Walking Spirit

Along with my new sockets came some new flexibility as well. Switching from the pin lock sockets to the suction sockets also allowed my Prosthetist to make the sockets shorter than the old ones because these sockets don't have a locking mechanism at the bottom. This gave me a few options that I didn't have before. One option was to become about an inch or so shorter than I was with the other set. The other option was to put something between the end of the sockets and my knees to keep the same height.

Now, I've gotten used to being tall, and I really wasn't interested in buying new pants (or having the ones I currently have hemmed) so I decided to stay the same height. In order for that to happen my prosthetist needed to build up from the knee to the bottom of the socket. This gave me the chance to add something to each leg that I've wanted for a little over a year now. That "something" is called a rotation unit.

the rotation unit is the small piece between my knee and the socket (pictured above) that has a button on the side of it. When I press that button it allows me to actually rotate the knee so that I can cross my legs. You wouldn't think that this would be very important, but when you lose that flexibility you realize how important it really is! With the old system (pin lock) I couldn't add a rotation unit to the right leg because my residual limb is so long. It would have added unnecessary height that could have made balancing even more difficult than it already is. However, because I've learned to walk and balance (somewhat) at this height, staying this tall is not a problem. (getting taller could be)

With this new ability I can change my shoes without having to take my legs off, change clothes without having to take my legs off, and take pressure off my hips if the way I'm sitting is uncomfortable. I can't begin to express how good it felt to cross my legs for the first time in four years! Plus, the knee actually rotates 360 degrees, so if I step in something nasty it will be real easy to clean my shoes!