Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
1st Annual Charity Cruise
For details visit: Home
1st Annual CharityCruise for Amputees
Featuring the First Annual ACA Charity Golf Tournament
Departing Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey 10 minutes from NYC
on
Saturday October 18, 2008 - Thursday October 23, 2008
5 nights, traveling to Bermuda
1st Annual CharityCruise for Amputees
Featuring the First Annual ACA Charity Golf Tournament
Departing Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey 10 minutes from NYC
on
Saturday October 18, 2008 - Thursday October 23, 2008
5 nights, traveling to Bermuda
Monday, June 02, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
"Meet Molly"
Meet Molly. She's a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners in the wake of Katrina. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic. Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there. 'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse. Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg. The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports. And she asks for it! She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too' And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse', she laughs. Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it. 
'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life', Moore said, 'She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.' 'She's not back to normal,' Barca concluded, 'but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.' This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Brooklyn BP honors Islander's firm
Dongan Hills resident is one of 16 employers honored as role models in the business community
Sunday, November 11, 2007
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For its history of employing individuals with disabilities, Arimed, a Brooklyn-based orthotics and prosthetics firm owned by a Staten Island resident, was honored recently by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and his advisory committee on Disability Issues.
Arimed was nominated by Elaine Winslow, coordinator of Career Directions and Transitional Services at Long Island University, after she placed a senior majoring in marketing in a paid internship, which has evolved into a part-time job in the firm's marketing and promotion department.
"Arimed welcomed me with open arms," said Kareem Maxwell, the student who transferred to Long Island University from a college in South Carolina after he contracted bacterial meningitis in 2002 and underwent several amputations. "This was my first step into the working world since this happened to me. It's been a good experience."
Steven Mirones, of Dongan Hills, president of Arimed, praised Maxwell and the contribution he's made to the firm. "He's really quite amazing," Mirones said. "He's so even-tempered and centered and he doesn't carry himself with any sense of disability. He's enthusiastic and a great addition to the staff."
Ms. Winslow said when she toured Arimed, she observed that several individuals with disabilities were working for the firm. According to Tim Evans, Arimed's chief operating officer, "All employees are treated with respect and appreciation for the work they perform."
The 16 innovative employers honored at the Oct. 11th awards breakfast at Brooklyn Borough Hall are role models in the business community, said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Businesses that employ individuals with disabilities are doing the right thing, he said, but also making a wise business investment because when the labor pool shrinks after millions of baby boomers begin retiring in the next few years there will be an even greater demand for trained workers.
Arimed's award is the second in two years that the firm has received from the Brooklyn Borough President and his Advisory Committee on Disability Issues. In 2005, Arimed received a Business Advocacy Award for its generosity in donating prostheses to victims of violence, accidents, and war.
Under the leadership of Mirones, Arimed donated C-Legs, which are computerized prosthetics, to Paul Esposito, who lost his legs in the Oct. 15, 2003, Staten Island Ferry crash; donated prosthetic legs to Edgar Rivera, whose legs were severed after being shoved in front of an uptown No. 6 train in 1999; donated artificial limbs to victims mutilated in the civil war in Sierra Leone, Africa; and provided both prosthetic and orthotics services to destitute children in Ahmedebad, India.
Founded in 1949, Arimed features American Board Certified orthotists and prosthetists, professional orthopedic fitters and technicians, and an on-site laboratory and technical staff, and has offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.
More information about the firm is available at www.arimed.com.
Area Marine vet gets leg up in life at Napa Valley Prosthetics and Orthotics
By JENNIFER HUFFMANRegister Business WriterSunday, November 11, 2007
While Russell Stanley’s prosthetic leg represents freedom and mobility for the 74-year-old Korean War veteran, it’s also a handy spot to tape extra keys to his house and car. That way, “They’re always with me,” said Stanley with a laugh.
Stanley lost his lower right leg in Korea in 1952 while serving in the Marine infantry. Wounded by mortar shrapnel, there was no choice but to amputate his limb, he said.
Losing a leg hasn’t held Stanley back in life. “I manufactured steel for 36 years, bowled three nights a week, managed a Babe Ruth baseball team and played tennis for 25 years,” he said.
But after a recent hip replacement, Stanley’s leg no longer fits correctly into the socket of his prosthetic. He’s without his limb, temporarily, while Kyle Eckhart of Napa Valley Prosthetics and Orthotics create a newer, lighter version of the artificial limb.
Eckhart, along with business partner Michael Bright, both certified prosthetist orthotists, recently opened their business on Beard Road and another office in Fairfield.
The company provides both prosthetics to replace a missing body part, like a leg or arm, and orthotics, or braces to support or correct a body part.
Anyone suffering from diabetes, a stroke or other injury may need an orthotic, Eckhart said. People with multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy may require braces to help them move, decrease pain or improve stability.
A diabetic often looses sensation in their feet, needing specially fit shoes, or sometimes amputation, which would require a prosthetic. Seventy percent of all amputations are diabetes or vascular related, said Eckhart. Car accidents and war victims make up only 30 percent of prosthetic users.
While most newer veterans needing prosthetics or orthotics are treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., the business does work with some older veterans from World War II, Vietnam and Korea, like Stanley.
On a recent morning, Stanley’s prosthetic limb wearing a gray sock and size 13 black shoe stood on a workbench in the Beard Road office lab. Scuffed and worn, the leg also displayed a Marine Corps sticker on the faux calf.
