Discrimination

[Daniel Sheret]

thanks Duncan,
point well taken I am off my soap box I am always willing to hear when I get too high on the horse.
Dan
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Duncan Love 
  To: Amputee Information Network 
  Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 6:05 PM
  Subject: Discrimination


  Amputees face discrimination every day, it is hardest when it comes from a fellow amputee.

  Dan Sheret
  Dan
  Ease up a bit mate, accusations of discrimination are harsh words. We all have our own ways of dealing with this lot life has served us, just like we are all different people.

  Your point about fitness and diet is dead right though. I got on to pushbike as soon as i could and the mental lift I got from increased fitness was awesome. I also try and maintain a diet that gives me a constant weight - makes for less problems with leg fit.

  Keep on smiling everyone, thats the thing that impresses the most
  Duncan
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Daniel Sheret 
    To: Amputee Information Network 
    Sent: Tuesday, 25 November 2003 0:08
    Subject: Re: Question for aka's


    Michael,
    I must take issue with your comment regarding the use of amputee models by the Prosthetic Industry  and the whole "super amp" debate. First off all, almost three years ago I faced the choice of not being able to walk and keep a useless leg or to have an amputation and move on with my life. Like you I expected very little in regards to my ability to lead an active and productive life. Fortunately for me I had an Ertl amputation and quickly it became  apparent that with a proper fitting prosthetic limb there was little I could not do. I realized that my life and career before amputation was over. but at 40 I had better make the best of my situation or it was going to be a long boring life for me and those around me.  Attitude is everything, I have come to learn. This last summer in order to come to terms with my limb loss I went on a quest of sorts, cycling 3800 miles across America. I am not nor was ever an athlete. I was an average 40 yr old that wanted to bring a message of hope and to show others like me that life does not end with the loss of a limb. I was that "in your face" guy about my limb loss you spoke of. I wanted people to realize that they had a responsibility to be as healthy as possible to aid in their own recovery and, "To get of the couch". 
    Since my trip I have lent my name and image to a prosthetic company. I have not asked for or received payment for this in money or product. you see, without the prosthetic industry the best I could hope for would be life in a wheel chair. I want them to make as much money as possible. Profit will allow more research into improving the lives of amputees world wide. It is my was of giving back to society instead of sitting on the couch worry about what happened to my life. Others might say I should profit from my abilities and I do, every day I walk. 

    As to use of a wheel chair I would say that is up to you and your doctors. I would suggest however that if you are falling perhaps some gait training or PT might improve your mobility. You would benefit from a greater sense of confidence and  balance and you might find that your resentment of other active amputees would fad. I met many other amputees on my trip with the attitude that you are expressing, one that belittles the hard work and  effort it took me to do what I did. Your dismissive demeanor does little to help you, me, or anyone else. I am saddened you should feel this way.
    Amputees face discrimination every day, it is hardest when it comes from a fellow amputee.

    Dan Sheret
    www.ampu-cycle.com

      From: Michael F. Chamness 
      To: Amputee Information Network e
      Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 6:08 AM
      Subject: Re: Question for aka'ser an athel


      Jim, I'm a left above-knee amputee (Kaiser Anaheim, July 2000) without any prosthesis, and when I was still using fore-arm crutches in 2000, I took a bad fall and spent a weekend in the hospital, and had my left arm in a sling for about a month. So I was completely out-of-luck on the left side, anyway. My doctor later asked me why I used the crutches, and suggested that the nextime I take a bad fall, I might break a hip - then I'd have real problems. So now I use a wheelchair all the time. If you are going to keep falling, and it sounds like you have had some bad falls, maybe you should look for alternate methods of locomotion at least part of the time. The next bad fall might be the worse one ever. 

      You're lucky you have the comprehensive Kaiser plan that you seem to have. I was a private-pay Kaiser enrollee, so after my leg was chopped off, they decided a prosthesis would be too expensive and they denied the coverage. At that time they estimated it would cost in excess of $40,000. But if a C-leg is what you're after, good luck - you'll probably get it eventually. 

      I find it kind of interesting that so many amputees seem to make it their life's goal to resume living at the same level of performance they had when they had all of their limbs, and failing that, the alternative is a sort of devastation. And to read the ads for the various prosthetic manufacturers, any amputee who is not climbing tall mountains, engaging in moto-cross or kyaking through Arctic wildernesses is a total and complete failure at life. From reading these various emails and lurking in the background, it seems to me that a lot of amputees have bought into this nonsense. My regular Kaiser doctor told me following my surgery, to never, never use a wheelchair, otherwise I'd become an invalid (like that's a disease or something). I listened to him, and began falling at least one time every week until the last good solid fall. And another handicapped person I met told me how his own father gave away this guy's wheelchair to the GoodWill because he thought his son was just lazy and becoming an invalid. Well, my personal active lifestyle before amputation consisted of playing golf, and that not very well. I don't have the slightest desire to return to the links, in any form whatsoever. And I thought climbing mountains or jumping from airplanes was a pretty nutty thing to do even before my amputation. I certainly have no desire to do any of that now. Those activities make me think of the fellow who attached the helium baloons to his yard chair and flew up to where the air is rare a number of years ago in California. So, why do amputees, of all the interesting people in the world, seem to be so driven to accomplish such inane and ill-advised activities? Why do so many amputees seem to have an "in your face" attitude about their limb loss? I wonder...if enough people began using wheelchairs, would we then see such things as "wheelchair rage" in places where these folks congregate? 
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Michael F. Chamness
      PO Box 22
      Montpelier, ND 58472
      chamness at daktel.com
        ----- Original Message ----- 
        From: Jim Street 
        To: Amputee Information Network 
        Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 1:09 AM
        Subject: Question for aka's


        I've been trundling around on my new leg for about six weeks and I've fallen seriously five times and crumpled together about three times.  Once I was trying to impress my PT on how well I was walking and I fell into a flower pot in my back yard and drew a moderate amount of blood out of the back of my head and another time I was trying to impress the surgeon and just barely avoided cracking my forehead into the examination table.  Luckily I haven't been seriously hurt by any of these falls but my confidence has a huge dent right in the middle, the size of a moon crater.
        To add to my troubles, I'm really frustrated that I can't walk any faster.  I know it sounds like I should slow down and not be worried about being so slow but I can't stand having people wait for me while I swing along behind them like a wounded baboon.  
        Sorry for the silly imagery but it seems to fit.
        I guess my question is, what can I do to walk faster and keep the knee from collapsing?  I don't have anything but a dead foot and I have a 3B60 Otto Bok knee.  My stump is almost to the knee.  I would like to get a C-leg and my surgeon has written an order for one.  He smiled encouragingly and said he has already got one (he's from Kaiser) for one of his patients.  That doesn't sound too encouraging.  (Only ONE patient?)  The price was quoted to me as $37,000 for the C-leg.  (My Kaiser plan pays 80% if approved.)  That's about the price for a Lexis SRV.  Does anyone have any experience with a C-leg or with feet or knees that allow faster walking?

        Thanks,

        Jim Street
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