Pittsburgh bilateral amputee
Warren Mays
Description
Collection
Title:
Pittsburgh bilateral amputee
Creator:
Warren Mays
Date:
5/30/2012
Text:
Hello All,
I have been contacted by a gentleman living in Pittsburgh, PA who is having
difficulty getting appropriate prosthetic care. He is a bilateral BK, and in
his early 70's. He sounds very motivated to me but, of course, I have not
met him or evaluated him, as my practice is in Oregon.
His prosthetist has fit him with the most expensive legs available: Carbon
feet, elevated vacuum sockets, etc.
Now that he has the latest in technology(I'll leave it to you to figure
out where he got the legs), he needs legs that will work for him. He
complains of the weight of the legs, and his inability to walk even short
distances with them. I have to admit that I am somewhat amazed that someone
actually put elevated vacuum sockets on a new amputee who has not completed
the shrinking process. He claims that his prosthetist has never told him
that his limbs would shrink. It could, of course, be the patient who is the
issue here, but it is also possible that his practitioner has not managed
him properly.
Can anyone recommend a prosthetist in the Pittsburgh area who knows how to
make a socket other than pin and liner or elevated vacuum? Something more
traditional, like supracondylar suspension with a soft insert? In essence,
this patient sounds like he is looking for a thinking prosthetist more
interested in appropriate care than a fast buck.
Thank you in advance. Sorry for the grand-standing.
Warren R Mays, CPO
I have been contacted by a gentleman living in Pittsburgh, PA who is having
difficulty getting appropriate prosthetic care. He is a bilateral BK, and in
his early 70's. He sounds very motivated to me but, of course, I have not
met him or evaluated him, as my practice is in Oregon.
His prosthetist has fit him with the most expensive legs available: Carbon
feet, elevated vacuum sockets, etc.
Now that he has the latest in technology(I'll leave it to you to figure
out where he got the legs), he needs legs that will work for him. He
complains of the weight of the legs, and his inability to walk even short
distances with them. I have to admit that I am somewhat amazed that someone
actually put elevated vacuum sockets on a new amputee who has not completed
the shrinking process. He claims that his prosthetist has never told him
that his limbs would shrink. It could, of course, be the patient who is the
issue here, but it is also possible that his practitioner has not managed
him properly.
Can anyone recommend a prosthetist in the Pittsburgh area who knows how to
make a socket other than pin and liner or elevated vacuum? Something more
traditional, like supracondylar suspension with a soft insert? In essence,
this patient sounds like he is looking for a thinking prosthetist more
interested in appropriate care than a fast buck.
Thank you in advance. Sorry for the grand-standing.
Warren R Mays, CPO
Citation
Warren Mays, “Pittsburgh bilateral amputee,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/233663.
