Jaci took over.  “But to go without a leg at all, it looks so… “ She lowered her voice that only Amy could hear her.  “It’s not so important to me.  My legs were skinny. Hers are nice.  Legs were to get me from one place to another.  I’ll just have to do that with one and a quarter legs, but Judi will just die, there is no way she will ever be seen in public without a leg that looks like a leg.  And mom is like her.  I don’t care so much about how I look but I don’t want to be crippled.  I want to do things and if I can I will be fine.  They have to look just right.”

“You will, and your mom and Judi will get a cosmetic leg.  It’ll not be perfect, but it will fool most people.”

“I sure hope so.  It’s going to be important to them.”

Louder she said, “It will get better.  Now lets have one go at the parallel bars with that new leg and foot.  Once we find out it is right we’ll make a cosmetic cover.”

With the knee locked she transferred to the wheelchair and wheeled over to the bars.  She made several trips up and down with the knee locked then Amy showed her how to unlock lock the knee.  “You need to make a trip on the bars with it.  Kind of kick the knee front to lock it.  Don’t put any weight on it till you feel it lock.  You don’t make sure it locks and you wind up on your nose.  Don’t try walking with the knee loose unless you have support till I tell you that you can.  I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Jaci made two trips through the parallel bars and then sat on the chair.  Amy lowered the foot rest for the right leg.  It was nice to have a leg that bent like the real one, rather than sticking out like a weird appendage when she sat down.  The foot would be a little help in balancing when she walked.  But she already knew that using this new leg with the increased weight was more of an effort than walking with the pylon.  It was heavier than the straight pylon and pulling it forward with each step was work.  Her muscles in the remaining portion of her leg would have to be good.  They would have to be developed.  She knew she had work ahead of her.  She rode the wheelchair back to the room.  She was tired.  On the way she had time to think.  The new leg certainly did look a little more like a leg. With a cover it might be better but also heavier which was bad. Amy was right, to really get around fast there was nothing like crutches if you didn’t need your hands.   And if you weren’t worried about appearance and your gait, the pylon was easier to use then the new leg, but it was a problem when you tried to sit.  She wondered if there was something between the two with the light weight of the pylon and the knee that bent on the other leg.  But with what she knew right now she would be using crutches a lot when she was out and the pylon would be the choice for walking around home and doing things there because her hands would be free. 

The First Family: Chapter 1 – Introduction

The First Family 31: Jaci Causes a Stir in PT

The First Family 33: Jaci Finds an Unusual Source of Encouragement