Active Amputee

Golf: Manuel De Los Santos

2011-05-03T07:00:00.001+10:00

Attached here is the story of a truly inspiring individual: a golfer from the Dominican named Manuel De Los Santos.

Here's an excerpt from the short documentary description:

"Manuel de los Santos is one of sport's most inspirational figures. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, he played baseball from a young age and by 2003 was planning to turn professional. But a motorcycle accident changed his life forever when he lost his left leg above the knee.

Following this accident, he moved to France and on seeing the film, 'The Legend of Bagger Vance', he was inspired to take up golf. Now 26 years old, Manuel lives in Paris and plays to a handicap of just three, competing in high profile tournaments all around the world. His extraordinary golf swing has become instantly recognisable.

Peter Montgomery read about Manuel at the end of 2009 and had the idea of making a film about him. This short documentary portrait is the result."

Watch the video here:

or by clicking this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=aw-nt0eTb2w

His balance is astounding. It's difficult to bend on one leg like that, let alone hold a perfect golf stance.

Thanks to Brian for sending this.

Snowboarding, Part 2

2011-03-19T19:00:00.001+10:00

When I first started down the mountain, I felt nervous and unsure...

You might imagine the mechanics of snowboarding with a prosthesis are a little different. At first, I thought so too. Most of this comes from the natural body position shift from what a proper stance would be to what I felt my leg required.

My bindings were still set to a front foot angle and my leg felt like it was being twisted out of place slightly (I haven't decided if I'll change that for next time to bring my foot more in line).

Wearing a knee sleeve to increase my socket suction also left my knee feeling slightly immobilized at first, meaning I had to consciously decide to bend it and flex against the tight silicon (I wouldn't change this set-up due to the stability it granted).

My speed was picking up and my edges were threatening to catch. The feeling of the hill was familiar but entirely foreign at the same time. I couldn't tell what was going to happen next but I didn't feel like I was entirely in control of the board. I tensed up.

Yep, I made the same mistake every beginner makes (and I'm constantly harping about) of taking my weight off my front foot, leaning away from what was making me nervous (the steep slope) and centering my weight over my back foot, making it impossible to steer. Translation: I wasn't attacking the hill, I was being a wuss.

I reviewed the footage of the first section of the descent from my trusty photographer and recognized my Bambi-like form.

Time to strap in and suck it up. Put aside the fear and figure it out. Besides, I was wearing a helmet, what could go wrong?

I got up again and shifted my weight forward over my front leg. I followed my own advice and bent my knees more, leaned harder into the turns and most importantly, relaxed enough to let the board do it's job. I reminded myself that falling is fun when snow's involved, then leaned forward and attacked the hill, just like old times.

By the end of the first full run down the mountain, I was feeling like myself again, nearly back to old form. We did at least 5 more long runs and I felt fantastic, each one better than the last.

Overall, I had a great first day back to snowboarding.

The muscles in my lucky leg need shaping up and I did have one small problem as the day went on as all that cold activity meant I was shrinking inside the socket, making the board harder to control.

Rather than risking a big crash, we decided to leave it on a positive note and went in about an hour before closing, tired but entirely satisfied and grinning ear-to-ear.

Snowboarding, Part 1

2011-03-18T19:00:00.000+10:00

After many long months wondering and worrying about whether I'd still be able take on my favourite pastime, the time and opportunity finally came this past weekend.

From the day I woke up in the hospital it's been a creeping thought in the back of my head. A quiet, cruel teasing thought of "what if I can't do it anymore?".

Outwardly, I told everyone that snowboarding would be simple with the prosthetic as both legs are strapped to the same device, giving me a sort of "helper" control surface from my good leg.

Internally was a different story.

To snowboard properly most of the weight has to be on the lead foot; my lead being the prosthetic leg. Would that hurt, bouncing over the bumps? What about leaning downhill on the leg? Would it twist inside the socket from the motion of the turns? What about edge control, stopping power, the fact that I can't pull back hard from my ankle and toes to make an aggressive turn or correction when I need to (tree avoidance)? What about recovery if I catch an edge?

What about falling?

What would it be like to be an amputee with one fake leg and one broken one? What sort of crutches would THAT take? What if I broke my bad leg, up high? Would that change my shape and socket fit?

Yep, I fell deeply into the trap of my own mind, overthinking and overprocessing, growing more fearful as time went by.

When I was a kid and snowboarding was in its infancy, I was a pretty average skier who hated having to constantly dodge out-of-control boarders. Even the boards themselves looked dangerous: flat on the backside and shaped like nothing more than a wide ski, using thin plastic straps and Sorrel snowboots to hold the heavy thing on. No shaping, no elevated tail, no flexibility. People were being taken away from our local hill by ambulance, bloody and broken.

Naturally I wanted to try it!

One cold winter afternoon, I impulsively (and permanently) traded my new Atomic skis/boots/poles straight across for a crappy, beaten-up Burton with a broken tail and a badly fitting pair of old Sorrels on the slopes of the Innisfail ski-hill, much to the disbelief and irritation of my Dad. He wasn't so much upset I had traded, he just figured I could have done better on the deal.

I never looked back. To me, this was a good trade! I've been snowboarding ever since, even in Australia. This is more than a hobby to me. This sport partly defines who I am, how I grew up and who I want to remain.

So, the time came to strap in and suck it up. Put aside the fear and figure it out.

It was really odd at first but it was only a short run from the parking lot to the lift ticket stand. I wasn't sure how to get up on the board and when I did, I felt like I couldn't steer. I managed to stay upright but decided a helmet would be my first purchase of the day.

The next worry was the lift. Having a board hanging off my prosthetic all the way up the mountain and being totally out of control when I got off wasn't going to be pretty. I took my board off and quickly explained to the lifty that, for the safety of the skiers under the chair, it was best that I hold my board in my arms. He agreed.

I got off at the top... I was really committed now...

Blade Running

2010-11-06T11:32:00.001+10:00

After months of anticipation, seeking insurance approvals, going for fittings and taking cautious test flights indoors, I went for my first run in two years on Wednesday!

There was no pain and the motion felt extremely natural once I found my groove. It seems to be all about finding a rhythm.

I was very awkward at first, having a nearly uncontrollable pogo-stick springing motion off my left side and a resounding "thud" on my right (my real leg). I slowed my cadence and lengthened my stride, finding a more suitable pace. I settled in quickly and everything started to click!

What a great feeling!

My cardiovascular system is still in great shape but my running muscles are very weak. My hamstrings were tight and sore afterward so I'll start small and train up a bit but it's great to be back on the path.

It was a great achievement for my second Legadon.

Amusing Social Experiment

2010-11-02T07:55:00.000+10:00

I'd often wondered if I'd be allowed on a particular type of rollercoaster; you know, the type where your legs hang down because the ride is suspended from the track above?

Now, I know the laws of physics and I understand friction, momentum, etc, but I also know I could probably bungee jump with my leg on and be quite confident that I wouldn't die. If you don't believe me, check out my "Sky Jump" post from New Zealand!

With this nagging question in the back of my mind a few weeks back, I found myself buying a ticket to an amusement park and heading straight for the upside-down rollercoaster line.

I was shocked to see a little icon on the "You must be at least this tall" sign that said "no prosthesis" right next to the one about "no pregnant ladies". It appears they've really thought this one through!

Ignoring the sign, I decided I was in the mood for a social experiment in "amusement park ride operator competence". Would anyone even notice? Would they tell me I couldn't go on it? What if I'd been wearing jeans instead of shorts?

It turns out the answer is a resounding NO, they didn't notice or at least didn't say anything if they did. I wasn't turned away, in fact the girl walked right by me as I climbed into the seat and did up my buckle!

Don't worry, I didn't take it on the ride; I wouldn't put others at risk like that.

When everyone else kicked off their loose shoes, sandals and flip-flops, I kicked off my leg. The squeals of two excited boys in the line behind me were priceless. When the ride got back in, I quickly stepped down into the socket and without missing a beat, walked off as smoothly as anyone else.

Remember kids: friends don't let friends ride the upside down rollercoaster wearing prosthetic legs!

Reader Comments

2010-10-29T17:54:00.000+10:00

I've had some really inspiring comments on some of my past blog posts lately and I thought I'd share them here! Comments are a great source of inspiration for me to keep blogging and I really appreciate every single one I receive.

There was a great exchange on the last post that I encourage you to read if you're looking for a source of good information as a new amputee.

On "The Elmer Fudd Conundrum" starting with Tiff's recommendation for "Dancing with the Stars" (thanks for the idea Tiff but I'm an "A-lister"):

Sean @ Gisoku Budo said...
Hi Michael - came across your site via another amputee blog from a fellow Aussie amputee, just wanted to say it's great to see you writing about your experiences, there aren't a lot of us out there I think! I'm an above-knee on my left, but still keep active, particularly with martial arts. Loving your travel blog and doctor dramas, I'm about to get the ball rolling with getting a new prosthesis myself, so it's all fresh in my mind! Keep up the good fight!

Joe said...
Hi, I've enjoyed following your website, and it has been a great resource for someone like me who lost their leg nearly 3 months ago. I'm still waiting to get fitted for my first prosthetic. I'm ready to get rid of these darn crutches! Two questions for you: 1) What is your opinion of a pin vs suspension prosthetic? What type of interface does your new leg use? 2) How often do you have to go back to using crutches? I was told by my doctor that most people can only wear a leg for a few hours at a time, and must always carry crutches around. He also said I should always take the leg off when I'm at home. Thanks again!

On "Swimming Revisited"

Anonymous said...
I just started swimming again and found as you did Mike my kick was either slowing me down or slowing push me to the left. What I am looking for is excerise I can do to help me swim and lose weight at the same time. Does walking help?

On "The Chicken and the Egg"

Dustin said...
I ran across your profile and I'm curious what prosthesis have you come up with for rock climbing by chance?

On the post "Tennis: Going Balls Out"

JJ said...
Hi! My name is JJ Larson and I was actually born with what is called congenital amputation. Basically I was just born without my left arm below my elbow and I have worn a prosthesis since I was 3 months old. I started playing tennis when I was ten and I ended up playing division I college tennis. For the heck of it I googled "amputee tennis" and found your site. Its so great to see what other people have accomplished!

Enzo said...
HI! My name is Enzo Amadei Jerez. im from Santiago, Chile and im 24 years old. I have a physsical problem. i wish can talk with you. please contact with me. in you tube you can find videos of me playing tennis!
(NOTE: I didn't publish this comment because Enzo included his email address and I didn't think he would want me to share that, but Enzo thank you for your comment, we'll be in touch!)

Cynthia said...
Hey Mike! I am also a left BKA tennis player - though I am just starting tennis again after 3 years with the prosthesis - and it's great to be back on the court. I'd love to hear more about changes you've made to your game and what's worked (and hasn't). I live in Vienna Austria - if you are ever in the area looking for a game, me know.

Comments like these definitely keep me writing but even more importantly, it's great to meet so many inspiring people out there on the inter-tubes! Thank you!

The Elmer Fudd Conundrum

2010-09-20T09:25:00.006+10:00

Things have been a bit quiet lately (too quiet) thanks in part to a ridiculous "Cease and Desist" order I received on one of my travel tips posts, resulting in the addition of a neat little disclaimer in the "About this Blog" section of the site.

Needless to say, I'll have to be a bit more cautious with how I word my posts in the future.

That aside, in the last few months I've been traveling a lot for work and have managed to see some very interesting and remote places. I also have a few good personal travel stories to catch up on; no excuses there! I'll back-post a few of them to fill in the blanks.

My biggest news is that on Friday, I finally received my new definitive leg after months of working with several different agencies.

The new leg is much lighter than my old one (by roughly one kilo / two pounds) and a lot more responsive. It also fits! Imagine that...

As you can see from the photo below, the new leg is a continuous blade of carbon fibre that extends from the socket through to the toe. No moving parts this time! My old model had a separate foot strapped to a pylon with an air shock. This made the height ever changing and difficult to predict as the air pressure changed due to heat, etc.

My old model also required a suspension liner be worn over my knee, greatly reducing my mobility whereas the new model uses a "seal in" liner instead, freeing up my knee.

Racing Bike

2010-07-07T16:05:00.007+10:00

If you're an amputee and a motorcycle enthusiast, check out the June issue of "Bike" magazine, a British racing bike publication about an amputee named Martin Culverhouse.

Martin's racing bike is outfitted with a right-footed gear shifter rather than the standard left. The rear brakes are operated by a thumb lever.

Contact me (via the comments option) if you'd like to learn more!

The Chicken and the Egg

2010-06-14T16:41:00.003+10:00

The next time someone says "you know, it's like the chicken and the egg thing", referring to that "classic circular reference" of which came first, do me a favour and answer "EGG!" then give them a good hard slap.

Alternatively, answer "FISH!". It's about as relevant in terms of evolution and far more entertaining in terms of a reaction. Don't forget the slap.

There's really no question about which one came first. The egg pre-dates the chicken by millions of years. The fossil record shows that egg-laying fish pre-date birds by roughly 30 million years. The egg even pre-dates the first vertebrates by about 100 million years.

Yep, I think it's time we put that little chestnut to bed.

Strange topic for this blog? Believe me, it's more than topical.

That singularly annoying phrase has been uttered ad-nauseam to me lately as progress for my private-industry prosthesis seems to have been stalled by a lack of philosophical alignment between my care providers.

1) my old doctors won't send my file until new treatment has begun but my new doctors won't begin treatment until they've reviewed my file.

2) neither the insurer nor the prosthetist will begin a case with me until a prescription has been written for a new leg but the doctors require an assessment from both before they'll write the prescription.

3) once I get the prescription, my prosthetist won't begin work until payment has been received from the insurer... but the insurer won't release funds for payment until the work has been completed (and a patient in my circumstance is not allowed to pay directly).

In speaking with them, trying to find a resolution, they invariably laugh it up and say the same thing, as if it will somehow absolve them of their own absurdity: "it's a problem for sure... but you know, it's like the chicken and the egg thing!"

Chicken and egg. Right. Somehow I think even chickens roll their eyes at that one.

Not to worry, I have a plan: "EGG! (slap) now get to work!"

French Riviera

2010-05-29T00:22:00.002+10:00

Life is hard sometimes.

For example, this week I had to go visit a customer site on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea in the French Riviera.

I was forced to enjoy the perfect weather, drink wine, toast a Pastisse and eat gourmet French food in the harbour of Cassis at sunset.

After having to put up with a trip like that, it was comforting to return to my homebase at the foot of the French Alps.

I'm not sure I'll recover from this terrible imposition on my quality of life. Please, send gifts and cookies...

Side note: today I'm whizzing over the French countryside on the TGV high speed train from Lyon, bound for Paris. I made a mistake when boarding so I'm "stuck" in first class on my second class ticket!

Meandering through the countryside has its charms... but ripping along at 400km/hr, scaring stunned looking cows and leaving a veritable sonic boom in my wake is far more my style! Have to go, my chocolate mousse just arrived.

-- Mobile post

Geneva, Switzerland

2010-05-25T20:00:00.000+10:00

My weekend wasn't ALL "nerding it up" at CERN, I also "nerded up" by visiting the United Nations, the International Red Cross and strolling the shores of Lake Geneva.

Geneva is home to the headquarters of many UN agencies as well as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. It is perhaps most famous for the signing of the Geneva Convention which outlined the treatment of prisoners of war.

That said, no one laughed when I said "I'm here for the Convention..." so it must not be very topical with the locals anymore!

Here's a summary of my weekend in photos:

Lion statue, Brunswick Monument, Geneva.

The United Nations, Geneva.

Broken chair, symbol of the UN campaign to rid the world of landmines and cluster bombs as per the Ottawa Treaty of 1997, in front of the UN.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum at the founding headquarters, Geneva.

Rhone river crossing, Geneva.

Near my hotel on the shore of Lake Geneva.

Panormic shot of the shores of Lake Geneva (click to enlarge).

The Rolex-friendly neighbourhood.

The Jet d'Eau (water jet), spewing water 135m in the air! (click to enlarge)

A village on the border of France and Switzerland on the train ride back.

CERN and the Big Bang

2010-05-23T20:10:00.000+10:00

I had some free time this weekend which is a nice change of pace from the norm on these trips.

So where does a nerd like me go on vacation? The Large Hadron Collider at the particle physics research laboratory at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland, of course!

CERN was founded by some of Europe's leading scientists shortly after the bomb was dropped in WWII as a Nuclear research laboratory with the aim of "doing some good" with the "terrible knowledge".

Over the years, CERN has written the book on particle physics with wide reaching applications for mankind. Everything from PET Scans (Positron Emission Tomography: used alongside CT scans to help doctors evaluate how well organs are functioning) to the creation of superconductors in ultra-high voltage motors, oil and gas production, etc.

CERN even made this blog post possible. When Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989 as a means of sharing information with other scientists around the world, his invention was called "vague.. but exciting". On April 30, 1993, CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free to anyone, with no fees due, changing the way we learn about and see the world around us.

Their latest effort is called "the Grid": thousands upon thousands of computers working cooperatively in tandem to crunch about 10 Petabytes (1 petabyte=1000Tb) of data every year, instantly sharing the results with the international community. To put that in perspective, that's the equivalent of 15 million CD's worth of data, a line that would stretch 15 km long when stacked on their THIN side!

After admiring the computer that was used as the world's first "web" server, I was allowed to enter the "Atlas" particle detection unit of the Large Hadron Collider!

The LHC is a huge proton accelerator that stretches 26 kms around and is burried 100m below the surface of the earth. Particles are accelerated in opposite directions to near light-speed by huge magnets in the tubes. Once the particles reach the appropriate speed, they are put onto a collision course with one another.

