The Lessons of Lindsay

• Spring, 2008. Lindsay's mother, Judith, helps her daughter prepare to get into her new prosthetic legs, as the family dog Sadie sleeps at their feet. This was the first photo Mendolsohn made of Lindsay for this series. Lindsay had overcome bulimia earlier in her 20s, and afterward entered into a period of intense exercise. When she had abdominal pain, she just shrugged it off. But the pain was a symptom of Crohn's disease, and in May, 2007 she was hospitalized for a blockage in her intestines. She was released, but was hospitalized again in early August to undergo surgery to relieve the continuing pain by removing a small piece of inflamed intestine. That was Aug. 3, 2007. By Aug. 5, a complication had emerged -- Lindsay's intestines began leaking, polluting her body with bacteria. Lindsay was in serious trouble. Organs began to fail, she had a seizure, and she was put into a coma. It would be October before she came out of it. Her body's clotting had gone awry and as a result she had damaged tissue irreversibly in her extremities -- her arms and legs. They would have to be amputated.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• As the scar from her tracheotomy -- a reminder of her months in the hospital -- slowly heals, Lindsay contemplates a new life without the limbs we all take for granted.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• The lift. It's a move that Lindsay and her mother do many times a day, as they go from physical therapy to doctor appointment to occupational therapy.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• Lindsay walks again, nine months after entering the hospital for what she thought would be a routine surgery on her intestines. Her exhilaration is tempered only by the exhaustion of it all.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• In the office of Hangar Prosthetics and Orthotics in Richmond, Lindsay waits for her technician to return after having had measurements taken for new arms. It's common for amputees to go through several pairs of arms and legs as they adjust and become more proficient and skilled in their use.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• Never far from her side, Lindsay mother helps her with a juice drink during a fashion judging at Virginia Commonwealth University, Lindsay's alma mater. Lindsay, who graduated only a year earlier from the school, is now asked to join luminaries from the world of fashion in selecting garments for the senior fashion show.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• Lindsay smiles as student models show the rough-cut versions of student designers. once selected, the garments will be finished and incorporated into the final fashion show at VCU.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• Summer, 2008. A new pair of high-tech arms, with closable fingers, sits in the battery charger, next to a pile of folded laundry. The arms should be a boost to Lindsay but the reality is that they're a bit heavier and more prone to malfunction than her previous pair.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• Always keen on her appearance, Lindsay adjusts her clothes before going out.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn

• Almost a year now since entering the hospital for her surgery, Lindsay is now walking without help.
  
  
  

  Matt Mendelsohn