thanksgiving | LIM Innovations

Merry Christmas from the LIM Ambassadors

December 21, 2016 by Andrew Pedtke

2016 is coming to a close, and throughout the year, you may have interacted with LIM’s Ambassadors. With Christmas being celebrated across the World this Saturday, we handed over the blog to our LIMLegends to share their words of wisdom with the entire amputee community. Here’s what they had to say:

Tammy Myers words of wisdom:

“You can still accomplish anything you want with a little creativity! Everyone travels at a different pace! Surround yourself with others like you. Knowledge is power! amputeecoalition.org. Your story could help someone else. Be proud of who you are!”

Pamela Selinski words of wisdom:

“I recently have had the opportunity to speak with several new amputees and their first question is how long does it take. I’ve been telling them patience is not only a virtue it is a necessity when you have limb loss. Pearls of Wisdom = Be Patient”

Carlos Gonzalez words of wisdom:

“I am humbled by The grace of God, I have become an advocate for others who don’t have the courage. Allow me to be your voice by being a example of hope and faith. Walk on!”

Doug Van Pool words of wisdom:

“Don’t let amputation define you. We are so much more than that. Advocate, educate, elucidate. Lead others that share your fate. Be that shining light, like the morning star, always steady, always bright. And Never, Never quit!”

Deborah Smith words of wisdom:

“I’m fortunate to be part of the LIM team in the Midwest, and was fit with our TT socket in May. As an amputee one of the most rewarding aspects of my role with LiM is working with others with limb loss. When I became an amputee 1½ years ago I quickly realized I’d joined an incredible community of people. I’m grateful to hear their stories, learn from them, and help with journeys towards increased comfort and mobility.

Just as we prepare and plan step by step for holiday celebrations, our incremental efforts each day toward our goals as prosthetic wearers can culminate in wonderful accomplishments and celebration. There are so many organizations out there to help us be as active as we can dream, whatever our physical challenge may be. Thank you dare2tri.org, juddgoldmansailing.org, adaptivegolf.org!

Merry Christmas, Happy Celebrations, and New Year to all!”

Jim Demas words of wisdom:

“At the Holidays, it’s always a time to reflect on things for which to be thankful. As a recent amputee in April 2015, it has been important for me as an active person to get my life back. Since May 2016, as one of the first beta testers of the Infinite TT and now wearing the final version, I’ve experienced spectacular improvement over using traditional sockets. It has truly been a remarkable 7 months with the Infinite TT.

So in this season of gift giving, my wish is for anyone in need of a below the knee socket to give yourself the best gift ever… greatly increased mobility and freedom with supreme comfort. There’s no better feeling than getting your life back! I’m so thankful for the Infinite TT and all the wonderful people at LIM who have made it happen.”

Tess Deddo words of wisdom:

“I remember hearing that the road from amputation to running is a long, slow process. But me – I wanted to run before I walked, but they kept saying “first you walk, then you run.” And it was a long, slow process; a day at a time, but once I was walking and comfortable in my prosthesis, I found I could do things I couldn’t do with my biological foot. Others’ perception of “disabled” is interesting: before my amputation no one could see how painful it was for me to walk; I felt disabled then. Since my amputation, I would say most people see me (or anyone with a prosthesis) as disabled, when I feel, now more than ever, very “able.” I think anyone who knows me does not see me as disabled, since I can physically do more now than I had ever done before. Happy me.”

Carlos the Adaptive Martial Artist

December 12, 2016 by Andrew Pedtke

Hi, my name is Carlos, and I want to share my story with you all. It all began on February 10th 2005. Getting off work from a tiring day I was on my way to visit my Mom in her violent neighborhood. I became a victim that day. A gang shoot-out occurred and I found myself caught in the middle of a crossfire. Shot down and left to die, I was blessed to have the Ambulance arrive to my aid within ten minutes.

The last thing I recall was breathing through a oxygen mask, arriving to SFGH getting prepped for surgery in the operation room. The lights went out completely, and I remained in a sedative coma for over two months fighting for my life. The grace of God kept me away from death. Upon waking up, to my surprise I saw my right leg was missing. Confused and scared, I can remember my Mom telling me she loved me no matter what. It was in that moment that I realized this was no nightmare, but a harsh reality.

