Amputee's prosthetic limbs spark tech debate

UNION-TRIBUNE
May 19, 2008

ANDREW YATES / Getty Images
Oscar Pistorius was born without fibulas and had his legs amputated below the knee at 11 months old.

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal Friday and can compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics.

Oscar Pistorius literally does not have a leg to stand on, but he runs as if he were fleeing a fire.

The world's swiftest amputee sprinter is so fast that he has forced the sports world to wonder whether he's working with a disability or an edge; whether technology has trumped the human condition with advances in prosthetics; and what all of that might mean to races down the road.

The Blade Runner, as Pistorius is known, is where the interests of compassion and competition collide. The 21-year-old South African was born without fibulas and had his legs amputated below the knee at 11 months old. He has adapted so well to his artificial lower limbs, however, particularly to the cutting-edge “Cheetahs” developed in Iceland, that the international track federation (IAAF) has sought to legislate him out of its able-bodied competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games of Beijing.

Pistorius prevailed on appeal last week, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport was careful to frame its decision in the narrow terms of existing evidence rather than setting a broad precedent. Hollywood's “Iron Man” might be fiction, but scientific enhancement is indisputable fact.

“I think the principle is that you have some kind of fairness in competition,” said Dr. Lawrence Hinman, who teaches Ethics at the Frontiers of Science at USD. “The empirical question is: Do the prosthetic limbs give someone an unfair advantage? Eventually, they will. . . .

“My own feeling is to say, unless it's pretty clear that this gives him an unfair advantage, that he should be allowed to compete.”

AdvertisementGerman Professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who began testing the J-shaped, carbon-fiber “Cheetahs” for the IAAF last November, says Pistorius' advantage is already significant. Brueggemann's data indicates Pistorius' limbs use 25 percent less energy than able-bodied runners to run at the same speed and that Pistorius requires 30 percent less mechanical work to lift his body.
“I did not expect it to be so clear,” Brueggemann told Die Welt.

What Brueggemann considers to be clear, though, Robert Gailey continues to find murky. Gailey, a physical therapist at the University of Miami, told The New York Times last year that a prosthetic leg returns only about 80 percent of the energy absorbed in a stride, compared with as much as 240 percent for a normal leg. Gailey questions, too, whether the IAAF's concerns are based on competitive advantages or cosmetic appearances.

Unlike Lasik eye surgery or arthroscopic joint repairs, prosthetic limbs are not easily concealed when worn with a track suit. Each of these innovations is intended to enhance performance, but only the prostheses alters a sprinter's silhouette.

“Part of what makes it a little more difficult for Pistorius is the prosthetics look incredibly impressive,” Hinman said. “It's that futuristic design. If they looked like wooden legs, there wouldn't be any question.”

Should Pistorius qualify for the Summer Games, he would become the first amputee to compete in an Olympic track event. Yet it's worth noting that gymnast George Eyser won three gold medals in the 1904 Summer Games in St. Louis while operating on a wooden leg. San Diego State's Marla Runyan, legally blind, became the first Paralympian runner to compete in the Olympic Games and finished eighth in the 1,500 meters in the 2000 Games of Sydney.

“I think the Paralympians kind of get short shrift,” said swimming executive Mike Lewis, who once managed Paralympic sports for the U.S. Olympic Committee. “These are world-class athletes. They train as hard. They have the same level of commitment. It's not merely a feel-good achievement.”

Lewis, who earned degrees from UCSD and San Diego State, admits to being “conflicted” about scientific shortcuts. Yet instead of viewing the technology in isolation, Lewis looks at the totality of the Paralympic athlete's experience, at the “totally different variables” that enter into their equations.

“Biomechanically, there is that purported advantage (to prosthetic limbs),” Lewis said. “But that's for the device itself. At the end of the day, it's the user who sits on top of that device.”

By any standard, Pistorius is an extraordinary case. He owns the world Paralympic record at 100, 200 and 400 meters, and his best times at 100 and 200 meters (10.91 and 21.58 seconds) are better than those run by the women's gold medalists at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

Though he has yet to meet Olympic men's qualifying standards at any distance, Pistorius could still be chosen to represent South Africa in the relays.

“It's genuinely a tough case,” Hinman said. “Even if it didn't (make a decisive difference), he might get better. It's hard to know which you credit to the prosthetic device and what you credit to incredible determination.

“There are plenty of people with that same level of determination who don't get so far.”

Though the race is not always to the swiftest, neither should it be appropriated by the smartest engineer. Much as Oscar Pistorius is an inspiration, he also poses a problem.

Disabled Iraq War vet eyes spot in 2008 Paralympics

By Sal Ruibal, USA TODAY
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — As the swimmers begin to take their places at the start line, they nervously adjust their caps and tug at their swimsuits.
Melissa Stockwell walks across the wet tile floor to her lane, bends to stretch her back, then carefully removes her left leg.

Balancing on her right leg, she crouches as the starter raises the gun, then explodes into the water as the gun's sharp crack echoes across the wide expanse of University of Maryland Natatorium.

Stockwell's muscled arms churn butterfly strokes through the water, her stars-and-stripes swim cap bobbing down the lane.

Her left leg, crafted from carbon fiber and titanium, goes unnoticed in the poolside clutter of warm-up jackets, wet towels, wheelchairs, metal crutches and folding blind canes.

At the U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships last weekend, normal was a relative term for the this international group of athletes whose physical conditions range from missing legs and arms to dwarfism to blindness.

On April 13, 2004, Army 1st Lt. Stockwell was leading a supply convoy through the city when her unprotected Humvee was blown into a guardrail by a roadside bomb.

Her left leg was torn away just below the knee, but infection soon ravaged her leg. Surgeons had to saw off the damaged tissue, leaving her with just six inches of limb.

"I didn't feel bad for myself," Stockwell, 27, says. "I was glad it was me and not someone else."

