A Week at Sabolich - Friday

I reported at Scott Sablich on Friday at 1pm. They had been working solid the previous afternoon and this morning on finishing the prosthesis. They were not done when I arrived, but Bill showed me the socket before it had been cut down to size. I had chosen a burgandy pattern that deepened with the laminate and looked beautiful - it looked like a vase at an art gallery. It is hard to tell from these pictures, but it is a deep red. But would it fit?

About an hour later Bill came back with the completed leg. I tried it on and it felt great. Better in fact, than it had all week - and possibly the best fitting socket I have had. There were a couple little tweaks that I requested he made that improved it. It felt like a mocassin.

The rest of the afternoon was full of lots of walking and adjusting of alignment and C-leg gait control. At one point, I broke out in a clammy sweat and lost strength - this is a chemo effect. I had to rest, but wanted to press on to get it as good as possible. I have to live with this thing.

By 5:00, we had done all that was possible given my strength (and the fact they were closing!) There are a few remaining items - they are going to make a foam removable piece above the knee that will help fill out my pants. I chose for minimal weight, so in the normal mode - there is a space between the knee and socket. My previous prosthesis had this part filled in. I also may need to make a few more alignment tweaks. Typically, the alignment process involves at least one night of walking around a lot to see if it really working well.

So Bill & team pulled it off. He sent me home with a working prosthesis that I believe is my best one yet. I will return to finish up some of the loose ends, but this will be fine until then and is currently better than anything I have had in the past.

Nice work, Bill