Part III - The Lions

Three Iconic Hikes - One Day.... Part III - The Lions

• The Lions - 5,408 ft
• Distance: ~16km
• Elevation Gain: 4,500 ft
• Time: 5:39:00

Another 25 minute drive, two sandwiches, half a can of coke later and we were parked in Lions Bay at the trailhead for The Lions. I think we both knew this was where the work was going to truly start.

I had been envisioning this moment for a few weeks... I knew it might be REALLY hard to want to start The Lions after Black Tusk and The Chief. It wasn't as bad as I expected.

At this point we could feel things were going our way - the weather was great, we were ahead of schedule and there had been no issues thus far. We wanted to bag all three peaks and I, for one, will admit that anything less would have felt like a failure. I wouldn't have wanted to even talk about it... so silly, ridiculous in fact, but true.

We set out on the trail a lot quieter than on the day's previous missions. The first 40 minutes was sheer hell. It was a simple logging road... nothing technical, but it was steep, boring, and the rocks were a bit too large to get really good uphill traction. Hard work on the calves (or the calf in my case...)

Keith and I were pretty silent until we both admitted we were HATING this section. It was pure "work" - not satisfying, not interesting, just head down grinding. We didn't talk until we decided we had to take a picture of it just so we'd remember how bad it was..... we knew that it would look easy in the picture!

Finally, we got out of that section and our spirits lifted A LOT. The trail flattened for a km or so and we jogged it. It was amazing how a new surface (pine needles!) and a flatter pitch made all the difference to our emotions. I remember thinking that we were moving into a new phase of the day... the phase where you start to mentally pay for the effort expended. After 10 or 11 hours moods change for better or worse in an instant. This is a stage you don't get to training for olympic distance triathlon.

Soon enough, it got brutally difficult again. Massive rock fields to pick our way up, intensely steep trails... I felt like I stopped every 10 steps... probably did.

Mentally, I was in a work zone. I was actively trying not to think about anything but moving up the mountain. It was a struggle... I kept thinking about how far we had to go then getting mad at myself for having those very thoughts. As the exhaustion kept increasing I wondered what would happen if I cramped up or fell or, or, or...

It didn't help that on our way up we passed approximately 50 people coming down, and EVERY SINGLE ONE said:

"Late start today hey guys?"

or

"You guys aren't trying for the top are you?"

Apart from getting a tad annoying, it began to plant a seed of fear in my mind... were we crazy?

Eventually we got a glimpse of the peak and it looked 1,000 km away. I'm not kidding... it REALLY hurt to see how far we had to go. I wanted to poke my eyes out so I wouldn't look to the top again.

I kept telling myself not to look again. But all I could think about was the snapshot indelibly printed on my mind of that distant peak.

As I clambered over huge rocks, grabbing the odd tree to keep upright and carefully placing EVERY footstep, one after the other I started to assess my systems:

- Brain: Still functional. Not a lot of variety in my thoughts. More like chants. Short ones - the kind that take three or four steps. Repeat 3,000 times. Avoid thinking about how much is left... think about each step being one step closer. Annoyingly started singing that song "One step closer to you..."

- Balance: Deteriorating. With the muscle fatigue and mental exhaustion I was beginning to have little trips, little stumbles, momentary losses of balance. Not enough to fall, just enough to remind me to that I had to ratchet the focus up even more.

- Muscular: Not bad but my right quad was handling every large step - up and down. I tried to share the work when I could but it was too late to start asking for more from my weaker left leg and prosthesis - also many of the 1,000s of individual steps of this last climb were too technical (or just plain large) to use my left leg as the "go to" leg. Hence, my right quad was WORKED. To it's credit it kept going... thank goodness.

Unbelievably, after a lot more hard work we started to get close enough that I could look for the top again. It still looked a long way off though...

We arrived with about 50 minutes of daylight remaining and enjoyed the peak by ourselves. I have to say the peak came quicker than I expected. For LONG stretches I was sure we wouldn't make it. There was a point I said to Keith "We must have an hour left?" (Looking up at the peak...). It was about 15 minutes.

Keith on top of The Lions with Vancouver in the distant background.

I had said hours earlier that we just needed to get to the top of The Lions because we would, of course, be able to make it down. (Note: Later I realized this very thought has probably killed people on bigger tougher climbs. I think they call it "Summit Fever". Descending may be easier but you can still get lost, fall, meet a bear, bonk, get separated etc.)