After several months of recovery and rehabilitation, Stockwell walked away from the Army with a Purple Heart medal, medical retirement papers in her file and a prosthetic leg attached to the stump she affectionately calls, "Little Leg."

Since then, the former competitive gymnast, diver and rower has rediscovered her athleticism.

Just four months after she was wounded, she powered a handbike to a finish at the New York City Marathon.

An ROTC graduate of the University of Colorado, she also returned to the Rocky Mountains to relearn how to ski.

She and husband Dick, who was also an Army officer and was in Baghdad when she was wounded, moved to Chicago, where she began swimming in Lake Michigan as training for triathlons.

"I was drawn to swimming because I didn't have to wear a prosthetic to do it," she says.

Now she's one of 17 wounded Iraq veterans aiming for a spot in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics with the support of a U.S. Olympic Committee program that strives to turn warriors into competitive athletes. She's the only swimmer in the group and one of two women (Kerry Miller competes in volleyball).

The program — funded by the USOC, Visa and McDonald's — is not just about elite athletes with Paralympics potential. More than 400 veterans are involved at levels more recreational than Olympian.

"Making the Paralympics team is a great goal," says John Register, associate director of outreach development for the U.S. Paralympics Team, "but the benefits of playing sports go far beyond competition."

U.S. Paralympics Swimming Team director Julie O'Neill says Stockwell has been making "remarkable progress" but has not yet secured a spot on the squad for Beijing.

Stockwell will need to post global competitive times at the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Team Trials in April to accomplish that goal.

She's focused on making the team, but she also sees the rewards she's already reaped.

"I'd love to have my leg back," says Stockwell, who also learned how to fit other amputees with prosthetics. "But the things I have been able to do have been valuable to me. I live a great life, I have no regrets and don't want to go back to what was before.

"This happened for a reason, and it really doesn't matter if I have a leg or not — I can still do whatever I want to do."

Insurance firms deny amputees new limbs

Coalition pushes bill to mandate coverage
By CLAUDIA PINTO • Staff Writer • May 10, 2008


Since Paul Dale's artificial leg started failing,he has suffered falls, injuring an elbow, pulling both shoulders and breaking a rib.

But Dale's insurance company won't pay to replace the prosthesis.


"I think I deserve the same standard of life as anyone else," said the Columbia man, who lost the majority of his left leg to bone cancer in 1983.

Morgan Sheets, the Amputee Coalition of America's national advocacy director, says Dale's story is a common one.

She said insurance companies often deny people access to an artificial limb by allowing only one prosthesis per lifetime, labeling the more expensive computerized limbs as experimental or capping the benefit at $1,000 or $5,000 when the average cost is $8,000 to $15,000.

The Knoxville-based Amputee Coalition of America is pushing for federal legislation, dubbed the Prosthetic Parity Act of 2008, which would force insurance companies to cover prostheses just as they would cover other critical medical care.

Mary Thompson, spokeswoman for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, said the company doesn't have coverage limits on prosthetic devices and opposes a mandate.

"While the intention of state and federal health-care mandates is usually good, they have significantly increased the cost of health care in Tennessee and the nation, almost always for the privately insured," Thompson said.

Sheets said that when artificial limbs are fully funded it adds only about 25 cents per month to insurance premiums.

"People get insurance to cover catastrophic events. What is more catastrophic than losing a limb?" Sheets said. "I think the general public just assumes that if they lose a limb they'll get a prosthesis, and right now that's not happening."

Limbs allow active lives
Ten states have passed prosthetic parity insurance laws. Sixteen others, including Tennessee, have similar proposed legislation.

"Right now, it's hung up in subcommittee. I don't suspect we'll be able to get it done this year," said Mike Alder, a lobbyist for the Tennessee Orthotics Prosthetics Facilities Inc. "There will be a renewed effort next year."

Alder said the insurance industry is resisting the legislation to control costs, but he argues that providing artificial limbs will be more cost effective in the long run.

"To confine someone to a wheelchair after losing a limb is a sedentary lifestyle," Alder said. "Your health is not going to get better by sitting. People can return to very active lives with prosthetic devices."

Sheets said it isn't known how many people are denied artificial limbs each year.

According to the coalition, there are roughly 1.9 million people with limb loss in the U.S.

Sheets said being denied an artificial limb could have devastating results: People sometimes end up losing their jobs and become confined to wheelchairs.

"They want to be able to do the same things everyone else does," Sheets said. "They want to be able to run around with their kids. They want to drive."

Amputee needs new leg
Dale said these days a rock or a slope could throw him off balance and send him toppling over. He uses a C-Leg, a high-tech prosthesis that uses batteries and a computer chip to better replicate the movements of a real leg. The computer in the leg is malfunctioning and the battery won't stay charged.

"I need a new leg to have a decent way of life," he said.

Dale said his insurance company, BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia, wouldn't pay for a new leg because it's considered experimental.

However, BlueCross BlueShield of West Virginia paid for the exact same prosthesis for Dale eight years ago.

Cynthia Sanders, spokeswoman for BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia, said she couldn't comment on Dale's situation specifically because of privacy issues, but she did say that scientific studies on the advantages of computerized prosthetic devices are limited.

"We will continue to review peer-reviewed medical literature and make changes as evidence warrants," Sanders said.

Sheets said the real issue is insurance companies don't want to pay. A new C-Leg for Dale would cost roughly$45,000.

"That's a ploy being used by insurance companies for the more expensive items," Sheets said. "Medicare has been paying for C-Legs for 10 years. Medicare doesn't cover anything that's experimental."

Dale, 64, said he needs the high-tech leg because he's active. He works 40 hours a week, cuts his own grass and restores old cars in his spare time.

Dale said he has looked into getting his artificial leg fixed, but factory officials said the damage is too costly to repair."I'm not asking for an upgrade," Dale said. "I just want a replacement for what I've got."

Contact Claudia Pinto at 259-8277 or cpinto@tennessean.com.

Maryland Man With Prosthetic Legs Runs Across US

Bionic Knee Research for Amputees

Here is some of the lastest Technology for above knee amputee's. Watch how they go up and down stairs. Quite amazing!

