Mark your clalendar!

Meeting Dates

04/21/2010
05/19/2010

All of our Amputee Support Group meetings are held in the Patient Dining Room on the 4Th floor at Waccamaw Community Hospital.

For more info contact:
Kay Price, LMSW at 843-652-1395
or
 Alex Lyons, CPO at 845-347-5800

 

Jim and Jason Rogers

Information from my friend and colleague, Jim Rogers, CPO/L, FAAOP, of Victory Orthotic & Prosthetic Services in Johnson City, TN.

Hey everyone!

Jason and I will be riding a bike ride from Charlotte to North Myrtle Beach (180 miles) next week along with 20 paraplegic hand cyclists and 15 other cyclists from the Carolinas Rehab ASAP group (Adaptive Sports and Adventures Program) in their annual Cycle to The Sea event.

These folks are great! They co-sponsor the adaptive snow ski clinic every January that I have the privilege of volunteering for. Each year disabled adults and children learn to snow ski on a variety of adaptive equipment from the best adaptive ski instructors in the country. Jason has participated in the clinic for three years. He learned to ski at this clinic.

This January during the clinic some of the mono-skiers were talking about this ride and Jason said: "Dad we should do this ride together - just you and me, because we can help them up the hills." He does have a can-do attitude, and despite having Downs, doesn't see himself as challenged when it comes to athletics.
 
So... We will ride with them but also use specially designed "push bars" to help the hand cyclists get up the hills between Charlotte and Cheraw, SC. I don't know how a tandem is going to do, but we will ride together at least for the last 60 miles which is relatively flat - dad may be soloing the first 120 miles.
 
All this to say that if you are inclined to support ASAP and these really special athletes, you can click on this linkand donate on a secure site. You'll have our thanks and perhaps a photo when it's all over. Be sure to click on "Jason and Jim Rogers."

Thanks for helping us reach our goal.

Jim Rogers

Note from Alex Lyons:
Jim and Jason will be at my church, Christ United Methodist Church, on Sunday, April 25th if you'd like to come by and say hi!

Q. What can I do about Phantom Pain?

A. Phantom limb pain or sensationis the feeling that the amputated limb is still present. Virtually all amputees have phantom sensations to some degree; a much smaller percentage has phantom pain. Phantom pain, significant enough to cause a patient to seek medical care, occurs in approximately 5 to 10% of the amputee population. Phantom limb pain appears to be more common in patients who lose a limb at an older age. Phantom limb pain may develop immediately after injury or may develop weeks, months, or even years after the injury.

The pain may vary from a continuous cramping, aching, and burning to an electric shock-like sensation. Stress, anxiety, fear or fatigue will usually increase the patient's discomfort. There are many different types of therapies that have attempted to relieve this pain, ranging from acupuncture to complicated surgical procedures. The best initial treatment is to determine the factors which increase the pain and to eliminate these factors. Psychological and environmental factors can play a major role in the genesis of pain behavior. Therapies such as massage, wearing a shrinker, and looking into mirrors are conservative treatments that often work.