So, I have custom liners now. “The liner is a protective cover made of a flexible, cushioning material. Worn over your residual limb, it reduces movement and chafing between the skin and the socket. Liners are designed with specific characteristics to work with different suspension systems.” – Courtesy of the ottobock site on “How liners work”
I wear these instead of my shrinkers now. They add some weight to my leg and they take some getting used to.



It was bad enough to be wheeling around in a wheelchair and to have people weirded out by my appearance when I had the shrinkers on, but now I have liners with “pins” (screws) at the end of them. I guess it’s one way to keep people away. Although it doesn’t reduce the staring. I had a little girl practically follow me and stare (with her jaw on the ground). Not the best feeling…but I guess understandable.
Eventually, the sockets will go over these liners (I don’t know if these particular ones). They are custom made by my prosthetist for my skin. Due to the large amounts of skin grafting and scarring on both my limbs, I have to have super custom liners made to protect my skin.

I went to my appointment with the dermatologist today. The prosthetist had suggested that I visit a dermatologist and look into laser hair removal for my bikini area and part of my leg. The reason being…with the multiple castings that I will have to go through and the hair that the cast will pull off each time, it’s probably best to not have the hair there in the first place (Ouch.) and waxing was out of the question because it would irritate my skin. Spot testing performed today and first appointment/session for laser booked.
What followed after the appointment…not so pleasant. At all. I fell out of the wheelchair. Ben and I left the dermatologist office to go back to the car, waited to cross the street, and when the light changed we crossed. Upon getting to the other side of the street and attempting to wheel over the curb, Ben accidentally hit a “pot hole” and I began falling out of my chair. I felt like I was flying out my wheelchair and that it was all happening in slow motion. Not to sound dramatic, but I sort of felt my life flash before my eyes a little bit. I was falling straight forward, as if I was going to face plant. I was SO scared that I was going to fall straight onto my left leg. I immediately grabbed the arm rest of my wheelchair with my right hand to try and change the direction of my fall or not fall at all. I wasn’t able to stop the fall but was able to change the direction of my fall to falling backwards and ended up landing on my tush. Ben immediately picked me up off the ground and put me back in my chair. This was immediately followed by me balling my eyes out. Ugly crying commenced. Falling out of wheelchair, being picked up off the street (literally) by your husband, ugly crying…all on the street corner…NOT a good look. I don’t recommend it. Luckily, I wasn’t seriously hurt by the fall. I’ve been home from the hospitals for almost 3 months and this was my first fall. It couldn’t have been indoors? It had to happen outside, on a street corner? Well, I guess that’s how I roll now. I’d gone 31 years and not had a single operation, not even a minor one, and then I go and get hit by a train and have 12! All or nothing…I guess.
I told my little cousin about what happened and she asked, “Is Ben still alive?” I replied, “Yea…I needed him to get me a Starbucks after that ordeal so I needed to keep him alive.”