Jaci watched the whole process, when finished Amy had her remove and replace the leg several times and remove and replace the foot. “You’ll need a couple of feet, one for flat shoes, and one for each height of heels you wear.”  As they were finishing Jaci asked how much time was needed to take care of her new leg.  Amy smiled, “You’ll get so accustomed to it you will not even think about it.  Remember that once you get your stump properly healed and conditioned you have the option of wearing a leg or not, whatever is best for you at the time.  I sometimes just want to have my stump out in the open it’s kind of like kicking your shoe off to have your foot out in the open.  And if you wear a skirt it can be out in the open with a shrinker on it, sometimes I like to have people see it.  Guys like to see them at times.  I know that sounds crass but my husband likes mine, I’ll tell you about that another time.  Also, most PT’s tend to push you into using a leg all the time but those of us who are amputees often go on crutches when we have to hurry or need to cover a lot of distance.  You’ll find the leg is hard to use when you are in a hurry and it takes a lot more energy to use.”

“But you look crippled without one leg.”  Judi interjected.

“You’ll find that will not matter much to you when you need to get around.  Think of how easy it was to get around here with the crutches and you have a heavy temporary plaster socket to carry around on your leg.  Without that you are really freer to move.  When I go shopping with friends in the mall they want me to wear my leg because when I use my crutches they have trouble keeping up.”

Judi responded, “But I look like a cripple.”

“There you go with that ‘C’ word again.  Life is never going to be like it was before, I can attest to that, but on the other hand, it can be good.  You’ll learn.”