Throughout my rehab it's been the small -- nay tiny -- things that make the biggest differences.

Today was no exception.

I came home from yesterday's appointment with Ian, my prosthetist, feeling pretty glum. After walking more than a few hundred yards the skin at the back of Mr S starts pulling and moving, making it incredibly painful to get around without sticks. I told Ian this yesterday and he set to work trying to solve it. He tried everything -- a tweak to the leg here, a shave of foam off there. After nearly two hours we knew what the problem was -- but hadn't found a way to solve it.

I thought it'd be something I had to put up with for a while, until the tissue settles down.

Then a call from Ian first thing this morning. He'd been thinking. "Haven't you got anything better to do than think about my stump," I asked him. Apparently not -- but just as well.

When I got down to the hospital he presented me with a special sock made by Otto Bock, which is coated on the inside with a special polymer gel. The idea is that the gel acts like a shock absorber, taking up some of the friction and pressure. It looks, according to my Dad, like a bull's condom.

I put it on. It was incredible. The pain disappeared. I went shopping and was able to walk two lengths of the High Street without sticks -- unthinkable yesterday.

By God, I think we've cracked it.