New "Lili Shoe"

Here's the update from the mundane post about the new prosthesis we got Lili Mei.

We went out to the hospital recently to pick up the new "Lili Shoe" as it is known in our house, knowing that we'd be there about four hours while they painted it and waited for it to dry.  I didn't get great photos, but what an amazing process it was.  First, here are some photos from the first visit where they coated Lili Mei's feet in some sort of plastic goop to make the impression for a wax mold.  (By the way, you can see more of the amazing work Alternative Prosthetic Services does at their website.)

First attempt was to get her to stand on it.  That did NOT work!

Second attempt was to goop up her entire foot. He had to work fast!!!

Both feet are cast so the left foot can be used as a model for the prosthesis. (They'll look at size, wrinkles, creases, pores...everything!) Once this hardened in about a minute, it was just stretched a bit and pulled off like a shoe.

























After all this was done, we waited several weeks, and finally went back out to the hospital to pick up the new prosthesis. We got to see the wax molds and several of the silicone "feet" they made.

This is the wax mold of Lili Mei's right foot inside the actual prosthesis before it is painted

The Neutrogena cream is all we have to use to get the foot on.  You spread a little on the inside of the  "foot" and on Lili Mei's foot and it pops right on like a sock.

You can see how the right foot fits into the prosthesis and there is lots of empty space.  

Lili Mei investigates

The funniest/scariest thing happened after I asked how delicately we should treat the foot.  The prosthetist stretched it hard and said something to the effect  of, "This silicone is really strong--you don't need to worry about that--it can withstand"--SNAP!! Um, what just happened there...the thing ripped completely apart.  Well, fortunately it was one of the junk ones.  He (laughingly) explained as he saw the look of terror on my face that they have to make several at once because each one progressively takes more wax off the mold to sort of clean it up, and when the mold is completely clean, the final one (or ones) are made.  So this was one of the first ones made, which still probably had wax on it, weakening it.  He promised me that would not happen to the one we took home, but you should see how carefully I put it on Lili Mei!

Next they painted it.  That was fascinating.  The young woman who did this part mixed several colors until she found the shade we thought looked pretty close to Lili Mei's coloring, then got going on painting the inside of the foot.

Putting on the toenail!

The spot where the big toenail goes was left open throughout the process because this is where they inject the filler to add body and weight to the foot where it is empty.  So all the front toes were filled up, and the whole front of the shoe. Once that is done and it dries, they glue the toenail on to hide the hole.  It is the only "real" toenail.  I think this is also something that would be different on a larger foot--I'm pretty sure all the toenails are "real" because they want the prosthesis to blend in and be as natural as possible.  A person can even paint the nails (but Lili Mei could only paint her big toe, so we don't).

The finished foot (well, except they still need to cut off all that extra height at the ankle). A bit vinegar smelling at first, but that goes away after about 2 days. 

The prosthetist, Bob, and the young woman who did the painting.

Because Lili Mei is so little, and this will likely have to be replaced frequently, they did not put the detail into it that they would have for an older person.  They were working on a hand and some fingers while we were there and it was unbelievable how realistic they looked!  They will paint veins and put hairs in even!  You can't see it in my photos, but they don't just paint the foot one solid color--it has different dimensions throughout the foot, and there is even a slight ruddiness where there would be pressure on the foot.

Once we got it home, we realized we had forgotten to have the top material cut down (so there was a huge gap once it was on), and there were some other issues with fit and her gait as well, so they had us send her old prosthesis and her new prosthesis together so they could match up the position of the mold of her foot (based on the old prosthesis) inside the new foot to improve her gait and fit.  The new one is awesome.  I don't have photos of her wearing it yet, but I'll try to remember to add them to this post when I can. The dollar is just so you can see how tiny it is. (Remember, they said they had never done one for a child before!)

Pretty real looking, right?!

Lili Mei does not like this one as well as the old one (we think it is because she finds it a little creepy), so it has become a bit of a struggle to get her to put it on. But once it is on, she is fine with it and wears it until we get home.  Usually we just put it on for church or going to the park or whenever she will be walking a lot and needs to wear shoes. Otherwise she is almost always barefoot and nothing can stop her. The silicone is supposed to be much more comfortable than her old vinyl foot, and cooler too.  She seems happy with it when she wears it, but does ask us to carry her a lot; I'm hoping there is not an issue with discomfort.

So there is the story of the Lili Shoe.