Walking Spirit

Man, I have a lot to report. I received my new socket last Friday. It fits well, but it really hurts to walk. After meeting with my Surgeon, Physical Therapist, and Prosthetist we've decided that the pain is coming from a number of things.

The first part of it is that there is some deep tissue bruising from the surgeries that will take more time to heal. The second part is that my leg is no longer used to a prosthesis so I'm sweating a lot, which is causing the liner to lose it's hold on my skin. The third part is that there is a place in the incision where there may still be a suture close to the surface. All these things added together equals pain and discomfort. The good news is that over the past week the pain has lessened. So, hopefully, I'll get used to it quickly and the pain will go away.

With all that in mind, you should know that the day after I received the leg I went to the swanky peoples Burn Foundation Summer Ice fund raiser event with Mom, Dad, Sarah, and several other close friends who have been very helpful over the past few years. It was a fantastic event and, after a great dinner, I finally decided to see how it would feel to dance. What I learned was that I could prom dance (ie. sway to the music and hold a pretty girl close). However, fast dancing is just laughable. My legs don't move much at all, I can shake my booty, and I can slightly sway from side to side. It's pretty funny looking. After all that, and a some walking, I had several blisters on my leg that didn't go away for a couple of days, but it was worth it.

A few days ago my phone rang. I almost didn't answer because it came up "unknown name". When I answered a voice said "is Jeremy there". I said "speaking" and the voice then said "this is Jeremy Warriner". To which I replied "yeah, that's me." The voice then said "no, this is Jeremy Warriner". To which I said "yeah" and the voice then said "no, I'm Jeremy Warriner" and after a pause I said "who is this really?" The voice again said "this is Jeremy Warriner", chuckled and then said he had heard I was in an accident and wanted to call to see how I was doing. I finally asked the question: "you mean this is Jeremy Wariner, the olympic medalist?" and he said "yes".

I went on to tell him about the accident, and then asked how he'd gotten my information. He said that a friend of mine had e-mailed his manager and shared the story. His manager asked him if he would want to put a message on my blog, but he decided to call instead. We went on to talk about his experience at the recent Olympics and about his goals for the future. We also talked more about my outlook on life and the need to keep moving forward. It was a great conversation that really made my day. He was getting ready for a race in Sweden and decided to take time to give me a call. He's a great guy, and I hope to get the chance to thank him in person someday.

During our conversation I was able to find out that the friend was Fran Kandrac. I also hope to thank her sometime in the near future, but for now will have to say thanks here. Fran is an amazing woman who has a tremendous heart.

Now, I'm off to Egypt, by way of the IMA!