#below knee amputee
Aimee Copeland was on the new Katie Couric talk show today. Here are some screen caps from “Katie” some news interview and from the Katie show facebook page.
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The lovely Loretta Goebel who is obviously a double below knee amputee, missing fingers on one hand and the hand on the other arm. I’m simply in love with those slender legs.
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Stacy Paris, model who lost both legs below the knee due to infection. She’s pretty amazing.
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Type I diabetes patient who had out of control sugar in her 20s and 30s. Is now triple amputee and missing most of her fingers on left hand.
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Lost her leg after getting hit by a car after she had pulled to the side of the road because of a minor accident.
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Marine Kirstie Ennis who had her damaged left leg amputated below the knee then developed an infection and had to have the knee re-amputated above the knee.
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Nice pair of prosthetic legs with sandals
Below Knee Osseointegration w/ Total Knee Replacement. Six Month Post-Op.
Well, I’m new to Tumblr. But I thought it may be a good way to share my osseointegration experience with other amputees.
It’s been eight months since I had my prosthetic socket smashing party!! Eight Months since my doctor surgically removed my human knee and implanted a metal one with a rod that extends out the end of my amputated limb…where I then attach my “leg”….Osseointegration. Rocks.
Within weeks of this huge surgery (see x ray), I was pain free enough and mobile enough to go xc skiing!! Ok, ok….I should NOT have been skiing that soon!…BUT it’s pretty amazing that I could and had no issues or pain with it!
Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAcZNjrGUrk
I lost my leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident almost 5 years ago. I was very active before my accident, avid mountain biker, trail running, hiking, so my doctor wanted to give me the best options with getting back to that life style. Most doctors would have amputated above the knee, because my tibia and knee were very damaged, but he save some of my tibia and put it back together with a lot of hardware. It took 2 years to fully heal. I couldn’t bear weight for the first year after my accident.
But because of how damaged my tibia and knee were, I did not tolerate wearing a prosthetic socket well. I constantly had sores, bursas, at one point while I was biking the hardware in my tibia cut through the tissue from the friction in the socket. I ended up getting an MRSA infection in that area that took 2 years to clear. It was one bad thing after another. And I didn’t see much hope for a quality of life in my future. How depressing.
The only thing that gave me hope was this procedure called Osseointegration. And I knew with the integrity of my tibia that it would not be strong enough alone for an implant, and that I would need a total knee replacement with osseointegration extending out the tibia. So, in 2011, I emailed a small handful of doctors in the world that perform Osseointegration, and Dr. Munjed Al Muderis was the only doc willing to do this procedure with the Total Knee Replacement included. THIS WAS NOW HOPE. When I contacted Munjed in 2011 he had not yet performed this type of osseointegration surgery with the knee replacement. And this was also before the MRSA infection, so that “hope” felt out of reach for 2 years. It was difficult to see it as a reality that it could actually come true. But it was always my goal.
In August, 2014 I finally got medically cleared of the MRSA infection - and I immediately started the process of booking surgery in Australia with Dr. Munjed Al Muderis (or just Munjed, as I’m allowed to call him :)) I had my surgery on Jan 21, 2015. By this time, I was the 4th amputee to have this implant with Total Knee replacement and Below Knee Ossointegration together. But it made soo much sense to me that really didn’t worry me at all. The only thing new about this surgery is that the rod on the bottom part of the knee replacement extends out the bottom of the amputated limb. That’s et!…why haven’t they don’t it before!!..
Well, amputees have to have a messed up knee to have this exact implant…AND be ballsy enough to go for it…AND fork out the big bucks $$ as well. Luckily I managed to hit all this criteria as well.
Well, Holy Shit my quality of life has increased about 20 fold. No joke. I could not wear a socket prosthetic for more then 2 hours without a lot of pain. I was constantly taking it off and it limited everything I wanted or could do. I couldn’t sit with it for more than an hour without it throbbing, I couldn’t go to the movies without having to sneak my socket off / back on, in the dark. I couldn’t go to events if there was too much walking or standing involved. I couldn’t walk straight for more than 15 minutes before my limb would swell and feel as if it were going to explode and it would become fatigued easily. I couldn’t bike without causing injury to my soft tissue. Life really was Hellish. I tried to put on a happy face (most of the time) but I was miserable. NOW, I have none of these issues. It doesn’t feel any different if my leg is on or off, I don’t get sores and brusa, I don’t have a hot sweaty socket on in the summer, I can walking forever with zero pain, my walking is much more efficient and natural, I don’t have to worry about sleeves, socks, liners, sockets, electronic pumps…holy shit it’s sooo simple now. The benefits are amazing and surprising actually. It’s improved my life more than I actually imagined it could.
I have had some setbacks with the knee replacement aspect of my implant. My tendon integrity is poor after my knee being damaged for so long, so my patellar and quad tendon have both torn. And as I’m sitting here writing, it’s with my little leg in a cast so I can’t bend it or bear weight…..man, do I HATE crutches. Anywho….two weeks the cast comes off and I’ll be focusing on regaining the tendon and quad strength, as well of range of motion.
I haven’t quiet figured out this tumblr thang…..so I’ll now and try to add video and images to this blog post if that is possible. :-|
