Custom Prosthetics for Leukemia Battle Wounds #ChildhoodCancerAwareness #GoGold
Heels are wonderful…
Except when you have a hole in your foot…
Kate and I have been best friends since elementary school. When we were 16 years old, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It goes without saying that it was life changing for Kate. Watching her go through it was the hardest thing I have ever done.
Her two and a half year roller coaster in and out of hospitals was punctuated by close calls: seizures that put her in a coma, liver failure that turned her completely yellow, and life-threatening infections that permanently claimed chunks of her flesh. One of those infections was osteomyelitis in her foot. Part of the bone and plantar fascia was completely deteriorated when they operated. When it first happened, she had a 2 x 2″ hole there. Over time, it healed and became smaller.
Nevermind the detached plantar fascia, the hole, probably better described as a crater, is constantly irritated by shoes that rub along the edge. Blisters concentrate around the crater rendering most heels unbearably uncomfortable after a short period of wear.
A while ago we talked about possible solutions for this ailment. We decided we would make a prosthetic part that could fill in the hole and provide a buffer between the crater and her shoes. We finally made a prototype!
