Deanna Babcock - Thoughts and Prayers (Page 19)

Glad to see this thread up near the top again.  I am in such awe of you Deanna.  Your strength, courage, and sense of humor a truly a gift from God.

Thanks to your parents for sharing their thank you note.  It's wonderful to see how people can put things together for those in need. 

dbabcock02 - 2007-10-14 3:02 PM We had a fundraiser for Deanna in her home town of Tawas MI and we raised $7,000 for her new fast leg fund. I can not wait to see her put it to use when she is able. Thanks to ALL and best of luck training. Debbie

That's fantastic!  We are all waiting to see her put a leg to use.  Please keep us updated on progress.  

Aight, more update stuff.  One month and one week out of the hospital.  Good times.  Friends keep asking me if there are things they can do to help.  The answer to that is, primarily, no.  In lieu of help, however, I do freely accept baked goods to facilitate weight gain.

I'm getting pretty good at walking and I only use a cane.  Maybe in another week I'll  not use the cane.  I got my knee tension adjusted so that I can walk faster, too.

I talked to the fancy leg man yesterday.  Point one:  I'm rocking out my training leg, so my therapists get a gold star for that.  Point two: Fancy leg man said that due to the non-traumatic nature of my amputation, there is very little swelling in my stumpy leg.  This means my leg shape is nearly stable, which in turn means that I can get a fancy leg sooner (2-3 months) rather than later (6-12 months).  This also means that I can get a fancy running leg soon.   He said I should shoot for a race next June, meaning that he actually thinks it is plausible for me to get a running leg and learn how to use it that soon.  I was pretty excited to hear that.

Nothing else too exciting to report.  Some of my good friends are doing IMFL (what I was training for) on November 3, so I'll head down with them to watch.  If you're bombin' around PCB, come say hi.  I'm the one with the red leg. 

Look out folks.  She's back and this time she means business. 

HOLLA!!!!

"He said I should shoot for a race next June, meaning that he actually thinks it is plausible for me to get a running leg and learn how to use it that soon.  I was pretty excited to hear that.:....

Just blows my mind. 

Hey, another update.

I went to watch two friends and my tri coach compete in Ironman Florida the weekend of Nov. 3rd. They all did great and I'm really glad I went to watch even though it was a little tough emotionally to not be racing. The weather was great and we played on the beach. My friends decided it was time for me to walk without my cane, so I did. We went on the beach and I tried to run in the sand. Um...yeah. I did, however, manage to make it two proper steps with getting my legs under me at the correct time; that's about 0.00038 miles for those of you counting.

Yesterday I switched my clipless pedals from my road bike onto my mountain bike, took my mountain bike to a nice *soft* soccer field, and figured out how to ride it. In case any of you ever run into the whole missing a leg thing and decide to go bike riding, I will say that it is not a good idea to clip the fake leg in first. This results in tipping over. I started with my real leg clipped in and in position for an immediate downstroke. Once I managed to get going, I peddled around in circles with my fake leg sticking out because I didn't know how to get it in. The key, as I eventually figured out, is bending the knee and "catching" your pedal as it goes by in the upstroke position. However, when trying to do this, keep in mind that you still need to pedal with the other leg, otherwise you slow down; this results in tipping over. Anyway, after two tip-overs, a handful of stumbles, and some minor soft tissue damage, I managed to get both legs in and peddle around in circles for a couple of minutes. I was pretty excited about that.

And, although unrelated to triathlon, I can still stand on my head. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

D

Deanna, you're so awesome.  .00038miles.  The longest journey begins with the first step.  Love the updates.

Had to laugh...  Glad you can still stand on your head.  As my old pappy would say, that proves it's good for something.    Have a great week.