Iraq War Creating Advances in Prosthetics

Paula Francis, AnchorIraq War Creating Advances in Prosthetics
Updated:
March 24, 2008 04:48 PM PDT


Wounded soldiers returning from Iraq are getting bionic replacement parts, and the new hi-tech artificial legs are available in Las Vegas.

Dan Ramsey can relate to soldiers who have lost a limb. His own leg was blown off by a land mine in Vietnam -- an explosion that killed two other soldiers.

He's now an expert on replacements as a designer with Prosthetic Center of Excellence in Las Vegas. He says military demands speed up research and development.

"It pushes technology and gains significant advancements in prosthetics. Particularly now with computers -- microprocessors and things like that," he said.

Ramsey wears an example of the latest technology, the C-Leg Prosthesis. A microprocessor is embedded where the calf would be. The computer sensors aid amputees in walking, turning and bending, by making automatic adjustments.

The U.S. Army has helped expedite progress in getting the C-Leg to market.
"The real world has stairs, irregular terrain, curbs, things like that that you have to negotiate. So all these architectural barriers are much easier to negotiate with the c-leg," he said.

Las Vegas orthopedic surgeon and retired Captain Anthony Serfustini has worked in makeshift operating rooms in Iraq. He's now part of the trauma team at UMC. He says the Iraq War is not the first time that a conflict has sparked new inventions.

"You can go back to World War II and Vietnam, in which these conflicts infused excitement, a lot of work and a lot of designs into newer and better prosthetics for our returning servicemen," said Serfustini.

These new designs ultimately benefit civilians. Some 140,000 amputation surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year. As you might imagine, C-Legs are expensive, costing more than $30,000.

What Are You Looking At?

Born without legs, Kevin Connolly snaps photos of people staring at him -- turning the watchers into the watched.

By KEVIN SITES, WED MAR 19, 5:21 PM PDT



When Kevin Connolly was ten years old his family took him to Disney World, but for some theme park visitors that day, it was Connolly who quickly became the main attraction.
Born without legs but otherwise healthy, Connolly traveled the world, taking pictures of people as they stared at him.
"I remember distinctly being surrounded by Japanese tourists trying to take my photograph without talking to me or asking me," he says from his apartment in Bozeman, Montana. "My dad was right behind me, and I remember him getting pretty frustrated with the whole process, because it was something that was happening every single day."

Born without legs, Connolly was already used to the stares of strangers -- but that moment would help him start to understand that the lens could work in both directions.

On a solo trip to Europe, more than a decade later, he was riding his skateboard down a Vienna street when he felt a man staring at him.
Connolly lifted his camera to his hip, pointed it toward the man and without even looking through the viewfinder, clicked off five or six shots.

Connolly would repeat that action 32,000 more times during his travels, creating a diverse portfolio of individuals from a broad assortment of countries. He posted some of these images online, under the title "The Rolling Exhibition."

What he captured was a paradigm shift, turning the watchers into the watched. In the process he discovered something about them -- and himself.

"While these people have, on the surface, an expression of pity or sadness or curiosity, looking at the legless guy on a skateboard," he says, "at the same time, they're opening themselves up; they're incredibly vulnerable."

For a photographer that kind of image is the Holy Grail. Connolly, from his unique perspective (he's three feet seven inches tall), seems to have found a way to capture it over and over again using himself as his subjects' focal point.

He explains his technique as not baiting people, but inviting them to look.

"If you were someone on the street," he says, "and I was passing you, my eye line would either be straight ahead, down at the ground, or more often, off in the other way with my head turned so that it would give the viewer full permission to stare without the potential of getting caught."

"Patting a legless guy on the head and telling him that he's really inspirational... is probably the last thing you wanna hear when you're trying to seriously work on a photo project." — Kevin Connolly

While gratifying artistically, it's also an unsettling position for the 22-year-old Montana State photography student. Connolly has spent most of his life shrugging off the perhaps well-intentioned, but ultimately dismissive, stereotypical role of the "inspiring" physically-challenged individual.

"That's just people looking for the easy answers," says Connolly. "So patting a legless guy on the head and telling him that he's really inspirational, and it's so amazing how quick and fast he can get around is probably the last thing you wanna hear when you're trying to seriously work on a photo project."

But Connolly isn't normal. In fact, he lives much more adventurously than many of us. With the exception of his missing legs, due to a random birth defect, the rest of his body is fine, all organs intact and fully functional.

A prosthetics manufacturer created a custom body shoe for him that looks like a leather bowl covered on the outside with a rubber tread for traction. Connolly uses the device to protect and cushion his torso during most of his activities.

Growing up, Connolly says his parents didn't coddle him and raised him like any other outdoor-loving Montana family. They took him camping and hiking. Connolly became an avid rock climber and a champion skier who took a silver medal in the X-Games.

With the prize money he won in that contest, he decided to travel alone throughout Europe and Asia. It was on that journey he began shooting the photos that would become the Rolling Exhibition.



Connolly is a champion skier and avid rock climber.
But Connolly learned something else during his photographic odyssey -- something that raised the issue of identity.

Many of the people he met, it seemed, did not wait for him to explain the reason for the absence of his legs. Instead, they automatically supplied their own narrative, one uniquely suited to their own environment or personal sensibilities.

For example, while traveling in New Zealand a woman asked Connolly if he was the victim of a shark attack. In Romania some thought he was a beggar; at a bar in Montana a man bought him a beer and thanked him for his service, believing Connolly was a wounded veteran of the Iraq War.

Connolly says he learns more from people by not correcting their assumptions.

"On the one hand, it's surreal to have that happen to you and to have that projection put upon you," he says. "But on the other hand, it's a great clue as to what's going on inside someone's head."

He's happy, he says, to be their blank slate, if that's what they need from him -- a point he makes in a striking Internet video he made to promote the Rolling Exhibition.

