My Bionic Foot

I'd seen the ads for this product before but never dug into the benefits of it. As my walking took a turn for the worse, I started looking into it and eventually i had the opportunity to get a free evaluation, so why not go check it out.  During the evaluation, I could actually feel the difference the thing made. Essentially it's a cuff (with two electrodes) that goes around my left calf and it stimulates the nerve that makes my foot "work properly" - meaning in the heel to toe action. Without it, most days, my left foot just drags as I try to move the leg to take a step. The device is made by Bioness and they actually produce 1 for the upper thigh (stimulates a nerve in the leg - don't know which one as I wasn't evaluated for this), one for the hand (I didn't see results as drastically with this one) and the one for the foot.  (Anyone want to take a stab at why the ass this font changed???)

It's a 3 part device. There's a sensor in my shoe - at this moment it's in my sneaker (it can only work with shoes that have a strap around the ankle (ladies, a sling back shoe) or a whole shoe) - the cuff is secured around my left calf and I have a small remote to control it. When I'm ready to move I place it it "walking" mode and when my weight is off the sensor, it senses that I'm ready to take a step, I feel a tingling sensation and my foot "kicks" into action. It doesn't allow me to walk further (cuz my legs still get fatigued) but it sure makes the act of walking less laborious for me so i definitely walk vs using the scooter when i can.  There's also a "training" mode where it stimulates the nerve without the sensor so my foot moves up and down on its own but the idea while doing this is that I actually move my foot with it (so in a sense I'm retraining my brain and foot to work together to get the foot moving properly). 

My "problem" right now is that I really have to find other shoes with which it'll work. A few months back, I had to go somewhere that required a dress and I wanted to walk vs using Soca Scooter. I had to make a decision - a dress (I'm short so I only wear short dresses) and sneakers or jeans with sneakers...what to do what to do?!?! In the end I wore the dress because that's what the occasion called for but it was still kinda weird. So I have to buy some new shoes. 

Why my bionic foot u ask? The day I got it, Learls and OB were here and that night as I was walking into my bedroom, she looked at the way I was walking and said, "u doh have on yuh foot?"  It became "my foot" and when 1 of my aunts called and said, "I hear u have a bionic foot!" Well.  How do you refer to it as a "Bioness device" after that? :-)