Toby's New Pirate Leg

Toby's new leg has arrived.  Better known as "The Pirate Leg", it's bigger and better than ever.  Toby's length discrepancy of his residual limb is now long enough to move up to the next type of prosthetic - a type of prosthetic and foot that provides more movement and comfort.  All the ins and outs of this new cool leg is in detail below.  This is all very exciting for us. We've waited for this day because we know it makes things a little easier for Toby.

THE MEASUREMENTS
Mr. Jim (a prosthetist partner of Paul's) and Ms. DeAnna prepared the casting and overall design of Toby's leg.  At this first stage, a sock is put over Toby's nubby and different measurements are taken.  The prosthetist makes marks on the sock to determine which areas in the socket need some wiggle room and which areas need to be more snug.   

THE CASTING 
The next step is the casting.  The same material that is used to make a cast is used to wrap the limb over the sock.  The prosthetist then molds with his/her hands so that once the socket is made it will fit on like a glove.  It dries and then it is cut off - with cast scissors or a razor blade- down the tubing you see below.  The casting is extremely important in the leg making process because it is the mold that is used to make the Pe-Lite liner - the socket.  It must fit perfectly.  If it does not, very minor changes can be made to it to make it suitable for wearing.  If the final product produces areas of chafing, redness, or blisters, we have to start all over. 

THE TEST LEG
The next step is... they finish off the socket (out of the cast mold) and prepare the outer shell and attach the foot.  Toby then wears the test leg for a week.  We determine if there are any problems that we need to go back to Gainesville and address before the final leg is made.  We were fortunate for this test leg that there were no issues and we shipped it back to them. 

THE PRODUCTION
Toby's final product will no longer be made in Gainesville.  It will now travel to Orlando for the final production.  The test socket (assuming there were no issues with it) is used to make the final leg.  All the parts and pieces are put together to prepare the leg.  It usually takes a few days.  We will still travel to Gainesville for fittings and adjustments.

THE PICTURE ON THE LEG
Toby has been telling me he wanted a pirate leg for months.  I looked and looked and boy is it hard to find fabric or a kids shirt that has a child appropriate pirate on it.  It has to be just the right size, color, etc. or it won't come out right.  My parents friends, Pete and Melanie - whom own a shirt printing company, helped in creating this very special one of a kind leg for Toby. Melanie is an artist and drew this pirate.  They put it on a white t-shirt so it can be transferred to the leg.  Thank you so much Pete, Melanie & T-Formation. 

THE PIRATE LEG
The coolest one yet!  I know I say that every time...but it's true!  The biggest change from this leg and all of the previous legs is that this one is designed as an Exo-Prosthesis.   An Exo Prosthesis has the pylons (the blue rod you see that attaches the foot to the shell) exposed.  This design makes it much easier for the prosthesist to make adjustments.  Just a few special tools and they can make the necessary height adjustments right in the pylon.  All of his previous legs were an endo leg. 

The other big change is his foot.  Before this leg, Toby's foot had very little motion.  His new foot is called the College Park TruPer Foot.  It is the first and only multiaxial, dynamic response foot made just for kids.  This new foot has movement side and side and heel to toe.  These new popular feet can truly accommodate Toby's energetic lifestyle.  It accommodates for growth, is simple to mount, and is customizable to meet the needs of the individual amputee.  It also has a sandal toe design so Toby can now wear flip flops.

The inside of the leg is a graphite - black and white diamond plate look.  The outer shell now goes over Toby's knee.  It was designed that way to help with his knee hyper extension.  It's significantly heavier than the sailfish leg.  Toby has to wear shoes all the time.  No more slacking on our part.  So... to help with this struggle of a preschooler wanting to always take his shoes off...we just blamed it on Paul, Jim, and DeAnna.  We tell Toby that Mr. Jim  said you have to!  We also got him pirate crocs that help.  We love it!  Toby loves it!  We couldn't be happier!  The new "gadgets" and the lamination of the pirate shirt is all very exciting and done very well!  Thank you to all of the special people that made this happen for us!

We love you all!
The Kings