The resulting catastrophe yields particles that haven't been created since the big bang itself, allowing scientists to observe Quarks, Gluons, Muons and Bozon particles (ie. the particles that make up atoms) via huge arrays of particle detectors in the collision chambers.

The LHC came online with some controversy as theories abounded that microscopic black holes could be produced during the collisions, instantly consuming the earth. Not to worry, if Einstein's theory of relativity is correct, we have nothing to worry about. If he forgot to "carry the one", well... so far, he appears to have been right!

This is the control room of the Atlas chamber of the LHC. The software they're using looks suspiciously familiar to what my company produces. Sure hope they had reeeeeeeally solid commissioning standards and UAT!

A section of the LHC outside the Atlas experiment.

Grenoble, France

2010-05-20T19:00:00.000+10:00

I've arrived in Grenoble, France, home of the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Nestled at the base of the French Alps, Grenoble is probably the most "European" city I've ever been to. The winding little pedestrian streets draw you in and entice you deeper and deeper into the heart of the city, where people roam from cafe to shop with no fear of being run down by cars.

Even the "walk / don't walk" signs have a great nonchalance to them (as shown)!

Grenoble has the feel of a tiny village at the base of the snow-capped mountains and yet 158,552 people call it home. I honestly don't know where they put them all because I'd have estimated it at around 10,000 people.

One great thing is that it stays light until 9pm! After living in Australia where it's dark by 6pm year round, that's become a huge novelty to me. The shops and cafes all stay open and people mill about the streets with a great sense of community.

Here's a look (in classic low quality grainy phone photos):

Sweet Silver

2010-05-18T23:13:00.000+10:00

I just landed in Singapore and I'm always blown away by the sheer number of ships in the bay.

I'm excited because I'm just a few kilometers away from being upgraded to a Silver card frequent flyer! I know many gold and platinum members but I've never been one myself. This last leg brought me to the crux, the next leg puts me over!

By my estimation, I should be passing over Dubai (in about 8 hours) when they'll have to pull the airplane over so the pilot can come back and issue me my new card. I expect they'll have dancers and a pyro-technics show, but I'm keeping my expectations in check.

From now on, it's a life of priority check-in lines, lounge access, premium seats and one extra item of carry-on luggage. I'll look all snooty and self important as I board before the other passengers while flight attendants call me by name, passing me wine and caviar in the boarding bridge.

Life is good! It's clearly the little things that keep me going.

-- Mobile post

Travel Tips Part 5: Packing with Purpose

2010-05-03T23:00:00.004+10:00

This last one is for everyone, even bi-peds.

I had planned to leave this series of posts at four until I read an article from an in-flight magazine on the way to Melbourne this weekend.

The article made an impact on me so I'm going to shamelessly paraphrase it here:

Next time you fly somewhere, you'll likely leave a little spare room in your suitcase for souvenirs or anything else you might pick up along the way.

You can put that extra room to very good use thanks to an organization called PackForAPurpose.org.

If you're travelling to a developing community, consider packing school supplies for children such as crayons, pencils, pens and board games. Some areas may even benefit from basic over-the-counter medicines and analgesics.

PackForAPurpose.org has country-by-country lists of supplies needed in each region as well as lists of hotels, airlines, etc who participate in the program as drop-off locations. It's easy, convenient and makes a world of difference.

Before you fly again, check out PackForAPurpose.org!

-- Mobile post

Travel Tips Part 4: Adventure Travel

2010-04-30T21:17:00.003+10:00

Some of the more interesting challenges with prosthetic limb travel happen outside the normal hotel stay situation.

Take for example the outdoor tree shower in the Mopito tented camp on the Serengeti. There were no handy hotel chairs or bathtub sides to rely on there! Lucky for me, the pressure was so weak that I could leave my prosthesis within arms reach and still not get it wet.

For the most part, there's nothing that you can't adapt easily to, however, a few handy items in your pack can make a world of difference.

Wet Launching: Canoes, Kayaks and Zodiacs

Most prosthetic legs have a content of metal in them however small it may be. In fresh water this isn't really an issue, however, being in the salt can quickly corrode those metal components. To be honest, I'm not all that bothered by this; bolts are cheap and carbon fibre doesn't rust; but when I can, I do try to take measures to protect it.

I have a few things in my bag of tricks for this one: a large plastic bag, a "Skins" compression sock and a bit of waterproof tape. I slip the leg into the bag, tape the open end shut against the socket and cover the whole lot with the compression sock (for pure sex-appeal).

(click to enlarge)

When I return from the day, I thoroughly rinse everything in fresh water, especially the silicon bits that invariably must get wet.

SCUBA Diving

When I SCUBA dive, I like to take a few handy items: a child's snorkeling fin and long strips of double-sided velcro. I shove the small fin down the leg of my wet suit and fold up the excess material, strapping both to the end of my leg with the velcro strips.

It's not that I couldn't swim without the fin but diving is all about conserving your air so you can stay down there longer and see more stuff. The fin means I use far less energy to propel myself through the water. Less energy = more oxygen in the tank.

Bungee Jumping (and other intellectual pursuits)

Laying in my hospital bed, I was particularly worried I'd never be able to bungee jump, skydive or throw myself off anything fun ever again. I clearly wasn't the first! I was excited to learn that most bungee companies have switched from using ankle-only harnesses, opting in to the much more secure full body chest harnesses. A quick call to the operators will confirm whether or not they have this option available.

In this case, I still recommend taking a long nylon strap with you. This is more for making the operators comfortable than for any practical purpose. I know in my case, I could hang upside down from my prosthesis all day and the suspension wouldn't fail... when it's fitting right... however, the operators may not be so confident and they're definitely going to notice the leg when they check your harness.

Tie one end of the nylon to the ankle and the other end to the leg strap of the harness. This ensures that if the leg did manage to come off (unlikely) it would simply dangle from the end of a long strap rather than plummet to the ground.

Camping

Sleeping outdoors in a tent is no different for me now than before the operation, with a few very minor differences:
1) keeping the OTHER foot warm (going solo is cold)
2) getting the leg on in a tent

The first one is easily solved by packing the bottom of the sleeping bag with extra insulating materials, typically my thickest sweater or a small neck pillow. Extra socks don't cut it. Alternatively, I suppose one could bring a hot water bottle but I'd but I'd be curious to see if that stays warm until morning.

The second one, getting the leg on, is just free entertainment for anyone nearby. All I can say for this one is twist, push, pull and get used to looking like an overturned turtle struggling to right itself!

Manual transmission vehicles

Believe it or not, manual transmissions aren't out of the question for me. As long as the clutch is more of a knee-driven pedal than an ankle driven pedal, I'm fine to take it for a spin.

I only mention this here because many amputees never bother trying. I'm here to tell you, it's worth a try.

If you can't drive, you can always use your leg as a cup-holder on the passenger side!

Travel Tips Part 3: Hotels and Homes

2010-04-24T21:12:00.004+10:00

Let me start this post by putting you in the right frame of shoe.

It's often a bit intimidating for new amputees to leave the safety (and fantastic bedside table service) of the hospital in order to venture home and begin adapting to independent life again. This is quite normal.

There's a LOT to figure out; how to carry a cup of coffee on crutches for example or how to go up and down a winding staircase. It takes practice to navigate the most familiar of environments, let alone one that's entirely foreign.

Now imagine what it's like to be asked to spend the night in a hotel room or someone else's home for the first time (post surgically). How about camping? In a tent? On the side of a rocky mountain somewhere?

Hey, no problem!

Those pesky midnight trips to the bathroom:

In the past I tried traveling with collapsible hiking poles in lieu of crutches to get me around the room in the dark after I'd taken my leg off.

I thought it made sense; poles are light, compact and easy to pack in a suit case or strap to the outside of a backpack and might provide a little stability to my hopping in the middle of the night.

This proved to be quite dangerous. More than once, I very nearly took a header into the wall having a false sense of stability and the poles themselves would trip me up on unexpected lamps or desk chairs.

Solo hopping was no better and using a cane didn't work either. I didn't exactly have the best balance at 3am and the cardio woke me up a little too much.

I eventually came to the realization that, as much of a pain as it can be in the middle of the night, I just had to get used to putting that prosthesis on.

Do it a thousand times a day, in the dark, upside down in a tent, under water, in zero gravity and buried in a snowdrift until it becomes ultra-fast and completely second nature. It's really the best way to be safe and stable and let's face it, when you're camping you really don't have a choice.

I also find it helpful to keep a small flashlight/headlamp next to the bed. I'm less likely to run into an unexpected suitcase or lamp and the first few steps on a hastily donned leg aren't always completely stable.

Tricky shower configurations:

The "lip" on the bottom of a shower door can be a real challenge. Sometimes it can be 6 inches high and made of brick, a difficult obstacle to shimmy over on a wet surface. Recessed showers are even worse.

Probably the easiest and safest method with any shower is to leave the leg on until the last minute. I release the suspension and keep my leg in the socket until I'm ready to step out of it, having used my good leg to step in to the shower stall or tub.

(click to enlarge)

Believe it or not, in all the assessments I had from care advisers, not a single person said "umm.. it's not hard dude, just keep your leg on until you're inside" so this was revolutionary to me when I figured out how to do it safely.

The real trouble comes when it's just not practical to do this. Sometimes a tub side is far too wide and the stance gets unsafe. Other times, having the leg that close to the water would mean all the fabric parts of my liner and suspension would get wet, making for an uncomfortable day.

Tub configurations with wide sides can be tricky but as long as it's easy to reach both tub sides without getting off balance, I can usually just sit on the edge and twist in.

The real trick comes in getting out when you're soaked. The sides can be treacherous and there's very little friction so using a few dry hair towels for grip is a handy trick.

(click to enlarge)

This still leaves recessed showers, large bricked in stalls (common in campgrounds & airports) and other tricky configurations where the liner or suspension would get wet.

To solve the problem, I use the desk chair from the hotel room and push that up to the shower door. I walk or crutch to the chair, sit down, put my crutches or prosthesis aside, place my foot inside the shower stall and stand up. Easy and safe.

So there you have it!

You really don't need anything special (mobility tools, shower aids, etc) when staying somewhere new. In fact, forming a reliance on them at home may cause stress when they're unavailable. Just arm yourself with a few extra ideas for adaptation and figure out what works for you.

Then again, maybe I'm the wrong person to ask about "disability aids". I like to believe that I could survive indefinitely, hundreds of miles from civilization (if such a place even exists anymore) with nothing but a makeshift knife and fantastic looking beard...

Perth & Margaret River

2010-04-16T13:32:00.001+10:00

After being in Australia for two and half years, it was high time to get across the country to Perth, in Western Australia!

Perth, in my opinion, is Australia's most beautiful city. The city skyline is classy, not cluttered and the whole city has that "new car" feel to it. It has miles of white sandy beaches without any of the rowdy drunken backpackers of the Gold Coast.

More importantly, Perth is home to two fellow Canadians, Kara and Lach. I won't dare tell you how good they are at hosting guests, lest they not be available the next time!

After having a night of fantastic wine and some of the best home-cooked food in the Southern hemisphere, we left Perth and toured down south to the Margaret River wine region taking in in all the sites. The area is absolutely gorgeous and the weather couldn't have been better!

Here's a small taste of what we saw:

Busselton Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere at nearly 2km.

The beer sampler from the Colonial brewery near Margaret River.

The precise location where the Southern Ocean (or Antarctic Ocean) meets the Indian Ocean. They tasted the same to me...

A Blue Tongue lizard giving us attitude near Meelup Beach, WA.

This was so cool! This is NOT a bird sanctuary, this is a regular old city park in Perth. The birds will fly down and land all over you if you bring them some bird seed!

Kara and Lach, our Canuck counterparts to the West! Thanks guys and Happy Birthday Kara!

Travel Tips Part 2: Airports and Airlines

2010-04-11T08:00:00.001+10:00

Approaching airport security with enough metal in your leg to build a small jungle gym without speaking the local language can lead to some difficult discussions on the other side of the metal detector. Nervously reaching down to your ankle to expose the leg after the fact in front of a high-strung guard may lead to a flying tackle while someone yells "GUN"!

This leads me to my first tip: zip-away convertible pants are your friend, especially when you don't speak the local language. Just drop the pant-leg from the knee and let the prosthesis speak for itself. Wearing shorts is also an option, but unless you have another pair of pants to throw on after security it can get cold on long overnight international flights.

Security screening from this point forward is always awkward and you can expect the full treatment, but I've never been asked to remove my leg. Don't be nervous, normally it's just a quick pass over with the wand and a sympathetic "have a nice day" smile.

Flying domestically in the USA was perhaps my most inconvenient experience. On leaving Nashville I was taken to a small private room where the screener did a full physical pat down, swabbed my leg and hands with three different pads for testing then spent about 5 minutes with the metal detecting wand. Lucky I wasn't in a hurry.

Seating assignments on the aircraft are perhaps the most important part of being comfortable. Because my prosthesis is on my left leg, I prefer to book a window seat on the left side of the plane in any row but the first one. Window seats have a small gap between the wall of the aircraft and the seat in front; a perfect spot to rest my leg. A window seat also means not having to get up for any small-bladdered fliers once my leg is off.

The prosthetic leg itself can make a really comfortable leg rest if you flip it upside down. The rubber on the bottom of the shoe is more comfortable than the sharp edges of the socket -- sort of your own mini travel ottoman. My right leg actually seems to get jealous of the fully stretched knee of my left side.

I've been told by many prosthetists not to take my leg off in flight. To that I say "yeah right". Clearly these people have never tried to wear one, especially not for that long in a stationary position. The socket gets mighty uncomfortable when sitting for 15 hours straight without getting to bend or flex the knee.

The medical concern is that the leg will swell up and it will be impossible to get the socket to fit after. This can easily be solved by wearing a shrinker sock or the liner on its own, although I prefer the shrinker as it lets the skin breath. I usually add a second sock for warmth over top then cover the whole thing with a blanket.

This brings me to my "seat kit". On the outside, it looks like a standard, run-of-the-mill leather portfolio for the regular business traveller. The difference comes on the inside. The following is my list of essential items and still leaves room for a magazine:

The real advantage of this kit is its slim profile. I can slip this down against the wall of the aircraft, wedging it against the prosthesis. This eliminates the need for keeping a larger, more foot-room-restricting bag under the seat in front of me. You might laugh here that I'm still trying to maximize space for my one remaining leg, however, the extra space allows me sleep fully turned on my side during long flights. That's right, neener-neener two-leggers!

One last point: many people pack extra socks, among other things, for long flights. I'm no exception to this with one small difference: no need to pack extra socks in the carry-on. The one on my left side stays fresh and clean, waiting to be swapped over just before landing!

Travel Tips Part 1: Background

2010-04-07T08:31:00.001+10:00

A few months ago, someone asked me to post some tips for travelling as an amputee. Being on my leg for just under a year, I wasn't sure I was qualified to start giving anyone "tips", however, my last six months have gone something like this:

BNE to DBX
DBX to NBO
NBO to JRO
ARK to ZNZ
ZNZ to NBO
NBO to DBX
DBX to BNE

BNE to SIN
SIN to CDG
...and back again.

BNE to DBX
DBX to CDG
...and back again.

BNE to SYD
SYD to JNB
...and back again.

BNE to LAX
LAX to LAS
LAS to BLI
YVR to DFW
DFW to BNA (not a typo)
BNA to LAX
LAX to BNE

I've been through airport security with my prosthetic leg in Australia, Asia, the UAE, Northeast Africa, South Africa, Canada and perhaps most frightening, the USA, both domestically and internationally.

During those trips I also travelled by 4WD in the bush, wet-launch zodiac(s), ferries, overland trains, subways, buses, hired cars and carrier pigeon.

I've stayed in tents with tricky midnight trips to the bathroom, hotels with every possible shower configuration (including an outdoor tree shower) and other people's homes.

It's now been just over one year since I received it, but all-in-all, I'm pretty comfortable travelling with a prosthetic leg.

Each travel situation offers its own unique set of challenges. A few points to consider:

1) I don't travel with crutches, walking sticks or hiking poles of any sort.

2) I don't take "special rooms" in hotels designed for people with disabilities (because there are people who really need those).

3) I don't request any special equipment for managing unfamiliar showers, even though I don't wear my prosthesis (impractical, the liners wouldn't dry in time).

Over the next few posts, I'll discuss some of my "lessons learned" for travelling with a lower limb prosthesis. I hope this can help someone out there and as always, please feel free to post your own comments/suggestions!

-- Mobile post

Leg-a-versary!

2010-03-19T17:46:00.022+10:00

Today, March 19th, is my Leg-a-versary.

It's hard to believe it's only been one year since I received this leg. I still can't believe it took so long to get one but at least I can proudly say I put it to the test once I did. Here's a few photos from my leg's first year:

Meeting Meyrick

2010-03-16T21:53:00.004+10:00

I was having a busy day today renewing my Canadian license, taking care of a passport issue, gorging myself on Sugar Crisp cereal and guzzling A&W Root Beer (small comforts of home) when the thought dawned on me that I should swing by the fantastic new Innovative Fitness location in Port Moody to meet Meyrick Jones face to face!

For those who are just joining us, Meyrick has been an inspiration to my whole family ever since my Dad met him at a road race, two days before my last operation. At the time, he graciously offered to help me "get my feet under me" again. It took some time before I felt ready to contact him (several weeks after the surgery) but once I did, I found him to be chock full of information and support.

In a classic "it's a small world" act, some friends back in Victoria, Shannon and Cliff, sent out a DVD of Meyrick's interviews with Cliff's brother who is doing his prosthetics apprenticeship, not knowing that I was already in touch with him. It was a welcome gift as the video clips weren't posted to YouTube for some time after that.

