Not painful but not comfortable

Mary's pain management seems under control but she is still adapting to the uncomfortableness of the fixator on her leg. We think it weighs close to 10 pounds so that means she is carrying an additional 20% of her body weight on her left leg now.

The good news is that her range of motion in her knee seems better. So much so that when we were in the car yesterday she said her leg felt stiff and uncomfortable and she wanted to bend it and prop it on a lower prop.

Original car position: straight leg with a trashcan to rest her leg on.

New car position: knee slightly bent with a step stool to rest her leg on. Original trashcan is in the picture.

She made the same comment at the kitchen table. She had already transferred from using the wheelchair at the table to a chair with a pillow behind her and a prop for her foot and now she is facing forward, bending her knee some and using pillows for a lower prop.

Her toes bug her a lot and she loves to have them held up straight like they normally would be if she didn't have the fixator messing with her tendons.

Old picture but it shows how she wants her toes held up

We verified with our doctor that its OK if we use a toe strap we made. My hubby found the strap and I made the toe pillow. She likes it but prefers your hand over the strap.

Homemade toe strap

She is doing better at night because she now sleeps a portion of the night on her tummy.

But she still struggles at night since she can't move the fixator on her own so she calls for help to move into a new position and to have her toes stretched. I am hopeful she will continue to gain more and more control. It should be so much lighter when the foot piece and thigh piece come off in a couple of month leaving only the two rings on her calf.

She can do more and more things on her own but I have to remember she still can't sit down on her own. She needs you to lift the highest ring onto whatever she is sitting on and help lift the bottom portion as well because it's too much weight for her now. What she can do is pull herself up.

Stairs are easier going down because you help her sit down, you hold her leg as she descends each step, and then she pulls herself up at the bottom.

Going up is trickier because you help her sit down, you hold her leg as she scoots up each step, and then she needs a little help standing up at the very top but even with that you can tell she is getting stronger. (That move is so much better than the ice skater spin move the Physical Therapist taught us at the hospital.)

Mary's most comfortable and favorite place to be is in the recliner my sister loaned us.

We have a doctors appontment tomorrow. Mary's questions are all about mobility.

• How soon after I get the first two pieces can I walk? 
• Will I ever be able to run with the fixator on?