On this day Keith, our planner, had judged things quite perfectly though. We enjoyed the peak for about 5 minutes and headed right back down, covering a long section of difficult terrain before it got dark.

Video of the descent (Note: There is a swear word in this one, and for that Keith apologizes...)

Sunset on the descent:

Just prior to darkness falling we had a little 20 minute scare when we lost the trail. It was more annoying than anything, but with the sun going down we were searching pretty urgently.

Even with awesome headlamps, climbing down in the dark was quite a bit slower, and there were many more stumbles/trips and even a fall or two... nothing serious though as we were being uber-careful. It was on both of our minds that a broken ankle now would be really unfortunate.

Food was also on our minds and I can't recall ever being so focused on fast food.... It was extremely disturbing to me that not a single purveyor of cheeseburgers was located between The Lions and my home.

We finished with another BRUTALLY PAINFUL 40 mins on that stupid logging road. It was just as bad going down and it seemed to go on forever - like a movie that keeps having one more painful scene after another, when it should have ended an hour ago.

Conclusion:

Total Time: 14:23:00

Total Climbing Time: 12:57:00 (5:13, 2:06, 5:38)

Total Distance: ~53km (~30, 7, 16) (33 miles)

Total Elevation Gained: ~12,000 ft

Prior to the painful logging road Keith and I had plenty of time to analyze our day. From the decision a few days earlier to move the start time up by an hour, to the run down Black Tusk, we had ended up needing every advantage we got. There were so many things that could have gone wrong but didn't... It was the perfect day.

I was incredibly pumped. Overall it was definitely harder than I expected - my ability with my leg was put to the most extreme test it has seen yet. With fatigue, difficult terrain, darkness, snow, ice and plenty of loose rock I had come out in one piece and with a smile on my face.

For now I rank this as the most difficult thing I have done BY FAR. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up against other long events - like an Ironman. I have to believe this will match an Ironman for difficulty - it was longer in time (I hope!), and the terrain and ease of movement was WAY more difficult for my leg than riding a bike or running on pavement. Only one way to find out...

Over a week later I am still very proud of our achievement. The blisters have healed (mostly), the cuts are pretty much gone, and the muscles are back to normal (barely!) It took an entire week!

The reality of the accomplishment is just as good, if not better, than I hoped it would be when I dreamt up this thing! We are the only two people I know that have attempted this. Maybe one day someone else will... I hope so!

I'd like to thank Keith for everything he did - which was a lot. Planning, gear lists, photography, video, navigation, trail breaking... He was awesome! We never snapped at each other - not even on that b!tchy fire road!

Video after sundown... (a bit blair witch...)

Challenge complete!! 8:55 pm.

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Part II - The Chief

Three Iconic Hikes - One Day.... Part II - The Chief

• The Chief - 2,303 ft
• Distance Covered: ~7km
• Elevation Gain: approx. 2,000 ft
• Our Time: 2:06:00

After descending the 15km from Black Tusk we spent a few minutes in the parking lot assessing ourselves and the time. We felt good but knew there was a LONG way to go. We both stretched a bit and I looked over my leg... It was designed for running - not mountain climbing/hiking - it had performed well but had taken a beating.

Nevertheless, spirits were soaring at this point... we were 45 mins ahead of our schedule and feeling good. After a short drive (37km) during which we ate, drank, called our wives and reloaded our packs. We got out of the van at the base of The Chief.

The Chief is a popular climb for the people of Squamish and the whole Sea-to-Sky corridor - therefore it is pretty packed on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The crowds slowed us down a bit, but the Chief is no cake walk. I think I had already begun to look past it because of it's length (only 7km total) - that was a mistake - it is pretty much a vertical climb over odd angled rocks. Adding to the technical nature of the ascent was the fact I could definitely feel the Tusk in my legs. It was steep enough that I was using my hands with regularity, it took a lot of concentration to place my "foot" properly on each rock all the way to the top.

I felt BRUTALLY SLOW but... miraculously, we arrived at the top right on schedule. I thought I'd blown it with my turtle-like pace.

There are three peaks that make up The Chief - they are creatively named: First, Second and Third. Third is the highest, at 710m, and as such was our destination. I believe the view would be better at First or Second since they are at the top of the steep face overlooking Squamish - from the Third peak you are set back a bit.... it is still quite impressive though. The enormous rock slab makes a cool spot to stand and survey the surrounds. We did that for a few minutes then made tracks... we were on a schedule!