Prosthetic technology has come a long way since Stanley got his first artificial limb, one of eight he’s had during his 55 years as an amputee. The vet’s first limb “was horrible,” he said.
“It was crude compared to now. I could hardly walk in it. They’ve come a long way.” Even though he’s getting a replacement, Stanley’s not asking for anything too fancy. “I don’t want to get one of those with springs. I just want to walk.”
Using plaster of paris, Eckhart and Bright first make a mold of Stanley’s existing limb. Then, using an industrial oven to heat a sheet of plastic, a test socket of the prosthesis will be formed using a vacuum. After a check for pressure points and fit, Eckhart will then make the finished leg with carbon fiber woven fabric coated with epoxy resin resulting in a strong and lightweight prosthesis.
Not only will his new leg will fit Stanley better, it should also weigh about half a much as the current leg, which Stanley estimated at 25 lbs.
Old-fashioned peg legs are definitely a thing of the past when it comes to making prosthetics. Today, even the heavier plastics of five and 10 years ago are being replaced with carbon fibers and acrylic resins, titanium and aluminum, along with built-in microprocessors that tell a joint when to flex, lock in place and how quickly to move.
Getting a prosthetic to fit correctly is a challenge, said Eckhart.
“It’s almost like getting the front end alignment of a car correct, you have to get the alignment (of a prosthesis) right.”
Napa Valley Prosthetics and Orthotics also sells orthopedic supplies for ankles, neck, knees, hips, feet and shoes for diabetics besides pregnancy support bands. An industrial sewing machine allows the two to customize any orthotic for the right fit.
This is the first small business enterprise for both Eckhart and Bright. The two met while working for another prosthetic and orthotic company in Napa County. Opening an office in Napa was important to them. “We want to be part of the local community,” said Eckhart.
Eckhart, 39, who previously managed a retirement home, said he made his career change because he wanted, “to work with people and my hands again. Everything we do in this business is custom made. We are always working with new people. They become friends. Especially the amputees. You work with them for a long time — it’s like going to the same hairdresser — except we’re the leg guys.”
Stanley, who lives in Benicia, said he chose Napa Valley Prosthetics and Orthotics to make his new limb because, “I liked the way Kyle conducted himself,” said Stanley. “I liked his education and things he presented — new legs, new ideas, new methods. He’s been great in answering a lot of questions.”
He’s ready to get his leg back. “It’s always a good conversation piece,” Stanley said. And besides, “I’m anxious to get walking again.”
Will Stanley put the Marine Corps sticker back on his new leg?“If there’s a spot I’ll put it on.”
Friday, November 09, 2007
Amputees push for better private care
Visit CNNMoney.com
USA... is the 800-pound gorilla in the industry that designs, builds and fits custom-made prosthetics and orthotics, which are braces of some kind. ...
USA... is the 800-pound gorilla in the industry that designs, builds and fits custom-made prosthetics and orthotics, which are braces of some kind. ...
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Life and limb
Loss of limb forges former missionary's career as prosthetist
Home News Tribune Online 10/23/07
By CONNIE MIDEYGANNETT NEWS SERVICE
He was in the last month of a two-year church mission in Mexico seven years ago, when, while on foot, he was struck by a car and carried about 300 feet.
The driver who hit him swerved hard to fling Tyler Ritchey from the hood of the car and kept going, leaving Ritchey with broken bones and injuries to his stomach, lungs, shoulders and knees.
"My leg was the least of my problems," says Ritchey, who now works as a liaison for amputees.
His parents were beside him when he emerged from a coma after several days on life support. But there was no one at his bedside in Mexico who had been through a similar experience and was equipped to reassure and educate him about life without a leg.
"It was a shock to wake up and find that my left leg below the knee was gone," he says. "It didn't look good for me to be this active person anymore, the one who played basketball and was always busy."
Today, Ritchey's job as a health-care professional for Pongratz Orthotics & Prosthetics in Phoenix is to help others, like Kirsten Witbeck of Tempe, Ariz., adjust to a legless life.
Upon closer inspection of Witbeck's new right leg he says, "that's amazing. It looks just like your other leg. How are you doing with it?"
Witbeck, 26, has been fitted with several artificial legs since being diagnosed with bone cancer and getting an above-the-knee amputation at age 12. This one, with a rechargeable-microprocessor knee and a button for rotating the leg, is a technological marvel.
Phoenix vascular surgeon Jeromy Brink says people who undergo an amputation — about 135,000 are performed each year in the United States — face not just the obvious physical challenges, but emotional ones as well.
"Learning to use a new prosthesis is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical," he says. "It's (dealing with) the loss of an entire part of their lives and getting accustomed to the way things are now."
For patients who lose a limb because of an accident, the emotional loss may be worse than for those with a chronic illness that eventually makes amputation necessary, he says.
"A lot of patients I deal with are long-standing diabetics who have known the score for many years and are facing amputation as a last resort," Brink says.Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, accidents and cancer are responsible for most amputations.
Ritchey had unstinting support from family, friends and the medical community. For him, adjusting psychologically to the loss of a leg turned out to be easier than adjusting to the demands of therapy and recovery. Back home a month after the accident, he came face to face with an unfamiliar frailty. There were daily rehab sessions for a year, 27 surgeries, mending bones, and metal rods and steel plates placed throughout his body.
