Flow and Gate

After losing my left leg above the knee, I had to learn to walk all over again. I don't remember when I fist learned how to walk for I was only one or something like that but I am sure it had to be easier than this. As a kid and when my sons learned how to walk, they didn't really think about it - they just did it. Nike would be so proud.
After getting my prosthesis, I just thought that I would strap it on and start walking. How wrong I was..... To make a long story short, that didn't happen. I began by using a walker and I could get around ok with that, but the experts were not happy with the amount of time that I would stay on my prosthetic side. Evidently, I would get off my prosthetic side as quickly as possible and thus my flow and gate suffered.
I guess when normal people walk they have a heel strike on both of their feet. I could have a heel strike on my artificial foot but I would step with my real foot and not have a heel strike thus my gate suffered. I had to think when I walked rather than just walking. I had to spend enough time on my prosthetic side to make the artificial knee bend and then I had to walk on my real side with a heel strike on my right(real) foot. When I concentrated, I could do it the way my physiatrist and therapist wanted, but then a funny thing happened.
My physiatrist wanted me to walk without thinking. He made me walk fast with my cane and he maintained that my flow and gate improved when I did that because I was walking without thinking. His name is Dr. Foxx and he is convinced that my flow and gate suffered not from the amputation of my left leg but from my brain injury suffered in the accident. He believes that I walk better on my artificial side than I do on my real side. My prosthesist and my therapists agree. In short I had to trust my arificial leg. It has been a long process because at times I still hike my left hip rather than walking through with my artificial leg and my flow suffers.