Participation in Policy Forum and Advocacy in Limb Loss

While the purpose of our jobs is to provide orthotic and prosthetic devices to our patients, there are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes to make that happen.  This includes everything from coordinating insurance benefits for device coverage to custom fabrication of the devices.  We are in a fairly small, unknown field to the rest of the world, so in order to ensure that we can continue to treat patients in our communities with the best care, we need to ensure that the regulations from the government will allow us to do so.  This means advocating to Congress on behalf of our staff, patients, and the larger community.

Each year, the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA) organizes a Policy Forum.  This event aims to create an organized effort for our voices to be heard in Congress.  Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this annual conference in Washington, DC, was attended by individuals across the country, where they would learn about proposed legislative efforts at the federal level to support orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) care.  The first day of the forum was spent teaching individuals about the different legislative issues, proposed/introduced bills, and how to lobby members of Congress.  The second day was spent on the Hill in Washington DC, meeting with members of Congress and their staffers, urging them to support the bills and by extension, their O&P constituents. 

This year was Sheryl N Sachs’ (CPO) 5th year participating in the Policy Forum.  Sheryl initially became interested in O&P policy in 2015.  At that time, Medicare contractors had proposed substantial changes to their policy, which would significantly limit prosthetic patients’ access to care.  The O&P field came together and was able to fight against the proposal, and ultimately prevented it from passing.  Seeing how important policy was, Sheryl attended her first policy forum in 2016, and has been active in both our company, as well as the community, to be a voice for our patients.

This past April, AOPA’s Policy Forum was held virtually, and Sheryl was joined by both Amy Smith (Executive Assistant) and Marlies Berli Cabel, CPO, in participating.  During the two weeks of the Forum, they met with staffers for both of Maryland’s US Senators (Senator Cardin and Senator Van Hollen), and Maryland’s US Representatives (Representative Trone, Representative Sarbanes, and Representative Ruppersberger), to urge them to support the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act. 

We are very excited to announce that as a result of one of our meetings, Representative Dutch Ruppersberger has signed on as a co-sponsor for the bill!  We sincerely thank the Congressman for his support of our patients, to ensure that they have access to appropriate orthotic and prosthetic care.  We hope that the rest of our senators and representatives will follow his lead.

So what can we learn from this?  Everyone can be an advocate! And we still have a lot of work to do.  We are a small field, but all of our voices together can be very powerful.  To learn more about the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act, please click here.  It isn’t too late to reach out to your own representatives and ask for their support! For more information, please visit the AOPA action center, here. Add your voice!

Sheryl N Sachs, CPO

Project Lead the Way

Dankmeyer is committed to providing service to our communities in several ways. Our practitioners and technical staff members have become mentors to local high school students, who participate in STEM programs and complete research projects in the field of orthotics and prosthetics. This year, Mary Reedy, CP and Daniel Weiser, Resident Orthotist/Prosthetist had the pleasure of mentoring two incredible students in the Cecil County School of Technology Project Lead the Way program. Please read about their projects and experiences. We wish them success in their future!

My name is Emily Custer, I will be graduating from Rising Sun High School in June of 2021. I plan to attend Cecil College in the Fall of 2021 where I will be majoring in Biological Sciences. During this uncertain time, conducting a capstone project has been difficult as well as very rewarding. I chose this capstone project due to my personal experience with Drop Wrist.

The main purpose of this capstone project was to engineer an orthotic to help increase muscle mass in patients with radial nerve palsy that experienced a drop wrist with little to no hand function. The data showed significant trends, the prototype group increases the percent of muscle mass half as much as the control group. The statistical test performed on the data was known as a dependent t-test. This test concluded that the data results rejected the null hypothesis. If this experiment were conducted again, the lead engineer would improve my prototype by picking different types of material to see if the durability would be better the next time around, as well as maybe seeing if the wrist diameter increases more with different material.

One source of error that impacted the project was the time constraint due to not having enough data to run an accurate statistical analysis. Another source of error that impacted the project could be the materials used were not as durable as they could have been. Over all, this capstone project displays significant evidence, the drop wrist orthotic prototype significantly increased the percentage of muscle mass.

