Patient Stories: Jeremy Funk

Levi and I met in June of 2015 at Fidos for Freedom, a service-dog training organization in Laurel, Maryland.  (Fidos trains dogs for people with low mobility, for people with impaired hearing, and for veterans with PTSD.)  Levi is a three-year-old red-fox Labrador Retriever. It felt as though he chose me, because before we were matched with each other, even when he was working with other clients, he would watch me from across the room.  As we work together, he is learning to help me by fetching items I've dropped, and we are working to see if he could help me with my balance as I walk.  He also knows how to brace to help me stand up when I fall.  I work as a copy editor at home, and one of my favorite moments of the day happens as my computer warms up in the morning; Levi hops up on the futon with me and tries to lick my face as I pet him.  Eventually, he lies down and puts his head in my lap: it's a great way to start my work day.  Levi is a wonderful partner. 

Here are some pictures of Levi at work, at rest, and at play with his housemate Emma.

If you are interested in more information about Fidos for Freedom, you can click here.

If you are interested in more information about Labrador Retrievers, you can click here.

 

Patient Stories: ERIC FLYNN

Eric Flynn is a very active eleven year old, like most boys his age. This sixth grader loves to fish, play baseball, and ski - as just a few of his athletic endeavours.   Eric has previously shared pictures of some of his legs as shown here - both clean and after a muddy event!  The mud can be hosed off, leaving Eric ready for the next sporting event. And what will that be?

 

It won't be long before it is spring, and spring training starts and baseball will be on everyone's mind.  But as recently as the beginning of February, Eric was still thinking about skiing.  Let's take a look at his skis.  Last year, Eric's skis started as standard size appropriate skis and bindings.  Eric's parents, Eric Sr. and Darnell, purchased "feet" which Dankmeyer then modified. Adapters for the prostheses were installed in order to connect the prostheses to the skis.  

You can see Eric here trying on the finished product before hitting the slopes. Last year Eric was able to ski using outriggers.  This year, he has progressed to skiing with standard poles.  This video shows how well Eric is negotiating the terrain. Nice Job, Eric!  Looks like you are having fun!

Patient Stories: Kareem Shaya Revisit

Editor's Note: Kareem Shaya was our very fist patient story over two years ago when we first launched our website.  We thought it might be nice to revisit his message.  

While experimenting with my nutrition a few years ago, I learned about the paleo diet. And you can't read about paleo for long before you stumble across crossfit.

Crossfit's intensity and class-based structure were interesting, and in some ways it seemed like the last thing I hadn't tried. I'd dabbled in running but never liked it, and going to the gym to work out by myself was an impossible habit to sustain. I spent months doing basic bodyweight exercises at home before I felt well-versed enough to sign up at my local crossfit gym.

The first few months of classes were bumpy. But they're bumpy for everyone. I'd assumed that as an amputee I'd have to make a lot of adjustments, but in those months I found that the closer I stuck to the form that everyone else was using on squats, cleans, kettlebell swings, and everything else, the better my results. Going once a week turned into twice a week, then three times, then four times and five.

It's been 18 months since I started. I've been amazed with the results. In the gym, yes, but more so outside the gym, in my day-to-day. Posture, hip strength, cardiorespiratory capacity, general physical awareness, and all the other things that important for walking around on a prosthesis all day.

But there's nothing magical about crossfit specifically. I spent years dabbling with workout programs — running, aerobics, weight machines, etc. — and never liked any of them, and I thought that meant I just didn't like exercise. But as the saying goes, the best workout is the one you do. So I'm hoping an amputee will see these videos and just do something. Crossfit, jogging, jiu-jitsu, yoga, ten sit-ups a day, it doesn't matter. It's so common to fret so much about doing the best thing that you end up not doing anything. Especially when you have to figure out how your prosthesis will affect things. But as it turns out, that's the easy part.

Check out Kareem at his local Crossfit gym:

Patient Stories: Richard "Dick" Devers

Last month, October 2016, Richard “Dick” Devers, Sr. and his wife Lynn celebrated forty-one years of marriage – a pretty significant anniversary in anyone’s book.  This month, November 2016, Dick marks another milestone - the first anniversary of his amputation.  Somehow, that seems less celebratory, but Dick says, "I've come a long way, baby”, and he celebrates everything he has accomplished in the last year.

Looking back, Dick recalls how suddenly and unexpectedly he became an amputee.  An avid do-it-yourselfer (this guy built his own house!), he was doing some remodeling last November on his daughter’s home when he suddenly felt ill. He didn’t have any pain, but after a week of no improvement, went in to the doctor.  The next thing he knew, he was in the hospital diagnosed with diabetes and a serious infection in his leg, which rapidly became gangrenous.  The surgeon removed dead tissue, but despite all efforts, the situation deteriorated to the point where Dick had a decision to make.  

With his guardian angel Lynn by his side, Dick began his recovery as a below knee amputee.   He says it felt like he had been kicked in the stomach, and he had to figure out what he was going to do without a leg. The first thing was to get his diabetes under control and for his residual limb to heal.  During that four month period, he came to grips with his new state of health and while stuck between a bed and a wheelchair began to plan how he was going to get back to doing all the things he was doing before this happened.  And a very important priority was – how was he going to get back on his bike?