Meyrick and I have continued to stay in touch and I really respect his opinions on life, my recovery and fitness in general. I posted an article on swimming that he and I collaborated on when I was still on crutches and trying to find some cardiovascular activity.

Meeting Meyrick in person confirmed something that I always knew: he is a truly genuine, nice guy!

As short as it was, it was absolutely awesome to finally meet, shake his hand and check out his new gym in person. The facility exudes Meyrick's own passion for elite sport and fitness.

Next time I'm on the continent, I'll definitely take some time out to plan a horrendously long hike with him so I can pick his brain a lot more! Thanks for everything Meyrick.

*note: this post has been back-dated to the intended post date due to a technical issue encountered on initial attempt.

Lovin' Las Vegas!

2010-03-13T15:01:00.004+10:00

I'm travelling again for work, this time doing a limited "tour" of North America.

Is there any better way of getting over your jet lag than stopping off in Las Vegas for a few sleepless nights of fun? I think NOT!

Since my itinerary doesn't include a stop-off in Ontario and only includes a limited amount of time in Vancouver, my Dad and Sister came along with their partners and my Uncle & Aunt!

New York, New York

Caesars Palace

Paris

The Venetian

The Bellagio

The Luxor

The winning smile!

True Story

2010-03-08T21:09:00.004+10:00

I had an Orthopaedic review with the surgeon today to assess my "level of impairment". I was shocked to learn they weren't testing my blood-alcohol level for a "high score" -- awkward!

Instead, the surgeon concluded that my leg is indeed not growing back. I know, it surprised me too, however, he required an x-ray to confirm this little "hypothesis".

I went up to the ex-ray room and found a very surprised looking x-ray tech who managed to stammer "OH! I've never done one of YOU before!"

One of ME? Ohhh kaaay! I think at this point I said something like "Well, I AM pretty unique, thanks for noticing!" though I don't think she heard me as she flustered around clearing the x-ray table.

From there the conversation went something like this:

Tech: Sooo umm... is that like ATTACHED? Or does it come off?

Mike (staring incredulously): It comes off...

Tech: OH. So do you usually keep it on for x-rays?

Mike (laughing nervously): No, I don't think the metal or carbon fibre would photograph well and I'm pretty sure you're only interested in what's underneath it!

Tech: Yeah, that makes sense! Do you know what position to hold your... LEG? for the picture?

Mike: No I don't, sorry... maybe just shoot it like you would a normal leg?

Tech: OK, yeah! That makes sense!

I left that day feeling that we had both learned something: she learned that prosthetic limbs are NOT permanently fixed to the human body through painful bolts or magic glue.

I learned that common sense and higher reasoning is not a pre-requisite of getting into x-ray school!

Technical difficulties

2010-03-01T12:48:00.000+10:00

It's been a quiet month (march) for publishing posts but believe it or not, I have been writing them. I've been on the road for work and have been using an app on my phone. Unfortunately, when it came time to publish them, my settings had been erased.

I've been horribly lazy about fixing that. That said, I have indeed fixed it and set several posts to automatically publish over the next few days, back-dated to the day of the month they were written on. I've also back-dated this post to ensure the newer posts show above this one on the site.

Mandela said...

2010-02-18T20:00:00.002+10:00

"There are few misfortunes in the world that you cannot turn into a personal triumph if you have the iron will and the necessary skill."

South African Safari, Pilanesberg

2010-02-14T01:15:00.000+10:00

After a seven hour drive back to Johannesburg yesterday (having also completed a very full eight hour day on site), today was a good day for some R&R. I went up to Pilanesberg to take a game drive!

Like the Ngorongoro crater, Pilanesberg was formed when a giant volcano expanded without exploding, building pressure and finally collapsing in on itself, creating perfect conditions for a large concentration of wildlife.

I had an excellent day spotting three white rhinos (but not getting a good enough shot off with the camera before they lumbered off), several elephants, a giraffe, impala, warthogs, zebras, wildebeests, a big male lion in the grass, monkeys, hippos and even a family of banded mongoose (related to the meerkat).

Here's a few of the better photos:

Mother Zebra with her little fella.

A family of three white rhinos!

A family of elephants going for a drink. There was five of them!

A herd of blue-gnus / wildebeests.

Musina, near the Botswana and Zimbabwe border, is where I was working this week. It's a fantastic little village on the edge of civilization and home to the diamond miners. Hundreds of people from Zimbabwe flood into Musina every day to purchase fuel and food which have become somewhat of a luxury in their country. Hundreds of donkeys and mules flood into Musina from Botswana because they have nothing else to do for fun.

I'm off to bed, thanks for reading!

South Africa

2010-02-09T23:16:00.001+10:00

I am in South Africa today on the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. That's not why I came, I just think it's a cool fact!

I came to Johannesburg for work and am currently doing the long trek north to a remote but well known diamond mine near the border of Zimbabwe, just outside the little town of Musina. Seven hours in the back of a 4WD might not be your idea of fun but at least I'm getting to see the rich diversity of the country.

Johannesburg is one the largest cities in the world that wad not built on either a river or a major port. It was founded during the gold rush of the late 1800's when a local land owner was climbing a ridge to survey his property and kicked a big 'ole shiny rock that turned out to be gold. The area exploded with prospectors. Once diamonds were found near Kimberley, the British decided it was time to colonize, by force.

Sadly, this lead to the invention of the world's first concentration camps during the Boer war. The Brits decided they needed a way to conquer the sparsely populated countryside and cut the supply of food to local militia resisting the colonization. As a result, they rounded up women and children from the farms and stuck them in camps to "concentrate" the population. Outbreaks of disease were largely ignored and millions died.

The history here runs deep and every group has their own story but years of economic isolation during apartheid has lead to significant technological advancement in this country. For example, SA guards the secret of turning coal into petroleum. Afterall, a country must have oil even if they can't pump for it and no one will sell it to them. The process is a heavily guarded secret.

They've also completely cornered the market on diamonds and platinum with a new patent being filed every single day in those industries for the extraction of the precious commodities.

All in all, I think this is a really interesting part of Africa!

Update: we have arrived at the lodge which is absolutely awesome. The food is great and we each have our own hut. On turning in for the night, I had to kill several large bugs who were mounting a counter attack on the giant spider who lives above my bed... At least the spider looks relatively friendly and keeps to his side of the room ( top corners of thatched roof ). I named him fluffy... he's hairy and the size of a small dog. Sure hope he doesn't get hungry.

-- Mobile post

Epictetus

2010-01-27T20:33:00.001+10:00

Heard a great quote today I thought I'd share:

You have two ears and one mouth; use them in that proportion. - Epictetus

-- Mobile post

Presenting in Paris

2010-01-21T23:13:00.003+10:00

Things are going really well this week and we've been very busy!

I had thought I'd be giving one presentation to 500 people. Turned out they wanted more effective/intimate group sizes so while the 500 people part hasn't changed, they've been arriving in groups of 10 over two days!

My rough daily schedule has been:

1:30am: find bed under pile of notes and cables having completed revision list of the day.

Horrible reality siren at 5:30am (alarm), doze (10 min), wake up in panic at the time, quick shower (10 min). Answer emails (30 min), review demo script and pack demo gear (15 min). Suit up (5 min), admire how dashing self looks in suit (10 min) while putting on stupid tricky cufflinks (5 min). Elevator ride from 30th floor (5 min due to commuter traffic), arrive at breakfast meeting 7am.

Review daily agenda and implement new last minute changes to suit audience segment of day (30 min), arrive at venue and set up gear (10 min).

Smile.

Give demo and presentation (10 min) to groups of 10 people, answer questions (5 min), repeat indefinitely until dinner break.

Note to self that I haven't gone to bathroom yet. Briefly excuse myself and enjoy 5 minutes of solitude.

Arrive at dinner meeting. Review day, take notes, chew, swallow, begin alterations to demo based on daily feedback.

Repeat.

All in all, I wouldn't have it any other way, this has been a lot of fun. You know I love an audience!

-- Mobile post

Dune Bashing in Dubai

2010-01-20T11:00:00.000+10:00

On my way to Paris I had a very long layover in Dubai due to a series of flight delays that resulted in a missed connection. Let's hope my trip home goes more smoothly!

This reminded me that I hadn't posted photos from the last time I was there in October. I'm a bit behind on my travel blogging and Dubai is really spectacular.

It's home to some really amazing man made marvels. From the huge man-made Palm Island, to the Burj Dubai, the modern engineering that's going on is really impressive. Sort of a modern day Atlantis!

The Burj Dubai (pictured at the top of this post) is the tallest building in the world, stacking in at nearly a kilometer high (roughly 850m)! Putting that in perspective, if you stacked the Sears Tower in Chicago on top of the Empire State building in New York, the Burj Dubai would still be taller by about 50m!

You can see from the photo just how much it dwarfs the other huge high rises around it. It's estimated to be fully completed this year. I was impressed to see a window washer way way up near the top. That's one heck of a big job!

Contrary to popular belief, Dubai does NOT have oil money. There was a time that it did, however, the reserves have long since dried up and now the city is sustained on tourism alone. The economic crisis has really hit them hard and most new construction projects are currently on hold. It was odd to see so many half-completed high rise buildings, especially so many very uniquely designed ones.

The Palm Island, more impressive by air, is a massive land-reclaimation project in the shape of a palm tree. The next big project is "the World" island, shaped like a giant globe.

After a bit of city touring, we went out into the desert for some good old fashioned DUNE BASHING! This was incredibly fun, even if we weren't allowed to drive. Our group even had to rotate through the front seat to handle the odd queasy stomach. Quite the ride!

Dune bashing!

More dune bashing!

After diving over the edge of the huge dunes in our Toyota Landcruiser we went deeper into the desert where we had a huge meal and were painted with henna tattoos.

Mike getting tattooed.

The famous Burj Al Arab. To get a room here, you need a minimum of $2000 USD. The most expensive room goes for $28,000 per night!

Reruns and sequels

2010-01-16T01:21:00.002+10:00

It's about 1am and I'm preparing to leave for Paris for the second time in as many months. It seems my whole life is in reruns lately, doomed to repeat patterns of the past.

The flight from Australia to France is a gruelling one but at least I can catch up on some badly needed sleep! That's if I can remember how...

I've been given a tremendous opportunity to present a product integration to over 500 delegates at a conference being held about a block from the Eiffel Tower.

What I love about that is I actually had a hand in building all three of the products being integrated in this solution: two that I worked on in Canada and one that I worked on here in Australia.

My dedicated teammates from Canada and Australia have put in a lot of their personal time working nights and weekends to make this happen.

I'll be representing about nine years of independent product development work from four countries, wrapped together by a few weeks worth of commando style tactical integration work, being shown in a single live working (fingers crossed) demo in front of the top executives in my company and many industry leaders. It needs to impress!

Nothing like adding a little pressure to a presentation.

Lucky for me, this isn't so much a re-run as it is a sequel. This is the same integration I presented at the big product launch for the press last month. The audience will be more technical and have higher expectations, but I'm confident it will show very well.

I've heard it's snowing there. That will be a nice change of pace from the sweltering Brisbane summer heat.

So what does any of this have to do with the photo at the top? I snapped that picture of the man and his dogs on the street the last time I was in Paris in December. If I don't pull this off, that's what I've decided to do next... it doesn't look so bad! I bet he gets more sleep than I do...

My Mom the World Traveler

2010-01-12T21:50:00.006+10:00

Happy New Year everyone!

This year my Mom came to visit over the holidays and as far as I know, this was her first big overseas trip.

We had a really nice Christmas, touring around the countryside on our own little amateur safari. She managed to get pictures in the wild of all the big Australian animals including a koala, a salt water crocodile, a pademelon wallaby, loads of kanagaroos, a kookaburra and lots of different lizards!

She snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef where she found Nemo and a large Green Sea Turtle. She even managed to see two sharks out there and volunteered to take a SCUBA lesson! We were all very proud of how adventurous she was!

Koala in the wild.

Salt water crocodile in the wild!

Holding a fresh water croc at the zoo.

A kangaroo in the wild.

I hope you all had a fantastic start to 2010!

Dolphin Diving in Zanzibar

2009-12-29T23:23:00.003+10:00

Another very late Africa trip post but I want to get the last of the trip photos up before a whole new year begins.

We took a dive off the coast of Zanzibar in an area that was supposed to be too far north to sight dolphins but still a great dive site. After we completed our first dive, having seen loads of amazing colourful fish, a large family of dolphins came swimming into our area!

Our captain turned the boat and told us to get our masks and snorkels on. We dove off the side of the boat to intercept the school and got some really amazing up close experience with the grey bottlenose dolphins!

After touring the islands we stopped in Stonetown. In the days of tall sailing ships, Stonetown was a huge trading port for spices grown in the area.

The winding narrow streets are filled with people instead of cars and the huge wooden doors have large spikes embedded on them to keep the elephants from busting in for a drink of water!

We also had a completely random encounter with two people that we met on Kilimanjaro, Steffi and Daniel from Germany!

We had met these two on our very first day at the bottom of the mountain, getting prepared to climb. We ran into them again in the Ngorongoro crater on Safari just by chance at a hippo pool. Incredibly, we saw them again at the very end of our trip in Stonetown on Zanzibar!

We had a fantastic dinner together. It was an excellent way to round off the African leg of our trip!

Safari on the Serengeti

2009-12-15T22:41:00.003+10:00

Procrastinate? Nooo not me, never! October wasn't all THAT long ago was it?

Our Safari in Tanzania (in October) took us from the base of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti with a final stop at Lake Manyara. The pure abundance of wildlife was astounding.

We were extraordinarily lucky. Many visitors never see a single Cheetah, we saw two. Many people never get to spot a Leopard in a tree protecting its kill; we could have yanked the tail on one, and again, we saw two! It eventually got to the point where we would actually say "Hey, another big male lion with three or four females over there... but I'd have to use the zoom lens so... carry on."

Of the roughly 2600 photos from our Safari in Tanzania, we've managed to pair it down to a "top 100". Here's a small sample:

If you'd like to see the rest, just drop me a line and I'll send you a link to the album.

Thought-controlled prosthesis

2009-12-02T22:00:00.000+10:00

Rome, Italy | AP
"A group of European scientists said Wednesday they have successfully connected a robotic hand to an amputee, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial limb and control it with his thoughts.

The experiment lasted a month, and scientists say it was the first time a patient has been able to make complex movements using his mind to control a biomechanic hand connected to his nervous system.

'The approach we followed is natural,' Rossini said. The patient 'didn't have to learn to use muscles that do a different job to move a prosthesis, he just had to concentrate and send to the robotic hand the same messages he used to send to his own hand.'

It will take at least two or three years before scientists try to replicate the experiment with a more long-term prosthesis, the experts said. First they need to study if the hair-thin electrodes can be kept in longer."

Read the whole article here:
http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotic-hand-prosthetic-thoughts.html

Thanks for this Todd!

Mobile Paris

2009-11-22T14:13:00.002+10:00

Nothing makes for a quality post like mobile phone photos on the fly:
Cherob Statue near the Eiffel Tower.
The Tuileries.
The Louvre.
The Arc de Triumph.
The Sacre Coeur.
The Moulin Rouge.
Notre Dame Cathedral.
A view of the Seine river.
Outdoor chandeliers on Rue de Castiglione.
-- Mobile post

Paris and the Continental Race

2009-11-18T22:00:00.009+10:00

I'm now in Paris, France. I know, it came as a surprise to me too!

I was sent here very last minute by my company to help with a press event for a product release. We're unveiling an integration between the product I used to develop in Victoria and the product I currently help develop in Brisbane.

More importantly, this means in the last two years I've been to every single continent except Antarctica, all on a single passport! That's not all that uncommon for some of my globe trotting friends (Mel, Steve and Sean come to mind) but as I don't travel for work very often, this is big news for me!

My List
Asia: China, UAE (Dubai).
Australia: umm.. Australia.
North America: Canada.
South America: Brazil.
Zealandia: New Zealand.
Africa: Tanzania/Zanzibar.
Europe: France.

Zealandia you ask? Did I just blow your mind? No, this is not a trick to one-up my sister by getting to a "secret" continent before her... but then again, neener neener Kim! Don't worry, the score is still 5-2 in your favour.

Turns out New Zealand is not on the same continental shelf and so is not part of the continent of Australia. It is instead part of the submerged continent Zealandia which stretches from the north of New Caledonia to the south of New Zealand's subantarctic islands.

I know, it's strange, I always thought there were seven continents but here we are adding an eighth. I feel the same as I did the day Pluto stopped being a planet! I learned something new today... then my reality imploded so I got a latte.

Tonight, I'm strolling along the Seine river with a proper latte in hand in my warm wool jacket. The air is crisp and cool without being cold and I really like wearing wool jackets. Life is good, I love Paris!

You'll have to forgive the grainy iPhone camera shots taken at night.

-- Mobile post

Amp-a-versary

2009-11-11T23:11:00.005+10:00

Today was my amp-a-versary and the last day of Legadon.

I've come a long way from that hospital bed one year ago and I couldn't have done it without the incredible support of my family, my friends and my entire recovery team.

To celebrate our year together and to thank you for participating in my recovery, I've compiled a short video along with this list:

November 2008: the surgery.
December: learned to pop-a-wheelie in my chair.
January: first one-legged indoor climb.
February: crutch-climbed Mount Coolum.
March: first prosthesis, first abseil/rappel ten days later.
April: first outdoor rock climb.
May: first single-fin SCUBA dive.
June: first ice skating attempt on prosthesis.
July: first cycling attempt on prosthesis.
August: Bridge to Brisbane 10k.
September: new socket, pack training.
October: climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
November 2009: Traded in wheelchair for snowboard...