I think to enjoy the hike, up and down, and have a lunch on top, you'd want to allow 4-5 hours. We rushed (as much as we could) and it took just over 2 hours.

The way down was much easier... still very technical but a lot less stopping required - comparatively relaxing on the heart rate.

The Chief was by far the shortest, and in retrospect the easiest, but in no way was it easy. At the bottom we found that we had preserved our 45 minute cushion. We still felt pretty fresh and knew we were going for all three peaks.

Highlights: Getting to the top and realizing that it wasn't as slow as I thought. Getting back to the bottom and feeling good enough to go for the triple.

Some Video:

Part way up The Chief:

At the top of The Chief: (If you have very good eyes you can see Black Tusk in the distance off my right shoulder (:05 - :11)

Finished The Chief:

Tomorrow: Part III - The Lions

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5 Peaks Wrap-Up...

Took me a while to get to this... I've been run off my feet foot with Sacha out of town. She only left me one of the kids but man I have a new appreciation for moms. What's with the crazy schedule of pick-ups and drop-offs?!!!

Anyway, casting the mind back to the weekend:

(Mattias' 5 Peaks) : Mattias and his buddies came 1, 2, 3 in the kids 1km run. It was total domination! 1km is definitely a bit short for his age... "Daddy the run from the parking lot was longer than the race!"

(MJ's 5 Peaks): Maybe I was taking the race a bit too lightly... it was 11km (not too long), and the elevation looked "rolling" i.e. not too bad... As it turned out it was really tough.

The uphills were often too steep to run (more training on these kind of hills would help) and some of the downhills were super steep (the kind that forced me to have to be cautious). The flats were fine but there weren't many!

Myself and Guy Demong... I probably would have brought a backpack if I had known I'd be out there for so long!

I ran the first 4 or 5 km with Jayeson, part of the substantial Innovative Fitness crew in attendance, before he slowly pulled away... then it was a long, lonely, (painful) slog back to the finish line.

CHT (cold, hard truth): I couldn't really expect much given the lack of run training - I was mostly happy to come away without any leg issues - I am now ready to declare myself 100% after a summer that never really got into triple digits. Everything feels good now.

Overall: Buntzen Lake is awesome! Totally beautiful and the trail system is unbelievable. The weather started out wet but got sunny while we ran - no complaints. 5 Peaks does a great job and I even won a HUGE bag of coffee beans.

A few more shots:

Mattias and I watching the awards...

Mattias rounding the first corner in the kids' race...

Da boys: Sam, Nick and Mattias

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Broken Prosthetic - Temporary Repair

This morning I was greeted with a snap, crackle and POP! Unfortunately, it was not my Rice Krispies but my prosthetic limb...

The carbon in a Flex-Foot Modular III doesn't usually snap in two all at once - which is lucky since there would be a lot of face plants if it did. Instead, over time, it starts to fray, crack and the foot gets softer and softer. Eventually, the foot starts to go downhill a little faster - this is what happened today - the noises were just more serious cracks developing.

As you can see above (barely), the carbon is pretty screwed up. I am now flexing on about half as many strong strands as before. That means the foot is pretty soft.

Given the state of the carbon, this foot is pretty much at the end of it's useful lifespan. The problem is that I don't have a new one yet... Therefore I need to get out the defibrillators and squeeze an extra week or two out of this thing. You can see my efforts at that in the video below.

So the good news is I am back up on the foot.... The bad news is that it is screwed and going downhill fast. (And the new one will cost thousands...)

This fix should buy me the time I need to get a new one though. There is A LOT of satisfaction in fixing your own leg. More amputees should have the courage to tinker....

When it comes to prosthetic problems, failures and general issues to do with my leg I have learnt that I can play a large role in getting the most out of my equipment. I don't have to run down to my prosthetist once-a-week for minor tune-ups or to get a small adjustment made. I have learnt over time to do a lot of these things myself.

If you are an amputee here are a few general things I'd recommend:

1. Learn how your leg/arm works.

2. Ask your prosthetist lots of questions.

3. Watch your prosthetist work on your limb - (it's better than reading 4 year old magazines).

4. If your prosthetist won't let you watch ask "why not?" Then tell them you aren't comfortable with what they just said.... you want to understand how it works and how to take care of it.