In it, he walks on his hands onto the middle of a stark white backdrop, his face blurred by the glare of a powerful light, which slowly drops in intensity until his face is revealed.

What it also seems to reveal is that he is a man willing, for a moment at least, to be the object of your gaze, to let you look at what he's missing -- as long as you are willing to let him do the same to you.

Kevin Connolly graduates from college in May and says his next photographic journey could include exploring some of the world's conflict zones.

---

-Producers: Didrik Johnck, Robert Padavick
-Video editors: Didrik Johnck, Krysten Peek
-Camera: Didrik Johnck
-Additional video and photographs courtesy Kevin Connolly and Fritz Statler

Future of Prosthetics

Here is an interesting video on Future Prosthetics! We have come a long way!!!

Wrestling notebook: Amputee's efforts earn crowd's hearty support

Saturday, March 1, 2008 2:56 AM
By Jeremy McLaughlin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


NEAL C. LAURON dispatch
Chris Canty, left, of DeSales reacts to losing a 145-pound match to Dustin Fraley of Miami Trace in Division II.

Carter, a quadruple amputee, won his opening match Thursday but lost twice yesterday and was eliminated from the 103-pound Division II tournament. After a 5-3 loss signaled Carter's exit, fans stood and applauded for a full two minutes.

Later, before the evening session, the senior was honored with a video tribute on the scoreboard and got a second, even longer ovation.

"It's been a trip," Carter said. "I'll never forget it. I'll probably brag about it my whole life. I'll probably wake up every morning and remember these last two days and what an adventure it was, all the blood, sweat and tears it took to get to this tournament."

Unpleasant
Pleasant came into the Division III tournament looking to avenge a narrow loss to Troy Christian last year (154-151.5). Through the quarterfinal round, the Spartans were in good shape. Pleasant led Troy Christian 75-70 and both had six semifinalists.

But the evening session was a disaster for the Spartans. They lost five of their semifinal matches, two of them to Troy Christian, and are left with no chance of making up a 46-point deficit. They dropped to third behind Monroeville.

"It was a tough round," coach Doug Short said.

Defending champion Jedd Moore at 152 is Pleasant's only finalist.

Ready for No. 1
West Jefferson senior Jim Householder focused on two goals all season: get to the Division III 119-pound final and wrestle the top-ranked wrestler in the nation.

He'll do both today. Householder won 10-3 in a semifinal against Mike Kovach of Bedford Chanel. He goes against Logan Stieber of Monroeville tonight.

"(Stieber) is the one I've worked for," Householder said. "The last two years I've worked to get to his level, and it's what I've trained for. Win or lose, I know I earned my way to that final."

Get the party started
Central District wrestlers will kick off the first three Division III finals. Spencer Pierce of North Union faces Stieber's younger brother, Hunter, at 103. Tyler Heminger of Northmor goes against another Monroeville wrestler, Cam Tessari, at 112, followed by Householder.

Zach Nelson of Madison Plains will be in the 145 final. Nelson, a 2006 champion, will face Zach Toal of Troy Christian, a 2007 champion.


DeSales heavyweight John Hiles, a projected champion in Division II, lost a quarterfinal match 2-1 to Adam Walls of St. Paris Graham. A stalling call late in the first period that gave Walls a point was the difference.

Hiles rebounded with two consolation wins, including a pin. Two wins today and he would place third.

State of the state
St. Paris Graham has six finalists in Division II and all must win for it to tie the record for individual champions. Cleveland West set the mark more than 50 years ago. St. Paris Graham leads second-place Oak Harbor by 100 points.

Lakewood St. Edward leads in Division I with 119 points. Massillon Perry is second, trailing by 40. Westerville North is fourth with 51.

Individually, Tony Jameson of Austintown-Fitch advanced to the Division I 145 final. He is looking to become Ohio's 16th four-time champion.

kgordon@dispatch.com

jmclaughlin@dispatch.com

Touch Bionics expands in US to meet demand for prosthetic hand

MTB europe
Technology for Healthcare
27 February 2008


Scottish company Touch Bionics, developer of the world’s first commercially available bionic hand, has set up a US subsidiary, Touch Bionics, Inc. to help meet the growing demand for its revolutionary prosthetic hand.


The i-LIMB prosthetic hand

The company opened new headquarters and a development and manufacturing facility in Livingston, Scotland in January this year.

Touch Bionics launched the i-LIMB Hand in July 2007, and the product has now established itself as one of the hottest devices in the world prosthetics market. The company expects that its clinical customers will have fitted more than 100 patients, from all over the world, by the end of February 2008, representing very strong performance in such a specialist field.

“The level of global enquiries since the launch of the i-LIMB Hand has resulted in a very busy six months for Touch Bionics and we are hitting the top end of our expected sales growth,” said Stuart Mead, Touch Bionics CEO. “The response from patients and clinics alike has further convinced us that the market is ready for our product, meaning that this new facility is vitally important to helping us maintain our rapid growth.”

“We are performing well in export markets — 94% of our business is coming through exported product, and the USA is proving to be our biggest market,” added Mead.

Following its commercial launch, global market perception of the i-LIMB Hand has evolved from exciting new technology to a widely accepted clinical option in the space of six months. Touch Bionics has now established relationships with a wide range of clinical companies – from the world’s largest to smaller, independent clinics.


“Having a stronger US presence enables Touch Bionics to better serve its growing network of partner clinics in America, the company’s biggest market,” said Touch Bionics CEO Stuart Mead. “With more US clinics offering the i-LIMB Hand, growing numbers of American amputees will have the option of being fitted with the most advanced prosthetic hand on the market. The fact that we’re at the top end of our sales projections shows there is a ready market for our product.”


More than 70 patients worldwide have been fitted with the hand and the company anticipates reaching the milestone of 100 fitted patients by the end of February 2008.


