Fay never liked getting up in the morning; she was more an afternoon/night type. She turned the alarm off and contemplated her day at work. Using her left arm she pushed herself upright in bed and pushed her paralyzed right leg over to the edge with her good left leg. She scooted towards her wheelchair alongside the bed and using her left arm again, and left leg, got over on to the chair. She went into the bathroom and sitting on the john backwards did her thing and got back on her chair and into the shower and on to the bench. She washed everything including what was left of her right shoulder. She shaved her legs and the very atrophied right one did not take much time. Her muscular left one, a little longer.
She rinsed off good and dried herself putting the towel on her wheelchair seat for her bottom. She brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her short hair and rolled into the bedroom to get dressed. She got a bra and thong and her "uniform" out. It was always a white, short sleeve, knit top and Culotte type pants that went to just above her knees, also white. She took hold of her long leg, locking knee brace and slipped it on to her right leg. She fastened the straps that held it on, one just below her knee, a knee cap with 4 buckles, a strap just above her knee and another strap at the top of the brace which was at the very top of her leg. Her foot rested in a plastic piece that had been heat formed to fit around the bottom and sides of her foot.
She managed to get the foot into a white walking shoe that was built up just over an inch. The shoe used a Velcro strap as she was unable to tie shoe strings with only one hand. She also pulled her left shoe on and fastened the Velcro strap. Fay lived in the north central part of the country and worked at a VA hospital in the physical therapy department teaching amputees how to use their arm prosthesis. She had three of them at work, and depending on what type of prosthesis the patient used, determined what type she wore. One was a simple arm with hooks, another was more advanced with a thumb and index finger that worked and the last was a bionic one where all five of the fingers worked.
She personally did not like to wear any of the arms and left all three at the hospital most of the time when she went home. Whichever arm she had on at work did not matter as she was an expert with all of them. She had been in the first Iraq war and was wounded badly there. She lost all of her right arm including part of the shoulder and shrapnel hit several nerves in her hip and leg that paralyzed her right leg. Part of the upper leg bone was also shattered accounting for the shortened leg. The bone was in bits and pieces and when all of that was removed, and the pin put in to hold it together, it was shorter than her left leg. That all happened around 10 years ago so she had become quite adept at using her brace to walk.
She was still in the military and assigned as a medical technician to her current position which she loved. She put her bra on, already hooked together, and slid the thong up her legs along with her pants. She was able to stand and locked her brace then pulled the thong and pants up to finish dressing. She looked in the mirror and liked what she saw. Her 36 D breasts filled out the top, she was 5'6" tall and a slim build. Fay got her forearm crutch, put her left arm through the ring and took hold of the handle. She walked with the crutch into the kitchen and fixed a cup of tea and some toast. She was used to only using one arm and hand and did things quickly. After she was done she got her purse and headed to her car in the garage.
The apartment she lived in had been adapted for her wheelchair use. She got in her car and twisted slightly so she could use her left leg and foot on the gas and brake. It would be much easier to use hand controls but with only one arm she needed that to steer the car. She got to work and the hospital was great about having lots of handicap parking spaces for both the employees and the patients. She crutched into the hospital enjoying the walk even though it was not that easy for her. Fay had to get into a rhythm, lifting her right leg and swinging it through with her hip. The brace was heavy but she liked how her leg looked with it on. She almost never used her wheelchair at work but did use it often when she was shopping or other things outside.
She clocked in and checked her assignment sheet to see which patients she was seeing today and which prosthetic arm she needed to put on. She was happy to see that her three patients in the morning had simple arms with hooks. This was her favorite arm to use and wear. She went to her locker and put her purse in and got the arm out. She put the shoulder cup over her knit top and gently pushed the arm into the wall holding it in place while she fastened the straps. She put her left arm through the leather strap and got it up her arm and over her shoulder. This was the wire that operated the hooks. When she moved her left shoulder forward the hooks opened and relaxing it let the hooks close. Different movements elsewhere caused the arm to flex up at the elbow or extend back down.
Fay wore it over her top so the patient could see it clearly and what movement she made did what to the arm. She got her crutch and went into her treatment room and got the things she needed set up. Her first patient was a new one and had only had his arm for about a week so they were still doing basic things. Just as she got ready Mark was brought in to the room by the PT orderly. He was in a wheelchair while his leg wounds healed. He had also lost his right hand and forearm but it was badly damaged and not ready for a prosthetic. His left arm was gone above his elbow. They chit chatted as Fay got his left arm on and fastened in place. She ran the wire behind his shoulders and put the leather shoulder strap on. He had no trouble moving the right shoulder, so he was able to operate the hooks with it.
She had him move his right shoulder forward and the hooks opened fine. She had him hold it for a while explaining he needed to practice this movement. She then had him slowly relax the shoulder so the hooks would close slowly. Sometime he would need to grasp something gently and not just let his hooks close rapidly she explained. They did that several times then she added having him pick up something and move it to another position on the table. This brought into play his having to use a different muscle in the arm that caused the forearm to lift up. This was the main thing she wanted him to learn now, not necessarily griping something with the hooks. But that gave him a goal to work towards.