Months of further surgeries occurred. I had infections, which led to more amputations to my leg, leaving me at mid thigh. After a year I got fitted for my first prostheses and that’s when my determination kicked in, working hard in Physical Therapy. I cried when I took my first steps; it was like being a baby learning to walk again. Going through pain and feeling discouraged, depression and hopelessness took its toll. I felt the need to give up due to being tired of struggling. My anger built up as my personal life was suffering with poor relationships as I felt less of a man.

One day I got on the internet and searched for others like myself; looking to find a way to be adaptive and change my perception of life. I had to know if someone else was struggling like myself. I love martial arts, so looked around for others with the same passion. I found myself a local MMA gym by the name of ‘Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu,’ and attended scared, not knowing how people would treat me differently. I came out confident after being treated with the utmost respect. Martial Arts is about confidence and courage; somewhere where you often find yourself in a position where you think you can’t make it work.

Martial arts is not about being better than the next guy. It’s about finding yourself and trusting your heart that you are able to adapt. I’ve learn adaptation, determination and perseverance, while not getting treated with special care when training with others; I was an equal. That’s the code of martial arts… respect! I learned of confidence and modification for months. Our minds and bodies are not designed to be repetitive. Martial arts taught me how to modify my movements, and in turn taught me to modify my life. I gained balance and strength, to where my life became modified to fit for me, not the World. I received my blue belt and even competed many times. Despite some losses on my record, I’ve alway gained love and respect from others. My life has changed, not because I needed an outlet, but because martial arts gave me the tools to deal with the World and allowed me to adapt instead of feeling bad for myself.

The injuries have piled up, but I have no regret because I am living an awesome life. God is now using me to help others achieve goals and bring others to realize their potential. I’m amazed how far I’ve come, often humbled and blessed from what I’ve learned from martial arts. Utilizing my new skillset, I can help others achieve their dreams and goals. My life tragedy turned into triumph, why can’t theirs?

There was a time when my prostheses wouldn’t cooperate with my active lifestyle. When I was doing martial arts in the beginning you can imagine how difficult it was sweating inside my socket and then losing traction to the point where my leg would slip off. I started off with a traditional socket that didn’t work to well with my high level of activity. Then came the vector socket 5 years after my amputation. It was a hard fiberglass type model that had open struts that allowed my tissue to flow and expand while walking or doing martial arts. I rolled on a liner onto my limb and connected it into the bottom of the socket via a pin. It stayed on pretty well, but there was a down side. It caused so much pain in my groin area due to the hard material of the socket, causing nasty cuts and burns.

LIM innovations came into my life just recently. Upon using their Infinite Socket, I instantly noticed how easy it was to get my socket ordered. Instead of getting casted or molded, they used top of the line technology, using just photos and measurements. Piece by piece they assembled this comfortable socket. I have been on it six months and noticed major changes, like wearing my socket for over ten hrs. My cuts and burns healed, and I no longer get them. It’s easy in my groin area, which allows me to maintain a high activity level. The most awesome thing is the ease of making adjustments without getting molded again and waiting for a new socket. It’s the newest technology out there and it’s only improving. I’m a proud user of the Infinite Socket for it has made my life less painful and an above the knee amputee.

LIMLegend -Carlos Gonzalez Jr.

Thanksgiving with LIMLegend Jeff Kern

November 22, 2016 by Andrew Pedtke

I was nine years old when I lost my leg to bone cancer. When living your life as a kid looking to explore, it’s difficult learning how to grow up in a world not made for amputees. Walking around school, having my leg come off in social settings, while playing sports like hockey, baseball, lacrosse; it was just a part of life in high school. Over time I learned how to become comfortable with myself, but it was a long road to get to that stage. If people had a problem with me playing, it was something they just had to get over. This Thanksgiving, I get to look back at those times and see how far I’ve come.

Me at the age of 9 shortly after I was diagnosed with bone cancer.

Since then, I’ve been through college, worked full time jobs, but my life hit a big stopping point around a year ago. All the chemo I had when I was younger had caused irreversible damage. My phantom pain to this day is worse than it has ever been. Learning how to live with it has been extremely hard, and at times it’s been unbearable. At times, the pain has been so intense that I felt sick to my stomach. I wasn’t able to work, and things I normally did, such as shooting at the rifle range was put on hold due to the crippling phantom limb pain. I take medication for nerve damage so I can use crutches, but these completely detract you from reality. Nobody wants to live their life like that.

Target shooting is my favorite hobby, and this rifle I’m holding in the picture is very special to me because it is from World War II. It’s an M1 Garand rifle, and my father and I restored it together. I’m really excited to be getting back out on the range.

