>>> now, we want to press on and bring you an extraordinary conversation we witnessed in boston this past week at the spalding rehabilitation hospital . six women, all victims, survivors of the marathon bombing, all of them amputees. it's been six weeks now, and we met up with them to check up on their recovery, their spirit and their prognosis. they are an extraordinary collection of women, a master class in courage and character and grit. some of them we've come to know on television since the bombing. the young mom who moved here from haiti, the preschool teacher from baltimore, the dancer whose husband, a veteran of afghanistan, was also wounded, and celeste, the airdresser whose recovery, along with her daughter, we have been following. some of them knew each other before the bombing, but some met in this room for the first time. we asked them to introduce themselves.

>> my name is erika brannock . i have an amputation above the knee on the left leg and broken bones in my right leg. the one thing you should know about me, i've come to really appreciate the little things in life now as a result of all this.

>> my name is mery daniel. i lost my left leg and also part of my right leg. i miss being able to play with my daughter.

>> my name is adrianne haslett-davis. i suffered an amputation on my left leg. i miss dancing the most since my injury.

>> my name is celeste corcoran. i lost both my leg, one below the knee and one through the knee. i want to walk, i want to run, i just want it off.

>> my name is heather abbott. i have an injury to my foot which resulted in a below the knee amputation. although it is unfortunate, my life will go on.

>> i am roseann sdoia. i have every intention of resuming normal activities from before the bombing.

>> they asked that i speak loudly because they all lost some hearing in the bombing. and memories are still coming back like roseann and adrian realizing they met here on the same day.

>> i remember wheeling past you.

>> she was spinning around or whatever. how long have you been here. i just got here. oh, i have a lot to learn.

>> spalding is a beautiful new facility devoted to getting people back to their lives, including things like learning how to maneuver in a wheelchair.

>> people don't think about this.

>> try getting dressed on one.

>> it's tough.

>> so life becomes about building in way more time for everything.

>> the whole women take a long time to get ready to a whole new level.

>> they've been physically altered forever, and yet because of how the brain is wired, so much of the pain they're feeling involves limbs that are no longer there. if there was one complaint among all of you, is it phantom pain ? is it pain in general?

>> definitely phantom pain .

>> it's like your leg is still there. like it feels right now that my knee is bent and my leg is just hanging.

>> and that's a function of nerves getting --

>> yeah, because your brain is so used to sending the blood down there and the nerves feeling it, that it just thinks it's there. and i've tried looking in the mirror. and i feel like that does help. where you're looking at yourself and your brain is now registering you don't have that. i try to start my day out that way, just to kind of tell it it's not there.

>> how many of you have fallen?

>> not yet.

>> don't say not yet.

>> it's going to happen.

>> i actually fell a week and a half ago, i guess. and it was really scary to fall. and i just went to answer the doorbell. and i had been laying on my bed talking on the phone, and just jumped up to get the door and fell right on the ground.

>> and that's going to happen.

>> i've fallen as well. it's so excruciatingly painful. i've been through that. it's just awful.

>> i've never had that. i wonder if it's different for me because it's both legs? but i've never forgotten. like when i wake up, i feel it.

>> in this one big room, the camaraderie, the sisterhood, the strength of their common bond is overwhelming. you're the only one in this group that is not home yet.

>> no.

>> when? have you asked? can you afford to ask?

>> the end of the week.

>> really? wow, that's fantastic.

>> my goal was to be home by my friend's wedding, which is a week from saturday. so i'll be able to --

>> you'll make it.

>> -- be her maid of honor.

>> you might get a little attention at that event.

>> right.

>> and she's cool with that. good.

>> great to see you. you look good.

>> thank you.

>> you look real good.

>> thank you.

>> this doesn't matter. this is just a change of scenery.

>> has it been good to see the veterans who have visited here hop out of their cars in the parking lot and come up to say hello to you?

>> that was huge for me. they all said that this is the worst time, waiting to heal, waiting to be fitted, but that, you know, we will gain our independence and be able to pretty much resume our lives, which to me, that was like a ray of sunshine. like that was huge.

>> they just walked into the room in a comfortable swagger. and i just think that when you have a prosthetic or -- i didn't think i'd be that comfortable. and i want my confidence back. they had such a confidence in themselves, that didn't even matter. i think that's what we all need to get back is our confidence of ourself.

