February 28, 2014
Today was the follow up appointment with Dave in the prosthetics department. Taden even got to join us this time. We were going in hopes of being able to get Shaun's arm molded for his prosthetic.
When we went in today, Dave started to take measurements of Shaun's arm to get ready for the mold.
He said that the arm wasn't forming quite the way that he had hoped it would. the upper portion of the arm was still a bit larger than he would like.
Dave decided that with the measurements he had taken, he would order a custom compression sleeve so that it could shape the limb the way he wants. If it doesn't form any different, than it's just the way his arm is and we'll go from there. I suggested until then, we could use the ace bandage and just wrap it tighter in the place that needs to be smaller. Dave thought that was a great idea! He told us to call him in a few days to let him know of any changes.
Since Taden was with us this time, he was interested in seeing the prosthetics.
Dave was nice enough to take us back to the workshop again. Taden was fascinated by all of the machines, tools, and fake arms and legs lying around.
This time, we were able to see a little girls leg with a fun bright heart print in it.
I'm glad that Taden can be so involved in this whole process. It's teaching him so many valuable life lessons. One of the most important things he is learning is that everyone is different! Just because someone talks different or walks different or is missing a limb, it doesn't make them weird. They are people just like him and you don't treat them any different. Another thing we are trying to teach him is that if he sees someone that is missing a limb, don't stare, ask them how it happened. More often than not people are willing to talk about it, knowing that they are just teaching a child about the differences in people.
Taden had a lot of questions while we were checking out the workshop, and Dave was great at showing and telling Taden if a limb was for a child or adult, a male or female. He was great at explaining his plan for each limb as well. It was good for Taden to see the variety of prosthetics.
One of the things Shaun was the most excited about was Dave had a Prosthetic that he had just wrapped in black carbon fiber! This gave him a better idea of what his would eventually look like. He plans to do a full black carbon fiber arm with all black anodized parts, including the hook.
They were using a machine that encases the pieces of the prosthetic that have the carbon fiber, in resin.
We left a little disappointed that Shaun didn't get molded for his arm, but we would rather wait and have it be as correct as possible. He's just enjoying the freedom of no arm at this point!