Climbing Kilimanjaro: Part Two

2009-11-08T17:24:00.001+10:00

I hope you enjoy this small subset of our many many photos from the climb along with a brief description of the day's hike!

Day 1: Park Gate (1400m) to Machame Camp (3000m)
Approximately 8 hours of steady hiking.

The warning signs at the bottom.

Signing in at Machame Camp, Day 1.
_______________________________________________________

Day 2: Machame to Shira Camp (3840m)
Approximately 6 hours of steep trekking.

Morning shower: one for soap and one for rinsing.
First up gets the warmest, cleanest water.

Leaving Shira Camp, Day 2.
_______________________________________________________

Day 3: Shira to Barranco Camp (3950m)
Approximately 6 hours of steep climbing to Lava Tower (4600m) with a dramatic descent into a valley followed by a final steep ascent into the camp.

Lava Tower, 4600m, Day 3.

Barranco Camp with Breakfast Wall looming in the background.
_______________________________________________________

Day 4: Barranco to Karanga Valley Camp (4200m)
Breakfast Wall - a vertical rock face with a tiny goat track that is attempted immediately after breakfast. The view of the summit from the top of Breakfast wall is incredible. This is well and truly above the cloud line! From there, approximately 5 hours of trekking to the next camp.

Breakfast Wall goat track, Day 4.

A view of the summit from Karanaga camp, end of Day 4.
_______________________________________________________

Day 5: Karanga Valley to Barafu (Summit Base Camp) (4630m)
Approximately 6 hours of steady uphill hiking along the lava ridge to the Barafu camp.

Hiking to Barafu, Day 5.

Arriving at Barafu, Day 5.
We never knew if (or when) we might be forced to turn back. As I said, each day was an accomplishment in itself so as we arrived into the next camp, we took a photo of us holding up the number of fingers of the day we'd just completed.

_______________________________________________________

SLEEP 4 HOURS (7pm to 11pm), RISE AT 11PM FOR SUMMIT ATTEMPT.
Very steep 8 hour climb. Arrived at Uhuru Peak Summit (5895m/ 19,340 ft)

Sunrise from the summit attempt, near Stella's point.

A view of the top, Stella's Point, the rim of the volcano!

Celebrating with some friends at the top on Uhuru peak.
_______________________________________________________

Summit to Barafu (noon, Day 6, still no sleep)
A very steep 4 hour skree-slope decent.
After arriving at Barafu, rested for 1 hour while re-stocking packs.

Barafu to Mweka Camp
(still no sleep, late afternoon/evening, Day 6)
Approximately 6 hours of steep, slippery, treacherous descending on sharp rocks.

End of Day 6, Mweka base camp.

Dinner time in the mess tent.
_______________________________________________________

Day 7: Mweka Camp (3110m) to Park Gate (1400m)
A final descent of about 5 hours to the park gate.

Signing out at the park gate.

Receiving our officially numbered gold certificates of success, end of Day 7.

Climbing Kilimanjaro: Part One

2009-11-05T22:00:00.001+10:00

I think I need to tell this story in reverse, starting with the summit attempt and working backwards. It's like eating supper by starting with dessert; sometimes it's just better that way.

I should point out that there are many routes you can take to get up Mount Kilimanjaro so this account may be different than others. We chose the very challenging Machame route, a 67km, five day boot-camp for the summit attempt followed by a gruelling two day descent.

The route follows the "walk high, sleep low" principal of altitude training meaning that each day, climbers ascend to a higher altitude than they sleep at in the camps. This gives the body time to adjust to the extreme altitude and gives the climber the greatest possible chance for success.

Day five on the mountain began with a 5 to 6 hour trek from the Karanga Valley camp to the summit base camp, called Barafu. The camp is often under a blanket of snow and is always cold. Barafu means "ice" in Swahili.

After arriving at the camp, we spent some time re-organizing the gear in our packs, making sure we only had "the essentials" to minimize pack weight. We had a small bite to eat and hydrated the best we could on sore stomachs (courtesy of the altitude). Our guide told us to rest up as we'd be rising again at 11pm.

The wake-up call came quickly. It was cold. Very cold. We had a cup of tea and quietly gave the "good luck" nod or handshake to other climbers and friends we'd met along the way who were beginning their own migration up the steep slope.

Soon our turn came to set out from the dark camp. The pace was slow. Each step had to be chosen carefully in the light of our headlamps to keep from twisting an ankle or worse. One achingly slow step at a time, we were finally attempting the summit!

The ash/skree slope is a bit like walking in sand. That's difficult with a prosthetic limb due to the instability of the surface. I had to concentrate very hard on every step, making sure my footing was solid and not going to pitch or roll my body which would waste valuable energy in the recovery.

In this regard, my leg may have been an advantage. Having something to focus on occupied my mind and kept me from thinking about my lungs, the remaining distance or fatigue.

Around the 5000m mark we began passing other parties who were being forced to descend. Their attempt was over. Acute mountain sickness was a silent predator stalking the unlucky, not discriminating on age or fitness. None of us knew if it would strike us or if it did, when and how bad.

We passed by people doubled over in pain on the side of the track. Others were pleading with their guides to let them continue, though the sound of fluid in their lungs betrayed them. In some cases, mental or physical exhaustion had taken away the will to continue.

Groups of twelve, singing loudly at the start, were cut down to quiet groups of eight. Groups of eight were now groups of four. Whole teams were turning back. The further we climbed, the worse it got.

And then, sunrise.

The African sky cracked a tiny shard of red light on the horizon, warming us from the very soul. The glaciers to our left and below lit up like white beacons. We could see the top!

In that moment, we knew we were going to make it! With renewed hope, we leaned in and pushed to the top of Stella's point, the rim of the volcano. From there, it was a short 150m ascent to Uhuru Peak, the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Arriving at the sign to take our victory photo was bitter sweet. We were reunited with friends we had made at the bottom of the mountain on the first day while we scanned new arrivals for the faces that were still missing.

It's difficult to describe the sheer emotion of reaching the top. Is it enough to say "we were pretty happy" and leave it at that?

Unfortunately our celebration had to be short lived. The increased risk of acute mountain sickness setting in at that altitude meant we had to begin our descent about twenty minutes after reaching the peak.

Physically and mentally exhausted, we now faced a four hour steep descent back down to Barafu camp to pack our gear, followed immediately by another six hour rocky descent to the Mweka base camp where we would finally get to sleep for the night.

Our goals shifted quickly. We had made it to the top, now we had to focus on getting down without getting injured.

On Machame, each day is more challenging than the last, including a near vertical "goat-track" climb up a sheer rock wall on day four. The climb down from the summit to our last base camp on day six was no exception.

By the time climbers attempt the summit from this route, they're physically and mentally prepared for the rigors of that very long, cold night. Just making it to the end of the each day felt like an accomplishment.

Alive and Well

2009-10-30T09:00:00.001+10:00

Just a quick post to say we made it back to Brisbane alive and well. It's been a challenge getting back into routine after such an action packed month so I'm quite behind on the blog, as I've been told!

I'm working on a few posts (with many pictures) from the trip that should be up soon. The tricky part is sorting through all the photos and getting the numbers down to a "reasonable" amount. The combined camera total was over 2600 photos. That makes for a long and difficult "best of the best" process!

Thanks again for all of your comments and emails, I really appreciated every one of them!

Success on Kili!

2009-10-12T15:04:00.007+10:00

On Saturday October 10th at approximately 7:30am, after a very long/cold/dark night, we made it to the top Uhuru peak, the highest of the three peaks of the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and the highest point in Africa!

My leg was never a problem, this model of Mike seems to be built for climbing. It was a lot to ask, 6 gruelling days to the top, each more challenging than the last, and 2 days down, but it held up well under the stress. Lisa fought through days of altitude sickness and soldiered on, half exhausted and running on fumes by the time we reached the summit.

We're still in Africa and time is limited before we head off to the Serengeti today so I'll write a more detailed account later, but I thought I'd quickly post our success!

There'll be no living with me now!

Juma (assistant guide), Lisa, Mike, Mgeta (head guide)

35 Days of Legadon

2009-10-07T18:00:00.047+10:00

Today is the first day of Legadon. What is Legadon you ask? Allow me to explain!

The term "Legadon" (LegIsGone sounded too ghoulish) came about when I realized that I couldn't title this post "One Year Later" due to the fact that I have two big events to reflect on, 35 days apart. A single day just wouldn't do it justice which is the same reason I celebrate a "birthday week".

For me, the period between my accident (October 7th) and my last surgery (November 11th) has taken on a sort of "holy" symbolism, like Ramadan or Lent. As I understand it, those periods are meant to be a time of self-reflection, endurance and sacrifice resulting in a greater devotion to what's important in life.

Ramadan is approximately one lunar month long and Lent is a strict 40 days. Legadon is 35 days long.

During my first Legadon, I endured fear, intense pain and great sadness. I felt great joy and trepidation for the future. I learned humility and gained an appreciation for what's really important in life.

This Legadon, I will be experiencing much of the same as we continue our climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. With any luck, today we will climb to 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and begin to experience the effects of extreme altitude before descending back down to 12,950 feet (3,947 meters).

Yep, nearly a year has passed but it still seems like yesterday. Life took an unexpected turn from normal that day and landed me in a very new situation, but in many ways, life has never been better.

Things got a bit more complex but if not for the events of that day, I would have missed out on meeting some very special people and reconnecting with friends and family.

A wise man said to me once: it's amazing how even in the most "unlucky" of moments you can feel really lucky. Well put.

One thing's for sure, if it wasn't for that day, I would have needed a different title for this blog. It would just be weird otherwise!

Note: This post was pre-written and pre-scheduled to be published before I left, so unfortunately I will be unable to respond to your comments at this time. I'll respond when I return!

The Shining Mountain

2009-10-05T18:00:00.006+10:00

Wednesday marks the first anniversary of my accident.

To mark the occasion properly, this morning we began our seven day ascent up Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa, Earth, Orion Arm, Gould Belt, Milky Way Galaxy.

Kilimanjaro means "shining" or "glittering" mountain in Swahili and is one of the world's so-called "Seven Summits" of mountaineering, referring to the highest peak on each continent. The summit stands nearly 6km above the surface of the earth and its snowy peak is an equatorial anomaly.

We have chosen to take the Machame route as our guide up the mountain. The route takes 7 days but has a greater chance of success as there is more time to acclimatize to the extreme altitude. We travel with an experienced guide and a slammin' camera.

I've been told varying statistics of people who actually make it to the top ranging from 1 in 10 on the low end to 5 in 8 on the upper end. Some of the fittest people in the world are air-lifted off the mountain each day due to the effects of altitude sickness. It's impossible to predict based on age, sex or even physical condition.

I desperately want to make it to the top of course, but I'm keeping my expectations in check. It's about the journey and the experience, not the summit. This is about marking how far I've come from that hospital bed, not ending up in another one. I'll be making daily assessments of my condition and won't do anything to put us in jeopardy.

The plan, if all goes well, is to make our summit attempt on October 10th (day 6). We'll begin the strenuous 17 hour trek to 19,340 feet or 5,895 meters, starting out from the Barafu summit base camp just after midnight. The temperature should be around -23 degrees Celsius (-10 F) and we'll do the majority of the steep climb in the dark.

It will also be my first attempt to walk in snow on a prosthetic leg, but hey I'm Canadian, it's in my blood.

With me I have a list of names of every person who has helped me through this last year: my friends, my family, my support network, etc, right down to "Wally, the friendly dude who sold me my hiking boots". When the going gets really tough, I'm going to read that list to keep me going, assuming I'm not insane from oxygen deprivation.

I honestly don't know how we'll do, but I hope to have the courage to keep plodding along when things get really tough. I'm going to take it one step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

I'm prepared for whatever comes, but if they take me off this mountain, it won't be for lack of will, I can promise you that.

Note: This post was pre-written and pre-scheduled to be published, so unfortunately I will be unable to respond to your comments at this time. I'll respond when I return!

Final Boarding Call

2009-10-02T16:20:00.000+10:00

A few last thoughts before boarding the 30+ hour flight to Tanzania:

I wonder if lions like to be scratched on the tummy, or behind the ears better?

Last time I spoke to Mom, she told me to keep my new leg inside the tent so no wild animals wander off with it in the night. Wonder if she knows something I don't...

It dawned on me that I'll be the one others point to and say "I don't have to run fast, I just have to outrun HIM."

Why did I buy the sleeping bag that had extra foot room?

-- Mobile post

Going on a Lion Hunt

2009-10-01T16:39:00.003+10:00

Yellow fever shots: check.
Malaria tablets: check.
Typhoid, Rabies, Tetanus, Hepatitus A, Polio vaccinations: check.

Large backpack: check.
Secondary pack: check.
Sleeping bag: check.
Wool wicking layer: check.
Rain proof jacket and pants: check.
Telscopic poles: check.
Rigid boots: check.
Hydration pack, hat, headlamp, flint/steel: check.
Pliers, scissors, rope, good knife, tree saw: check.
Extra socks, silicon sealer: check.

Nikon DSLR Camera with zoom lens: check.
Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 Freeze proof, drop proof, crush proof camera: check.

The will to give up shaving and showering for three weeks: double check (why should this week be any different?).

Following the herd migrations on the Serengeti: Priceless.

Dust Storm

2009-09-23T17:00:00.004+10:00

Might have to put the training schedule on hold for a few days as a huge Outback dust storm sweeps its way across Australia's east coast.

It's like we're in a Nuclear winter here. There's a very strange, very surreal orange sky. Here's what the news has to say:

*All images from the Brisbane Times online.

September 23, 2009

Article clip from: The Australian
BRISBANE is a city beseiged, ringed by bushfires and cloaked in a tawny haze of dust, all kicked up by the desert winds that brought chaos to Sydney and NSW early this morning.

An eerie fog of dust blanketed the Queensland capital, reducing visibility to less than 100m, and bringing traffic to a standstill in places as motorists turned on their headlights and hoped for the best to nose through the surreal conditions.

Brisbane's Story Bridge

Photo from a suburb in South Brisbane.

BBC News Online, Sydney:
Australia's biggest city, Sydney, has been shrouded in red dust blown in by winds from the deserts of the outback.

Visibility is so bad that international flights have been diverted and harbour ferry traffic disrupted.

Emergency services reported a surge in calls from people suffering breathing problems. Children and the elderly have been told to stay indoors.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney's Harbour Bridge

(All images from the Brisbane Times online)

Smallest Triathlon Ever

2009-09-21T16:31:00.006+10:00

"If God invented marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, the triathlon must have taken Him completely by surprise." - P.Z. Pearce

In preparation for the big camping trip in October, Sunday was pack-training day. Normally this would include a very long hike with a 10kg (22 lb) pack, but that's been getting too easy. Instead, we completed a mini, home-grown, out-of-order triathlon!

We started off doing a few hard sprints on the bike around the cycling track in Morningside to get the legs good and sore. The mid-day Brisbane heat was a killer, the seat was far too low to get a good power stroke and the rock-climbing helmet I was sporting didn't breath quite as well as a regular cycling helmet but the ride was successful.

My foot stayed on the pedals a lot better this time and my new socket is cut low enough in the back to really give me the flexibility I need on the follow-through, making for a good ride.

From there it was off to the swimming pool to get in as many laps as possible in an hour, accounting for 15 minutes of treading water, a quick shower after and some pre-swim fun of freaking out the normies when I popped my leg off poolside.

My flutter kick was tighter than ever and I had a strong stroke so I really think my form is improving. I was quite happy with myself when I caught up to the lady in front of me and had to tread water to let her get some distance before starting again. Granted I think the woman I was "racing" was in her 60's but you have to start somewhere!

I had a quick and awkward shower doing my best to to keep my leg dry, then we began the long hike up Mount Coot-tha via the Slaughter Falls track. The 10kg pack felt especially heavy as my muscles were dead tired but it was a good test. The trail is steep and very uneven which makes pack-training all the more difficult for balance and stabilization on the springy foot.

After last week's out-of-control hike down the same track, my prosthetists and I decided to remove the "running wedge" from my flex-foot, leaving the heal very soft. This made a WORLD of difference coming down the steep slopes, allowing my ankle to flex my foot to the ground for maximum traction. The trade-off was the extra energy required when going up the steep slopes so I might just start changing my foot position depending on the day's requirements.

We made it back to the car just before dark, in good time. My lend was really aching but I deserved it -- I had refused to sacrifice time "socking-up" during the descent.

The real test of the last month's worth of training came today: no sore muscles even though they were pushed hard yesterday. I'm very pleased!

How to Save a Bumpy Week

2009-09-14T19:50:00.004+10:00

I don't usually like to admit to having a bad day, but sometimes you don't need to for good friends to catch on.

Today, much to my red-faced surprise and delight, these two beauties showed up to work sporting custom made shirts to ensure the week started off with a grin!

That's right, it's official, there is a fan club and they now have t-shirts! All kidding aside, I'm very lucky to have such amazing support.

With friends like these, who could stop smiling?

Krissie and Mel, the very best!
(I need a haircut)

Evolution

2009-09-12T15:30:00.002+10:00

Loren versus the "Lend"

2009-09-10T11:03:00.002+10:00

When I first became aware that I might have to pull a "return to sender" on my left leg, I did a lot of reading.

One word that I utterly HATED was "stump". Like most people, I think in vivid pictures so when I heard that word, I imagined a lumberjack with a bloody chainsaw standing over my screaming torso. Not a nice image!

At the time, the word brought to mind something gross, bloody and hacked up and was synonymous with "mutilation".

I suppose I eventually came to accept the word as part of my regular vocabulary because every doctor, physiotherapist, prosthetist, etc insisted on using it. The doctors seemed to think that using single syllable words made them more accessible. For some, I think they did this is in lieu of having to work on their bedside manner.

