On 25th April 2014 Proactive Prosthetics hosted their 5th seminar in a series of educational programmes for professionals involved in the rehabilitation of amputees. Nearly 50 Personal Injury lawyers and case managers joined a variety of speakers and patients to learn about the various aspects of rehabilitation. The day started with a talk by Richard Nieveen (prosthetist) on the principles of prosthetic fitting followed by a talk on new generation myo-electric devices by Kevin Shaw (prosthetist). Mr Norbet Kang (plastic surgeon) gave an excellent presentation on his experience with nerve repair and the potential for future prosthetic rehabilitation of amputees with advanced technology myo-electric devices. Dr Imad Sedki (rehabilitation consultant) spoke about the rehabilitation of amputees and Mr Scott Hodder (case manager) gave an insight to the role of a case manager in prosthetic rehabilitation. Lunch was followed by a practical demonstration of gait re-education in a trans-femoral amputee. Reconstructive amputation and the role of revision surgery was the subject of Mr Mike Saleh (orthopaedic surgeon) and Mr William Latimer-Sayer rounded up the day with a barrister’s perspective on medico-legal claims for amputees. A panel of speakers fielded questions and reflected on aspects of rehabilitation presented during the day.
The course was accredited by APIL Training and participants were credited with 6 CPD points.
“A fantastic day!” quoted one participant “nice to have a strong clinical focus – very interesting”
“Excellent and stimulating” said another and “Excellent day – fantastic speakers with great insight into the future…..each talk was engaging” from another participant “a good opportunity to see how the clinic works and meet the Proactive Team.”
Proactive Prosthetics plan to hold similar seminars in the future. If you would be interested in attending please contact us at:
clinic@proactiveprosthetics.co.uk
tel: 01252 702500
prosthetics
Ladies Day
On Saturday 1st of February 2014 Proactive Prosthetics hosted their first Ladies Day. The day was conceived as the team at Proactive Prosthetics observed many of their lady patients who enjoyed chance meetings in the clinic reception area. A day was arranged for their lady patients to have the opportunity to meet each other in a more relaxed way and have some interesting topics to discuss.
The day started with a thought provoking film called ‘Fitting Room Friends’ made by a team of amputee ladies from the Royal National Orthopedic Limb fitting Centre at Stanmore. The film followed a group of lady amputees who met and became friends at the limb fitting centre. It was both poignant and fun covering everything from what to wear to cosmeses and dance classes. The film, along with its many issues was discussed between the ladies.
Jane Hunter, Prosthetist and Orthotist at Proactive Prosthetics talked about some of the prosthetic issues particular to women amputees. Statistically, there are 3 times as many male amputees as females. In the Boston marathon bombing in April 2013 8 out of the 16 victims were women. Some new treatment factors emerged from the treatment including the need for more privacy, modesty and a sense of dignity in the evaluation process and a preference for a female prosthetist. Jane also talked about topics such as the best type of nail varnish to use on prosthetic limbs.
After a lunch during which the ladies had plenty of time to get to know each other a little better Stef Reid, Paralympic Silver medallist spoke about her experience of being a lady amputee. Stef became an amputee following a boating accident when she was 16 years old. She talked very openly about the effect it had one her at the time and how she was quite shocked about how big her prosthesis needed to be considering she had only lost her foot. She spoke about the clothes she wore then to conceal her loss and said that many of her new acquaintances had no idea that she wore a prosthesis. These days, of course, she has no desire to hide her prostheses, in fact she has recently been modelling designer clothes for Debenhams in her running blade. Stef then confronted the subject of relationships. She confided that the less concerned she became about her disability the more dates she was asked on. She is married to a paraplegic and admits that she found his complete comfort with his own disability made him more attractive to her.
Proactive Prosthetics Physiotherapist, Pam Barsby, led a discussion about balance and fear of falling and dealing with different environments such as ice and snow, rough ground, escalators and steps. The ladies enjoyed Pam’s practical approach to everyday difficulties.
The day came to a close with ladies swapping contact details having agreed that they would all like to meet again sometime soon. Among the many thank you letters received one lady wrote ‘I feel sure that we all took away some helpful nuggets which will shine at appropriate opportunities.’ Another wrote ‘You are providing a special place for people to be enabled to regain physical independence and to recover mentally and emotionally to live life to the full’. And another wrote ‘For the first time since my accident I felt part of a group of people who understand what Ii was going through.’
Proactive Prosthetics would like to thank the speakers Nicola Lane, Stef Reid Jane Hunter and Pam Barsby for making such an interesting day and to the lovely ladies who came for the day. Thanks also go to Elemis who supported our event by providing a beautiful bag full of goodies for each of our lady guests. Proactive Prosthetics will be arranging another ladies day in the Autumn this year.
Mont Blanc Success
Just back from the Alps and ‘a little beaten up’ but the good news is that last Wednesday at 11.15 Chris Head (below knee amputee) and Steve Monks made the top of Mont Blanc via the Gouter route without serious difficulty in around ten and a half hours climbing from the Nid D’Aigle. Beautiful conditions with fresh snow from 200 to 400mm making it pristine after the storm the previous day. Perhaps a tad windy and very cold early on.
Chris thanked the team at Proactive Prosthetics for their commitment and hard work in making it possible.
Silver for Stef!
Stef Reid set two new Paralympic records as she leapt to long jump silver at the Olympic Stadium.
Stef, who lost her right leg below the knee in a boating accident aged 16, launched herself out to 5.28 metres only to be denied F42/44 gold by a whisker. Proactive Prosthetics are proud to have supported Stef through her campaign to compete at the Paralympics and are delighted with her achievement.
Stef, who was born to British parents in New Zealand and grew up in Toronto, broke the Paralympic record with successive jumps, following up her second round leap of 5.08m with her very next attempt.
Stef savoured her silver medal, telling Channel 4: “There is something to be said for putting your heart and soul into it.
Even though it is a silver medal, I still feel amazing about it. I can’t wait to get on the podium.
“The silver is going to motivate me to go out there and train hard. I’ve still got more in the tank.
“It’s a fabulous feeling to know you have given it everything you can. I’ll be ready to fight again next time.”
Read more about Stef.
Another First for Proactive Prosthetics
We are pleased to announced that at Proactive Prosthetics we have two Otto Bock Certified Prosthetists qualified to independently fit the Genium Bionic Prosthetic System. Richard Nieveen and Kevin Shaw are the first UK prosthetists to successfully complete the Ottobock® certification process and have fitted 3 patients with the Genium® knee.
To find out more about the Genium® knee call 01252 702500 or email clinic@proactiveprosthetics.co.uk.
Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race
At Westminster Bridge, on Easter Sunday (April 7th 2012), Jon White and Lee Waters crossed the finish line of one of the toughest canoe races in the world, 28 hours and 9 minutes after they started in Devizes, Somerset.
The Devizes to Westminster (DW) is a non-stop canoe race that covers 125 miles of the Kennet and Avon Canal and the River Thames, including 77 portages (where the canoe is carried around locks or very low bridges). Jon, who is a triple amputee and Lee, who suffered multiple gun shot wounds, competed amoung able bodied canoeists, one third of whom retired from this challenging race. It is to their credit that Jon and Lee had trained hard and were well prepared for this race. Even in the unfavourable conditions for fast times, they managed to finish the race in under their target time.
Jon and Lee who were both injured while serving in Afghanistan, competed in the race to raise money for The Royal Marines Association and SSAFA Forces Help. Donations to these great causes have been flooding in (follow the links to the just-giving pages if you would like to make a contribution).