Still, says Ritchey, 27, "the toughest day I ever had was the first day I was fitted with a prosthetic leg. I thought I'd get the leg and walk out of here, but it required a lot more work."
Even with the lightweight leg he uses on most occasions, walking expends more energy than it did when the legs he was born with propelled him.
Ritchey was fitted with his first artificial leg by the man who later hired him, company owner Joe Pongratz. Pongratz began calling on Ritchey, who is fluent in Spanish and English, to talk with patients, and he created a paid position for him as amputee liaison when the calls became increasingly frequent.
He and Pongratz organized a support group, Limbs 2 Life, to give new and longer-term amputees further opportunities to share stories.
Ritchey, married now and the father of two, need not have worried about remaining active. Since the accident, he has earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and made his first parachute jump, his artificial leg proving up to the challenge of absorbing the landing's impact.
Protect your limbs
Practice proper foot hygiene and care, particularly if you are diabetic.
Quit smoking, or don't start.
Be careful, especially when operating machinery like lawn mowers, wood chippers, etc.
Source: The National Limb Loss Information Center.
On the Web:
Resources for amputees:
www.amputee-coalition.org, Amputee Coalition of America provides education, support, and advocacy for amputees.
www.oandp.org, American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists.
www.kidscanplay2.com, Pediatric Prosthetics, Inc., provides information on prosthetic limbs for children.
Spiritual Friendship
An Answer to Prayer
We returned to U of M for an initial fitting of Karim's castings for his prosthetic hands. Again, I wish to compliment Alicia Davis, a key member of the orthotics and prosthetics department. She is definitely a woman who loves her job and has a great way with patients and their guardians. I felt as if I've been a friend of hers for years. She is wonderful! Anyway, the fitting went well and with pictures and hand signals we were able to explain to Karim what we were doing. He is very excited about getting prosthetics. At this time we were still uncertain of where the money would come from to pay for the prosthetics. They are very costly. However, over the weekend I received an e-mail from Alicia, stating that the U of M Charity had agreed to bear the entire cost of the prosthetics. All week I had been praying, "God, if you want Karim to have these prosthetics, you will have to come up with the money." Boy, did He answer this prayer! And in such a timely manner, too. I am extremely thankful to my Lord and King for providing this money so that Karim can have a better life now that his hands will be more useful. We will return this Thursday for another fitting. It is amazing to see all the medical personnel who have come to bat for Karim, not only in Muskegon, but, now in Ann Arbor as well. The above picture is an example of a similar prosthetic. Karim's will be made of a clear plastic material and have plenty of breathing room, as his hands are often burning and itching. He will be able to have some fine motor skills with the pinchers that are attached to the plastic casting. They will rotate, and open and close using a cable attached to a harness-like strap on his shoulders. I will post updated pictures after Thursday's visit.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Adjustment to prosthesis hard
Whether lost to a trauma or disease, adjusting to a new limb is a tough task.Connie Midey The Arizona Republic He was in the last month of a two-year church mission in Mexico seven years ago, when, while on foot, he was struck by a car and carried about 300 feet.The driver who hit him swerved hard to fling Tyler Ritchey from the hood of the car and kept going, leaving Ritchey with broken bones and injuries to his stomach, lungs, shoulders and knees.
"My leg was the least of my problems," says Ritchey, who now works as a liaison for amputees.
His parents were beside him when he emerged from a coma after several days on life support. But there was no one at his bedside in Mexico who had been through a similar experience and was equipped to reassure and educate him about life without a leg.
His parents were beside him when he emerged from a coma after several days on life support. But there was no one at his bedside in Mexico who had been through a similar experience and was equipped to reassure and educate him about life without a leg.
"It was a shock to wake up and find that my left leg below the knee was gone," he says. "It didn't look good for me to be this active person anymore, the one who played basketball and was always busy."
Today, Ritchey's job as a health care professional for Pongratz Orthotics & Prosthetics in Phoenix is to help others, like Kirsten Witbeck of Tempe, Ariz., adjust to a legless life.
Upon closer inspection of Witbeck's new right leg, he says, "that's amazing. It looks just like your other leg. How are you doing with it?"
Witbeck, 26, has been fitted with several artificial legs since being diagnosed with bone cancer and getting an above-the-knee amputation at age 12. This one, with a rechargeable-microprocessor knee and a button for rotating the leg, is a technological marvel.
Phoenix vascular surgeon Jeromy Brink says people who undergo an amputation --about 135,000 are performed each year in the United States — face not just the obvious physical challenges, but emotional ones as well.
"Learning to use a new prosthesis is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical," he says. "It's (dealing with) the loss of an entire part of their lives and getting accustomed to the way things are now."
For patients who lose a limb because of an accident, the emotional loss may be worse than for those with a chronic illness that eventually makes amputation necessary, he says.
"A lot of patients I deal with are long-standing diabetics who have known the score for many years and are facing amputation as a last resort," Brink says.
Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, accidents and cancer are responsible for most amputations.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Oregon Health Law News
This blog is dedicated to providing updates on the latest laws and regulations impacting health care in Oregon.
The 2007 Oregon legislature passed a law requiring individual and group insurance policies to cover prosthetic and orthotic devices medically necessary to maintain the ability to complete activities of daily living or essential job-relatedactivities and that are not solely for comfort or convenience.The Oregon Insurance Division recently published a proposed rule that would require those policies to cover the same devices in the Medicare fee schedule. The public may comment on the rule until November 6, 2007.