>> mine is like this huge square.

>> because no two injuries are alike, they are all at different stages of recovery. mery is anxious for the arrival and fitting of her new leg. and this was the first time any of them had seen adrianne's new prosthetic leg .

>> i think it's absolutely fabulous . i can't wait.

>> i just got my leg today, which is a huge step.

>> we'll be right here.

>> and i shared a dance with my father , and it was amazing and incredibly emotional to even talk about. but it was a little high school sway. obviously, i want more than that. that was great, but yeah, i mean, the occupation to go back to, it's going to be a long road.

>> for the young dancer in this group, this has been especially difficult. and she is keenly interested in the features of this new technology that's now a part of who she is.

>> it actually has a split in the toe for flip-flops. and i have a button in my heel that i push and i can go up to a 2 1/2 inch heel.

>> oh, my gosh.

>> built-in heel. you can go from flats to heel.

>> exactly.

>> that's important for us.

>> i know.

>> i went for the molds, they actually asked me -- because it's both of my legs, i actually have a choice to be pretty much whatever height i want to be.

>> really?

>> i was originally 5'4" and i'm wondering -- my daughter's close to 5'7". and i'm thinking i want to be a little taller.

>> while as victims of terrorism these women should never have to worry about the cost of their health care and recovery, they do. amputees with artificial limbs usually need several over the course of their lifetime. they need replacing over the years, and costs can run to several hundred thousand dollars. while the women also express concern that many replacement limbs are high tech looking and they worry about how their new legs will look, right now it's fears about the lifelong costs that worry them most.

>> it's a huge concern. for me. because i would like to get a leg that looks like the one i have. so that's considered cosmetic. it's very expensive. and i really wonder how i'm going to be able to afford that into my old age. it's a huge concern for me.

>> yeah. i looked at one, and it's a great leg, but i was told that the silicone skin itself was $85,000. that's just for the skin if i wanted it all the way up. and then obviously there's an additional cost for the leg itself.

>> and there's a self-esteem thing. it's a big deal .

>> mine's different because i'm above the knee. my socket is going to be a whole different scenario because of the mechanics of the knee itself. you'll have that on the other leg, too.

>> it's a concern.

>> it is. it is. obviously, you know, we want to walk and that's the main priority, but you know, i loved my legs. i was always told that my legs were my best feature, you know. and now they're gone. so --

>> what's the best distraction? is it a movie on an ipad when you're feeling good? is it music? is it just having a room full of people?

>> i think for me personally, it's the kids that i teach. they send me videos. they send me all kinds of things. and it really just kind of lifts me up and, you know, the support that i get from them, even though they're 2, their parents send me e-mails, they want to tell miss brannock they love you so much. i have one kid that sends me daily videos.

>> what else did you want to say?

>> i want you to come back.

>> all right. can i turn it off now?

>> mm-hmm.

>> wave bye-bye to miss brannock ?

>> bye, miss brannock .

>> they told me they put a picture of me on the wall and she talks to it the other night.

>> when you go back, they're going to smother you.

>> i told my boss they'll be fighting over rides in the wheelchair.

>> what have you learned from family and friends from this?

>> very important to have everybody around you, if you can. unbelievable support. and i think my saviors.

>> they're our rocks.

>> definitely.

>> how is your daughter, 5-year-old daughter?

>> she's -- she was afraid to go out. like she'll go to school, but she didn't want to go to places she's not very familiar with. she said it's all bombing. just to show you that a 5-year-old should be playing with dolls and running around, and not worried about bombs. she was afraid.

>> about that day, the coverage, the people who did this to them, it's clear they would just like to move on. maybe you never want to see any of the imagery if you can avoid it. maybe you never want to look at a picture in a crowd and try to remember people, but maybe it helps you?

>> as far as pictureses the of -- you know, after the bomb and it's tough to see it, but it's okay. as far as media goes, the people who did this, i don't really care to see anything about that. i feel like they took so much from me, and i don't want to be angry or waste any energy on them because, as far as i'm concerned, you know, we need all our energy to heal and to help each other heal and to just move forward. [ agent