Since then, I've had the good fortune of doing some peer-counselling in the hospital for other young new amputees. In every case I've encountered objections to using that word but no one had any good suggestions for an alternative.

Enter Loren, a recovering above-knee amputee who I had the absolute pleasure of meeting on Monday. With a big smile and a stern warning, I was told never to use the "s-word" again. Instead, I promised Loren that I'd spread the word to adopt the word "Lend" (Limb-End).

So here you go Loren, this one's for you! I've already confused a few prosthetists one physiotherapist and one super-doc this week on your behalf. By the time you get to rehab, I hope the "s-word" will be a distant memory and entirely taboo. I admire your courage and I wish you the very best recovery possible!

New Socket

2009-09-09T13:55:00.001+10:00

Just a short post to say that I received my new socket on Tuesday.

Breaking in a new socket is a bit like breaking in a new pair of hiking boots, only the carbon fibre and kevlar don't mold or wear in, the leg-flesh does all the adjusting.

Because my last two sockets have been so big, I have new/different loading points on my Lend (Limb-End) to adapt to. This means an awkward uncomfortable feeling that gives me a bit of a limp. I wouldn't call it pain, it's just uncomfortable.

I'm hoping my leg will adapt quickly. It did last time so I'm not too worried. Either way, it's much better than having a socket the size of a garbage can strapped to my leg, so I'm a happy camper.

Crossing the Finish Line

2009-09-02T17:00:00.001+10:00

Here's a video of Lisa and I crossing the finish line on Sunday, captured from the race cam!

We show up right under the timing clock 17 seconds into this video. Lisa's in a red shirt with blue hat and I'm in a bright green shirt with a black hat. Both running, side by side. We cross the finish line right around 23 seconds into this video.

Thanks to Adrian for telling me about this!

UPDATE: If you can't see the video, try this link.

Bridge to Brisbane 10K

2009-08-31T09:00:00.003+10:00

Lisa and I completed our first road race Sunday, the 10km Bridge to Brisbane!

The race runs over Brisbane's Gateway bridge and attracted over 40,000 racers this year, making it the largest turn-out of the event's history. That's a lot of people getting up at 5am.

Not having a running leg and being reasonably out of shape, we decided to register in the event as walkers this year, however, that changed a little once we crossed the starting line.

The atmosphere was incredibly exciting and I started getting a very nervous, fast paced, "let me at it" hop/skip to my step at the start line. I was resisting, trying to remember there was a whole lot of race left to go, until I heard Lisa say "just go for it". We both broke into a run!

We jogged on and off throughout the race, climbing the bridge in great time and keeping up a solid pace the whole way. I had to make one very quick pit-stop to add an additional stump-sock inside my huge socket after so much jogging, but all in all, we really pushed the pace.

The coolest part was running the last 500m into the stadium area, side by side and crossing that finish line together. We both got a little lump in our throats. It was a great moment!

We're not sure what our results are yet, but we think we did well for our first race. It will definitely give us something to improve on.

I think that will be the last race we register in as "walkers".

Schneider Electric team.

At the finish line.

I'm a Poster!

2009-08-19T11:26:00.016+10:00

I went in to get fitted for my check-socket today and found a little poster of ME in the Gait Lab!

Check-socket - cheap plastic socket used to work out any "bugs" in my fit before they cast it in the expensive carbon fibre and Kevlar, making me 10% bullet-proof.

Gait Lab - a small room with a set of parallel bars used to analyse someone's "Gait" (the way they walk). All amputees pass through this lab anytime an adjustment is needed or they get a new leg.

The Gait Lab has all sorts of posters of people doing "amazing" things like running through a park or camping at the top of a mountain. They're meant to be inspiring.

They had quite the opposite affect on me!

On my first day in the lab, after patiently waiting so long to get going on my new leg, these posters scared the hell out of me.

Afterall, if camping on a mountain top or going for a jog in the park is the exception to the rule, so much so that the guy gets his own poster, then what should I expect?

Not to dismiss what those people in the posters are doing, not by any means! Many of them are above-knee amputees (I can't imagine how tough that would be) and climbing a mountain is no small feat when you have fake feet. I guess it just sent a shiver down my spine thinking that these images are meant to be the "pinnacle of what can be achieved".

Lucky for me, I already knew a guy racing Triathlons so I knew to set my goals a bit higher!

Now I just need to find someone who'll make me an action figure... and yes, I really should be paying my photographer a lot more!

The Gait Lab.

This is a cool poster!

Fun and Mental Fundamentals

2009-08-12T09:36:00.001+10:00

Something struck me as being quite funny this morning!

Afterall, how many people stop you on your way into work to say "Gee, you're sure walking like a pro today!" to which you reply "Thanks! It's all in the knee!"

Yep, I get praise where others get ignored. Life is good. Someone even asked me recently if I still dress myself and seemed highly impressed when I said yes. I laughed and said "Well, I have been practicing for a few years now!"

Not that I mind the questions or comments, far from it! I'm proud of the progress I'm making and in all honesty, there are times when I wish people understood more about how much concentration it took to kick that soccer ball or run up those stairs. In those moments the crowd in my head goes wild -- I love those guys, very supportive.

The comments are also a great way to gage whether or not I need to get an adjustment to my prosthetic. I'm usually so busy trying to ignore my inner-monologue that I miss the fact that I'm limping.

Truth be told, it wasn't long ago (earlier this year) when walking, showering, kicking a ball, or getting a glass of juice from the kitchen to the table without spilling a drop was very difficult, but it's come down to re-learning the basics, breaking down the complex tasks and practicing those fundamentals.

I can tell I'm doing well because at this stage in my recovery, no one even knows that I have a prosthetic and most people are shocked when they find out. That's a good feeling! It means I'm walking like a champ again.

I even jogged a bit playing Cricket last week. It wasn't pretty, but it was definitely a jog! I was quite proud and the guys in my head, they wouldn't shut up about it!

Yes, I'm well on my way to achieving that magic "10,000 hours to mastery" mark.

So, get out there and strut your stuff you show-offs who can walk perfectly without thinking about it! I won't be far behind you: only 8,620 hours to go!

Back to Climbing

2009-08-06T16:44:00.007+10:00

We had a good time climbing on the weekend!

I bashed up my right knee and ankle with some nice bruises making a few less-than-graceful moves, however, it was nice not worrying about bashing up my left leg's mis-sized socket. It only has to last me two or three weeks afterall -- I wonder if the Kevlar in those layers makes it bullet-proof...

Here's a shot of our crew having a BBQ overlooking the city and river from the top of the cliffs. Made for a great way to spend a Sunday!

Bratz

2009-07-28T08:00:00.001+10:00

This email made my week!

Hey Mike,

I thought you might get a kick out of this. My daughter had her third birthday party this weekend and got a Bratz doll. Since you're probably not up on your girl toddler toys, Bratz are super popular with the under ten crowd. The doll comes with all these little designer clothes that you can change the doll in and out of.

So when I was helping Wynn change the shoes of her Bratz doll, I realized it doesn't actually have feet but what looks like a stump with a prosthetic shoe that you change. It made me think of you. Who knew that you were similar to a Bratz doll? You too would be very popular with little girls if you would consider wearing sparkled high heels or fancy tall boots. You may want to consider a career change.

Anyways, I hope all is well with you!

Kara

Leg Update

2009-07-26T15:04:00.002+10:00

I received my long-awaited new socket on Thursday.

The Good:
As prosthetic leg sockets go, this looks sweet! The weight of the carbon fibre is significantly less than my old white plastic job. It's also not nearly as bulky under my jeans at work either and looks awesome when I wear shorts.

The Bad:
It's the wrong size... in fact, it's slightly larger than my last one. It was meant to fit me like a glove and instead fits like a large garbage can. They've packed it with some foam and promised to make me a new one, but it means more waiting and walking on something that isn't right.

Staying Positive:
It's discouraging but at very least the shape is better than the last one. Even though it's still huge, it more closely matches the shape of my leg than the last one so when I pack it full of extra padding, it's at least a better shape. I guess that's an improvement.

It also means that in a month, we'll have TWO old sockets to experiment with for new climbing leg designs. The socket was always going to be the hard part to source. The rest is just machined aluminum which we've already worked out. I even have a prosthetist contact now (outside of my treatment) who's willing to help with the design. All big bonus points.

Cycling

2009-07-18T22:00:00.002+10:00

We dusted off the bikes today for the first time since the accident.

After breakfast, we spent several hours adjusting cables, tightening bolts, greasing chains, adjusting heights and sorting out the gears to get them into ridable form, but eventually, we managed to get them loaded onto the car and headed off for a late afternoon ride.

Around this time last year, Subway was offering free bikes to anyone who bought six fresh value meals. You just had to pay the $50 shipping fee. Since they were pretty much the only lunch place within walking distance of my office, I was already eating there everyday.

Since we hadn't intended to buy bikes when we moved here, free bikes were hard to resist!

My bike frame is a bit small for me and I think my seat height needed some more adjusting, but overall, it was a nice ride. It was a great way to get in some cardio which has been sadly lacking lately.

One challenge I found was just keeping my foot on the pedal. It kept drifting forward or out to the side making for the occassional slip off the peddle. Eventually, I managed to get the pressure right but I still think toe clips would be useful.

All in all it went very well and we look forward to getting out again for a longer ride!

Working on my Apotemnophobia

2009-07-17T09:00:00.001+10:00

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, ironically, is the fear of long words. Perhaps even more ironic is the "short" version of that word: sesquipedalophobia.

Odontophobia is the fear of teeth!
Algophobia is the fear of pain.
Deipnophobia is the fear of dinner conversation!
Anablephobia is the fear of looking up? Really?

Xanthophobics fear the colour yellow!

I'm really not sure where I'm going with this, I just thought these were really funny!

For a complete list of fears to use on your friends and family, check out: http://www.phobialist.com/

...and to all my friggaphobic friends out there, I wish you a happy Friday!

Stasibasiphobia

2009-07-10T23:00:00.005+10:00

When I was younger, I watched a documentary about zoo keepers and how they train large wild animals. One thing that has always stuck with me is the story of how they raise baby elephants in captivity.

No, I haven't been watching too much Animal Planet, I promise I'm going somewhere with this.

As a baby, an elephant born in captivity is shackled by the ankle and chained to a large steel spike driven deep into the ground. The chain length is always the same and baby elephants don't yet have the weight or strength required to break free.

The young elephant will struggle against this tether every day in the yard until it learns that whenever a shackle is put around its ankle, it may only travel a particular distance.

Soon there's no struggle at all. It becomes accustomed to this "reality". Just seeing or feeling the shackle and chain is enough for the growing elephant to accept this limitation of its mobility as fact. The elephant's reality and subsequent actions have become a product of its environment.

As the elephant matures, zoo-keepers remove the heavy chains and replace them with a light rope and a movable wooden stake so they may show the elephant to crowds in multiple locations.

The fully grown adult elephant has more than enough power to pull free of the rope and peg but the programming of the ankle shackle is so absolute, so totally ingrained in its behaviour, that the elephant never bothers to try.

I find that sad.

For the past few months, my leg hasn't been fitting right. Not to worry, this is a normal part of the progression and they're building me a new one as we speak, but in the meantime, I've had a lot to put up with.

My old socket is HUGE on my leg, allowing my stump to bump and grind with each step. This causes me pain. I can generally fix that with a few extra socks for padding but throughout the day that changes, meaning more pain until I can get my "supplies" to sort it out.

Over the last few weeks, I've been limiting my walking and activities. I accepted the programming and allowed myself become fearful of standing and/or walking. I felt like my ill-fitting leg was a limitation that I couldn't control.

It's important to realize that most "limitations" are self-imposed. Sure, they have their foundations in past personal experience: a failed first attempt, a bad experience, a repeated put-down, etc, but for the most part, they are the product of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In my case, it was inconvenient to have to carry around extra supplies and to take the time needed to correct the problem so I wasn't taking care of the pain when it came on. Pain made me cranky. I stopped getting up because I knew it would hurt. I was even avoiding walking around at the office.

My limitation had nothing to do with my leg and everything to do with my attitude. I've since corrected my thinking and given myself a few good kicks to the head as punishment. Really I did -- it's easy when you have a detachable left leg!

We all have the power to change our situations rather than accept them. We need to recognize obstacles for their reality, not for what we perceive them to be.

Ask yourself: are you being held back by a bit of rope and a wooden peg?

Happy Canada Day

2009-07-01T23:00:00.000+10:00

Wishing all our friends and family back home a happy Canada day!

-- Mobile post

Skating

2009-06-27T13:00:00.003+10:00

If there's one thing Canadians know, it's ice.

If there's one thing Australians know, it's how to build air conditioning units the size of a football field.

So, on a cool, crisp winter day (roughly 25 degrees Celsius) in June, we decided to see if I could still skate.

We started off with two skates that were the same size. Big mistake actually. My prosthetic foot is slightly shorter and a lot more narrow than my real foot. This meant that every push resulted in the skate boot slopping over to the side and trying to slip out from under me.

We went back to the skate shop and requested to get a left-skate two sizes down from the well-fitting right one.

The much tighter fitting left skate worked like a charm! I'm not sure why I was surprised, afterall, in a skate boot everyone has a stiff ankle. In fact, it's one of the only times everyone walks just like I do!

I'm not looking forward to having to buy two pairs of skates the rest of my life, but I'm sure I'll find a righty to go "half-sies" with. Know anyone?

Skating was easy and was a great quad workout. The smaller muscle groups and my glutes all got a much needed workout doing something that I don't normally do. This was a great way to cross-train! If only I was training for something...

Spontaneous Sydney

2009-06-20T23:26:00.000+10:00

Saturday, 10:35am:
A lazy cozy Saturday morning, breakfast in bed (eggs and cold pizza from the night before).

Lisa: what should we do today?
Mike (looking at the clock): we could go to Sydney! No luggage, pull an all nighter! If we leave now, we could be there by 2pm!
Lisa: are you frickin kidding me? ...OK!! But we're getting a hotel! I'll book flights!
Mike: Really?? Ok I'll clean up! You shower!

Saturday, 10:45am:
Calling Virgin and Qantas simultaneously from two different phones, first to answer gets our business!

Saturday, 11:15am:
Flights booked online (cheaper), change of socks and underwear in camera bag! Original fare sold out, had to pay an extra $30. Skipping lunch!

Saturday, 11:40am:
Michael Brian MacKenzie, if you get your license taken away we'll miss our flight!
I'm not going THAT fast!
It's an 80 zone!
Oh... Better drop back to 100 then.

Saturday, 12:05pm:
Status: through security, boarding passes in hand!
Mike: let's get a coffee.
Lisa: how about a beer instead!?!

Saturday, 12:45pm:
Ladies and gentlemen waiting to board flight DJ950 to Sydney: due to some bad weather in Sydney we will delay boarding.
Both: crap, guess we should have checked the weather!

Saturday, 12:55pm:
Ladies and gentlemen, flight DJ950 to Sydney is now boarding!

Saturday, 2:25pm:
Welcome to Sydney!

- Mobile post

Rotorua, New Zealand

2009-06-19T21:50:00.000+10:00

A short drive south of New Zealand is Rotorua, a city built in the exploded crater of a very active volcano!

In the 1980's, sensors were burried in the ground with a view to giving the residents of Rotorua approximately two weeks notice in the event of the next major eruption. We didn't stick around long enough to find out if they work!

On our arrival, we attended a Maori cultural show where they performed a Haka up close and personal. We were then treated to a traditionally prepared meal and an after dinner walk through the forest to see glow worms in their natural habitat.

The next day we hiked around the thermal parks in the area, checking out tons of bubbling mud pits and a surreal landscape of steaming rocks. Steam was coming out of the ground everywhere, even out of the post-holes for the fences!

We also witnessed the huge Pohotu geiser erupting, sending high pressure water shooting 15 meters in the air. It was really spectacular!

Hobbiton, New Zealand

2009-06-19T21:45:00.000+10:00

If you've seen the Lord of the Rings movies, or just read the books, or perhaps read "the Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien, then you'll know all about Hobbiton, "the Shire" and Bag-End, the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins!

We visited the remains of this peaceful little movie set on our way to Rotorua, New Zealand.

The set was built on a picturesque little sheep farm near Matamata and kept a well guarded secret until the movies came out in 2001. 17 of the original 37 hobbit-holes still remain but their original movie "trimmings" had to all be removed for copyright reasons.

The "party tree" where Bilbo disappears from is still there; all the more impressive in real life to see that a tree like that actually exists! The hobbits have all been replaced by lambs and sheep now but that's not all that surprising.

The human population of New Zealand is approximately 4 million and there are nine sheep to every one human (down from twenty to one in the 1980's). I'm not kidding. The sheep have all but run for office. If aliens landed on earth tomorrow and chose New Zealand as their landing strip, I think they would greet the sheep with impressed glances and congratulate them on the domestication of the human.

Feeding the lambs after the the private sheering demonstration we had.

The Sky Jump

2009-06-18T21:32:00.009+10:00

At 328 metres tall, Auckland's Sky Tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere and offers incredible views for up to 80 kilometres in every direction.

Something that big deserves to be climbed and/or jumped off of! We chose the latter of the two options; less time required. The glass elevator ride to the top was pretty neat too.

The jump takes place from the top skydeck, 192 meters up. During the descent, you reach 83km per hour.

It's not so much like a bungy jump, more like a parachute base jump as your body achieves the same free-fall position as skydiving.

Given the full body harness, my amazing suspension system and an extra safety line tied around my ankle (just in case), I was allowed to wear my leg for the jump.