The 2007 Oregon legislature passed a law requiring individual and group insurance policies to cover prosthetic and orthotic devices medically necessary to maintain the ability to complete activities of daily living or essential job-relatedactivities and that are not solely for comfort or convenience.The Oregon Insurance Division recently published a proposed rule that would require those policies to cover the same devices in the Medicare fee schedule. The public may comment on the rule until November 6, 2007.
Orthopaedic rehab centres upgraded
(13-10-2007)
HA NOI — Viet Nam will upgrade its orthopaedic rehabilitation centres, particularly the Vietnamese Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists (Vietcot), to meet international standards and supply qualified technologists to the country and the world, according to Dam Huu Dac, deputy minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark Vietcot’s 10th anniversary in the capital yesterday, Dac also stressed that Viet Nam, home to over 5.3 million people with disabilities, faces an immense problem in rehabilitating its disabled people. A survey conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) says that 0.5 per cent of the population of the about 415,000 individuals are in need of technical health care.
Also present at the event, rector of the University of Labour and Social Affairs Professor Dr Nguyen Tiep said Vietcot, set up 10 years ago under a German funded technical co-operation project, aimed to offer professional training and education based on the standards of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the WHO.
"Its project objective is to train students and upgrade qualified orthopaedists for work in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation centres," he said.
Tiep also applauded GTZ/Vietcot advisor Wilfried Raab for his assistance and contributions to the centre in the last decade, adding Vietcot was to receive further support from the German Government and Raab himself.
Deputy director of the centre, Dang Xuan Khang, said Vietcot had trained 141 orthopaedic technicians reaching ISPO and WHO Category II, and 45 others on biomechanics, technical drawing and drafting, and physical science.
He said the centre had also been successfully co-operating with and training international technologists from Tanzania, China, Cambodia and Pakistan.
"Vietcot has also been active in consultancy on improving the orthopaedic care system in Viet Nam; conducting clinics introducing new technologies to improve rehabilitation services for patients and providing advice on effective cost calculation to enable the economic management of an orthopaedic laboratory," Khang said.
At the International Rehabilitation Conference in Hong Kong in 2004, Vietcot was lauded as one of three training centres in the world to produce the most qualified orthopaedic technicians. — VNS
HA NOI — Viet Nam will upgrade its orthopaedic rehabilitation centres, particularly the Vietnamese Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists (Vietcot), to meet international standards and supply qualified technologists to the country and the world, according to Dam Huu Dac, deputy minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark Vietcot’s 10th anniversary in the capital yesterday, Dac also stressed that Viet Nam, home to over 5.3 million people with disabilities, faces an immense problem in rehabilitating its disabled people. A survey conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) says that 0.5 per cent of the population of the about 415,000 individuals are in need of technical health care.
Also present at the event, rector of the University of Labour and Social Affairs Professor Dr Nguyen Tiep said Vietcot, set up 10 years ago under a German funded technical co-operation project, aimed to offer professional training and education based on the standards of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the WHO.
"Its project objective is to train students and upgrade qualified orthopaedists for work in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation centres," he said.
Tiep also applauded GTZ/Vietcot advisor Wilfried Raab for his assistance and contributions to the centre in the last decade, adding Vietcot was to receive further support from the German Government and Raab himself.
Deputy director of the centre, Dang Xuan Khang, said Vietcot had trained 141 orthopaedic technicians reaching ISPO and WHO Category II, and 45 others on biomechanics, technical drawing and drafting, and physical science.
He said the centre had also been successfully co-operating with and training international technologists from Tanzania, China, Cambodia and Pakistan.
"Vietcot has also been active in consultancy on improving the orthopaedic care system in Viet Nam; conducting clinics introducing new technologies to improve rehabilitation services for patients and providing advice on effective cost calculation to enable the economic management of an orthopaedic laboratory," Khang said.
At the International Rehabilitation Conference in Hong Kong in 2004, Vietcot was lauded as one of three training centres in the world to produce the most qualified orthopaedic technicians. — VNS
Friday, October 12, 2007
102 year old Tribe fan refuses to slow down
CLEVELAND -- Cleveland woman gets prosthetic leg and refuses to miss Indians game.The oldest Tribe fan in the world lives in South Euclid, Ohio. Annie Barrow, just turned 102 years young.
Poor circulation forced doctors to amputate her right leg. But Annie refuses to slow down.
At the Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics Clinic Monday she told the staff, "I refuse to complain because I hear people all the time making complaints and I don't know how it does any good".
Prosthetic expert Kevin Carroll and Matthew Manolio helped Annie with the fitting for her new artificial limb.
As Annie took her new leg for a test walk down the hallway, she smiled and said, "Yes, it's lighter than the one I had. This is good!"
Standing nearby, Matthew Manolio said, "she inspires the office staff and Annie inspires me. Just working with somebody who has been around as much as she has and seen as much as she has. She always has a story to tell you."
Born in 1905, Annie moved from a farm in Jackson Gap, Alabama to Cleveland when she was eighteen years old. Over the years she raised 11 foster children.
At her home in South Euclid you won't find any wheelchair ramps. She walks slowly up every step.Annie believes it keeps her young.