Jake Wood, CP, FAAOP, sole certified prosthetist and co-owner at Orthotics and Prosthetics Associates, Inc. in Milwaukee, WI said, “I am so appreciative of what they have made available for my patients. Touch Bionics technology allows me to do my job better, providing patients with a solution that enhances and improves their day-to-day lives. Due to the anthropomorphic, dexterity and functional capabilities of the i-LIMB Hand, it’s in a league of its own, technology-wise.


“This is the first time in my 30 years in the prosthetics business that I felt I was truly delivering an arm to the patient,” continued Wood. “I never thought in my lifetime that I would ever see this technology.”


In addition to the developments in the US, Touch Bionics has also now cemented European partnerships with clinics and distributors in Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Romania and the Benelux region, with more global partners signing up in countries such as South Korea, Argentina and Brazil. In the space of just six months, global market perception of the i-LIMB Hand has evolved from exciting new technology to a widely accepted clinical option.

"I Can Still Be a Mother"

Home / Globe / Boston Globe Sunday Magazine {PART 2 of 2}

"I Can Still Be a Mother"
Her limbs gone but her heart strong, Monica Sprague begins the long road back to the life she knew, driven by the desire to be there for the husband who stood by her and the daughters who need her.

Monica Sprague Jorge's daughters Madalyn (left) and Sofia have been her daily inspiration. (Globe Staff / Suzanne Kreiter)
EmailPrint Text size – + By Doug Most
February 17, 2008

THE NURSES CHANGING the dressings on Monica Sprague's arms and legs a few times a day developed a unique routine. Most important was shielding Monica from seeing her own limbs - so they would distract her, ask her to close her eyes, or simply stand in her line of sight. And then they would slowly unwrap the cream-colored gauze slick with Vaseline from the tips of her fingers all the way up past her elbows and from the tips of her toes up past her knees. The limbs were dead, all black and shriveled, hard for anyone to look at, never mind the person whose own body they were attached to, and so once the bandages were off, a fresh coat of Vaseline was applied and fresh gauze delicately wrapped on.
related
{PART 1 of 2} Saving Monica
{PART 2 of 2} 'I Can Still Be a Mother'
Video Monica at home
photos: Part 1 Part 2

"Her hands were the most horrendous I'd ever seen," says Kate Davignon, one of the nurses in MGH's surgical ICU who helped change Monica's bandages. "Her fingers were the size of a child's. They were all shriveled, small and thin. They were black through and through, the nails and the skin."
The nurses were successful at protecting Monica from seeing her wounds, until one day when she stopped Davignon.
"I want to see," Monica said.
It was early in September 2007. Barely one month ago, Monica had given birth to a beautiful daughter, her second, and had been so close to going home healthy to her apartment in Ayer and starting her new life with her fiance, Tony Jorge, their newborn, Sofia Maria, and Madalyn, her bubbly and precocious 9-year-old from her first marriage. But that all seemed so long ago. Now Monica, a passionate, spry, and outgoing 35-year-old woman with a perpetual smile, was slowly accepting the hard truth that a rare and mysterious flesh-eating bacteria had nearly killed her in the hours and days after her delivery at Emerson Hospital in Concord and that she was alive only because of the fast and aggressive care she got from trauma surgeons at Mass. General.
But even they were not miracle workers. The bacteria were gone from her body, but not before doing irreparable and devastating damage. The only way she was going to live, the only way she was ever going home again was if she let doctors amputate both her arms and both her legs. Those surgeries were now days away, and Davignon, all of 28 and an MGH nurse for five years, had hoped to make it to the operations without Monica ever glimpsing her dead limbs. But Monica had insisted.
"Well, they're really pretty bad," Davignon replied when Monica said she wanted to look. "I'm not sure if you want to see."
"No, I want to see. I want to know what I have to work with."Continued...

VIDEO REPORT: Party with a Purpose

Saturday, Feb 09, 2008 - 07:33 PM
BY Nicki Mayo TriCities.comSend e-mail

To View Video click : http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/news.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2008-02-09-0013.html

A Bristol, Tennessee girl celebrates her tenth birthday by donating money to charity. Tricities.com’s Nicki Mayo reports on the party with a purpose.
Click monitor to the right to view video report.

“Most kids they like to get presents and they like to keep them,” said Alfred Cole. “It really makes me proud to know that she wants to do this for someone else,” adds the proud grandfather.

Kingsport Jericho Shriner, Alfred Cole is glowing over his granddaughter’s decision to donate money to the Jericho Shrine Orthopedic Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina.

“Last year I gave my toys away and this year I’m giving money away to Shriners Orthopedic,” said Ariana Hill.

The Avoca Elementary school student celebrated her birthday with a party with a purpose at the Sullivan County Volunteer Fire Department Saturday afternoon. Ariana says she doesn’t want to waste her birthday wishes on toy’s she’ll never play use.

“I get toy’s I never play with them. Just when I first get them I do. Then I forget about them,” said Hill.

Her friends had a ball playing with the fire engines and equipment. The party gave the children a chance to have fun and help fellow children in need.

“It felt really good because whenever you think that you’re helping somebody you’re giving it to one person, just think that you’re giving it to millions of people,” said partygoer Jessica Green.

Ariana hopes the money will go to help buy toys and clothes for the children at Shriners Hospital.

To Donate to Ariana’s Fund
-Make a check out to Jericho Shrine
- Write “Ariana” in the memo line.
-Mail or drop it off to/at:
Kingsport Jericho Shrine
1100 Sam Walton Drive
P.O. Box 5548
Kingsport, Tennessee
Zip Code 37663
http://www.webruler.com/shriners/jericho.htm

Click link to see the Jericho Shrine Orthopedic Hospital page: http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Greenville/

Source of inspiration: Injured soldier produces Giant emotions - NFL

PHOENIX -- To date, the United States has 3,940 confirmed deaths in Iraq. Back in May, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, a battalion leader, very nearly found himself on that list. An IED (improvised explosive device) thoroughly shattered his body. Only 70 pints of blood, the exceptional field work of men in his 1st Infantry Division and the skill of doctors saved his life.
His legs weren't so fortunate.
The New York Giants, however, consider themselves blessed to have made this double-amputee's acquaintance. They credit Gadson, who played football at Army with New York wide receivers coach Mike Sullivan, with helping to salvage their season and making it something approaching superb. His stirring pregame speeches and his living example of courage and perseverance have inspired them all the way to Super Bowl XLII.
ESPN's Sunday Countdown
Check out Rachel Nichols' report, on Super Bowl Sunday, featuring U.S. Army Lt. Col. Greg Gadson's inspirational impact on the Giants. Sunday Countdown, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN
"I think sometimes I'm given a little too much credit for, quote, being inspirational," Gadson said on Monday in an interview at Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Washington. "I may be, and if people take inspiration from that I'm glad and I'm grateful. But at the same time, I think I'm just trying to fight, and I'm trying to survive." For more of the story click here.

