Step 22 & 23: Bust some new moves.

On May 23, 2024, my husband, Jim Gallagher, entered the E.R. he worked in for 15 years, this time as a patient.  Within days he was fighting for his life as an infection that began in his foot raged throughout his body, and on June 4th, his leg was amputated below the knee in order to save his life.  This is an ongoing log of our journey.

Put your shoes on.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Are you ready for this?

Last week Jim received his prosthetic limb, and got to put TWO shoes on for the first time in five months!

He’s been practicing with his new limb just for a week, but some interesting things are happening.  The foreign feeling of walking with that right leg was disorienting; it’s not like you just start walking!  But as awkward as the first steps were, the task of getting your two legs to work in tandem seems to be firing up some nerves in that right leg!

Just the week before, Jim began outpatient physical therapy under the care of the master, our friend Troy Hattan. 

We’ve known Jim’s psoas was not working for some time, but Troy observed that Jim’s quads in his right leg also appeared to be offline.  This was grim news to Jim, who had high hopes of getting on his feet quickly once the prosthesis arrived.  I, the registered pessimist of the family, held loosely the hope that Jim would walk at all.  But the optimist, Jim, was already planning his future fishing trips!  So hearing and seeing this news was a blow. 

For the first time I watched Jim withdraw, grieve, and feel the sadness and anger of a loss bigger than he was expecting.   It’s understandable.  It’s inevitable.  And it’s also really hard to face and grieve realities—or watch someone else do so.

Then came the day of Jim’s final prosthesis fitting, and you can see in the video above his progress adapting to it within minutes!  That was his third pass walking with the prosthesis.

When he wore it to P.T. the following day, Troy was amazed at what Jim could do with the prosthesis in place!  Within this past week, interesting things began to happen.  The right leg (with prosthesis) began to literally step up to the plate.  And the left leg now wants to share the job with the right one!  Switching back and forth from one to two legs is interesting and will take some time to negotiate. 

Another win the prosthesis provides is that when Jim is sitting, his right leg is positioned similarly to his left.  This means his pelvis and lower back are no longer tilted to one side, and he feels like there is less back pain when he has the prosthesis on, even when he is in a sitting position.

All of this is super new to us, so we can’t really say how this journey will go.  We know the road is long and the destination uncertain, but we wanted to share with you our excitement as we turn the page to this new chapter in recovery.  This one really IS one actual, physical step at a time.

Climb into your truck.

While I occasionally get to have coffee with a friend or drive off and run errands on my own, Jim’s options for moving about the universe all rely on me.  He keeps up with friends by phone, and occasionally guests come by the house, which is life-giving to Jim, but he has less options for independence than you or I do.

If you are a friend of Jim, you know that it is fishing, hunting, and people that bring him to life.  So you can imagine how life-giving it was for Jim to have three fishing buddies come from out-of-state to bring the party to him! 

(Their names are John, John, and John.  If your name happens to be John, you really should take up fishing.)

The Johns are truly masters at this sport, but they are equally skilled at just knowing how to love a fallen friend.  I got to be the bug on the wall watching the insults (their masculine brand of love) fly, the stories flow, the laughter ring, and the food be consumed.

During the three days they were here, we had two open houses.  Since we needed to be out of the house, JR, JD and JC wrestled, pushed and pulled JG into the passenger seat of his own truck!  This, my friends, is the modern equivalent of cutting a hole in the roof to get your buddy in front of Jesus for healing (see Mark 2:1-12).  Guy time, his beloved truck, pizza and stories!  It was a triumph, another first in the five months since Jim’s infection changed everything.

Lest you think these fishing masters are only fishermen, the Hostage Negotiator, the Artist and the Pastor also are healers.  It was an honor to watch them fan Jim back into flame, and their sensitivity to my needs was moving as well.  

Before they left on Sunday morning, the Johns gathered the Gallaghers into their circle, and laid their hands on us.  My tears flowed shamelessly as they lifted bold prayers to our Master and Maker for inner and outer healing, for the timely sale of our home, for our marriage and our future. 

Be bold, friends, as you love those around you!  It’s costly work.  But you can do it…

One step at a time.