"They say using the steps is good exercise", she told Channel 3's Mike O'Mara, "so I take the stairs about four times a day." You can understand why the staff at the Hanger Prosthetics clinic celebrates her annual visit.
She's just that special.Said Hanger Vice President, Kevin Carroll, "Annie has been a great inspiration to me and also to other patients. I tell everybody all over the country about her all the time.Added Carroll, "if somebody is complaining that they are feeling old at 60, I make sure they hear about Annie's story. I tell them you're only a kid compared to her.
"Annie attended her first Cleveland Indians game at League Park back in 1925 and remains a devoted fan. Said Annie, "I used to go see the Indians every time they were playing at home in Cleveland.
I was there to cheer them on, even if I had to borrow the money to attend the game!"When asked about the playoffs with the New York Yankees, Annie paused and said quietly, "you know if they had won last night I would have been very happy. But they can always do it tonight.
"Annie added, "I'm 102 years old and there are times in these playoff games that are just too much for my heart to take. I have to turn off the TV and say a prayer."
Video
Play Video for Mike O'Mara's story
Click here for more video clips
Annie Barrow, 102, on 4th artificial leg, is a real inspiration to us all'
Prosthesis patient, 102, a real inspiration to us all'
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Mary VanacPlain Dealer Reporter
After 102 years of walking, Annie Barrow isn't ready to sit down, even if she is on her fourth leg.
At age 98, Barrow lost part of her right leg and was fitted with an artificial one.
Four years later, Barrow is still on the go. On Monday, she was fitted with a new, lighter prosthesis.
Visit this link to read her whole story!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Mary VanacPlain Dealer Reporter
After 102 years of walking, Annie Barrow isn't ready to sit down, even if she is on her fourth leg.
At age 98, Barrow lost part of her right leg and was fitted with an artificial one.
Four years later, Barrow is still on the go. On Monday, she was fitted with a new, lighter prosthesis.
Visit this link to read her whole story!
Cuban-Americans Help Ukrainian Children
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ – 3 days ago
MIAMI (AP) — Sometimes large-scale international diplomacy is about small-scale gestures.
On Monday, it was nine Ukrainian children playing with dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium while waiting to be fitted with free prosthetic limbs. Their visit and treatment are courtesy of Ukrainian first lady Kateryna Yushchenko, members of South Florida's Cuban-American community and others.
The nonprofit Cuba Democracy Advocates wants to build solidarity with Ukraine's fledgling democratic government by helping to pay for prosthetics for about 30 low-income children from the former communist nation and by increasing medical exchanges.
Many Cuban-Americans see Ukraine as a model for peaceful political change and want to support its government and recent criticism of political repression on the communist island.
U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., has worked with the State Department to send doctors to Ukraine and most recently to bring the children to Florida.
"The countries that most understand the Cuban people — besides the U.S. — are the countries of Central and Eastern Europe," said Diaz-Balart, who is Cuban-American. "When I go there, I feel so well. The people there get it."
The Cuban-American community and the U.S. government are keenly aware of the decades of medical treatment that Cuba provided for Ukrainians before pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko became president two years ago. Cuba treated thousands of Ukrainian children after the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Since 2005, much of that aid has dried up, and relations between the two countries have cooled.
"The U.S. was concerned that Cuba would cut out medical support for the Ukraine, and there was a push to say, `If you take a stronger stance on Cuba, there are still ways to get that support,'" said Carlos Pascual, vice president and head of foreign policy for the Brookings Institution in Washington. Pascual served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2000 to 2003 and is also Cuban-American.
He called the treatment for the children a good gesture but symbolic, considering Ukraine has a population of about 47 million people.
Yushchenko won his country's 2004 election after more than a million Ukrainians took to the streets to protest voter fraud in favor of the Russian-backed presidential candidate. Not surprisingly, he has been critical of Cuba's repression of political dissidents.
Politics were far from the minds of the Ukrainian children who arrived last week. They looked alternately thrilled and terrified as the dolphins leapt out of the water for kisses and high-fives.
When asked what he knew about Cuba or Cuban-Americans before he came to the U.S., Paul Satsuk, 17, of Polonne, Ukraine, grinned.
He mimed smoking a cigar and drinking coffee.
Satsuk couldn't explain why Cuban-Americans would feel a special connection with his country.
"These are very good people, with big hearts," said Satsuk, who lost half his right arm in an industrial accident when he was 6.
Vladimir Hynedka, 49, accompanied his young son Stepha on the trip. He asked his Cuban-American host family if they were Christians because he couldn't think of another reason why they would try so hard to help his son.
The connection between Ukrainians and Cuban-Americans is understandable, said Taras Tkachuk, 30, a Ukrainian doctor who works with Kateryna Yushchenko's charity, Ukraine 3000 Fund, which helped sponsor the group along with Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics in Orlando.
"It's difficult to have a democracy after totalitarianism. Our parents were born under that system. But these kids, they look forward. They feel life in a different way. They are able to use choices," Tkachuk said. "The same will one day be in Cuba."
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
For amputee, a big step
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/10/07
BY SHANNON MULLENSTAFF WRITER
In almost all respects, Brian Hansen thinks he's got great health insurance.
He's got a $15 co-pay for doctor's visits and medications. He's got 100 percent coverage for hospital visits.
He had no complaints, really — that is, until he needed a prosthetic leg and learned the maximum lifetime allowance was $1,000, with a $200 co-pay.
