Learning to walk again

I mentioned last week about my new leg braces. I forgot how long it takes to get used to them. I got my first set of Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFOs) when I was 17, so it's been about seven years of me using them pretty much every day. I didn't realize how much of the way I walk has been changed by wearing them. With the new carbon fiber AFOs, I've actually had to re-learn how to walk.

The white plastic ones give support at the back of the leg and completely envelop the calf. There's not much flexibility, it's like a pillar--it supports weight and offers stability. With the carbon fiber AFOs, the support is from the front and runs down the side of my foot. My calf muscles can flex and move more naturally as I walk, but my ankles are still supported so my feet don't drop and drag. The new AFOs are thinner and weigh less, so I feel like my legs are floating as I lift my feet. I actually have to think about walking naturally, because I haven't in so long. It's been throwing me off a bit this week, because it should be something I don't have to think about. My legs have to adjust to something completely different than what I've been doing for seven years. In a few weeks, I'm sure I'll have completely adjusted and acclimated, but in the interim it definitely feels like I'm a little toddler finding my balance. I mean, when was the last time you had to really think about putting one foot in front of the other? Or stand up from sitting? Or walk up and down stairs? It's just weird. And amazing at the same time.

I almost started crying when I was walking up and down the hall at the Orthotics office last week. You have no idea how fantastic it felt! I really can't describe what it's like to go from having your legs wrapped in clunky plastic to something that lets your leg move in a more natural way. I feel less disabled in a way, even though my symptoms haven't changed a bit. I feel more like a normal person again, because I can actually walk more naturally. I wish that these were the leg braces I'd started out with seven years ago, because I know I would have had a lot fewer problems with them. But unfortunately, the advances and testing just hadn't been made quite yet. Even switching from the braces being white to black, for some reason, seems better. I don't know why. Maybe the white just speaks more to me of medical issues and sickness and doctors and hospitals, whereas the black looks more like something you'd wear if you got an injury playing sports or something. There's a lot less brace all over my legs, which just makes me feel less handicapped and weighted down. I'm still not going to be jogging up and down stairs, but I just feel like less of a gimp now.