During my time as an amputee I’ve had a lot of different sockets made for me. They were making sockets with belts when I first was fit. After wearing it for about 20 minutes you were ready to take it off. Since then, I migrated to suction for many years, before moving to liners, which is where I’m at today. The traditional socket was too rigid and became difficult to wear. It was recommended that I pursue other avenues of mobility. I went from becoming a very individual amputee to becoming reliant. I lost a lot of independence, and tasks a lot of people take for granted such as going for a shower, going to work became a chore. When you can’t muster the strength to even get out of bed in the morning it really affects your outlook on life. My life was this way for three to four months, when I could not wear a prosthesis.

Christian Been at De La Torre O&P in Pittsburgh always took really good care for me. It’s important for every amputee to have a good working relationship with their practitioner; someone who can share their life experiences on a personal basis. I would tell any new amputee that a practitioner is asking for a lot of blind trust in allowing them to have the patient’s best interests in mind. You have more of a chance getting struck with lightning than meeting a practitioner that suits the bill, and you need to learn to trust one person with life decisions in a second. You can’t try before you buy, and if you get the impression that they are not hearing you, find somebody else. Christian is like my best friend. This is where it all starts. When I discovered the Infinite Socket, I talked to him about the features and he had the answers.

I learned about the Infinite Socket from an article online about the advancements in prosthetics. I looked at pictures of the many people in it and my initial thought was “what on the earth is this. I’ve never seen anything like this in my 30 years of being an amputee.” You wore a bucket and that was all i knew. It looked like it would fall apart in a matter of steps, but I youtubed it and found people utilizing the tensioning system. I was just amazed, the more I read, the more I was intrigued. I spoke to my prosthetist about how the socket conforms to you. Christian had heard many good things about it, and after long discussions about the medical necessity I was excited to proceed.

It took about two months to get fit with the socket because we coordinated with another amputee to be fit around the same time. From the moment we opened the box, you can tell it was thoughtfully made for comfort. It took some time to get the adjustments made, as I was having a problem with the ischial seat, but I knew it was something special. My first impression was that it felt bizarre. I didn’t have the high lateral wall, and it didn’t feel like the material went up into my groin. Initially walking with it has been comfortably slow going, however, I still marvel at how easy it is to put on and how quickly I can seat in, adjust, and walk. It’s truly a life changer. The bottom of the socket is far more comfortable than my other one, feeling almost as though I’m wearing a slipper. It’s a wonderful product, that I could tell from the moment I put it on, was unique. If you are a new amputee, and you’d never worn a traditional socket you would find this pleasant for sure. It gives your limb the opportunity to breathe.

I know that it will take awhile to get accustomed to, as I’ve known and conformed to the traditional socket for over 30 years. There is an adjustment period where you will feel pleasantly strange. It’s a very forgiving period, where sitting down in a car is a lot more comfortable than with a traditional socket. I can tell you for sure that I’m not giving the socket back. When it breaks I’m going to get another one! That’s a testament to how much I love the feeling of the Infinite Socket.

I’m 40 years old now, and the first thing I’m proud of is that I don’t really think about the small challenges that amputees face every day anymore. Foremost, I’m immensely proud that I beat the odds at such a young age to celebrate my 40th birthday. The doctors gave me a 50% chance of survival, but as an amputee I’m proud of the independence that sockets give you. I now have that get up and go spirit again. I don’t need to think about being an amputee going throughout my day, and the fact I can live my life again is a major accomplishment.

As far as things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, I would like to mention that I’m very thankful for my girlfriend for her unwavering support through what has been a very difficult year for me. She’s been my rock. I’m also thankful that due to the Infinite Socket, I’m now able to be out of bed a bit more and moving around, working towards gaining my independence back. It’s just difficult to describe how much your life can take a turn for the worse when you lose that independence as an amputee. While I’m not where I want to be yet, I feel that I’m making progress, and it’s a wonderful feeling. I couldn’t be where I am now without my Infinite Socket.

I’m hopeful that I can regain my health and the ability to live my life, completing the goals that I set out to do before i was diagnosed with neuropathy. I want to finish my criminology degree, and refuse to let the pain stop me. I want to get back on the road of more independence without the pain I feel every day.

My CPO, Christian Been, myself and LIM CPO Dana Rock after being fit with the Infinite Socket.