Last month, Ellie Thompson (Prosthetic Assistant/Lab Manager) attended the Midwest Chapter AAOP annual meeting in Lake Geneva, WI.  As a Wisconsin native, Ellie was very excited to return to "the land of cheese" and came back to Optimus with quite a bit of information to share - and a suitcase full of cheese curds!
 
One session she found particularly interesting focused on bilateral transtibial amputees.  We know that up to 25% of patients who lose their limb due to diabetes will lose their other limb within three years.  So, how do we best care for these patients with bilateral amputations? 
 
"Often, our focus is on helping the patient achieve a 'normal' gait," Ellie explained, "but with patients with bilateral amputations, you have to take so much more into consideration when selecting the correct componentry."  One example she gave was in regards to the foot and ankle.  When we select an ankle which allows for motion, this may be helpful to the patient when walking, but there is actually less stability when just standing still.  Ellie explained, "For these bilateral patients, our focus should not be on achieving a 'normal' gait, but rather on helping those patients reach their 'optimal potential.'"
 
Another session that Ellie found helpful dealt with patient education, specifically in the area of sock management.  A study was conducted that focused on patients' preferences when it came to the information they receive upon delivery of their prostheses. 45% of patients surveyed stated they would rather have an actual training session in which they were shown how to use prosthetic socks for volume management; as opposed to 42% who stated that written instructions would be sufficient.  However, when providing those instructions, it's important to take into account the reading level of the recipient.  "I was surprised to hear that a large percentage of patients have an elementary reading level, and often instructions are written at a level beyond their comprehension.  When we provide instructions in writing, we need to make sure they are written at no higher than an 8th grade reading level."
 
Optimus Prosthetics typically provides a training session for volume management, but does not include any written instructions. John Brandt's (Co-Owner/Clinical Director) response to this information was:

"We will make it a priority to provide BOTH the training session coupled with written instructions.  This will meet the need of the majority of our patients, instead of just 45% of them."
 
Thank you to Ellie for this great information!

A three-man amputee team sponsored by Disabled Sports USA (DS/USA) and the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) has achieved the 19,340-foot climb to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to raise awareness and inspire athletes with disabilities.

The three climbers achieved their goal on August 7, six days after beginning their journey. All three are missing one or both lower limbs: Army Sgt. (Ret.) Neil Duncan, 26, of Denver, Colorado, is a bilateral leg amputee injured in Afghanistan; Army Staff Sgt. (Ret.) Dan Nevins, 37, of Jacksonville, Florida, is a bilateral transtibial amputee injured in Iraq; and Sgt. (Ret.) Kirk Bauer, JD, 62, of Ellicott City, Maryland, is a unilateral transfemoral amputee injured in Vietnam. Bauer is executive director of DS/USA. The three are also members of the DS/USA's Warfighter Sports program.

"Our message in this climb is to both our wounded military, who have made such a sacrifice to this great country of ours, and to people with disabilities throughout the nation," Bauer said. "If three veterans from three wars and two generations with one good leg between them can climb the tallest mountain in Africa, then all with disabilities can choose to be active and healthy through sports."

The team's climb was part of DS/USA's Warfighter Sports Series, a schedule of challenge events that help military service members with permanent disabilities, such as amputations, spinal cord injury, visual impairment, or traumatic brain injury, reach their full potential through participation in extreme and endurance sports. The event was chronicled by award-winning photographer Reed Hoffman, through a grant from Microsoft Imaging.

For additional photos of the event and the participants' blogs, click here.

Please don't hesitate to contact any of us with questions, comments, concerns, or compliments.
Click here to email us or call the office at 937-454-1900.0