Let's build a new prosthetic arm!

The time has come… Jordan and I pack up and head out of town this week to work with David Rotter and the Scheck and Siress team in Chicago to build Jordan’s next helper arm. She’s totally grown out of her current one with Hello Kitty.. even broke it. But I guess that means she wore it enough to break it. That’s a good thing, right?

With the new fabric purchased, an idea of the activities she might want to use with it and a focus on making sure she wears it a little bit each day, we are pretty darn excited for this adventure. To add to the fun, we’re staying in the city an extended time since I’m speaking on two different panels during BlogHer’s Healthminder Day and during the full BlogHer conference. Scheduling all of this around the same time seemed like a great idea when I first set it up. But right now, I just feel a bit overwhelmed. I’ve been in my house a total of six days so far this month. By the end of the month, I’ll be able to say I was home a total of nine days. Yikes.

Jordan wanted to show off the new fabric we picked out for the next helper arm and then convinced me to share a short video of the process. She’s super excited about being silly and sharing it with you:

Each time we prepare to build a new prosthetic, I have to reflect on why the heck we do all of this. You may not see Jordan wearing her prosthetics all of the time. Why the heck would we take so much time, effort and money to provide this tool for Jordan?

Because it offers motion and opportunities for Jordan that would not be available without it. If Jordan wants to wear prosthetics when she’s an adult, she is more likely to have that option by proving long-term prosthetic use. If Jordan wears a prosthetic a little each day, it helps prevent repetitive stress injuries to her left shoulder. If you take a moment to step back and watch Jordan, you’ll notice she uses her shoulder like an elbow. That’s a lot of constant motion and movement that shoulders were not created to do. So I am already worried about injuries to her shoulder and back that could happen by the time she’s a teenager. Any amount of motion that she can get out of a prosthetic can help ease a little of that long-term physical burden.

I’m looking forward to sharing our adventures here and on our Facebook page. And don’t forget, I’m launching my fundraising for Camp No Limits this Sunday as I run the Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon! You can visit our donation page here.