Double amputee walks again due to Bluetooth

From Larry ShaughnessyCNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq on October 15, 2006. He has 32 pins in his hip and a 6-inch screw holding his pelvis together.

Joshua Bleill, pictured here with his girlfriend, is walking again with the aid of prosthetics outfitted with Bluetooth.

Now, he's starting to walk again with the help of prosthetic legs outfitted with Bluetooth technology more commonly associated with hands-free cell phones.

"They're the latest and greatest," Bleill said, referring to his groundbreaking artificial legs.
Bleill, 30, is one of two Iraq war veterans, both double leg amputees, to use the Bluetooth prosthetics. Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion.

Bleill's set of prosthetics have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The Bluetooth device on each leg tells the other leg what it's doing, how it's moving, whether walking, standing or climbing steps, for example.

"They mimic each other, so for stride length, for amount of force coming up, going uphill, downhill and such, they can vary speed and then to stop them again," Bleill told CNN from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he's undergoing rehab.

"I will put resistance with my own thigh muscles to slow them down, so I can stop walking, which is always nice." Watch Bleill demonstrate his legs »

Bluetooth is the name for short-range wireless technology that can connect computers to printers, MP3 players to speakers and -- perhaps the most well-known use -- cell phones to ear pieces.

Older models of computer-controlled legs have to be "programmed" via wire by laptop computers before the amputee can use them. Those legs required more movement from the amputee's remaining thigh muscle to generate motion in the prosthetic leg.

Because of built-in motors, the Bluetooth legs allow Bleill to walk longer before he tires.
"We've compared walking several laps in both sets of legs and one, your legs come out burning and tired and these, you know, you sometimes are not even breaking a sweat yet."

Bleill says the technology also means he spends less time in a wheelchair. The Marine uses canes to walk with them. He's hoping to get to the point where he can use one cane regularly, and eventually lose the cane altogether.

"I can walk without canes, but it's not real pretty," he said.

This new generation of prosthetic technology was originally conceived to help amputees who had lost only one leg. But it's working for Bleill and Army Lt.Col. Gregory Gadson, who is also using the Bluetooth devices in his legs.

What they are experiencing will help future amputees.

"We are the first ever to try this, so it's learning day-to-day. The [prosthetics] company comes down on a regular basis and checks in with us," Bleill said.

Gadson, a former linebacker at West Point, said they are breaking new ground for amputees. "I think we are kind of pioneering and hopefully blazing a trail for others to try the technology also," he said.

But the technology is not without some problems.

"It's only going to react to how I move," Bleill said. "Unfortunately, sometimes I don't know those reactions, I don't know what I'm doing to make it react. So sometimes the leg kicks harder than I want it to, or farther, and then I start perpetuating, and I start moving faster than I really want to."

Aside from the Bluetooth technology, Bleill's legs have one other thing in common with a cell phone. They need to be charged overnight. Currently, there are no spare batteries available.
What are his long-range plans?

He just wants to make it back to his home state of Indiana and work for a charity or even help the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.
"They do a lot for the community," he said.
He added he simply wants "to give back."
"To, you know, just carry on a normal life. Go home, see my girlfriend, see my family."

New Jersey Law Covers Amputees' Access to Orthotics and Prosthetics

Patrick Totty21 January 2008
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New Jersey has enacted a law guaranteeing access by amputees to comprehensive health insurance coverage for orthotic and prosthetic care. The new law mandates that health insurance plans offer coverage for orthotic and prosthetic care without caps and co-pays that restrict access to prescribed devices.
The bill will help individuals who have undergone amputation of an arm, hand, leg or foot, as well as children born without limbs or differently formed limbs.
The state joins California, Colorado, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Rhode Island in guaranteeing access to prosthetic care.
Editor's Note: More informally called braces and splints, orthotics are appliances or apparatuses used to support, align, prevent or correct deformities or improve the function of limbs.

Amputee sprinter ruled ineligible for Olympics

Associated Press
Updated: January 14, 2008, 1:45 PM ESTMONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) - All his life, Oscar Pistorius has had to battle adversity. Competing in the Beijing Olympics is a challenge the double-amputee runner may not be able to overcome.

The IAAF ruled Monday that the South African is ineligible to compete in Beijing — or any other sanctioned able-bodied competitions — because his "Cheetah" racing blades are considered "technical aids" which give him a clear competitive advantage.

The IAAF ruled on Monday that Oscar Pistorius cannot participate in the Beijing Olympics. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press)

"An athlete using this prosthetic blade has a demonstrable mechanical advantage (more than 30 percent) when compared to someone not using the blade," the IAAF said.

The 21-year-old Pistorius had long learned not to consider his artificial legs a hindrance, even refusing to park his car in a spot for disabled people. Now the sport he learned to love as a teenager has thrown up a huge obstacle, just as he was making his name among the world's able-bodied athletes.

"That's a huge blow," said Pistorius' manager, Peet Van Zyl. "He has been competing in South African able-bodied competition for the past three years. At this stage it looks like he is out of any able-bodied event."

Van Zyl spoke briefly with Pistorius, saying he "could hear from his voice that he is disappointed."