A thousand dollars? A basic prosthesis costs 10 times that much. You can't buy a wooden peg for $1,000 today.
Hansen, 50, of Keyport, a diabetic since childhood, lost his job as a hazardous materials training technician after he tore off a toenail and developed a dangerous infection that led to the amputation of his toe. Subsequent amputations of his other toes, half his foot and finally his left leg, above his knee, had wiped out his life savings and driven him into debt. He and his wife, Fran, didn't know how they'd come up with $10,000, even if that was his only shot at ever walking again.
But Tuesday he did walk. Just a few, tentative steps — but after all he's been through, it felt like reaching the surface of a very deep, dark sea after a long time underwater, and seeing the sun again.
"It's amazing," an ecstatic Hansen said afterward. "It felt great to be standing and to put weight on my two legs again. I haven't done that in two years."
At Hansen's side was Robert Manfredi Sr., look-ing equally pleased. It was Manfredi's charity, Angels with Limbs, that made the moment possible.
Manfredi, 70, of Rumson, is the co-founder of Manfredi Orthotic & Prosthetic, a company that's been a fixture in downtown Long Branch for the past 50 years. Three years ago, in an ironic twist, Manfredi himself wound up needing a prosthetic leg after a diabetic-related amputation; he says he's one of only 10 people in the world right now with a computerized ankle joint.
Manfredi retired at the time, handing the business over to his son, Robert Manfredi Jr. Eager to remain active, the elder Manfredi founded Angels with Limbs, a nonprofit organization that uses parts of donated prostheses to fabricate new limbs for New Jersey residents who are underinsured or don't have health insurance.
The charity helps about a dozen people per year. Among its recent projects was fitting an Ocean County man with a state-of-the-art, $50,000 computerized prosthetic knee that the previous owner had bequeathed to the charity. The man has returned to work and participated this summer in the Manfredi company's annual tennis clinic for its prosthesis-wearing clients.
Campaign for fairness
The Hansens' insurance problems aren't unusual, according to the Amputee Coalition of America.
The advocacy organization says coverage for limb loss varies widely among insurance companies, which sometimes evaluate coverage on a case-by-case basis. For example, the ACA found at least eight different companies in New York that are restricting or eliminating coverage for prosthetics. The restrictions vary from financial caps of $1,000 or $2,500 to excluding repairs or even limiting a person's benefit to one prosthesis per lifetime.
The organization is leading a national campaign in support of state legislation that would bar such practices and create parity among insurance providers. Seven states have adopted such laws, and bills are pending in another 24 states, including New Jersey.
In the meantime, Angels with Limbs has provided the Hansens with a lifeline they desperately needed.
Brian Hansen's toenail injury in 2005 sent them on a two-year downward spiral. Despite the amputations of his toes and foot, and heavy doses of OxyContin, Hansen was in excruciating pain because of recurrent infections and circulatory problems.
"All I did was sleep, wake up in pain, sleep, wake up in pain. It was no way to live," Hansen said. "I sat there at night screaming, I was in so much pain. . . . It was rough on my daughter (Isabella), a 12-year-old, seeing all that."
prognosis was bleak: Hansen was told he'd need to keep having amputations to deal with the problem. When he asked if there were any alternatives, one doctor presented him with four options. Hansen chose the only one guaranteed to end his pain: pre-emptive amputation of his leg above the knee. He had the surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, on July 17.
"They gave me my life back the day they amputated my leg," Hansen said.
Next step: rehab
Hansen said he erred in not checking his coverage for a prosthesis before he had the amputation. After his wife found out about the $1,000 maximum, she called around and discovered the prosthesis her husband needed would cost between $10,000 and $12,000. Her last call was to Manfredi Orthotic & Prosthetic. At the other end of the line, Jean Manfredi, who is Robert Jr.'s wife and an employee of the company, assured Fran that the company and her father-in-law's charity would do whatever they could to help.
On Tuesday, they made good on that promise, fitting Hansen with a moderately sophisticated prosthesis with a titanium pylon and a socket that will allow him to pivot on his foot, once he learns how.
"It's just been a nightmare, and now we're finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel," Fran Hansen said after watching her husband take his first steps. "Thank God for Angels with Limbs."
Hansen's HMO will pay for a week's stay at Riverview Medical Center's rehabilitation hospital in Red Bank so he can learn how to use the very prosthesis that the company wouldn't cover in the first place. Hansen is too grateful right now to dwell on the irony of that.
"It's like a whole new beginning for me," said Hansen, who is hoping to return to work, eventually. "I'm looking forward to walking out of the hospital."
Shannon Mullen: (732) 643-4278 or shannon@app.com
Monday, October 08, 2007
Sometimes Saying Goodbye To Someone Dosn’t Always Mean Goodbye
Cambodia trust
Working for equal rights for disabled people in an inclusive barrier-free society
Cambodia Trust is committed to assisting people with disabilities re-gain mobility and live equally within society. Our help extends to people affected by polio, landmine/unexploded ordnance, cerebral palsy and clubfoot. We opened our first rehabilitation centre in 1992 and now have three centers operating in Sihanoukville, Kampong Chhnang and Phnom Penh. In each of the centers, we provide physiotherapy, prosthetic limbs and orthopedic braces, and wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
Our activities include an extensive community-based rehabilitation program, which identifies people with disabilities who would benefit from our services. We support disabled children from poor families to attend school and provide schoolbooks, uniforms and bicycles. Further support includes assisting people into small business and establishing self-help groups so people have the opportunity to exchange ideas and advocate for themselves, and working with other partners including the government.
