Another Mistake

Today I head to Pittsburgh to meet with the specialists concerning the pituitary tumors. I'm scared about what I might learn, so I have been trying to keep busy in order to avoid dwelling on the unknown. The mother of an active preschooler rarely needs to invent tasks to occupy time. Unanticipated projects frequently pop up at the most inopportune times. Yesterday I was presented with one of those "surprise" time-consuming chores.

Because my running leg still requires constant adjustment, Elliot (my prosthetist) and I have opted to refrain from putting the seal coat over the socket. The mounting bracket is not sealed to the carbon fiber so it is relatively easy to tinker with the alignment. Unfortunately, the absence of the seal leaves my prosthetic vulnerable to breaking. It would be dangerous if my prosthetic fell apart in mid stride, so a white nylon casting material was wrapped around the socket to keep everything in place.

It didn't bother me that I had white plastic wrapped around a black carbon fiber socket until I was getting ready for the race. For some reason, I just felt that it would look tacky bedazzled with my pink rhinestones if the socket were not uniform in color. I pulled out my paint brush and went to work.

I painted the cast material black, but the finish differed from the socket. I tried to feather the paint out over the carbon fiber in an effort to blend the colors. Twenty five minutes later my entire socket was painted with black tempera paint and was drying in front of the dehumidifier.

After the paint dried I was able to easily apply my rhinestones. I discovered that Robby loves to decorate! We ended up using three sheets of pink rhinestone stickers, but we were both pleased with the results. My leg was certainly sparkly and festive for my big running debut. I might have been slow, but I was the only runner who accessorized!

Because of the bursa/bone spur, I haven't been able to run since the race. I limped into the house after the race and quickly switched out legs. My running leg has been sitting in the middle of the living room, painted, bedazzled and undisturbed since Saturday.

I was packing for Pittsburgh when I heard words that I never imagined I would hear. "Ut oh Momom. I pee peed on your leg." I looked up from my bag and saw that Robby had, indeed, urinated all over my running leg.

I could tell that the urination was not deliberate. I suspect that he was so involved with his trucks that he simply forgot to go to the potty. Cleaning up accidents, I have learned, is another unspoken responsibility of motherhood. Mumbling under my breathe, I went to get a towel.

"Hurry Momom! Hurreeeeee!" I came running back into the bedroom to find Robby frantically pointing at my urine soaked running leg. I tried to console him, thinking he was upset because he had an accident.

After shrugging off my assurances that I wasn't mad, Robby directed my attention to the leg. Well, not exactly to my leg. He was pointing to the black paint that was now dripping off the socket onto our light beige carpet. I realized at that moment that tempera paint easily mixes with liquids.

I quickly picked up the leg, trying keep the black painted urine from dripping off as I carried it to the bathroom. Robby and I worked to clean the paint off the carpet with limited success. I've discovered that black is a difficult pigment to remove.

Robby promised to not "pee pee on Momom's leg" again. I promised to never again use water, or urine, soluble paint on my socket. I doubt that the stain will ever be completely removed. Hopefully it will remind me of the race and my accomplishment, and will not serve as a constant reminder of my stupidity for using black tempera paint on my leg.