That time of year

Time for another new leg. Little Man isn’t so little any more and continues to grow out of these prosthetic legs. In fact, this year his amazing team of docs have decided that it is time to up the game a bit. His leg needs to be higher tech in order to meet his physical needs. In other words – our active boy has outgrown the simple leg design he has used until this time.

They are now making him a sleeve made out of a thick neoprene material that will create suction on his residual limb and then lock the leg in place with a pin. It is amazing. At the first fitting, Little Man declared that it felt like he was walking on a marshmallow. He is pumped by the cool lock system and excited by the soft fit.

After his second appointment to test the new leg design, our whole family had a very special treat. Clearwater Marine Aquarium invited us to meet Winter – the dolphin who stars in the movie “A Dolphin Tale.” The timing was perfect. Little Man has been attending swimming lessons and working so hard. He was over the moon excited to meet Winter, who can swim with or without her prosthetic tail.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium went above and beyond in making our day a memorable experience. Little Man was their VIP, and he ate up the attention.

The sweet woman who gave us the tour answered all of his 100 million questions about each animal they have rescued. We got to see places where the movies had been filmed, saw the animal “hospital” and where they prepare food for the animals. We met some amazing animals – so many turtles without flippers, otters who were orphaned, eels who needed help with their symbiotic relationships, and of course Winter with no tail. Hearing each of their stories was inspiring.

But they didn’t stop there – they freely gave to our family in hopes of inspiring our new swimmer. They succeeded. Little Man’s favorite part of the day was his animal encounter with Hope. He wasn’t able to meet Winter up close because she is in intense physical therapy at this time, but he was so excited to hear how they make new prosthetic tails for Winter. Her tail is made of a neoprene sleeve similar to the leg he will have.

Clutching his new stuffed animal (a dolphin with a prosthetic tail that CMA gave to him), he said goodbye to Winter through the glass of her tank. He encouraged her to try hard in her physical therapy, and he would try hard in his swim lessons. Melt your heart sweet. He claimed it was the best day of his life. To be honest our whole family had a great day watching him feel special, celebrated, and encouraged.

Thank you so much Clearwater Marine Aquarium for taking such good care of our animals and for inspiring kiddos like Little Man.