My name is Susanna Kress and I am a senior at both Elkton High School and Cecil County School of Technology. This fall I will be attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a biomed track. 

Over the past year I have been working on my capstone project and I had the pleasure of having Mrs. Mary Reedy as my mentor. My project was to create a lower limb prosthetic device that can function for both walking and competitive swimming. I came up with this idea because my friend lost her leg and it made swimming a challenge for her. Seeing her take the prosthetic device off, swim, and then put it back on made me realize how much of a struggle she goes through every day. I wanted to try and make at least one part of her day as normal as possible. 

To fix that problem I ran a couple of tests to figure out what material would work best for the device. After doing tensile strength and water reaction tests I found that polypropylene and AMB resin were the two best materials for this device. I also came up with a design that allows for quick changing from the walking mode to swimming mode. All you have to do is pop out the ankle/shin portion out of the foot and there is another hole in the foot at an angle that is at the right angle for plantar flexion. This way allows for the amputee to do 3 out of the 4 swimming strokes.

While I was not able to make a real prosthetic, I was able to make a prototype that we printed out on a 3D printer. My main goal was for my friend to be able to walk to the pool, get in the water, and then change the mode all in seconds. With this design, I believe I was able to complete that goal.

SUCCESS!!! AMPUTEE CYCLING CLINIC 4/11/2021

DC Cycling Clinic – April 11, 2021- Rock Creek Park, Silver City, MD

 “Every accomplishment begins with the word TRY”.  Author unknown

The rain tried to dampen our spirits Sunday at Rock Creek, but as I got out of the car, I watched the clouds start to part. Then the sun came out and truly shined on all that was there. Rock Creek Park is located in the beautiful area of Silver Spring, just outside DC. After a very successful first event last year, Katie Savage got to work and planned for this year’s outing. Katie is an above the knee amputee and cyclist. Both Rebecca Frost, CPO and I jumped in again this year to help Katie organize and set up. So many volunteers converged on this beautiful park to join with the 30 participants. Registration for the free event filled so quickly that a call for additional volunteers went out early!

Participants with all levels of limb difference made a self-commitment to “TRY” something new by coming to this event. Due to continuing COVID-19 restrictions, all were masked. The opening ceremony started with each participant sharing their limb loss story and what motivated each of them to become greater. These stories moved all to tears in the crowd. It certainly makes me take inventory of what and who is in my life, and how truly lucky we all are. Everett Lott, Interim Director of Transportation for DC, made the declaration that, “April is officially Limb Loss Recognition Month.” Mr. Lott speak to each participant after listening to all the introductions. Annually, the Amputee Coalition promotes April as Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month, with activities focused on advocacy in DC, education events, Show Your Mettle Day (prosthesis wearers post pictures of themselves in their prostheses) and participation events held all over the country for those with limb loss and limb difference.

Next came the pairing of the participants with Physical Therapy volunteers, PT interns and cycling specialists who were there to provide one on one support. They went over the type of bike each attendee had requested on their registration form. During the event, participants had the opportunity to ride several types of bikes; there were stationary bikes, recumbent bikes, and the traditional mountain bike. Trek of Rockville provided the bikes, helmets and beautiful swag bags to each participant. The other vendors that came participated in the event by sharing their company information, as well as great gifts and snacks for all. I had prepared some goody snack bags from Dankmeyer!

The sunshine and warmth filled our afternoon. You were able to see everyone trying their bikes, and hear all the sounds of laughter and cheering for each other as they rode.  In those moments, each one knew they had conquered their fears and doubts. Each participate accomplished their goals by trying! For myself, I tried a mountain bike and was able to ride on some of the trails in the park.

Events like these are very hard to put together and plan. The weather tried to cancel our day but the sun won out on that! We had a breeze and the balloons looked like they could carry us away. There were a few little glitzes, but we are learning and evolving as we grow. Katie’s bravery and committment to organize and execute these two events has produced amazing results. Last year there were 13 riders. This year we had to cut off the number at 30. The participants all had an amazing time. We are already planning for next year’s event and hopefully the weather will be kind to us again, and maybe we won’t have to be masked!