5. Don't be afraid to try making an adjustment on your own - just don't do anything stupid and break the prosthetic.

6. When selecting prosthetic components be certain you understand why each one is the right one for you. Don't accept anyone else's opinion (no matter how highly trained they are) without thinking about it yourself.

7. Consider your options, ask opinions, read reviews.... these things cost as much as cars - you don't just go onto the lot and ask the salesman which car you should buy... so don't do that with your prosthetics.

8. Empower yourself by being a leader in your own care. Your doctor, physio, prosthetist, chiro, shrink, wife, husband, dad, mom etc... are your team but YOU need to be the captain.

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Making Lemonade

I spent a good chunk of the weekend on my butt resting the leg.  It seems odd to 'rest' an unidentified swelling that is pretty much invisible to anyone who isn't familiar with the geography of my leg.

It can be a frustrating process that's for sure...  when something this minor becomes so major simply because you have to put it inside a prosthesis.  On the other hand it is no different from an injury anybody might get - it keeps you from doing what you want to do.

The trick, if there is one, is to find the things you CAN do and DO THEM.  All while trying to repair, rest, and recover from whatever the problem is.  So that is what I have been trying to do.

Progress:  X-ray - done.  Ultrasound - booked (July 25th what a joke...) and re-booked with begging (next Thursday).  Blood test - done.  Results of any of them - not yet.  On two different drugs - one an anti-inflammatory the other an anti-biotic.  Amazing how you can go from very healthy to all of that in a few days...

Training:  Kevin and I hit up Batchelor Bay at 6 yesterday morning.  We did the usual loop and enjoyed the warm water temps.  Usually it takes me 30-45 seconds to get comfortable in the cold water around this time of year, but right now it is instant comfort.  

You can see it is now around 16° or 17°c (62°F) which is a LOT better than the 9° (48°F) a few months ago.

ALSO, I am flying in the new wetsuit!  Looking back I should have realized that my old suit was 1. too big and 2. had two or three too many holes (that's a disastrous combo for speed.)

Innovative Fitness:  I have continued going to my sessions at Innovative.  I learnt a long time ago that I can't stop everything when I have a leg problem.  I just adapt and do what I can.  It's at times like this that I AM SO LUCKY to have the coaches at IF on my side.

On Friday Jeff Iwanaka devised a dastardly core session - all the hardest core exercises back-to-back-to-back for most of the hour.  It left me tired and happy and my leg untouched.

Yesterday, Dylan worked me over with bands, cables, swiss balls, posture etc.  

Riding:  I tried out the leg on a quick 1 hour ride at 5:45 this morning. Kevin and I ran the bikes out along Marine Drive to the industrial part of North Van and back...  we took it pretty easy but worked occasionally.

It felt ok-ish... on hills and out of the saddle I can definitely feel pain but it's relatively fine when I just spin. I am now waiting to see exactly how much I will have to pay for the effort in the way of swelling.  It's encouraging I guess - though TTs and track events are all about pushing HARD start to finish.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I am doing what I can when I can.  It's not easy right now but then again, who ever said it was gonna be easy?

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Sit Rep: 3+4=5

Here's the SitRep (situation report) re (regarding) my f'd-up (you can figure that one out yourself) leg.

I have had a little problem developing within my socket for the last couple of weeks. [Socket = the top part of my prosthetic limb i.e. the part I slide my leg into when attaching it to my body.]

Let's call the problem an inflammation since neither of the doctors I have seen have named it anything else.  [Note:  First bad sign - patient has seen two doctors.]

Though one would have thought inflammation was a fairly obvious and self-explanatory condition, medical types (who speak latin) have created a handy checklist called  the "Five Signs of Inflammation"....  these are, drum roll please:

1. Rubor (redness) √

2. Calor (increased heat) √
3. Tumor (swelling) √
4. Dolor (pain) √
5. Functio laesa (loss of function) √

This problem was diagnosed early by Myself M.D. (pictured above),  the prescription was a heavy dosage of "ignoring it" augmented by a daily therapy resembling praying (though I am not religious.)

Despite these efforts I am experiencing a lot of #3 which in turn has lead to plenty of #4.  The additional problem with #3 is that I my prosthesis was not built to accommodate any at all, which only results in more #4.  

Unfortunately something just isn't adding up because:

3+4 = 5

As annoying and painful as it is, it is the Functio Laesa (#5) that is the most troubling....  I am at a point now where walking is quite painful at times, running completely out of the question, riding less irritating though there is still plenty of discomfort.