Even at 192 meters (as opposed to the full height of the tower), the skydeck is the tallest point a person can be in Auckland meaning that you're automatically looking down on every skyscraper's roof. It's enough to weaken the knees!

A view of the skydeck in relation to the rest of the city.

Lisa taking her leap!

I came in for a perfect one-footed landing to absorb the impact then stepped down onto my prosthetic with style.

Across the Pond to Auckland, New Zealand

2009-06-17T21:41:00.005+10:00

The last long weekend of the year... that's a lot of pressure for one little weekend!

Lucky for us, Auckland is a short 4 hour swim from Brisbane so with a $99 seat sale taunting us, we couldn't say no.

This was my first international flight with a prosthetic leg, so I really didn't know what to expect. By all reports, I was going to be asked to take my leg off, put it on the belt scanner and hop through the metal detectors. This was not a prospect I was looking forward to.

Fortunately, this was not the drill. I was allowed to walk through like everyone else followed by a quick run by with the "wand".

The second challenge was travelling without my crutches. Not for normal mobility, just for those pesky middle of the night wake-up calls and for getting in/out of the shower. Enter the collapsible hiking poles Matt gave me. When taken apart, these fit neatly in my travel backpack. When assembled, these allowed me to get around with ease after my leg was off at night.

Auckland is home to the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere, the Sky Tower. We woke up on the first morning looking out at this huge monolith from our hotel window less than a block away. As you can imagine, that was one of our first and last stops of the day!

From the top, Auckland's city scape is incredible. The food in the revolving restaurant is even better. From the top you can see the whole city stretch out beneath your feet.

Auckland also boasts several volcanic islands within a stone's throw of the city, great for quick hike on a chilly day! One of these is Rangitoto, easily accessible by a short ferry ride. On a very cold day, we went up Rangitoto and walked the rim of the volcano then hiked down to the lava caves below. These were really cool!

The caves were tens of meters in length and cartoonish in appearance. They were straight out of an Indiana Jones movie with vines and a tiny speck of daylight indicating the far end of the tunnel. At several points along the way, we had to crouch down to get under the four foot high (meter and a half) tunnel ceilings.

One cave tunnel was long enough that we had to take a real leap of faith that it would have an opening on the other side! Enter handy leg-bag flashlight to guide our way. We wouldn't have gone far without that handy bit of MacGuyver-tech.

Quick facts about New Zealand:

New Zealand was the first major nation to have universal suffrage. In 1893 it became legal for all male and female citizens of New Zealand to vote.

It was also the first country to have its three top positions of power held simultaneously by women: The Prime Minister (Helen Clark), the Governor General (Dame Silvia Cartwright), and the Chief Justice (Sian Elias).

Lake Taupo, the largest freshwater lake in Oceania, was the source of the largest known eruption in the world in the last 70 thousand years.

New Zealand was the last major landmass to be populated (with the exception of the polar regions).

Nobel Prize Winner and New Zealander Ernest Rutherford is known as the father of nuclear physics for his orbital theory of the atom.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest was born in Auckland and his face is on the New Zealand $5 bill.

Auckland's skyline at night.

A nice dinner on our last night in Auckland.

Golfing with the Sharks

2009-06-15T16:28:00.005+10:00

The truth really is stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to my post about golfing in Australia!

Apparently I made a mistake when I mentioned the man-eating crocodiles in the water traps: sorry, I should have said "man-eating sharks".

For those who thought I was exaggerating:
"WATER hazards tend to make a golfer shake at the knees at the best of times, but Carbrook Golf Club has taken this element of fear to a whole new level. The course’s main lake is now officially a no-go zone because it’s riddled with 'a significant number' of man-eating bull sharks of all sizes."

Read more about it here and see the video:
http://golferpacific.com.au/process/myviews/golfpac_article.html?articleId=1323

A bit about Bull Sharks: One of the deadliest sharks off the East Coast of Australia, the bull shark is well known for its unpredictable, often aggressive behavior. Unlike most other marine sharks, bull sharks tolerate fresh water. They can travel far up rivers. As a result, they are probably responsible for the majority of shark attacks on humans that take place near the shore.

Funny enough, I have a two-for-one pass to golf 18 holes at Carbrook any day of the week and it's just 30 short minute drive south of our house!

Rough Cut of New Zealand

2009-06-06T20:56:00.001+10:00

Took a quick trip across the pond this weekend to a land where the sheep outnumber the people and Hobbits are commonplace. We are of course in New Zealand!

We're currently staying the night in the center of a giant volcano in Rotorua. There are tons of natural geisers and thermal vents in the area making for an amazing landscape of steam and warm springs.

Oh, and we jumped off the top of the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere yesterday!

More to come soon!
-- Mobile post

The Stump Jump

2009-05-31T19:18:00.001+10:00

Our new favorite wine! Irony never tasted so good! :)

Carving Out the Potential

2009-05-24T21:37:00.011+10:00

I had a lot of time last week to think. When I think, I putter. Here's what I decided:

I think we often get so caught up in seeing things for what they are that we fail to see what they could be.

We're blinded so much by what we perceive that we fail to recognize the full potential of the thing.

If we can't get past that first obstacle, we can't form a vision of the possibilities or start clearing away the rubble to see what's under the surface.

If we can overcome that obstacle, we start ourselves down a path of enlightenment and potential. That vision becomes our obsession.

As we proceed, we may lose sight of that vision. Things aren't looking right and don't seem to be going the way we'd hoped or expected. We begin to think we've made a mistake or that we've been overly ambitious with what we've got. We must constantly redefine our expectations.

If we persist, we begin to see that the vision was never really lost. Instead, we come to recognize that there are other forces at play in shaping it.

It's in this realization that we recognize the true potential. By letting go of our preconceived notions and allowing things to progress as they're meant to, without force, we begin to see it take on a beauty of its own.

As we relax, things take shape. Our vision changes slightly and what it has become begins to exceed our expectations. Our vision becomes reality.

It would be easy to stop at this point but that's when the really hard work begins.

From here on out, the approach we take should be subtle but persistent. We need to smooth out the rough edges and take away the surface scars of the previous approach. Only through this effort does the work take on a new luster.

Gradually, as we polish away the debris left by such a radical transformation, the inner beauty of the thing is revealed to us. We're proud. We have achieved what we set out to achieve. We may choose to hide it away for ourselves, or we may put it on display for all the world to see. We sit back and admire our hard work.

But we're still not finished. Over time, dust collects on our effort, taking back the luster we have bestowed upon it. Everyday pressures may form small cracks or chips in the surface.

All of this happens for one reason: to remind us that we must take nothing for granted. Only with constant care and involvement will our hard work remain a thing of beauty.

We must treasure what we have created, else we lose it.

The beauty of life must be constantly rediscovered else we are blind to it.

Golfing

2009-05-19T19:00:00.006+10:00

H.G. Wells said "The uglier a man's legs are, the better he plays golf". I think I'm going to like this game.

Matt (cool picture on the right, check out that club!) and I played 9 holes Sunday morning at Victoria Golf Complex near the Brisbane CBD. What a great way to spoil a nice walk on a Sunday morning!

Golfing in Australia is great. From the kangaroos on the greens to the colourful lorakeets in the tropical trees, the fairways lined with Palms and the perfect sky, you really do get the feeling of being in a tropical paradise.

Of course, one should recall a few minor points about golf etiquette here:
1) rake the sandtrap for deadly snakes BEFORE you go in after your ball. This may prevent death or at least wetting thyself.
2) if your ball goes in the deep rough, a python has it. If the python doesn't have it, the python was killed by something worse than a python. Just take a drop.
3) aggressive spiders are attracted to shiny metal club shafts.
4) beware of man-eating crocodiles in the water traps.

and of course...
5) if your mate drops unconscious from heat stroke, notify the course attendant so the other parties will allow the doctor (a few holes back) to play through. Score a 2 putt on his card for the hole +1 for the inconvenience. Play on.

Is he kidding? Is he exaggerating for comedic effect? Are there really crocodiles on the course? You'll just have to come find out for yourselves.

On a personal note, I can honestly say that I'm as good a golfer now as I was before the accident... You can read into that however you want!

Walking the hilly course was a good test for me. I used a push cart for the clubs and by the 9th green I was only feeling a small limp coming on. The uneven terrain would have been a real killer about 6 weeks ago so it was a nice feeling.

As MJ told me a while back, golfing is a great way to test the full range of the leg. He uses it to judge his new fit when he has a major adjustment made or gets a new piece of hardware. I figured I'd better start getting a baseline.

I daresay my game may have even improved slightly since the last time I played. I had been a bit nervous that the twisting motion of the swing would hurt but it wasn't a problem.

I'm still hitting my shots straight and if anything, this has slowed my swing down just enough to take care of my slice. I just have to work on my aim! My follow-through still feels very natural but after video review I can see that it does look a bit off (but I don't have a video-baseline to compare to from before).

My short game still has a lot to be desired and unfortunately on that one, you can't even point to the leg! Lisa and I are going to need more mini-golf practice.

For my Uncles: no water traps near any of the tee-boxes so I still had my driver when we got off the course.

Nice course!

Aussie Rules

2009-05-17T21:14:00.004+10:00

AFL: Australian Football League (Aussie Rules)
Venue: The Gabba Cricket Grounds
When: Saturday night, May 16th

This posed some really interesting challenges for me so I thought I'd blog a little bit about it. Also I haven't blogged in a while and it's good to let the family know I'm alive and ticking!

Aussie Rules football is very different from any other game I've ever seen. For one, it's probably football match played in a giant oval! It's also one of the only games on earth where you can score a point by missing your goal kick. Sort of a nod to "heeeeey... that was... um.. clooose... here's a pity-point!"

It's an extremely athletic game played by no less than 36 players on the field and 8 umpires. The players jump as high as pro-basketball players, run as fast as the fastest soccer players, hit as hard as the toughest rugby players and have the grace of a major league outfielder when catching a ball under pressure.

You don't need to watch the ball for the action as there's at least three other games being played away from the ball at any given time, jostling for position and moving the chess pieces around the field.

The game never stops action. A whistle doesn't mean "stop what you're doing", in fact it means "play on!". This makes the fans some of the craziest viking-like fans on the planet. It's easy to get caught up in such a fast paced game with so much action!

Oh yeah, my personal challenges for the night:
- climbing the steep stairs of the Gabba to my seat
- navigating the steep stairs holding two beers instead of a railing
- shuffling past feet in the aisles to get to my seat, trying not to fall on anyone
- bumping around in the crowds after the game
- standing on the bus ride home for lack of a seat

It was a good test. Often the subtle movements are the hardest to control so squeezing one foot in front of the other with so many feet in my way, without spilling a drop of beer, not so easy!

We had a good night. Brisbane beat Adelaide 119 to 83 and Daniel Bradshaw (#18) beat the all time Lions scoring record with 461 goals.

Quidditch meets reality.

SCUBA Diving with Shaahhks

2009-05-05T21:22:00.003+10:00

Shaahhk: (noun) Australian for Shark.

Monday was a public holiday in Queensland, Labour Day. It wasn't a holiday in New South Wales because they don't work hard enough down there to need one.

Since NSW is just a short 2 hour trip south of us, we left the sunshine and crowds behind us on Monday and went for a SCUBA dive at Julian Rocks, near Byron Bay (NSW).

This was my first dive since the accident and it went great!

We saw a HUGE green turtle. It's difficult to get an idea of the sheer size of this guy from the picture but needless to say, it was the size of a coffee table.

We also swam along side a two-and-a-half meter spotted wobbegong shark. There were loads of other amazing tropical fish, blow-fish and giant angel-fish.

Thinking ahead and recognizing that I'm a twin-engine vehicle with one motor permanently in the shop, Lisa and I devised a way to give me back some of the propulsion I would be lacking.

We bought some webbed gloves for swimming which gave me some extra agility when required. My finger tips still poke up out of the open fingers of the webbed gloves meaning that I could still fiddle with my gages, BCD triggers, etc.

I also strapped a small snorkeling fin to the bottom of my leg inside the wet-suit giving me some extra propulsion.

All in all, the combination of the two worked really well and I didn't feel any different diving now that I would have before.

Lisa swimming like a fish.

Schools of these bright fish were everywhere.

Mike in full gear.

Tennis: Going Balls Out

2009-05-03T21:00:00.003+10:00

Just before I received my leg, I made a list of goals:

1) Walk perfectly (no limp) in three weeks (thanks MJ).
2) Back to rock-climbing in one month.
3) Able to jog/run in three months.
4) Playing tennis in six months.

This list has been posted as the wallpaper (background image) on my phone ever since, meaning that I look at it about 30 times a day. Today I achieved item number four a few months early!

Playing tennis requires being able to do number three on the list (jogging/running) as well as a few other skills:
- pivoting
- running backwards
- stopping and starting quickly
- having the ability to lunge
- side to side quick stepping
- looking good in tennis shorts

This made playing tennis one of those "ultimate goals" for me, thinking it would take real practice on my leg to be able to play the game properly.

I wasn't as quick on my feet as I'd hoped from my running practice but all of the other skills came into play. With practice, my speed and agility will improve, but for now, I'm counting on my killer ball placement skills to foil my much quicker opponent.

Getting nice flex out of the ankle there.

Lisa working on her form. I'm glad we only played one set; near the end she'd figured out my weakness and was starting to play it to her advantage!

Returning the shot. Keeping my prosthetic leg behind me allows for maximum agility. This allows me to pivot quickly without twisting my leg in the socket while also putting me up onto the flexible toe for maximum energy return.

Dude, what's that on your Leg?

2009-04-28T21:30:00.010+10:00

I've been asked a few times now what I've got strapped to the back of my leg.

That, my friends, is the patent-pending (not really) Macgyver leg bag, suitable for any gadget-phile who can only count to 15 and doesn't wear cargo-pants to work!

The bag is filled with all the things I wish I could keep on my keychain but don't have the space for. Included in my bag of tricks are:
- a Flashlight
- Pliers
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Self-adhering velcro strips (for strapping my foot to pedals, etc)
- Lockpicks (you gotta have a hobby)
- Plastic bag (for water proofing Steve-the-leg)
- one "Skins" compression sock (hides the plastic bag)

... and various other bits-and-bobs I throw in there in case I'm ever in a pinch and need to rapidly diffuse a nuclear bomb then perform a daring escape.

I got the idea when I noticed I wasn't being limited by all the fleshy bits of my calf muscle and suddenly had reams of extra space to play with. Yes, that's just one of the many advantages of the instant-weight-loss program I was on.

It's like carrying a purse, but far more manly and spy-like!

An added bonus is that it gives me a "calf muscle" appearance in jeans without adding bulk.

The important thing is to keep the weight down so all items are extremely small and metal objects are made of titanium or aluminum. All in all, I don't notice the extra weight and you'd be amazed at how often I need the scissors and/or pliers.

Now I just need to remember to take that off before I head through airport security...

Rick Ball and the Boston Marathon

2009-04-23T17:05:00.005+10:00

TORONTO, April 19: Amputee goes for Boston Marathon record

A popular Toronto Transit Commission subway mechanic hopes to set a world record for amputee runners when he takes part in the Boston Marathon tomorrow.

Rick Ball, a 43-year-old father of two from Orillia, Ont., began training as an amputee runner when he was first fitted with a carbon fibre prosthesis less than two years ago.

In the interim, Ball has managed to set the world record amputee marathon time squarely in his sights.

In July of last year, Ball ran a full marathon in only three hours and 10 minutes -- only six minutes off the current world record.

In fact, he qualified for this year's Boston Marathon in the able-bodied division.

His coach, Roger DePlancke, said Ball's rapid progress has been highly impressive.

"He's got a lot of ability. He's done amazingly well, I'll have to admit, in a short time," DePlancke told ctvtoronto.ca on Sunday afternoon.

Ball trained by running nearly 80 kilometres per week, mostly in morning runs.

______________________________________________________

BOSTON, April 20 /CNW/ - At 3:01:50, TTC Subway Mechanic Rick Ball has just posted the fastest time in world marathon history for a single leg amputee. Finishing in the top six percent of all runners in the 113th Boston Marathon, Ball beat the previous 3:04:00 record for a single amputee set by Australian Amy Winters at the 2007 Chicago Marathon.

Ball's time is now recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as the reigning world record for single leg amputee marathoners.

______________________________________________________

BOSTON GLOBE, April 21 - Ontario's Rick Ball, an amputee who aimed to break three hours in his first Boston Marathon, just missed the mark, turning in a 3:01:50. But he nevertheless managed to set a world record for single leg amputees, dashing the 3:04 mark set by Australia's Amy Winters at the 2007 Chicago Marathon.

"It's so cool to have a world record at this course, the most prestigious in the world," said Ball, 43.

If it doesn't sound easy, that's because it wasn't. Ball, who lost his leg in a car accident more than 20 years ago, suffered severe dehydration and cramps and had to be treated by medical staff for more than an hour after finishing.

"Honestly, it was the hardest, most difficult thing I've ever done in my life -- harder than my accident, as far as the mental and physical pain," said Ball. "I just wasn't going to give up, though."

Climbing at Kangaroo Point

2009-04-18T22:00:00.009+10:00

Four weeks ago, on March 19th, I set a goal for myself that I would do my first outdoor rockclimb in one month.

Today I achieved that goal with the help of some very good friends. It was great to be back on the rock and even better to make it to the top!

Climbing on the prosthesis was similar to what I'd expected it to be but I learned a lot that I hadn't expected. I've been visualizing the actions and trying to work out where my advantage points would be as well as what I'd need to overcome.

As MJ commented in an earlier post, imagine standing on a toe that never gets tired. This was great and it did provide a neat little perch when I could find a secure enough ledge to stand on.