Pistorius said last week he would appeal "to the highest levels" if the ruling went against him. He could take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The International Olympic Committee said it "respects" the IAAF decision.

"This decision has nothing to do with Oscar Pistorius' athletic merits. What is important is to ensure fair competition," the IOC said in a statement.

South Africa's national athletics federation feels bound by the IAAF rules and must keep Pistorius out of some national races he has entered for several years.

"It rules him out with immediate effect. We use the IAAF rule book," South Africa federation president Leonard Chuene said. "If we had our rules and our own competition it would be easier. It is a huge problem." Pistorius finished second in the 400 meters at the South African National Championships last year against able-bodied runners.

"It's unfortunate because he could have boosted team athletics at the Olympics," Chuene said.

The IAAF made its decision based on a study from German Professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who found several indicators the Cheetah blades provided an unfair edge.

The federation said Pistorius had been allowed to compete in some able-bodied events until now because his case was so unique that such artificial protheses had not been properly studied.

"We did not have the science," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said. "Now we have the science."

No one directly questioned the findings of Brueggemann. The producer of Pistorius' Cheetahs and the International Paralympic Committee said, though, that more tests should be undertaken before such a decision could be taken.

Considering the Olympics open less than seven months from now and that he still needs to run a qualifying time without having the right to compete in IAAF events further reduces the possibilities for Pistorius.

The ruling does not affect his eligibility for Paralympic events, in which he was a gold medalist in Athens in 2004.

The runner worked with Brueggemann in Cologne for two days of testing in November to learn to what extent the j-shaped carbon-fiber extensions to his amputated legs differed from the legs of fully-abled runners.

Brueggemann found that Pistorius was able to run at the same speed as able-bodied runners on about a quarter less energy. He found that once the runners hit a certain stride, athletes with artificial limbs needed less additional energy than other athletes.

The professor found that the returned energy "from the prosthetic blade is close to three times higher than with the human ankle joint in maximum sprinting."

The IAAF adopted a rule last summer prohibiting the use of any "technical aids" deemed to give an athlete an advantage over another.

Pistorius has set world records in the 100, 200 and 400 in Paralympic events.

Pistorius was born without fibulas — the long, thin outer bone between the knee and ankle — and was 11 months old when his legs were amputated below the knee.

He began running competitively four years ago to treat a rugby injury, and nine months later won the 200 meters at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

Pistorius competed in the 400 at two international-level able-bodied meets in 2007. He finished second in a B race in 46.90 seconds at the Golden League meet in Rome on July 13 and, two days later, was disqualified for running out of his lane in Sheffield, England.

1/7/2008 9:03:59 AM
By Ben Pherson

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

At night, when Ryan Kocer dreams, he has two legs.

For most people, that's a given. But for Kocer, it's not reality.

Kocer, a senior at Wagner High School in South Dakota, lost his left leg after an August accident on his family's farm.

Kocer's legs were pinned between a truck and a grain bin. Doctors initially feared Kocer would lose both legs. They managed to save his right leg, but were forced to amputate his left leg just below the knee.

Prior to the accident, Kocer wasn't an average teenager. And he still isn't.

Kocer is a top-ranked three-time state wrestling champion in South Dakota, and he was his high school's star running back and linebacker. In fact, his high school football team had already played -- and won -- its first game of the season when Kocer's accident occurred.

An average teen likely would have gone into deep depression and never participated in varsity athletics again. But remember, Kocer's no average teen.

He skipped the depression and decided he wasn't done with athletics.

Kocer, minus one leg, made his return to the wrestling mat on Friday at The Clash National Wrestling Duals at UCR Regional Sports Center.

Kocer had been in the Wagner wrestling room all season, riding a bike and working himself back into shape. But until a week ago, he had not participated in live wrestling. He rejoined full practices last week and made a triumphant return to competition Friday.

Wrestlers are not allowed to use prosthetics, so Kocer was forced to remove his prosthetic leg before his matches Friday.

With his mom near tears on the edge of the mat, Kocer crawled out to meet his first opponent of the afternoon session. Starting from a down position, Kocer worked his way through that match, winning a close decision and receiving a standing ovation from much of the crowd focused on that mat.

"It felt good to get out there. It was nice to feel like things are starting to go my way," Kocer said.

Kocer won another decision in his only other match of the day. He said he wasn't nearly as nervous the second time around.

"It was much easier. I felt so much more relaxed," Kocer said.

Wagner wrestling coach Ernie Valentine said he never doubted Kocer would rejoin the team.

"It wasn't a matter if he would be back, it was a matter of what capacity would he be back," Valentine said. "Ryan is the kind of kid who when he says he's going to do something, he's going to do it. He told me from Day 1 that he'd be back, so I knew he'd be back."

Kocer said the toughest part about jumping back into the sport he loves was the conditioning. He was exhausted after his first match, resting on the mat near his team's bench long after his match ended.

"The only way to get into wrestling shape is to actually get out there and wrestle, so I'm behind in that area," he said.

Kocer inspired many wrestlers at UCR Regional Sports Center on Friday.

Admirers took the time to shake his hand and offer congratulations throughout the day.

"Just having him in the room, as our captain, as our leader, that's been pretty (special)," Valentine said. "Today was great, but having him in the room has been the biggest thing."

Phantom Pain and How to Deal With It....

Phantom Pain without Medication

Despite its "ghostly" connotation, phantom sensation is most certainly a realistic, tangible event experienced by millions of amputees world wide.
Whilst the debate over what causes phantom pain continue, the debate often overshadows the bottom line: Amputees are in pain because of it.

Phantom sensation is usually experienced by most amputees at one time or another. Some of us are blessed with very little exposure to the "unpleasantries" of phantom sensation, some experience severe pain on a daily basis.

Phantom sensation is not just the feeling of having a limb when no limb is present (which usually goes away). It is a term used for any sensation or pain originating from a residual (stump) limb.

Phantom sensation can range from tingling sensations to severe sharp, stabbing pain that can only be controlled via professional pain management.

