 It's a hard conversation I have, but I'm just gonna come out and say it. I don't think it's gonna work. With my leg! Hello there, my beautiful, lovely internet friends, and welcome back to my channel. In my last long form video, which was way too long ago, I had been a lazy bum, I introduced you to this beautiful new leg, which I was getting to try out. It's some cool features like this, and this, the fact that I can kind of wear a high heel, the fact that there is, like, natural motion. If my dog wasn't in the way, you'd be able to see this better, but frankly, he's way cuter, so I'm not gonna move him. Like, being able to sit with my feet flat on the floor, incredible! And I was really excited about trying it out, but when it comes to prosthetics, you really don't know how something's gonna work for you until you use it in daily life. And unfortunately, darling, we are gonna have to part ways today. I was given this angle by my prosthetist to try out. I went for a hiking trip and discovered very quickly that, unfortunately, it does not work for me specifically because the side-to-side motion isn't very good. This is my previous leg that I've used for just about three years now. This ball right here allows so much rotation on, like, rocky ground. You've got this carbon fiber piece down here. Again, great motion. And so when I'm walking on anything that isn't flat, that helps to absorb the shock, the pressure, the angle, but when that isn't working super great, it all translates up into, like, pressure in my knee, pressure in my leg, pressure in my hip, lower back pain. So I've been walking on this for a couple weeks really trying to experience it fully, but at the end of the day, like many things, the prosthetic that works for you is intensely personal. And even though I like some of the features, it doesn't feel good for my body for what I'm looking to accomplish. Now, if you're new to my channel, you might be like, all right, well, if you like some features, keep this one, keep that one, get another one. However, it is a pick one kind of situation. Unfortunately, insurance will only cover one. Oh, yeah, these, like, cost anywhere from, like, 10 to 50 grand. So Venmo me? Just kidding, please don't. And as this one is getting pretty old, I'm due for a new one. And I want to see if there are better options out there, like trying this one out. And so my lovely prophetess Zach actually called me and told me that he has a different option that might fit my needs a little bit better. And I'm super excited to go up to Denver Day and try it out. Reality with prosthetics is that they are built for different purposes. This one feels great. If I'm walking on flat surfaces just around my house in order to squeaking from my German shepherd chewing on a tennis ball, out for a little walk on a flat sidewalk, okay, cool, we're good to go. I like the way it looks, I like the way it moves. But beyond that, I just don't. And I'm really glad that I actually got to experience this, try it out for myself, see what I thought before making a final decision. So we're gonna return this bad baby. I mean, she's a good baby, but not for me. Up to Zach today, try out the new one, get a brand new socket, which is carbon fiber and super cool. Quick thing that I want to mention before we head to Denver and check out my new one. When I posted the video of how excited I was to try out this new foot, I got a lot of people being like, that looks amazing, I'm gonna get that one. So I shared, like, you know, what model it was and everything. But at the end of the day, your prosthetic and medical needs are always gonna be suited specifically for your body. So if something feels great and works for me, it might not for another amputee. So I'm gonna show you which angle I'm gonna try next. Could be great for me, great for other people, we're gonna find out. Okay, so I safely arrived up in Denver and let's go, let's go see if this works. I was gonna say fingers crossed, but like toes crossed seems more appropriate. And this is my prosthetist bringing it in for the very first time, doing some quick adjustments. Adjustments are a huge part of the prosthetic process. And then this is me trying it out on a variety of different surfaces. The thing about prosthetic legs is, I mean, sometimes it's hard to know how it fits, how it feels. It's gonna feel different than your previous one. So you really wanna take some time to go up and down stairs, change directions. I mean, guess I was walking backwards here too. That seemed like a good idea at the time. And then maybe try it out on an obstacle course like they have right here, see how it feels when the ankle is pushed in different directions and really give it a fair shot and then take it home and see how you really feel about it over a few days. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Am I singing a wedding march for my new leg? Yes, yes I am. Ladies and gentlemen, her. Okay, so I've had this leg for three days now and I wanna preface this by saying one thing. If you saw the other video where I was trying out this other ankle that had like different features, it had the movement. I was like really animated, really excited and emotional about that. Being able to like sit normally is just really cool. I love that I can do that because it's really cool. But if there's one thing that I've learned for me personally in this journey of amputation and prosthetics is that oftentimes the moments that are really good just feel normal. And this was definitely one of those for me where as soon as I started walking on it a little bit in the prosthetics office we adjusted a few things. I also got my finalized new socket which is amazing. Instead of being like, oh my God, over the moon I was just like, yeah, this is no, this is good, this is it. And I took my dog's hiking later that evening to kind of like test her out on the trails, a little bit uneven surfaces. When my body's capable of it hiking is a really big part of my life. And even if I'm not on trails making sure that this isn't causing extra pain if I'm walking up and down stairs or off of curbs. Like that's a daily really important thing. And within hours of having this I was like, oh yeah, this is it. This is amazing. It was awesome hiking. It's been fantastic for just like cleaning the house and wandering about town. Amazingly my insurance company approved it meaning that if she continues to work and I want her, which I do, this is my actual new leg. Like the amount of shock absorption is absorption of work, yes it is. The amount of shock absorption that she has and side to side movement in part thanks to all of these cool pieces here just work, just work really well. And so unless something drastic happened which I do not expect it to, I'm keeping her. Like I was saying earlier it's fascinating to me what works and what doesn't work for different people. Even talking to my prosthetists, they were like, we want this feedback, right? Because everybody is different. The leg that I had for three years and then the one that I tried out briefly. Like they are amazing prosthetics. They just didn't fit my body, right? And I'm so thankful for Zach, my prosthetist who got this one and is making it work for me. And I'll be honest. I think I'm bought in for the long term. Like we're doing this, we're doing this for life. Not actually, it'll be like two years, three years then I'll do a different one. But that is how the process goes. Now, additionally I am gonna have to spend a good deal of time off my leg because I do have an upcoming surgery which is a big bummer. But thankfully it shouldn't be super invasive and they should be able to kind of get up and walk again. After surgery there'll definitely be adjustments that are gonna be needed because my leg will change size and shape with kind of swelling after surgery. But hopefully within a couple months I will be up on my feet rearing to go. Maybe getting back to running and some longer hiking. But genuinely for me and more than anything having a piece of equipment that is with me pretty much all of the time that I don't have to think about is so important. And this is totally that because it's like oh this just fits, this just fits in my life. It fits my lifestyle and it feels good. I'm gonna link this foot specifically down below. Like I said, every amputee is different. So if you are someone with an amputation looking for a new foot or you know someone this one's totally worth checking out but it is so individualized so figure out what works for you. And I'm crazy excited that this actually worked out. And let's be honest, it looks pretty friggin' badass too. Trying to think of a better word. It's just really cool. I just like it. I like the way that it looks. It is a little bit heavier than my last one. All together probably by like a pound and a half but honestly within like a day of using it I don't even notice the weight difference so it's not an issue. Thank you guys so much for coming on this leg-finding journey with me. I think it's always fascinating to kind of share the process and I love that you are interested to listen. A big thank you as always to my patrons over on Patreon for supporting these videos for making what I do possible. And you, you, yes you, watching this video right now. Thank you so much for choosing to spend some time out of your day with me here today. Time is the most valuable resource many of us have and the fact that you chose to spend this 10 or 15 minutes with me. Gosh darn it, that's amazing and I really appreciate it. I love you guys, I'm thinking about you and I will see you in the next video. Ah, bye guys.