February 16, 2012

Today is the anniversary of my husband's accident.  It is hard to believe that time has moved so quickly since that day.  Yet when I look back, it is unbelievable how far he has come.  It has become pretty evident that he has reached a point where this is as good as he will get.  But that's OK, he's functional and content!  He can no longer drive, but I make a pretty good chauffeur! He needs help in several areas, but we work it out together!  Phase one of his life ended on this day six years ago.  However, phase two of his life also started on this day.  

So throughout this time, we have adjusted to life as it is.  I do what I need to do to assist him and we do just fine.  The mechanics of this new phase has adjusted well!  Tim survived and continues surviving.  He is not at all bothered by the fact that he is now handicapped and that he has limitations.  

There are a few things that he wishes he could just do alone.  One is to be able to just walk into the bathroom and take a shower, unassisted.  The other is to be able to walk out of the shower and just get dressed.  A simple thing that we just haven't figured out yet.  

As a woman, I love shoes.  I probably have more than I should ever tell anyone about!  I have a pair for the gym, heals, flats, sandals and boots.  Of course they also run seasonal.  I have pairs for spring, summer, fall and winter.  Then again, you must have ones that go with dresses, pants, shorts, skirts and depending on the color, several for that too!

Tim has one pair!  They are specially made to help adjust to the discrepancy in his right leg and foot.  Since the day that he could actually stand up and take a few steps, it has been a journey to find the right shoe for him.  He started out at one particular shoe store.  They made a special plaster cast of his foot and designed a special shoe for him.  It was just awful!  It was uncomfortable and simply ugly.  I have always felt that just because my husband has some disabilities now, there is no reason that he has to look totally disheveled.  I wanted him to look good and feel comfortable.  

So I took him to another doctor to get a second opinion about his foot and leg to see if they could recommend another shoe specialist.  They did and as luck would have it, she worked out of the same store as the other person.  So we decided to give her a try anyway.  She did create a shoe that my husband was happier with.  

Great!  Or so we thought.  Because of the problem with the original shoe, they owner of the store did not want to deal with us anymore or the competition between the two specialist, even though the second shoe turned out well.  So we now had a good shoe, but no place to get another when the time came.

Of course that time did come.  With Tim becoming more mobile, the height on his shoe needed to be adjusted again.  Most recently, his doctor from RIC remeasured his leg.  I think that this was the first time that this has ever been done.  She measured it to be 8 - 10 centimeters shorter than the left leg.  (It was hard to measure due to his hip displacement and tone that is always present in his right leg.)  This meant that his shoe height could be dropped yet another quarter to half an inch.  Progress!  

And yes, we did find a new place to go to.  Near to us is a place called Scheck and Siress.  They are an orthotic and prosthethic facility who deal with the problems that people like my husband have.  The pedorthist that takes care of Tim is board certified and a runner!  She sent us over to the New Balance store that recently opened up in Shaumburg.  I bought Tim a regular running shoe, in black, that fit well and was comfortable for him to wear.  I brought it back to her at the facility and she remeasured the height needed for the shoe and dropped down the heal of his shoe a quarter inch from the previous shoe. He can wear these shoes for any function as they blend in well with his entire wardrobe!  She also had some ideas on what to do about making him up something to enable him to walk into the shower!  She definitely made him a very happy man!

So on this anniversary, that could be remembered as being sad, we don't.  We are so happy that Tim continues to have the good fortune of people still looking out for him and helping him along his road of recovery.  I guess when you think that this is as good as it gets, you realize that there is always room for things to get better!