Here are some tips on dealing with phantom sensation and pain.

Phantom Pain Relief Without Medication
(Condensed from The Christian Science Monitor)

Listed below are ways that members of Lower Extremity Amputees providing Support (LEAPS) of Kansas have found helpful in relieving phantom pain.
These methods don't always work, of course, and what works for one person may not work for another. Remember, check with your doctor if you have any questions before trying these methods.

1. Wrap your stump in a warm, soft fabric, such as a towel. The warmth will sometimes increase circulation. Poor circulation is thought to be one cause of phantom pain.
2. Mentally exercise the limb that is not there in the area that is painful.
3. Mentally relax the missing limb and your stump.
4. Do some mild overall exercise to increase circulation.
5. Exercise the stump.
6. Tighten the muscles in the stump, then release them slowly.
7. Put ace wrap or shrinker sock on. If you have your prosthesis, put it on and take a short walk.
8. If you have pain with the prosthesis on, take it and the prosthetic sock off and put it back on after a few minutes. Sometimes the stump is being pinched and changing the way it is on will relieve the pressure on that nerve.
9. Change positions. If you are sitting, move around in your chair, or stand up to let the blood get down into your stump.
10. Soak in a warm bath or use a shower message or whirlpool on your stump. A hot tub is reported to do wonders.
11. Massage your stump with your hands or better yet have someone else message it while you try to relax your entire body.
12. Keep a diary of when pain is most severe. This can help you and your doctor identify recurring causes.
13. Wrap stump in a heating pad.
Some people have found help through self-hypnosis, biofeedback and chiropractic. If you have not found relief through any home remedies and the pain is not being controlled through normal medication, a pain center should be considered.

Other methods of dealing with Phantom Sensation

by Claude Poumerol
(former World Record Holder (88-95) Womens BK 100 meter sprint)
In 1964, at the age of 16, I was the youngest member ever on the French Olympic track team. All my life I had loved to run, play games, chase friends and fly like the wind. To train, secretly at night, I had to jump the wall that separated the Catholic girl's boarding school from the boy's school next door. They had the only track!

The trial to qualify for the team were held in Paris. When I lined up to run, I didn't even have the appropriate spikes. A kind runner lent me her spare pair. Coaches and of officials were wondering who this scrawny kid was. They found out 100 meters later. I was not only the scrawniest, I was the fastest! I was going to the Olympics Games in Tokyo.

On a beautiful Sunday, two weeks before leaving for the Games, I asked my father to take me for a drive to enjoy the freedom and excitement I felt because my dream had come true. It was not to be. A drunk driver suddenly came around a corner, head on. When I woke from a coma three months later I learned I might never walk again. And that my father had been killed.

I did learn to walk again with the aid of crutches then a cane. After graduating from La Sorbonne, I came to Canada, married and had two children.

In 1985 cancer overtook my left leg. Several amputations followed starting at the ankle and ending just below the knee. It was at the time Steve Fonyo was running across Canada. He inspired me, as had earlier another young amputee I had met, Terry Fox, and then later another found another friend in Rick Hansen. All three inspired me to pursue my ill-fated running career interrupted twenty-one years before.

Three months after the last operation I challenged the Mayor of Nanaimo, British Columbia, where I was living at the time, to a marathon run to raise money for cancer research. Together we raised $20,000. To top it all I ran the final miles into Victoria with Steve Fonyo.

For me the rest is history. Three years of intensive training with able-bodied athletes in Calgary and world class competition culminated in a Gold and silver medal in the 100 and 200 meter sprints at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, Korea. From 1988 to l995 I held the world record in the 100 meter event and still have the world record in the 200 meter event. My 1964 dream had finally come true!

But this type of intensive training. (read wear-and-tear on my stump and body), did not come without a price. A price in pain.

After Seoul it was time to get on with making a living as a motivational speaker and as I was to learn, living in pain. When you train at a high level you expect some aches and pains, but through repetition you don't notice that much, or ignore the pain for the ultimate goal. Not so in daily living.

I began to experience phantom limb pain much more frequently than before. My usual remedy was to transfer the pain to the other foot by applying equal or more pain by manually squeezing the other foot until relief came. This would work at home, but imagine me taking off my shoe and squeezing my foot in public

One day in early 1994 on a visit to my prosthetist, Tony van der Waarde, I was venting my frustrations on not being able to deal more effectively with the phantom pain better and earlier. He told me about a new alternative pain relief system called Farabloc.

Tony had a sample of Farabloc which looks and feels like an ordinary piece of linen but contains extremely thin steel fibres. The sample he gave me was about the size of a large handkerchief. I took it home and upon my first hint of phantom pain I wrapped it around my stump. Lo and behold the pain was caught in the bud! I didn't need to squeeze and I didn't have to take a pain-killer pill!

Shortly after that I met the inventor of Farabloc, Frieder- Kempe. He explained to me how Farabloc through its shielding effect protects damaged nerve endings. It stimulates blood circulation and aids muscle relaxation and can be applied for muscle strain and some arthritic pains. A seamless stump sock of Farabloc was made for me so I could wear it full time or whenever an attack of phantom pain announced itself.

Interestingly, I've noticed that since I received the sock, even though I don t wear it all the time, the frequency of phantom pain has diminished.

Recently I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, an incurable disease that causes severe pain in the joints plus daily exhaustion. This unfortunate development has been attributed to the strain of extreme over exertion in my training for the sprint events. Some other complications have also contributed to the onset of Fibromyalgia.

Medication has been prescribed. To add to that, I'll be using a larger blanket of Farabloc on my shoulders and back, where most of the pain is centred.

I'll be the first to let you know the results!

Claude Poumerol
Motivational Speaker
Gold and Silver Medal Winner
1988 Seoul Paralympics

She without arm, he without leg - ballet - Hand in Hand

I love this video and testimonial to living life with a purpose!

History to Future in Prosthetics!

Here is a short video sharing the origins of prosthetics to the future, Enjoy!