospital.... and I explained that I had already done so. After I'm fully recovered from this, I hope I can somehow promote the Ertl procedure. There's a lot of information on the internet, if you're willing to look, but it seems as though a lot of the medical establishment isn't convinced that it's worth all the extra hassle.