Trouble was, the super flexible foot inside the shoe would also flex a little too much, twisting out of cracks when I didn't expect it, or twisting sideways off the tiny micro-edges of a sheer rock face without providing me the feedback that it was about to let go.

The foot itself is also a bit more narrow than a real foot, so putting my faith in the side of the climbing shoe was no longer an option.

I did like the fact that my toes didn't get sore in my left foot. This was fantastic when I was climbing a narrow crack. No big toe to start complaining!

A lot of my challenges today came down to a lack of sensation.

When you climb, you feel the rock through your feet a lot rather than looking for holds. A bit of pressure through the toes usually provides enough feedback to let you know whether you're going to stick or slip before transferring all of your weight to the hold.

This was definitely lacking on my left side, leaving me the challenge of working out a new system on the fly. More than once, I put my faith in a foot hold that proved to be a mistake. This new "spidey sense" will develop with more practice.

All in all, we had a great day and I had a good sense of accomplishment. I learned a LOT, found a few hitches that I'll have to work out, but eventually, I reached the top of the cliffs.

I'm happy to report that a lot of my mishaps on the cliff came less from prosthetic troubles and more from:
a) being out of practice
b) lacking proper climbing form
c) lacking confidence in my hands/shoes

... and all of that comes from not having climbed in six months. This is great news because I can easily overcome all of those by getting more practice in.

Looking forward to getting back out there for another try very soon! I've got a new form to work out so these are exciting times.

Lisa approaching the top!

Matt taking the hard road; this sheer face really shows his skill.

Mike and Mel, she's the best!

Easter on Fraser Island

2009-04-14T23:45:00.013+10:00

The Easter Bandicoot was good to us this year. Instead of chocolate, he brought us Sheryl and Steve, our good friends from Canada!

This called for some extreme tourism and thus a weekend on Fraser island, just off the coast of mainland Australia.

Visiting Fraser comes with some great benefits, namely, the fact that you need a 4WD with a snorkel to get around. The snorkel comes in great for crossing Eli creek on the East side of the island. When you're not driving down the beach or crossing streams, you're bouncing around the sandy 4x4 inland tracks.

As an added bonus, December's cyclone washed away parts of the passable beach, leaving a rocky moonscape to drive around on. The deep holes and steep climbs over slippery black lava rocks made for a great time!

It was like 4WD Fantasy Camp for Yuppies. We had a blast and the grins haven't faded yet!

My own personal accomplishments for the weekend:
1) Driving a manual transmission (my first post-op clutch).
2) Hiking in sand, very uneven and quite a challenge.
3) 5km trail hike in the middle of the island near a spot called Central Station.
4) Not rolling Chuggers (our 4WD) on the wet rocks of the washed out beach.

* I've only had my new leg for three weeks so the 5km hike and sand walking were both a big deal to us. The manual clutch was a pure bonus!

Swimming in Lake McKenzie was fantastic at the end of a great day of 4WDriving. The water was crystal clear and warm as could be. A couple of dingos even graced us with a little wildlife adventure on the shore at dusk.

A Few Fraser Facts:
- The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1840 km².
- The 120 km (75 mile) beach on the East side acts as both a highway and a runway.
- The original name of the island is "K'gari". It means paradise.
- Fraser island was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1992.

We couldn't have asked for a better crew! Even "Chuggers", our 4WD, held off breaking down until after the trip was over when his battery went entirely dead for no reason during a quick stop at the carpark after we got off the ferry and back to the mainland. A quick rolling start / clutch pop got Chuggers rolling again and we managed to get him back to his home at the rental shop.

Photo: The crew with "Chuggers" our 4WD on the Eastern beaches.

Photo: Chugging over the sandy inland 4x4 tracks.

Photo: The Maheno, a shipwreck used by the RAAF in WWII for bombing practice.

A World of Possibility

2009-04-09T08:00:00.001+10:00

A friend of mine passed this along. Definitely worth a watch if you have a chance!

This video is about achieving your pure potential, dismissing the "nay" voices in your head that we've all been conditioned to hear and getting on with achievement by tuning in to what's really important.

It is a bit long at thirty minutes, but if nothing more, try to watch the first 10 minutes. You might get hooked. The difference between the first performance and the last is quite astounding (you'll know what I'm referring to if you watch the video).

I was on "one buttock" by the end (again, you'll have to watch to know what I mean).

"The only conductor to ever lead the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Zander is a prophet of human potential and an unrivaled champion of joie de vivre. Watch as he helps unlock the boundless potential of a 15 year old cellist and teaches the entire Pop!Tech audience what it means to live in a world of possibility."

I had previously embedded the video here but it was causing page layout errors. Instead, please click here to view the video online.

More Phun With the Phantom

2009-04-05T23:42:00.001+10:00

This is getting wierd... but so cool!

I can feel my phantom foot as per usual but now I can also see "my foot". What's left to tell my brain that I don't actually have one? Nothing!

This means that the phantom sensation is actually getting stronger. To some extent, this could be great! If I know where it should be from feel, I'll be better using the prosthesis.

On the other hand, I feel it so strongly now that when I went to get up off the couch the other day, I tried to use both feet. That's a problem when you're not wearing the prosthesis at the time!

Something else that was really bizarre was the feeling of having a really tired foot when we were walking around one evening. I actually thought about losening my shoe laces for a few seconds as it felt too tight. We had a good laugh about that one!

Jumping Off Cliffs

2009-03-29T23:44:00.027+10:00

Needless to say, we had a great weekend!

Lisa and the Blood Bubble

2009-03-27T01:00:00.016+10:00

On Monday, Lisa was paid to play hooky from work and go down to sign up new blood donors at the ARCBS (Australian Red Cross Blood Services) Blood Bubble!

This is a topic near and dear to both our hearts as I received many transfusions during my time in the hospital. Someone's donation saved my life.

2009 celebrates 80 years of Red Cross blood services in Australia and the bubble is an information booth aimed at signing up new donors and testing for their blood type.

Lisa and a few of her colleagues took in hundreds of new donor commitment sheets and answered all sorts of questions for people.

She was even allowed to put on the mascot costume at one point. She said she'd always wanted to be a mascot!

Did you know?
- One in three people will need blood, but only one in thirty people donate.
- 470 mL of blood is collected when you give whole blood.
- Every whole blood donation can help save up to 3 lives!
- Within 24-48 hours of giving blood, your blood volume is completely restored.
- Red blood cells have a shelf life of up to 42 days.
- You can start giving blood at 16.
- You can donate whole blood every 12 weeks.
- Plasma and platelet donations can be made every 2 weeks.
- You can donate double platelets - helping twice as many people.
- Platelets have a shelf life of only 5 days.
- The most plasma donations made by one person was 938.
- Plasma donations can be used to make 16 different products.
- O negative blood is universal and can be given to anyone.
- Australia needs 21,000 blood donations every week.
- 34% of donated blood goes towards helping cancer patients.

It's been nearly twelve weeks since my last post about donating blood. That means if you donated blood that week, you're nearly eligible to donate again. Maybe you can even fit in a plasma or platelet donation in the meantime?

Many of you responded saying that you are regular donors and I really commend you for that! If you've never donated before, now is as good a time as any to start!

Remember to book your next donation appointment soon. Besides, who can say "no" to free cookies and juice?

Low Points: the Wheelchair Incident

2009-03-25T00:00:00.004+10:00

Waiting for my leg, I hit several low points. These coloured my experience just as much as the high points, so I've decided to record a few of them here to serve as a reminder of how far I've come.

After the final decision was made, I started doing chin-ups in the hospital bed using the old traction rack that my leg used to be tied up to. I managed to get outside into the sun for the first time in 8 weeks the day before my last surgery and within two days after it. I was feeling healthier already. Things were never going to be as bad as they'd gotten again so every day was a good day.

I hit a bit of a low point several weeks later on December 18th. I was a month out of the hospital and finally getting to go in for my assessment at the amputee clinic. This was the day they would check over my stump and tell me if I would be selected for a prosthesis or not. Up to that point, I didn't know there was any risk that I might not get one. This was a frightening day for me but I wasn't overly worried.

I was taking every precaution and being safe so I took the wheelchair that day instead of the crutches. I rolled myself out of the parking lot near the hospital and down a little sidewalk ramp at a crosswalk to cross the road. When the chair hit the road at the bottom of the ramp, it bottomed out on my foot peg, throwing me face first onto the pavement in front of a car with tremendous sling-shot action.

I landed HARD on my stump. Yep, my freshly amputated limb broke my fall.

Imagine kicking your big toe, barefoot, into a brick wall as hard as you can and you're only part of the way to landing on a freshly amputated leg with all your weight on pavement.

To add insult to my injury, the wheelchair folded up and toppled over behind me, leaving me with nothing to pull myself up off the ground with. It was flat as a pancake. The car driver didn't move, he just waited patiently for me to come back out of my fog of extreme excruciating pain into consciousness, push myself up off the pavement with sore arms and stand up on my one good leg.

Several people passed in cars or on foot a few meters away but none stopped to help. I got up on my own, then had to hop over, bend down (one leg, not easy), pick up my useless wheelchair, unfold it and set it back up for sitting in. I was bleeding and very sore but my pride was really bruised.

I sat back into the chair, utterly demoralized. The very thing that was supposed to keep me from hurting myself (the chair) had just hurt me, badly, 20 minutes before I was to be inspected for suitability of a prosthetic and not a single person stopped to help me up.

I limped my chair across the intersection only to find that I had to climb a very steep hill on the other side. The thought of climbing that with bleeding hands was all starting to be too much. I was feeling defeated in that moment. It didn't last long.

I have no idea where this next one came from, but I started singing "Eye of the Tiger" in my head right then. Wow, I'm so freakin' lame. What's up with that? Have I ever even *seen* the Rocky movies? I need to update my iPod.

Either way, it sparked something inside. Feeling very battered but with renewed strength, I started climbing the hill with a little fire. My pain turned into anger and anger into adrenaline. I was moving at a huge pace. I felt strong again.

The hill to the clinic gets much steeper than the hill to the main entrance. If you take the road, like I did, you find out quickly that it's not meant for wheelchairs. The angle eventually became too steep. I was far too stubborn to go back for the main entrance.

With each push, the chair made about a centimeter worth of progress until it couldn't go any further. Pushing hard on the wheel rims just resulted in a wheelie instead of forward motion.

On top of everything, I didn't want to fall backwards and crack my head open on the pavement. To keep from losing control all together, I had to put both brakes on fully and stop dead in my tracks. Another moment of "what's next" self-sorrow swept over me. That didn't last either.

I was only half way up and I had ten minutes left to get inside. The chair was heavy and trying to hurt me, again. No help there. What would MacGyver do? Eye of the Tiger!

I stood up, went behind the chair, leaned over it putting my hands on the arm rests to center my weight and I started to push it the way one would push a grocery cart if they were riding it. I got some momentum up and pushed the chair the rest of the way up the hill, on one leg. So much for safely sitting in that one.

It was pretty fun, I think I even started smiling when I got the speed up enough. I was up the hill in no time flat. I even passed a car on the way!

When I got inside, I was taken in to meet the team right away. Ironically, they complemented me for using the "safety of the chair" instead of "risking the crutches". Up to that point, I'd never had a single fall on the crutches.

That was a very rough December day but I learned a lot about having some grit and soldiering on in spite of myself.

What I took from that experience:

1) You won't get help unless you ask for it so don't complain if you didn't. People are often afraid of offending you by offering it up. People LOVE to help, they just need to know it's alright to give it.

2) Problem solve: take advantage of the disadvantage. Make it work for you, not against you.

3) Listen to old 80's fight-movie soundtracks. Knowing the words might save your life one day! Or at least, your schedule?

Lucky for me, I had someone back at home to kiss my bruises and listen to me belly-ache about how rough I had it. Poor girl, she's the real champ in all this.

It's easy to be the one who's injured/sick/etc and much harder to be the care giver. I'm very lucky to have Lisa.

Leg Training: Day Five

2009-03-23T17:50:00.001+10:00

Day Five: call him "Steve".

You might have heard Andrea commenting in the video (last post) about how many questions I ask her on a daily basis. She only *thinks* I ask a "lot" of questions. If she knew how many I hold back, she'd probably quit!

I've had several people ask me why I'm meant to limit my time on the leg each day. This is to allow for a few things to happen:
a) toughen up my stump and desensitize those nerve endings slowly
b) strengthen my leg muscles without straining them
c) keep me from developing a bad habit from over-doing it to a pain-point

I can't wait to actually put this thing to good use. It's still quite awkward right now but I think I'm already improving a lot. I'm down to one cane most of the time and that's just for balance when I stumble, etc.

Walking around the Southbank markets on Friday night and having an ice-cream went very well. The only trick is now there's not a lot of indication to others that I'm not so stable. The crutches were more obvious so people gave me lots of space; the canes are subtle so I got jostled more than once. No problem, Steve (my leg) and his sidekicks (the canes) held me up just fine.

The canes also keep me from falling down when I suddenly do something painful that I don't expect to hurt. I'm learning very quickly what those things are... rotating/pivoting in the socket: ouch!

The nice thing is that I'm up to three hours in the morning and three in the evening already, so at six hours a day, the volume of information I'm processing is huge and the learning curve is being whittled away at a nice pace.

Steve the stunt double needs a few adjustments but I'll be in to see my tailor in the morning so it's all good!

Leg Day!

2009-03-19T22:55:00.020+10:00

Yep, that's me, today, on two legs!

We started off in the parallel bars and quickly moved to using two walking sticks. That was lesson one! Easy as pie once I stopped duffing my toe on the ground.

On to lesson two: walking outside on uneven ground, up a flight of stairs, down/up a slope and over rocky terrain. It all was all fantastic!

Andrea (my physio) is great! Lisa and I brought her a nice coffee this morning to kick off the day right and she got me moving so quickly. I feel really good about the progress today. I know it's going to be a challenge to do it "very well" but I'm taking it slow, trying to get it right rather than going too fast and getting a bad habit.

Walking on the leg feels a bit strange. The first few steps were a bit like walking in a ski-boot. By the end of the session it was more like walking in a snowboard boot. By the end of the day, it felt like a stiff hiking boot. All good signs that it's getting easier and more natural!

I have it home with me now! I'm still wearing it. Good luck getting this off me now!I'll be on two walking sticks for the rest of the week, then down to one stick next week, then off the sticks all together.

For the next two days, I can spend two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening on the leg. By the weekend that will be up to three hours each. After another week, I should be up to unlimited time!

I was able to wear the new hardware into work for a little bit. I had to take it off part way through the day to give my leg a rest but the grin didn't fade.

On my way out, on the crutches, I had to strap the leg and the walking sticks to my pack. Probably looked a bit funny carrying a leg on my back!

Can't wait to drive around with it hanging out of the trunk of the car or leave it sticking out from under the garage door some time!

Here's the video of my first steps:

Just a Test Drive

2009-03-17T23:00:00.003+10:00

Today was a day of very mixed and overwhelming emotions.

I woke up feeling extremely anxious. What if it doesn't fit? If they see pain on my face will they decide I can't have it? What if there's another delay? What if my leg has changed shape since they took the cast?

Those fears were realized on arriving at my fitting! The liner they gave me didn't fit with my leg in the socket.

I was determined to get it on. I pushed harder and took more pain than I should have, yelling like a drill Sergent in my head: "suck it up princess, you push 'til you bleed or pass out, but you damn well get it on before they take it back!"

I got very very scared. I wondered if anyone would notice me hide it under my shirt and run out..

Lucky for me, the liner they ordered for me was just too thick (for now, I'll shrink) and they had a thinner one on hand.

To my very great relief, with the new liner in place, the leg popped on with a very snug but easy fit. I was elated! About a hundred minor little adjustments later, we were done and the stunt double was locked back away in a little closet, waiting for Thursday.

It was all over so fast! I tried playing the "but it's my birthday" card, but no dice, that gift has to wait two more days!

I would equate this to taking a really amazing luxury sports car for a test drive and loving every minute of it. You're absolutely sure this is the car for you: you know you can afford it, it's everything you'd hoped and you know it's got the best safety rating/fuel economy and horsepower money can buy. As a bonus, it even has the stereo, nav system and light-up-cup-holders you wanted plus you find out the dash lights up with sexy blue LED lights at night! You're ready to take delivery right then and there! That's when the salesman laughs in your face and says "we'll have to order one in for you, this one's already sold! Should be in next month."

The wait is killer but this next one really took me by surprise: there's a strange bitter-sweet sadness that this period of extreme challenge is coming to an end. I know the next one will be hard too, but I've been having a lot of fun!

I've enjoyed this period for what it was worth: every task required extra problem solving, extra time, extra balance. I've climbed mountains, hiked narrow trails, adapted a rock-climbing technique and swam about a hundred lengths of the pool. Everything feels like an accomplishment on crutches.

That cycle of achievement is addictive! I'm looking forward to what the next phase has to offer and I plan to keep that addiction through the next chapter(s) of my recovery.

After all the delays, my wait is nearly at an end. I was able to touch it, feel it, try it on and get that little taste of what it's going to be like. The wait now is all the worse but each second that ticks by gets me closer. Two more "sleeps" is an eternity right now.

Check out my fancy-schmancy diagram for more detail on the leg itself! Pretty cool stuff:

The Clock is Finally Ticking

2009-03-12T23:55:00.005+10:00

I received the official call today!

Nope, still not turning to the priesthood, that ship has long since sailed. Instead, as of next week I'll be transitioning from tri-pod back to bi-ped. (I know I've used that joke before but you can't mess with a good recipe)

I'm seeing my tailor on Tuesday to try on the latest in Robocop gear, then I have to spend an agonizing Wednesday daydreaming in 80's movie montage sequences about running through meadows and frolicking on the beach with my new leg.

