Putting her best foot forward

One of our goals for the early new year was to get our dear friend, Vera, to the orthopedic clinic in Pogradec, the place which was such a big help with Reni's last pair of prosthetics.  

Given that we live near the western edge of Albania and Pogradec is on the eastern border, it's pretty much an all day trip to travel the three hours there and three hours back, plus time in Pogradec for the consultation and whatever other work must be done.

The busy-ness of December made it difficult to find a date we could devote to such a trip. 

And given that a number of the staff were out for the holidays, we couldn't get an appointment made mid-January, but that was alright given that waiting meant the beginning of slightly warmer weather (and Pogradec is always MUCH cooler!).  

We dropped Ellie and Reni off with missionary friends in Elbasan and enjoyed nice conversation with Vera on a beautiful, bright and sunny winter day.  It didn't take long for snow covered mountains to come within sight.

Captured through the window of our moving car, crossing the last mountain pass as we reach the far eastern edge of Albania.  That's Macedonia across Lake Orhid.

Vera was all smiles once we arrived at the Light of Hope center!

Juxhin (Eugene) measures Vera's leg length differential -- 4 centimeters!

Len and Lynne brought her new walking shoes from the States which we left with the orthopedic team after they measured Vera.  They would work to add a lift of 3 centimeters to the outside of her left shoe, as well as 1 centimeter to the inside of her shoe while we went out to find lunch.

During a previous visit to Pogradec for one of Reni's appointments we found a good little restaurant/pizzaria south of Pogradec in the lakeside village of Tushemisht, so we took Vera there.  We figured if the view was good enough for Hoxha (the former dictator), it should be good enough for us!  (His former summer vacation home was nearby).  We had the restaurant to ourselves right up until we were about to leave, which made it extra quiet and relaxing!

Vera kept remarking how most folks only ever go to Pogradec for their holidays and there she was, getting to enjoy the day with us!  She really was a great travel companion and as always, we learned so much!

Before we knew it, it was time to get back to the clinic to try on the finished shoes!

Didn't they do an excellent job?

Vera had them on her feet less than a minute and said, "Now I need to get a pair of shoes for the summer!"

Everyone who has known Vera and that we were embarking on finally getting her some help, asks how she's doing with it, and it's obviously early to comment, but we think that 60 years of walking one way will take a while to un-learn.  Initially, she was overcompensating by leaning the opposite direction as before!

Before we knew it, the sun was rapidly falling towards the mountains and we had to bid our friends in Pogradec adieu. Until next time!