Well it has been over a year since the last time that I posted anything here. I went back to work the second week in August and began to work four hour shifts at Meijer's store. Before everything that happened I worked part time in the meat department there. When I was hired back, because I did not have the strength to work more than 4 hours at a time, I was given the job of a greeter. I would stand and say hello when customers entered the store. At first it was very difficult to even stand for four hours at a time. To me a hour felt like it was ten hours. I was able to push through and the first month I worked four hour shifts. Then the next month I started working five hour shifts. Each month I would add on more time. Until by Christmas I was work 6 and a half hour shifts. It was at this time that I started to have major pain in my leg to the point that I could not work for six weeks. I went to the doctor who told me that on the leg that had been amputated the skin over the bone had adhered to the bone and each time that I took a step it was causing the skin to pull off the bone which caused a great deal of pain. The doctor told me there were two options the first was to massage the leg and in time the skin would loosen and there would be no more pain. If that did not work then I would have to go under the knife again and he would have to cut my leg again and loosen it that way. I told him that I wanted to try the massage first and I thank God that it worked. But I was off work until the 1st of March.

Then I went back to work again at Meijer's store. Within a few months I was working seven to eight hour shifts there. Then in April I started back working my cleaning business. At first it was only one or two days a week and sometimes only a half day (til noon). As the days past I got stronger and today I am working about thirty hours a week at Meijer's and about thirty hours a week doing my cleaning business. I am still not where I want to be but I will keep working at it. I still use a cane when I walk long distance but as I get stronger I am using the cane less and less. I am believing that one day I will be able to put away the cane and not have to use it again. Each day is a new day and I keep pushing myself a little more each day. I know that with God all things are possible.
 

Well I saw the doctor on Wednesday. He looked at the scar tissue and said that there was a chance that the nerve that went to my foot before it was removed could have grown back and be at the surface of the scar tissue. He said that the nerve lost its connection to the foot and started growing to try to reconnect. Making that area super sensitive. He hopes that Scott who is working on my new leg can redo the leg to where I will be able to have a cushion between the leg and the scar tissue. If he is unable to do so. I will have to go back and have another operation to remove the nerve so that it is not in the scar tissue area. Once it is removed I will not have that problem any more but I will be laid up again for a few more months until the leg heals and I can wear the new leg again. I am praying and believe that Scott will be able to take care of it with the cushioning of the leg. I would rather not have to go back under the knife again. I know God is there for me and I shall be victorious.
 

My new leg still does not fit right. When I step down I get a sharp pain in what is left of my right leg. The guy who built the leg said that I have some scar tissue where the wound was that when I step with the leg it sends a pain that feels like a knife into my leg. I am seeing the Doctor that did my surgery today at 2:30 to see what can be done. They are talking about rebuilding the upper part of the leg and putting in a cushion like barrier between my leg and the fake leg so that it will stop the pain. But there is also a chance that they will have to operate and remove the scar tissue so that it does not cause any more problems. I hope that it will not have to come to that. I talked with my job and they said that they will give me until the middle of June to get back to work then they will no longer hold my job. I have not worked for a year and a half. After that I can reapply for a job but there is no guarantee I will get it. I am getting frustrated. I need to get back to work yet can not. I just have to trust God and let him work. With God all things are possible
 

I had to wait until about three weeks ago to get my new leg. Because of the cost, the insurance took a long time for them to ok it to be done. Then it took a month to make the new leg. Because the old leg did not fit properly I had stopped doing therapy. My new leg doesn't quite fit right but it does fit better then the old one. They are working to make some adjustments to it and I will start therapy again on Tuesday. I am hoping that I can be back to work by June 1st. I was told that where I work, they will only hold my job for a year and a half. After that they will have to let me go. I stopped working the first week in January of 2008 so I have until the first week of June until my time runs out. At this point I am taking it one day at a time.
 

Well I have been working in therapy to learn to walk again. Since December I have progressed from learning to walk while holding on to two bars to walking with a walker, then I have moved to walking with a cane. Today for the first time I walked a short distance without a cane. It is a milestone to me be be able to do this. They are going to build a new leg for me within the next few weeks. They have been putting build ups in the old leg so that it fits me properly but feel there is not much more that can be done with this leg.

On thursday I have an appointment to begin the process to build the new leg. They will make a cast of my leg which has gotten smaller and create a new one so that it fits better. Once I have the new leg which will take about three weeks then I can walk better and should be back working by April. That is my goal. I pray that everything will fall into place and I can get back to living a normal life soon.
 

It is getting near christmas, the time of year when christians remembers the birth of christ. I am a christian and I am thankful to God for sending his son Jesus Christ to save us. Even with all that has happened to me this past year, I have so much to be thankful for.

Life is what you make it. People could look at my life and say that I have had a very bad year. I do not see it that way. Some would say that I have had many problems but I say that I have had many challenges to believe and trust God. Some would say that I have lost so much but I say that I have more than most.

I was asked the other day what I would like for christmas. I thought about it for a long time. I couldn't think of anything that I wanted for christmas. For I have so much. First I have God in my life. I have my family and friends who have been there for me this last year. I am alive and each day is a new day that I may be able to help someone else who is worst off then me. These are some of my treasures. I have so much to be thankful for. My riches are not silver and gold but that doen't matter for I have riches that are worth more then all the gold in the world. Money can not buy the treasures that I have in my life Life is more then material things, it is what you truly value in your heart.

 

I now have my new leg and I'm working toward learning to walk again. I am having therapy twice a week right now until after the christmas holiday and then they want me to come three days a week. I have found that with the lost of my right leg I have lost a lot of movement to use the new leg properly. I am working on stretching the muscles in the leg to have full movement again.

I have a tough therapist who pushes me to work at standing straight, walking properly, and building the muscles so that I can get my life back on track. Even though she pushes me, I know her heart is to help me to overcome those challenges.
 

This last year has been a year of challenges. I fell from a ladder and got a blood clot in my leg. During the year I have had seven operations, lost my right leg and almost died three times. If you want to read the full story of what happened you can find it in my portfolio, a story called Lost and Found # 1492137. When life gives you lemons you just have to make lemonade. And for the most part that is what I have done.

I believe that I have encountered every emotion that a person could have this year. I have lived with pain, wondered if I would live to see the next day. Been blessed by things that happened, battled fear, anger and a whole roller coaster ride of emotions. Yet I have survived and look forward to what life will bring. Each day, a new day to be thankful and enjoy.

Sometimes I react to situations as I have never done before. Then wonder why I reacted that way. I am still coming to grips with the lost of my leg and how it has changed my life. I am sorry if my emotions has hurt anyone else's heart. That is not my intention. I thank God for a chance to live again. My writing has helped me to deal with the loss and the pain in my heart