The Legless Lizard

A sneak pic from Matt's First Hydro Session with Jen.  Abbey takes Matty to his Monday appointments and they do their breaky and coffee dates etc.  Really cool to have a Daddy Daughter day in the mix! And the original A4 poster design of Matt's whilst in Rehab.  The finished product is massive and way more detailed!!!

So last week was our first visit to the Amputee Clinic.  It is a world within it's own.  A room of amputees at varying stages of their rehabilitation.  All of these people can give each other something that an able bodied person cannot.  Complete understanding of the pain, the loss, the restrictions, the capabilities, the fluctuating mind space.... and the knowledge that they are not alone in this journey.   We were blessed to have time with our good friend Leah, already an amputee, particularly through her recent journey of Osseointegration.  Her experience and insight has given Matt so much to prepare himself with and her knowledge of the government bodies has been a blessing to my part of this journey. Matt believed he was getting fitted for a Prosthetic limb last week and we left with a stump shrinker.  Disheartening to say the least, and more of that 'limbo' stage.  Then a call came from Katrina, the physiotherapist who measures/gauges lim...

Now is a strange space.  It's kind of limbo like.  Home minus a limb and no prosthesis or knowing when that will be happening.  Doing physio and hydro therapy; doing home physio sessions as well.  Not being able bodied enough to do the normal day to day things like cooking & eating or cleaning up after that, taking out the rubbish bin or picking up the dog poo (yep you heard right).... the list is endless really.  More restricted than ever, creating a useless feeling yet trying to remain positive minded and driven to do the work toward the goal. This is the time where Matt's mind needs distractions.  It's a bit similar to the situation when someone passes away, but by no means the same, as this is not permanent, where death is.  Just in the way that there are people always there in the initial stage.  Masses of people.  All of the time.  Doing, buzzing around, helping, cooking, cleaning, phoning in, cuddling, loving, caring.... ba...

Life has been busy to say the least.  Good intentions of writing into the blog are always there but time hasn't been so kind or when there's time, there's no brain space!!! Coming home to our new, or current, normal is a harsh reality.  It's great for Matt to be home, it's exciting in so many ways and there's always something we are learning or doing.  Although Matt was somewhat restricted with his disability, pre-amputation, being home in normal day to day living minus a limb and still without a prosthesis, gives the realization of how much more he could do even then.  The changes are on quite a large scale and the learning and patience is taken to a complete new level. The regular day to day things he could do are something of the past yet won't be part of the prosthesis future.  I don't think any of us realized just how long the processes are toward this goal. Keeping of positive mind is now a challenge; convincing his leg that there is no longer a ...

The Human Body is amazing, as is the human mind.  Don't take what you have for granted.  Life can change is a moment. The simple things taken from you will always be missed.  Use your mind, your body and your time wisely.  Peace.

Rehab saw Australia Day in an outing then the following Sunday for a day out as well.  Somehow, on these days, we ended up at the Hawkesbury Hotel, on the balcony, chillin' out and enjoying some live Aussie music with a few's company.  Not that we are complaining!!! Rehab was 3 physio sessions per day at one hour each session then extra work in Matty's room. On Thursday arvo 2nd February, we headed home for some time in our real world.  I guess in the old days, even though walking with plates or food or utensils was limited, it was also a limit we took for granted.  Now, there is NO way that can possibly happen pre prosthesis yet it brings it's pro's and con's (as everything changing does!).