THE TENTH DAY – GOING HOME

The tenth day in the hospital was full of excitement.  The three women were going home.  All three lived in apartments, all three were on the second or third floor.  All three mothers had lobbied them to come home to stay for a while.  All three declined the offer.  The parents picked up all three of them that morning.  The girls decided they had enough hospital food.  They wanted to go somewhere to eat lunch together.  They picked a local family restaurant and decided to meet there as soon as they left the hospital.  The night before they mentioned this choice to one of the other officers on the force. 

All three had chosen a blouse and skirt combination for the day, all had several pairs of shoes brought in for the day.  All selected a shoe with a small heel in spite of the mother’s nagging to wear sensible shoes.  Also added to their wardrobe was a garter belt and regular hose, wearing pantyhose was out of the question.  

Leaving the hospital had snags.  They packed what they thought was everything and were just about ready when the therapy department called.  They were scheduled for a final check of the pylons and they were to be given a set of extensions for the metal shaft to be used with shoes with higher heels.  They were taken down to therapy and did not get back till nearly noon.  With the extensions all three re-evaluated the shoes.  They each picked the one with the highest heel, adjusted the pylon and their crutches.  This would become a lifetime ritual.  All three found that it was nearly impossible to get into a car with the pylon, all removed the metal shaft before getting into the car.  They could get about on crutches without the pylons and in fact easier without them being in the way.  Although they were putting nearly their full weight on the pylon none of the girls felt competent to walk on it without something to steady them. 

By the time they got to the restaurant it was nearly one PM.  The delay resulted in a restaurant that was nearly empty.  They met in the parking lot and crutched in together.  None of the three had been allowed to drive.  The moms had decreed that nobody should drive oneself home from the hospital.  Doing so was not an option.  In addition Penny’s car was a stick shift.  She would not be able to drive it with one leg.  An LAK amputee can drive a car with an automatic transmission without modification unless it has a foot dimmer switch.  Even that can be handled by using a crutch to press it.  But compared to an LAK, an RAK is more than slightly disadvantaged.  It is hard to drive with the right gasoline pedal with one’s left foot unless you can sit at an angle.  It is not so difficult when the stump is bare or wrapped but it is difficult with the cast and pylon.  Margie and Barb would need to add a pedal and Penny would need to replace the car and of course add the pedal to the replacement car.