Suspecting that Myself M.D. may have missed the mark somewhat, I sought the opinions of two other doctors.

Doctor #1:  Bla, bla, bla, bla - you should probably just rest it.  Maybe don't wear your leg for a week or two.

MJ:  Thanks.  [Thinking:  I need a second opinion.]

Doctor #2:  X-ray requisition, ultrasound requisition, blood test, anti-inflammatory prescription, thorough examination, thoughtful analysis...  Recommends:  RICE, but concedes that I have to wear the leg at times.  Advises that the more I wear it and endure pain the longer this will take to go away.  Training:  Sure - but you will be setting yourself back and will only find more and more loss of function, pain, etc.

For some reason I have felt the need to hide this problem/injury/inflammation until now (not just from all of you, but from almost everyone) - I am not sure why I do that.  

Anyway, for now I am swimming... which ought to be fine preparation for Cycling Nationals in 2 weeks.  

[Sorry for the mega-word post....]

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Helping - How?

A true story (but not a short one - my apologies!):

A few years after my accident in SF, the one where I "lost" my leg (still hoping it might turn up...) I heard about a kid that lost his leg in a boating accident.  Then, not long after that, I heard about an RCMP officer that lost hers while on duty due to a shotgun wound.

Both of those times (and several others) I went down to Vancouver General Hospital and dropped off a note to be given to the patient.  They weren't taking visitors.  In the note I would usually include a picture (they were paper in those days...) I remember the one I gave to the RCMP officer was of me hiking in the Grand Canyon.  I'd labour over just the right encouraging words, and I'd include my phone number/email address.

I really wanted to help.  It didn't work though....  Talk about an awkward situation I put them in - calling some guy out of the blue to talk about this terrible chapter in your life.  Not surprisingly neither one called.  It definitely wasn't effective.  I sort of knew it was the wrong approach but I had no better ideas.

I knew it wouldn't really work because a guy had done the exact same thing with me in San Francisco.  He spoke to my parents, they decided to let him come in and talk to me.  I HATED IT.  I didn't want him welcoming me to some lame club I wasn't ready to join.  I didn't want to see his leg, hear him talk, or anything....  but I was in no mood to disagree with anyone (and was as high as a kite on morphine) so in he came.  I don't remember a word he said but I do recall he walked quite well.  That was encouraging even if I didn't mention it to anyone at the time.

Fast forward more than a decade......  Helping people is still one of the major goals in my life - but it isn't always easy to figure out how.  I've tried a lot of things but nothing has been as successful as simply talking about life in my blog.

   

One example:  I ran the Haney to Harrison Race in November with the IF team.  At the finish line an older gentleman came up to me and told me about his son who was about to have an elective amputation.  He was about my age, living in Australia.  We chatted and I gave him my website url:

  www.meyrickjonesracing.com.

A few months later his son sent me an e-mail - he and his wife had been reading my blog and enjoying it.  We have been communicating regularly ever since.  I have been downloading a lot of information to him about his new scenario.  It feels GREAT to help someone navigate uncharted waters...  save them some time, some confusion, some pain, some irritation - whatever.  

It's not a one-way street though - before long Mike will be doing all kinds of crazy things and sharing his knowledge with me too...  Many of my readers are just like Mike and I...  many are not, but they know people who are.  Word gets out and it is GREAT!  

Mike recently e-mailed me some questions about swimming - I gave him a few tips - he posted the text of our exchange.  It was rewarding for both of us, but now it exists for others to read and learn from - so they know that their concerns are normal and know how to overcome problems in the water.  That is valuable.  I wish that had existed when I was a new amputee.

Maybe there is an opportunity for you?  (...who me?...) Yes, you.  I know you may not be missing a leg, and you probably don't think your life is 'blogworthy' - I didn't either.  

You probably have one of the following (all of which you could blog about and make a difference):  

a serious interest

a hobby

an addiction

a dysfunctional family

a great skill

no skill

difficult children

no children

a history of violence in the family

a history of peace in the family

an important cause

a lack of an important cause

a disease

perfect health

a creative mind

no creativity at all

a great job

no job

a terrible job

a great sense of humour

a very technical mind

an eye for fashion

no eye for fashion

....  and a zillion other things.

I only write that because I know that most people WANT to make a difference - but wanting to and knowing how are not the same.  I stumbled onto this - maybe it could work for you too...  