Bike - as in motorcycle.  While a self professed country boy, this West Virginia native is very well travelled – having visited a great many states all across the country on his travels over the years with Lynn on their motorcycles.  He had been riding since he was eleven years old, and he wasn’t going stop now.  He and Lynn had recently traded their two wheelers in for a “trike” – a three wheeler they could ride together, and they had great plans to continue their journeys as part of their retirement.  It was very important to figure out how he was going to make this work.  Even though he was still in a wheelchair and didn’t even have his first temporary prosthesis, he hopped onto his bike one legged, and that’s when he knew he would be able to do it.

Keeping this goal in mind, he started work with a physical therapist, and also visited Mark Treasure, Dankmeyer’s prosthetist in the La Vale, MD (Cumberland area) office. Dick had heard good things about Mark, and made arrangements with his insurance to make Dankmeyer his provider.  A retired Programmer/Analyst, Dick turned to the computer and became an avid researcher about amputation and prostheses, and says he pestered Mark with a million questions.  Dick made some cost cutting decisions when working with Mark for his first temporary prosthesis.  Now, he is getting used to a more advanced definitive prosthesis, with its multi-axis foot, and finds he is more mobile and balanced.

Everything is a process, with ongoing adjustments as he learns to do things using his prosthesis and figures out what works and what doesn’t.  He believes it is a challenge that he has to give his best shot.   Some of the anxiety he experienced when he first went out in public in shorts has gone away.  People will ask questions, particularly children, and he decided this was just part of him now – “I had to be me.”  He also notes that one gentleman thought that his leg was so well made, it simply looked like Dick was wearing a knee brace. Other amputees have been supportive and encouraging.

Now, with the Lord’s help, and that of his children, grandchildren, and friends, and with Lynn as his “enforcer”, his diabetes is well controlled, and he is back to some DIY projects. This fall, he is enjoying his West Virginia Mountaineers play well as part of NCAA football in the Big 12 conference.   More importantly, he has made some very simple modifications to the motorcycle to allow him to shift gears, and he is “back in the wind” again.  He says his beloved West Virginia is made for riding, and he and Lynn are looking forward to continuing roaming around the USA as he gets more settled with his prosthesis.  Though he is physically healed, he feels that telling his story on this first anniversary helps in his emotional healing.  He knows, without a doubt, he is headed “onward, and upward”.

For a slideshow of photographs of Dick and Lynn's travels, Dick's recovery, learning to use his temporary prosthesis and now his definitive prosthesis, then click here.

Patient Stories: William Mobberly

It is a lovely time of year to take a stroll up and down the street, or to the public park for a little people watching.  The trees are turning beautiful shades of yellow and red and the temperatures are cooler.  Your walking companion might also be interested in all the smells in the air – that is, if that companion is an eight year old Chihuahua named Butter.  Butter is William Mobberly’s constant companion these days, but it wasn’t always that way – nor could William walk at all for a long period of time.

A little over five years ago, pain in his leg sent him to the doctor where blood clots were found. The surgery to remove the clots left a wound that just would not heal.  Subsequent skin grafts didn’t resolve the problem either and he found himself in a nursing home fighting a persistent infection.  This eventually forced him to make a decision – let the infection claim his life, or amputate the leg.  He chose life, but the amputation itself was very slow to heal and he thought he would never walk again.

This was a very grim time for William.  He is very forthright when he says that he lost hope during this time.  After spending most of his life taking care of his parents, and working for the same company for 48 years, and “doing what needed to be done to get by”, at this point he didn’t know what to do.  He was at a loss – with limited resources and a limited support system.  He was frustrated with his medical care, and he was not prepared for the physical and emotional toll he was experiencing.  When he was first fitted for a temporary prosthesis, he had been in a wheelchair for some time, and had no faith that the device would allow him to become active again.  

He credits his prosthetists for getting him moving again with their quiet support and encouragement.  He doesn’t know what he would have done without Magdalena DiZebba and Sheryl Nathanson.  They encouraged him to use his prosthesis and never give up.  First - get out of the wheelchair and use a walker as an assistive device.  Next, progress to using only a cane.  When he got a definitive prosthesis to replace the temp, he put the temp in the bedroom closet to force himself to get used to the new leg.   He was living with friends, and their dog Butter became a best buddy, who slept with him at night.  William loves dogs, and fondly recalls the therapy dogs that would visit in the hospital.  One day, William decided that he could do without the cane and walked around the bedroom, with Butter on the lookout.  Every day he pushed himself to walk farther without the cane.  His steady plan paid off.  Now, he walks anywhere he wants to walk – usually taking Butter along for company.  Shopping at Walmart used to involve a scooter – but no more! And after a summer of watching friends swim, when he gets his next new prosthesis, he is going to use the old one to swim with because he doesn’t want to be left out of the fun.

It is important to William that he share his story to let other people know life is not over when bad things happen.  After a difficult medical struggle and his despair of regaining his mobility, he persevered through focus and hard work, some help from others, and Butter, of course .  Now, in his retirement, he goes out with friends. In the mornings he gets his coffee, and walks around the neighborhood, or to the park with Butter for a little people watching.  He really likes talking to people and with obvious emotion tells them about his conviction that God has a hand in all things.