I have had some minor setbacks starting around April 2020. After different tests and trying different approaches to an issue at the end of my leg, I a ultimately found out I had a bone infection. The good thing is the bone infection was localized to the end of the bone. On November 1st I had a surgery to remove the infected tissue and infected bone and get a culture of the infection. I was given a PICC line to receive IV antibiotics for the next six weeks. I was not expecting a bone infection at all as I was under the Impression that it was very low odds.
18 months post op
18 months post op and I don’t even feel like I’m missing my leg anymore.
First walk on the beach
surgeon that I can now go in the ocean. This is my first time walking on sand since I had my prosthetic implanted. I’m still slowly improving and continuing to get my femur use to carrying my body again. Going to the beach without the headache of dealing with the traditional prosthetic socket was pretty great. Simply walking into the ocean without prior planning, hopping or lugging an extra water leg around was a big upgrade. It’s nice being able to enjoy going to the beach again without compromise.
9 months post op
First time back on a bike
After losing my leg it was very common for me to say “it’s not that I can’t do certain things anymore, it’s just that I will be doing them differently now”. Unfortunately though, doing things differently usually meant the activity would not quite be as enjoyable.
Prior to my car accident I was really into cycling and freestyle bmx but I haven’t done much cycling at all since my accident due to it not being as enjoyable. After riding a stationary bike for the first time I immediately knew that this is something I would be bringing back into my life.
Slowly getting back to training
Weight training and bodybuilding have always been a big part of my life and i am very much looking forward to seeing how the new advantages of this surgery carry over into the gym. It has only been 12 weeks since the surgery so I am taking it easy and the bone is still sore but I am loving the freedom of not having to sit in a socket.
Cleared to use full body weight (as tolerated)
On January 23rd I was given the green light to progress with my walking as tolerated. What that means is I will continue walking with crutches but I can put as much pressure as I wanted on my leg. The crutches now are being used as a safety measure until I can confidently walk without discomfort in the bone. I was very excited to hear this news as I knew I can really start pushing myself.
4 weeks of partial weight bearing with crutches
After having the prosthetic attached I was now at the stage to slowly start using crutches. I was extremely cautions after having the leg connected and would mostly stand in place everyday and would continue to use the scale for bone loading. I was not ready to put full weight on the leg yet so I was still not doing much getting around. From December 26th to January 22rd I would continue to spend about an hour each day standing and cautiously walking in my home with crutches. There were days were I felt a bit lost in my progress becasue I was not yet ready to put my full body weight on the leg and felt like I wasn’t really progressing. In my mind I was doing the same thing as I was doing before except I had the prosthetic attached to me now.
Time To Attach The Leg
It has been 3 weeks since the surgery and its now time to attach the leg and start practicing some walking!
It is difficult to describe the feeling of standing after all these years without using a socket. I am still far from being able to walk on my own but it is absolutely amazing to stand without the discomfort of being squeezed by a traditional socket.
Back Home From HSS
Once i was home I was instructed to do nothing but rest and continue doing my bone loading rehab while adding an additional 5lbs of pressure every day. I basically was doing the same thing at home that I was doing in the hospital but now I was able to get a little more sleep. It was at the 4 week mark when I was able to sleep through the night without being woken up from any pain in my leg.
The next morning after getting home from the hospital I felt motivated to do some kind of exercise, even thou I was told to just rest. I thought getting on a stationary bike for a few minutes would be ok and exercise always makes me feel better but that idea went down hill fast. It didn’t take even 5 minutes until i was shaking and felt like i was going to throw up. My body was not ready.
For the next 3 weeks I continued to add 5 lbs a day of pressure to the bone.
There are many reasons why osseointegration is so amazing, another not often mentioned is the new level of precision when it comes to controlling the direction of the foot. I can now do this by rotating my femur, before the surgery if i tried to do the same thing nothing would happen because the bone was not attached to the leg.
The Bionic Civilian 