We also run an education centre - the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (CSPO) - where people learn to make and fit prosthetic limbs and orthopedic braces. The aim of the School is to create a foundation of physical rehabilitation services by producing specialists with skills and knowledge to support people with disabilities. The training program takes three years and students come to Cambodia from many different countries.\
~ by feelcool on October 7, 2007.
Working for equal rights for disabled people in an inclusive barrier-free society
Cambodia Trust is committed to assisting people with disabilities re-gain mobility and live equally within society. Our help extends to people affected by polio, landmine/unexploded ordnance, cerebral palsy and clubfoot. We opened our first rehabilitation centre in 1992 and now have three centers operating in Sihanoukville, Kampong Chhnang and Phnom Penh. In each of the centers, we provide physiotherapy, prosthetic limbs and orthopedic braces, and wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
Our activities include an extensive community-based rehabilitation program, which identifies people with disabilities who would benefit from our services. We support disabled children from poor families to attend school and provide schoolbooks, uniforms and bicycles. Further support includes assisting people into small business and establishing self-help groups so people have the opportunity to exchange ideas and advocate for themselves, and working with other partners including the government.
We also run an education centre - the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (CSPO) - where people learn to make and fit prosthetic limbs and orthopedic braces. The aim of the School is to create a foundation of physical rehabilitation services by producing specialists with skills and knowledge to support people with disabilities. The training program takes three years and students come to Cambodia from many different countries.\
~ by feelcool on October 7, 2007.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Lending a Hand
Harlingen doctor helps creates prosthetic arm for 7-year-old boyBy DAISY MARTINEZ—Valley Morning Star
September 23, 2007 - 10:37PM
HARLINGEN — Gildardo Guzman is like most other 7-year-old boys: he likes to swim, play video games and play with his older brother Carlos.
If it weren’t for the physical aspect, no one would ever be able to tell that he battled osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, just a year ago.
Gildardo won the battle against cancer, but in the process lost his left arm and shoulder. Doctors re-moved the limb and joint because they feared that the cancer would spread.
But Gildardo’s bubbly personality and big, bright smile divert attention from the left side of his body.
“I used to feel bad because my arm hurt all the time, but not anymore,” Gildardo said in Spanish. “I feel better now, because I don’t have pain anymore.”
Gildardo’s mother, Nancy Guzman, said that learning that her son had cancer was absolutely devastat-ing.
“But the strongest one through all of this has been Gildardo,” Nancy Guzman said in Spanish. “When he came out of surgery, when they had just removed his arm, he told me not to cry. He said that if he wasn’t crying, why should I be crying.”
Now that it has been more than a year since Gildardo’s arm was removed, he has hope of having an arm again.
The Guzman family lives in McAllen and said they searched the Rio Grande Valley for the best possi-ble prosthetic arm, the cost of which will be paid by Medicaid.
That’s how they ended up in Doug Wacker’s office.
Wacker, certified prosthetist/orthotist and Texas-licensed prosthetist/orthotist, owns Nutech Orthotics & Prosthetics in Harlingen. He said that in more than 27 years of practice in Houston at the Texas Medi-cal Center, he’s never seen a case like Gildardo’s.
Wacker has been working to create a “passive arm” for Gildardo, which will serve cosmetic purposes.
But the work hasn’t been easy, Wacker said.
“No other 7-year-old has ever had one,” Wacker said about Gildardo’s prosthetic.
Wacker said he’s called all over the nation, Canada and even Germany looking for the parts needed to make a prosthetic arm to fit Gildardo.
Liberating Technologies, Inc. of Holliston, Mass., custom-made the parts that Wacker needed to make the prosthetic for Gildardo. The prosthetic arm weighs about 4 pounds and is something to which Gildardo must become accus-tomed, Wacker said.
“(The prosthetic arm) will be difficult getting used to because his center of gravity has changed,” Wacker said. “We’ll see how he does with this. I’m hoping that in the future he’ll be able to get a myoelec-tric prosthesis (with which) he’ll be able to control his elbow and hand through nerve impulses.”
Wacker expects that Gildardo will use this prosthetic arm for about a year before exploring the possi-bilities of a more sophisticated one.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
RUNNING AMPUTEES!
Visit You Tube for pages and pages of Running Amputees!
A GREAT INSPIRATION to all!
Setting his own pace
Sacramentan Jon Bik heads to Germany to compete in Triathlon World Championships -- 2 1/2 years after losing a leg
By M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1
He was on top of the world, a new job just within his grasp, when something gave way, plunging him toward what could have been a life of self-pity and bitterness.
Or not.
After Jon Bik lost most of his right leg in a work accident, he got up from his hospital bed, determined to rebound, first by golfing, then by running and finally, training for triathlons.
"I think it was the threat of not being able to do it that made me do it," said Bik, 33.
Just 2 1/2 years after losing his leg, Bik is bound for Hamburg, Germany, today to compete in the Triathlon World Championships.
Some seek solace in therapy, but Bik has channeled any darkness that came his way into training and concentrating on what milestone was next.
"It's definitely helped to take my mind off things," he said.
Bik spent Tuesday showing off the high-technology prosthetic legs that will help him through nearly a one-mile swim, 24.8 mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run.
