Strictly speaking, they should be Forrest Gump legs but Lt. Dan legs just stuck and so that's what we call them.
Firstly, you can't escape the fact that they're blue. Very blue. That was a biiiig mistake right there.
If you ever need AFO's and are given a card of designs to choose from, make sure that you ask the orthotics specialist what they are likely to look like once you receive them. The inch square picture that I based my colour/design decision on looked like inconspicuous pale pink and blue hearts on a cream background. You can imagine my shock and surprise when the finished products were carried into the room weeks later and they were THIS colour.
I have honestly regretted my style/cover choice ever since I got my AFO's. I might have felt differently and rocked the blue hearts with pride if I had some self confidence, but self confidence isn't plentiful at all and blue AFO's are very difficult to camouflage unless you want to live in baggy trousers, which I don't.
I'm more of a skinny jeans/leggings kind of girl, and although I wear my AFO's over leggings at work in the office, I still haven't ventured out in public in them unless they're covered up.
Needless to say, my next AFO's will be black! I should have just gone crazy and asked for the kids crocodile print! (98% of the patterns on offer were aimed at children. I don't know whether this varies between different NHS Trusts and countries but this was the case for me)
Just so you know:
You probably won't be able to walk properly in them straight away.
When I wore my AFO's for the first time, it took me at least ten minutes just to be able to stand up and find my balance (and this was with two people
I found that initial standing up experience really frightening actually. If I had to try and describe it, I'd ask you to imagine that you were wearing 3in heels for the first time whilst feeling very drunk, and that feeling that I presume you get when you first stand up in them and work out your new centre of gravity.
Only I didn't really have a centre of gravity at that time, because I'd done so much work in physio to learn how to stand up "properly" as opposed to my skewed normality and so my centre of gravity was all over the place to put it mildly.
So not only was I wearing 3in heels for the first time, but I was strapped tightly into these bright blue hard plastic cases from foot to knee with literally NO room for movement. I couldn't move my foot or ankle, my knees were being held back by pads and I felt as though I didn't know which way was upright. Akin to being very drunk balance-wise but without feeling relaxed or laughing your way through it.
I felt as though I was going to fall backwards if I tipped my centre of gravity back as per my physio sessions had taught me, so I automatically reverted to my "normal" and tried to shift my centre of gravity forwards. Another mistake because I nearly ended up flat on my face. I had to trust Debbie, the lovely orthotist, as she reassured me and taught me how to balance. I couldn't even raise my head to look up from the floor at first.
I remember saying to Debbie that I'd never even worn heels before so how on earth would I be able to walk in these?! For a good couple of minutes I thought that these people were barking mad for giving me these things to walk in, and I highly doubted that they would do me any good at all.
But once I realised which way was upright, everything became much less scary and I was led over to the walking bars to learn how to walk in the AFO's. Walking was much easier than standing still and I was soon walking back and forth (turning round was a problem at first though, even with bars on each side of me for support!)
I'd say that it took me a good few weeks to get used to wearing my AFO's, and for comfort and stability it's really important to follow doctors orders and get used to them gradually.