P.S.  Even if your efforts only make a positive "difference" for one person (yourself) they will likely be worth the effort you put into your actions.

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Prosthetic Fit - If the leg fits, wear it!

This post is for the millions of amputee readers I have....  it may be of some interest to non-amputees but it might also bore you to tears.  If it is the latter I do apologize...

Prosthetic Fit

Your prosthesis should fit nicely - great function without pain is the goal.  Why then do we spend days, weeks, months and sometimes years accepting a less than ideal fit?

REASONS

 "I don't want to be too much of a pain in the @ss to my prosthetist."

 "I need to adjust to the socket."

"My limb is changing.  I might as well wait."

"I lost a limb - nobody said it would be all roses."

"Maybe this is as good as it gets."

"Maybe if I put more cream/vaseline etc. on the spot it will go away."

These are a few of the reasons I have put up with pain for longer than I should have.  None of them is particularly valid.  I have learnt over the years that I can reasonably expect a VERY high quality of service from my prosthesis.  When everything is perfect with my leg I don't think about it at all...  and I can push it to some pretty exciting places on the activity chart.

So then, what do I do when the fit is less than ideal?

The first thing is to realize it.  This sounds obvious but it is often the hardest part.  Often my fit will deteriorate so gradually that I won't notice until it is WAY off.  This process can, and often does, take months.  Try to pay attention and when others say "Hey are you limping?" or "Hey are you limping more?"  think hard about it.  Are you?  Probably.

Then I try to figure out why things are off.  I look for red areas on my limb after wearing the prosthesis for a few hours.  I do some rudimentary leg length measurements to see if I am in too deep or wearing too many (or few) sock ply.

Often I can figure out what is going on this way.  Part of this is experience - after you duff your foot on the ground for the thirtieth time you remember, "Hey the last time I did this I was wearing too many socks!"

Often hot spots or sensitive areas will develop when my prosthetic socks get a bit too old.  They don't have the same fluff-factor (thickness) as they did when they were new.  That means 5 ply = 4 (or maybe 3.5) either way it will very gradually start to fit wrong and hurt.

Skin problems will more than likely be the symptom that first alerts you to an issue.  It is important to know the difference between a skin problem that is a symptom of a bad fit and one that is a symptom of life...  i.e. super-red painful areas where there is some binding = bad fit.  Sudden red inflamed areas can be an ingrown hair or other issue....  experience will help you to figure out the difference.  You can read my post on skin problems for help.

I like to exhaust my own ideas before I trouble my prosthetist.  This is not because it is so much trouble for him, but because it is trouble for me too.  It's a whole lot better for everyone if I can learn to diagnose a bad fit and try a few things to relieve it.

If that doesn't work though, you can bet his phone will be ringing.  I tell him the issues and get some input from him.  Sometimes I will have been doing exactly the wrong thing to try to fix it - thus exacerbating the situation....  hey, at least I tried!

Nine times out of ten he can instruct me and I will not require any actual work to be done on the prosthesis.  Sometimes, I have decided that a new socket is the answer...  these decisions are yours and his/hers to make together.  In my experience the prosthetist should be willing to exhaust himself trying to make it fit.  There should be no limit to the number of adjustments he is willing to make in order to help you with your fit. 

The prosthetist should also be willing (and able) to teach you everything you need to know about your leg.  There are numerous small adjustments you can make yourself on most legs if you know how.  It isn't difficult and you shouldn't be afraid to ask.

Once I have a new socket I like to test it extensively in the first few days.  

- If it is a running leg - I run.  

- If it is a walking leg - I play golf.  The golf course is perfect for testing out legs - 6 miles of walking - uphill, downhill, sidehills, rough terrain (where my ball always is), flat terrain etc.  You know if the leg fits after walking the course.  (Note:  If you are a new amputee you will want to pick a challenge that is a bit less demanding - but use the same theories.)

Ultimately, I feel that you should "expect" comfort and function that will allow you to do the things you want to do in your life.  You should also "expect" that it won't always be easy...  There WILL be problems and you will need to get as good as you can at diagnosing them and working with your prosthetist to establish a great fit and maintain it.  Like almost everything in life it will get easier with experience and time. 

If anyone ever needs advice or to ask a question please leave a comment or drop me a line at: 

meyrick@meyrickjonesracing.com

Cheers!

P.S.  If this helped you please leave a comment - it feels good to help!

 

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