He is shooting for a three-hour finish or less in Hamburg. He qualified for the world event at a New York City triathlon in July, coming in at three hours and 17 minutes. At least 8,000 athletes from around the world will compete in Hamburg. Bik will square off against others who also use prosthetic legs.
Because of the expense, Bik will travel without the relatives, friends and co-workers who have rallied for his comeback.
"He makes my simple life problems seem very little if you look at his accomplishments," said Ken Habel, who works with Bik at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Habel has helped raise money to defray Bik's racing costs. It will cost Bik $600 just to bag and ship his bike to Germany.
Habel and Bik have been working together for a few years, training as meter technicians for the utility district.
Bik initially wanted to be a lineman, scaling utility poles to do repairs. He went to "pole school" at the utility district during a vacation break from a former job. The physically grueling school typically weeds out most candidates, he said. But not him.
"I just finished the final test," he said, recalling the day he was injured in January 2005.
A spike on his boot caught wrong on a wooden pole as he shimmied down it. He dropped 40 feet, landing with a leg somehow skewed upward in front of him.
For three days, doctors worked to save his leg, which was attached mostly by skin, Bik said. He lost the leg above the knee.
Before the accident, the father of 6- and 2-year-old girls, owned a bike and had run in a few fun runs.
"I wasn't lying in bed thinking of triathlons," he said.
But he was thinking of getting his life back. Golfing would be his bridge to running again, he figured. After he started running, Bik took up biking and swimming as a way to rest from running.
Getting fitted for prosthetics was a process of trial and error. Blisters and another surgery, plagued him.
"No matter what," Habel said, "he always remained positive. He didn't let the setbacks get to him regardless of how it impacted him. He always pushed forward."
The prosthetics Bik will take to Germany -- made by Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics -- each are designed for a particular activity and imbedded with microprocessors that control flexibility and stability.
Joining other runners Tuesday at McKinley Park in east Sacramento, Bik ran a few rounds himself.
After he retires from marathoning and triathaloning, he says, he'd like to work in some way to help others deal with physical disabilities.
About the writer:
The Bee's M.S. Enkoji can be reached at (916) 321-1106 or menkoji@sacbee.com.
By M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1
He was on top of the world, a new job just within his grasp, when something gave way, plunging him toward what could have been a life of self-pity and bitterness.
Or not.
After Jon Bik lost most of his right leg in a work accident, he got up from his hospital bed, determined to rebound, first by golfing, then by running and finally, training for triathlons.
"I think it was the threat of not being able to do it that made me do it," said Bik, 33.
Just 2 1/2 years after losing his leg, Bik is bound for Hamburg, Germany, today to compete in the Triathlon World Championships.
Some seek solace in therapy, but Bik has channeled any darkness that came his way into training and concentrating on what milestone was next.
"It's definitely helped to take my mind off things," he said.
Bik spent Tuesday showing off the high-technology prosthetic legs that will help him through nearly a one-mile swim, 24.8 mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run.
He is shooting for a three-hour finish or less in Hamburg. He qualified for the world event at a New York City triathlon in July, coming in at three hours and 17 minutes. At least 8,000 athletes from around the world will compete in Hamburg. Bik will square off against others who also use prosthetic legs.
Because of the expense, Bik will travel without the relatives, friends and co-workers who have rallied for his comeback.
"He makes my simple life problems seem very little if you look at his accomplishments," said Ken Habel, who works with Bik at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Habel has helped raise money to defray Bik's racing costs. It will cost Bik $600 just to bag and ship his bike to Germany.
Habel and Bik have been working together for a few years, training as meter technicians for the utility district.
Bik initially wanted to be a lineman, scaling utility poles to do repairs. He went to "pole school" at the utility district during a vacation break from a former job. The physically grueling school typically weeds out most candidates, he said. But not him.
"I just finished the final test," he said, recalling the day he was injured in January 2005.
A spike on his boot caught wrong on a wooden pole as he shimmied down it. He dropped 40 feet, landing with a leg somehow skewed upward in front of him.
For three days, doctors worked to save his leg, which was attached mostly by skin, Bik said. He lost the leg above the knee.
Before the accident, the father of 6- and 2-year-old girls, owned a bike and had run in a few fun runs.
"I wasn't lying in bed thinking of triathlons," he said.
But he was thinking of getting his life back. Golfing would be his bridge to running again, he figured. After he started running, Bik took up biking and swimming as a way to rest from running.
Getting fitted for prosthetics was a process of trial and error. Blisters and another surgery, plagued him.
"No matter what," Habel said, "he always remained positive. He didn't let the setbacks get to him regardless of how it impacted him. He always pushed forward."
The prosthetics Bik will take to Germany -- made by Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics -- each are designed for a particular activity and imbedded with microprocessors that control flexibility and stability.
Joining other runners Tuesday at McKinley Park in east Sacramento, Bik ran a few rounds himself.
After he retires from marathoning and triathaloning, he says, he'd like to work in some way to help others deal with physical disabilities.
About the writer:
The Bee's M.S. Enkoji can be reached at (916) 321-1106 or menkoji@sacbee.com.
CAPO - Canadian Association for Prosthetics and Orthotics
The Canadian Association for Prothetics and Orthotics (CAPO) is a non-profit, volunteer organization representing more than 350 profession's in the fields of prosthetics and orthotics across Canada.
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