Thursday will be the big day. I should be receiving Lefty's stunt double in the morning at rehab to take my first steps in five months. Andrea my physio has assured me that she'll let me take it home that day so I can sleep with it under my pillow.

I'm trying to overlook the fact that it's currently 17 weeks overdue, 18 when I finally go in. It's been one hell of a mental hill to climb. The physical challenge has been easy enough to overcome but the mental barriers have been the hardest to push through given the moving target dates.

You can bet the paparazzi will be out in full force to document the affair so keep your eyes out for updates!

Australian Wildlife Adventure

2009-03-11T01:11:00.005+10:00

Dad and Verle left our place on Monday morning. It was tough to say goodbye but I'm really glad they had such a good trip. They're currently finishing it off in Sydney and fly home on Thursday.

We took them up to Mount Tamborine this weekend where we saw at least twenty bush-wallabies called Paddymellons in Palm Grove. Sunday night we went up Mount Glorious with the Graham clan for a BBQ and spotted both a large Goanna and a huge carpet python, about two and a half meters long!

This got me making a mental list of what they managed to see in the wild while they were with us around Brisbane:
- Koala
- Wallaby
- Kangaroos
- Spiders
- Water dragons
- Gecko
- Dolphins
- Bush Turkey
- Sea Turtle
- Possum (Brush Tail)
- Green tree frog
- Spotted brown frog
- Paddymellon wallabies
- Goanna (climbing a tree)
- Carpet Python
- Bats, bats, bats
- Cockroach
- Leeches
- Kookaburra
- Ibis
- Lorakeets

I'm sure I'm even missing a few more! If that's not a plug to come visit us, I don't know what is.
(note: wildlife sightings are extremely rare and cannot be guaranteed by Mike and Lisa)

Photo: our evening BBQ with the Graham clan.

Leg Update

2009-03-10T18:33:00.001+10:00

Still no official word but the Oscar buzz is that Lefty's stunt double is set to make an appearance late this week or early next.

Needless to say I've been eagerly checking my phone every 10 minutes for the last two weeks for the magic phone call but it still hasn't come. I've taken to calling my prosthetist "my tailor" and I've been in to see my tailor several times now.

Last word was that the foot still hasn't arrived so final assembly still hasn't taken place. I'm starting to wonder if it's coming directly from Iceland via dogsled and... well... carrier-dolphin?

I'll let you know as soon as I get the call! Until then, every night is like Christmas Eve, only Santa is one sick SOB who keeps changing the date.

Walking the Yellow Mile

2009-03-02T11:33:00.014+10:00

The Yellow Mile. 7 meters x 2 laps/minute x 40 minutes/week x 7 weeks = 7840 meters (where one lap is "there and back").

Last Thursday was entertaining in a ludicrous way!

My fingers were looking particularly "fing" that morning and my experiment to change my eye colour using nothing but lemon juice continued unabated.

Aside from brushing my teeth in reverse order and eating my cereal with a spatula instead of a spoon (you gotta keep things fresh), nothing in my morning routine had changed. I looked particularily dashing!

I arrived at rehab and walked the Yellow Mile as usual, brain screaming out the tune to Dr. Who and singing "the song that never ends" with deafening results inside my head.

That's normally the point in my week where my mind wanders. Back and forth, back and forth... I leave my head for a little while and when I get back, I usually find an epiphany of some sort waiting for me.

I achieve perfect Zen in there. This is of course because the Yellow Mile is exceedingly boring and in my highly unqualified opinion, becoming that comatose is basically the same as meditation for people who are really bad at sitting still or have short attention spans like me.

I was contemplating that fact when it dawned on me: I've walked nearly 8 km between two little yellow bars on an airbag, back and forth, back and forth with only the odd attempt at a moonwalk.

Is this my happy place? I sure hope not. The coffee is terrible and there's no cereal. I really love cereal.

I went from there to my orthopedic review where I was brought in for x-rays. It is necessary to pause for a moment here to consider my gigantic chart. That's an Australian 10 cent piece next to it, roughly the same size as a Canadian quarter.

Understandably so, the intern clearly hadn't read the last chapter of my file, the one entitled "All we had was a Hacksaw and a Pocket Full of Mischief". I know this because of what transpired next in the x-ray room.

Now normally I'm not one to push for reading. If someone would rather watch the movie that's their call but in the case of my Doctors, I do hope they're not waiting for Lucas or Spielberg to finish my epic tail on the widescreen. I'm still working on the ending and it involves training thousands of monkeys.

The conversation in x-ray went something like this:
Tech - Please put your left ankle up on the bench for x-ray.
Mike - That might be a problem.
Tech - Sir, we have to take pictures of the metal work in your left ankle.
Mike - Again, that might be difficult.
Tech - Are you saying there's no metal in your left ankle?
Mike - No, I'm sure it's still there... it's just, I didn't bring it with me!
Tech (finally looking up) - Sorry? What? Oh.. Hmmm... but the doctor requested... I might need to ask someone...

Back to the waiting room for me to sit and contemplate my Yellow Mile. This time there was a little TV to keep my brain from leaping out of my skull.

If you've read my original few posts, you'll remember the episode of M*A*S*H I cited in the Emergency room that night. To my delight, M*A*S*H sparked up in the waiting room!

In this episode, Hawkeye asks for the bone saw, then gets that concerned "I'm a doctor who cares too much" look and pulls off an amazing procedure to save a man's leg using some sausage tubing from the cafeteria! Too funny!

I kept laughing quietly to myself through the serious bits. Like Tom Hanks (Paul) said in the Green Mile: "You ever try to not to laugh in church when something funny gets stuck in your head?" Same thing!

Back inside my head, try to look serious... wow, 8 km... how many more?

"This is the song that never ends
it just goes on and on my friends!
Some people started singing it
not knowing what it was,
and they'll continue singing it
forever just because..."
(repeat until dead from line one)

naaa naa naa na na HEEEEY! na na na na! naaa naa naa na na HEEEEY! na na na na!

Hopping Around Brisbane

2009-02-26T19:20:00.009+10:00

Last Saturday we had a very welcome couple of visitors arrive. Nope, not another huntsman spider -- that was a few weeks ago -- this was my Dad and Verle from Canada!

After a very long flight, we picked them up from the airport and got them settled in at home. Maybe they were just delerious but they actually seemed to have some energy left! Must've been that last round of ice cream on the airplane. We expected them to be weary and need some time to recover but they were eager so we took them for an evening hike near Daisy Hill.

Mother nature didn't waste any time showing them why we're still living here!

On the first day we were all treated to a Koala in the wild, having a light snack high in the red gum tree just before sunset!

We also spotted a Wallaby in the forest, two big Kangaroos in a field and several white cockatoos flying overhead before the sun set on the day. We also spotted several huge Golden Orb spiders overhead in the dusk.

On the way home, we watched the giant fruit bats and flying foxes make their nightly migration in the hundreds (perhaps thousands) overhead just south of the city. Quite a site to see (and smell)!

They were in travelling-Canuck bliss and you read correctly, that was just day one. A hard act to follow!

Not to be outdone, day two did not disappoint. At Byron Bay we were treated to the site of a small band of wild dolphins jumping three in a row out in the surf!

We also spotted several large water dragon lizards on the cliffs overlooking the surf at Point Danger and watched wild surfers competing for bragging rights at the local competition that day.

Lisa took them for a great hike near Montville on Monday where they spotted a huge frog on the side of the hill nearby to a raging waterfall and Tuesday was spent exploring the city. We've had a lot of rain lately so the falls were very impressive to see!

This morning we dropped them off at the airport for a 6am flight out to "Aires Rock Airport" at Uluru and the 42 degree Outback.

I've been fussing around like a concerned parent making sure they pack and drink plenty of fluids at "the Rock", know to leave snakes alone and not to feed the dingos! It's really more for selfish reasons: it would just be embarrassing if they were the first tourists to die this year in a place so public as Uluru!

They'll be back for another visit before they head back to Vancouver in a few weeks. I can't tell you how great it's been seeing them!

For an encore, I'm hoping to receive my first prosthetic before they leave. I have now gone through the casting process and I was told today that the leg is being built as we speak! For some reason they laughed when I suggested they work through the night...

My new foot is on order and should be arriving sometime early next week. Here's hoping I won't have to be patient for too much longer, but in the meantime, these visitors from home are an excellent distraction!

Phun with the Phantom

2009-02-19T01:07:00.009+10:00

The brain is seriously amazing! Allow me to demonstrate.

I woke up with a pretty bad cold today so I went looking for some cough medicine. Strange thing was, my symptoms weren't on any of the labels: sore throat, running nose, killer pain in your leg whenever you cough, headache.

It reminded me that there are some really cool parts of this whole experience that are pretty fun to play with. In case you're just tuning in, I can still feel my foot... fully! My brain still thinks it's down there, just like the other one. This is called a phantom limb and it's pretty common.

After the surgery, my nurses thought it was funny to use that little spot where my foot used to be as a convenient place to drop my chart. Whenever the chart would "break the plane" where my limb used to be, my brain would go NUTS to the point that I would very nearly vomit.

I'm not complaining, it always made me chuckle!

The same thing would happen anytime I had my leg up on the "stump board" of the wheel chair and someone would walk "through" it. My brain would seriously freak out and my whole leg would tingle!

At first I figured this was just because I kept flinching but as time went on, I stopped flinching and I started to play. I still play.

Playtime includes kicking my phantom limb up against (and therefore through) a wall. This is so bizarre! No matter how many times I try this, my brain still has a minor panic attack every time.

I also play tricks with my real physical sensation. To understand this, you must first understand that when they did this surgery, they folded my calf muscle up and over the tip of the bone, then stitched it to the front of my leg. This has a really cool side-effect!

The nerves that used to be on the backside of my leg are now on the front of my leg. They've also moved about 4cms closer to my knee than they used to be.

This means that when I'm touching the "front" of my leg below the scar line, my brain still interprets the signal as coming from the back of my leg, a few inches lower than my physical limb. In other words, when physically touching the front of my leg, I feel it in a spot where nothing exists on the back of my leg, out in the middle of the empty space!

To really mess my mind up, I run my finger down the front of my leg above the scar, then over the scar line to instantly feel the touch sensation jump to the back of my leg!

When I run a finger along the scar line sideways, my brain really just shuts down all together, feeling one single finger tip touching the back and front of my leg simultaneously in some fifth dimension of time and space.

If that wasn't amazing enough, my brain is starting to re-wire itself to understand where the signals are coming from. It's starting to understand that when I feel the sensation at a certain spot, it's coming from the front of my leg, bottom of my leg, and back of my leg.

The neat thing is, this only works if I tap or bump the spot. If I just graze the spot with a light touch, my brain still misinterprets the location of the sensation.

The phantom pain has a really interesting side-effect as well. As you can imagine, when you feel pain but there's nothing there to feel the pain from, a little pain switch develops in your head to allow you to ignore the feeling. I'm learning now to apply this to my "real" pain.

Before, whenever I stubbed my toe, I would carry on like I'd lost an eye. Each time, I was SURE that this time, I broke it! Now when I stub my toe, my real toe that is, there's a brief second where my brain goes "hmm... pain... wait, that's coming from the right side not the left... so that's real pain... should I react? Meh, too late, just eat your cereal." I really love cereal.

This has taught me a new level of something I already knew academically: the brain has far more to do with pain than the body does.

I knew this to be true from climbing and other sports but hadn't ever completely overcome it. Now, I've found new life in my muscles. I'm able to push beyond that "lactic acid" burn now and work my muscles to a fatigue point. I'm learning to tell the difference between pain that I should pay attention to and pain that's just there as an early warning system.

Alright, one final magic trick! If you've read this far in such a long post, you get a reward. Please hold both hands out in front of you, put your palms face to face and intertwine your fingers, making a sort of "two handed fist". Squeeze those hands together hard! Now, keeping the rest of your fingers intertwined, point your index fingers firmly to the sky and don't let them touch each other. Hold that position, no cheating.

I'm going to make your fingers touch.

Your job is to resist me! Stare at them if you have to but hold them firmly apart and resist me while squeezing those hands together. Come on, try again, aren't you in control of your own mind and body? I'm not even there, why are they so much closer together?

If you've made it this far without them touching, you're a champ, so close your eyes and count to 60 holding those fingers firmly toward the sky and holding a tight two-handed fist.

Told you I could do it. How fun is that?

Tissue Regeneration: Medical Breakthrough

2009-02-18T00:31:00.000+10:00

This is incredible stuff! The following video embedded here is a CBS News segment discussing advances in cell regeneration and the future of growing limbs, organs, etc, from the body's own cells.

In the future, this could be the cure for heart disease, kidney disfunction, hepatic livers and so on!

Watch as they create a mouse heart using an ink-jet printer! No joke! The printer is used to spray heart cells in the correct pattern using 3D models of the functional heart.

Thanks to Roman for this video!

Swimming Revisited

2009-02-16T00:32:00.007+10:00

The following is a conversation that took place between myself and Paratriathlete Meyrick Jones on swimming. With Meyrick's help, I'm swimming MUCH faster now and have worked out a few kinks with my new style. Perhaps best of all is the fact that I've realized my swimming was probably just as bad with two legs as it was with one; I'd just never paid enough attention to my feet until now. Maybe you won't have to give up one of yours to improve your swim stroke as much as I have!

Mike:
Lisa and I went swimming twice on the weekend and figured out that when doing a front crawl / freestyle stroke, my kicking is not only useless to my speed, it's actually a hindrance! Have you found this?

MJ:
No. I find that a tight, well executed flutter kick increases my speed. It does take energy though and I tend to de-emphasize it in the same way most distance swimmers do.

Mike:
Our tests using a front crawl / freestyle stroke:
Standard kicking and arm movements: 1 lap = 29 seconds
No kicking, holding a float between knees, standard arms: 1 lap = 25 seconds
No arms, holding a float to chest, standard kicking: 1 lap: impossible. Actually moved sideways but never forward.
Dolphin kick both legs together with standard arms: 1 lap = 21 seconds but breathing is awkward due to balance.

MJ:
I am also faster with the pull-buoy between the legs (and so are many people). It keeps the body more horizontal thus minimizing drag. This is why my coach calls me a "cheater" when I use it.

Do your time trial without the pull-buoy - kicking hard and not kicking. This will give you the "value" of your kick.

Kicking alone - FORGET IT. My 4 year old can beat me....

Dolphin kick - not too bad but missing the power of a two legged kick - makes butterfly VERY hard to do for any distance.

Mike:
So basically what I can figure out is this: my stump seems to create a vortex or a drag backwards rather than a push forwards. If I let it float and kick with the good leg, I can propel myself forward. If I kick with both, I stop dead and don't move forwards.

MJ:
I tend to kick with only my right leg and the left just sort of moves up and down in time with it. You will get a rhythm.

Mike:
I'm starting to think my best stroke will be the butterfly. That combines dolphin kicking both legs at the same time together and I'd have a less awkward time breathing. Problem might be the energy expended doing such an intense stroke. Not exactly a long-distance stroke.

MJ:
Remember the kick is by far a secondary propulsion system in distance freestyle swimming. Concentrate on keeping your head facing straight down at the line (this will keep your legs higher in the water), then adopt a nice tight flutter kick. Also, don't feel bad about using the pull-buoy between your legs, unless you plan to compete who cares? BUT, watch your shoulders - if you start swimming all the time you might develop some over-use injuries - build it up slowly - like running....

Mike:
Finally got back to trying out some swimming this weekend. I tried several different types of kicking to sort out what you meant about a "nice tight flutter kick" and think I figured it out.

My main problem is that I was kicking too much from the knee. When I kick that way, I create drag. When I used more ankle and kept my knee action "tighter", I was MUCH faster in the water. I'm not sure it was so much from the extra propulsion (although I definitely felt a little push from that), as much as from thinking about what you said about the pull-buoy keeping me more horizontal and reducing drag, then applying that to my kick. In other words, I was thinking about just using my kick to keep me horizontal and reduce drag rather than as a propulsion mechanism. This helped a ton and still added a little "kick".

I have a feeling that my two legged kick was just as ineffective but no one had ever pointed it out.

MJ:
Of the three leg joints the one that should be most involved in initiating the kick is the hip. The knee will flex only slightly to help create a whip-like action and the foot should stay pointed. Check YouTube for a video of Phelps or Thorpe to see what I mean. You should aim to create a little surface splash with each kick. That way you will know you are in the proper horizontal position. To get that position and maintain it your head will need to be aligned so that your face is looking down not forward. Swimming is SO connected this way - each part effects every other part. This is all exactly the same whether you have 1 or 2 legs.

Payback

2009-02-12T01:23:00.001+10:00

Leg Update

2009-02-11T21:19:00.006+10:00

Another week drifts by, another delay. If patience is a virtue, I must be headed for sainthood...

This is week 13 of being on crutches after being told the whole process should only take 6 weeks. That's after being on my back for 8 weeks so I guess you could say it's still an improvement.

After they were surprised that the parts hadn't arrived by last Friday, I received a call today telling me that my parts wouldn't be in this week either. There was a snafu with the ordering system and it apparently wasn't ordered afterall. They "think" it's gone into the system today.

This means the crucial piece needed for casting *might* arrive as "early" as NEXT Friday, making my earliest possible casting appointment two more weeks from today. Once that's done, I still have three more weeks to wait. Five more weeks on crutches...

Disappointed? Did I mention how much I really love cereal? I'm starting to eye up that saw in the garage and my crutches are looking awfully re-engineerable right now... maybe showing up to rehab in a nice homemade wooden pegleg would speed the process along!

I really love cereal. Arrgh matey...