As I packed my suitcase for this trip, I remember pretty distinctly the moment that I packed all of my power cords–checking to make sure that I had phone charger, iPod charger, and laptop cord (all necessities for a technology conference). And it wasn’t until last night that I realized which power cord I forgot–the one that powers me (it charges the battery in my bionic knee). I don’t actually know how long my battery will last, never having pushed it past 48 hours before. But I’m a few hours over that now and still going strong so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and have power until I get home in 2 days (but I doubt it).<\/p>\n
About 15 minutes before the battery goes dead my leg will chirp a few times and vibrate (like a phone). After that, the knee will go analog–maybe something a bit similar to losing power steering in your car. The pneumatic will go stiff and it will be difficult to bend the knee at all.<\/p>\n
I’ve never had to walk with my leg like that, much less traveled with a stiff knee. It’s sure to be an interesting experience–a good reminder not to take my bionics for granted. And I’m feeling really happy right now that I opted for a ‘more legroom’ seat for the flight in the way home…<\/p>\n
UPDATE:\u00a0 My battery died just shortly after take-off on the plane ride home (apparently not disrupting the navigational system of the plane as it buzzed and chirped to let me know that it was dying).\u00a0 I still can’t believe that it lasted while I traveled for four days, but I’m so glad that it did!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I packed my suitcase for this trip, I remember pretty distinctly the moment that I packed all of my power cords–checking to make sure that I had phone charger, iPod charger, and laptop cord (all necessities for a technology conference). And it wasn’t until last night that I realized which power cord I forgot–the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amputee","category-body"],"yoast_head":"\n