• Dawn Miranda, Dankmeyer, Inc. (devoted to patient advocacy and proud supporter of this event!)

NEW AMPUTEE CYCLING CLINIC 4/11/2021

Plan now to join us on Sunday April 11, 2021 when we will have the opportunity to participate once again in a local amputee cycling clinic in DC. The event is the second event organized by Katie Savage, a young woman with an above knee amputation who found a sense of mobility and liberation when learning to ride a bike. The first event was held In October of 2020. Now it is time for a second event! With the support from local bike shops in the DC area, this is a 100% free opportunity for other people with amputations to safely explore their interest in biking for exercise and mobility, in hopes of benefitting their physical and mental health.

When: Sunday, April 11, 2021

Where: Behind Rock Creek Park Tennis Center

4850 Colorado Ave NW, Washington, DC 20011

Time: 9:00 am - 11:00 am. Registration begins at 8:30am. Participants must register in advance. While free, space is limited. Your safety is important. If you don’t have a bike, please register before 3/5 so you can reserve one. Participants must wear a mask and social distancing measures will be in effect. Please contact 202-827-6647 or email amputeecyclingdc@gmail.com to sign up or ask questions.

• Bring your own bike, or try a bike!

• Spend one-on-one time with a local bike expert, prosthetist, or physical therapist discovering and working on your goals, improving your cycling skills, getting tips and/or adjustments.

• Learn about road safety and how to adapt to cycling as an amputee!

• Explore different prosthetic technologies that are available for biking!

• This event is open for ALL amputees of ALL gages! No experience is necessary!

Last time, Dankmeyer’s Rebecca (Becca) Frost, CP and Dawn Miranda, Prosthetist Assistant, attended the event. Becca is very active in a full range of adaptive sports, and Dawn was anxious to refine her cycling skills. Dawn joined twelve other persons with amputations and each was paired with an experienced cyclist, physical therapist, and prosthetist. Many learned to ride an upright bike for the first time! Others had the opportunity to try recumbent bikes when stand up bikes proved to be too challenging to ride without assistance. A few were experienced riders and were able to improve their riding with the expertise and innovation of local volunteers, while also providing their own valuable experience and technique to newer cyclists. 

This very successful first time event was managed on a beautiful Sunday, with a large, airy, outdoor meeting space, mask-wearing, and social distancing. People of all ages, abilities, experience levels, and amputation levels were brought together as a community of people with one common goal- MOBILITY FOR ALL! LET’S DO IT AGAIN!

Dankmeyer Family Supports the Maryland Food Bank and Toys for Tots

The holiday season is well upon us.  Perhaps this year more than ever, the staff at Dankmeyer takes a moment to pause and thank everyone for their support of each other over these challenging months.  We want to build on that momentum and use these next few months as a way for our efforts to expand beyond the walls of our office and our patient care.  Along those lines, our office team is participating in two different activities through the end of the year.

1)      Food Drive in support of the Maryland Food Bank:  Food scarcity has become real to even more of our neighbors due to the pandemic’s changes in the economy.  We are collecting canned goods and non-perishable food items for the Maryland Food Bank.  Boxes are set up at each office location. We will do our first drop-off before Thanksgiving and then continue to collect food through Christmas for a second drop off.  

2)      Toys for Tots: Many families are already worrying about gifts for their children during the holidays.  Toys for Tots collects toys for children in need, and then delivers them across the country.  This year, they are not only having a drive to drop off toys, but they are also holding a virtual drive with a virtual drop-off box!  Specific information regarding the virtual toy drive and how to participate  can be found here. 

Thank you to Marlies Beerli-Cabell, CPO, and her family for spicing up and decorating boxes for the Linthicum office! 

Marlies herself started volunteering on behalf of the Maryland Food Bank in September as part of a program called the Middle Mile. She registered to pick up food from restaurants, retailers, hotels and caterers to bring to a nearby food pantry, pantry or soup kitchen. If you want more information, you can see Marlies’ post on her Facebook page by clicking here. Marlies is going the extra mile!

View fullsize