The Future is Now: Part 5 of 5

The Future is Now: Part 5 of 5

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MIT

Dan Levine

 

As we wrap up this Limb Loss/Limb Difference Awareness month I am also interviewing my final university student who has been working towards his PhD at MIT. Dan started his journey at Cornell with a degree in Mechanical engineering and Computer Science and is about to graduate from MIT with his doctorate in Media Arts and Sciences.

Dan had a fascinating beginning as he was able to spend some younger years in Thailand as his parents were working in the medical field. His excitement about nature and anything is possible to create if we just look, observe and study what is around us shows us that the brain is such an amazing muscle that can come up with the seemingly impossible, like making prosthetics more advanced and allow the amputee live a life as if nothing has changed for them. That is what the studies at the MIT Media Lab aim to accomplish.

He has had his hands on several projects in Assistive Technologies and as of late been working on advancing bionics in the ankle prothesis.

One very unique experiment he did was to create a video game based on movement technology for his non-sighted friend. Below is the board they actually used to accomplish this task.

 

This board was used to “translate” Mario Bros for his non-sighted friend

 

As I have stated each week this month, the field of mechanical, biomedical engineering and robotics is so very competitive around the nation and some discussions of these students’ projects cannot be divulged until they finish their dissertations and get published, so we discuss what we can during these interviews. My hope, though, is to whet your appetite as to what is coming in the world of prosthetics/bionics and the study of the human body in order to aid the amputee community.

 

Dan’s team of undergraduates enjoy team building time.

 

Another aspect of being at this level of his degree is bringing on undergraduates to add insight and diverse thinking to projects. As Dan worked with these students as a team they are able to all bring their specific talent to the projects and as Dan stated their level in school does not determine their level of expertise. Each team member is valued for what they bring to the table.

Dan has had the opportunity to explore, create and design a more robust and technologically advanced foot model to help be a more natural replacement of our natural foot, using the idea of biomechatronics, energy return, and studying our natural gait to help with his design.

 

Dan in the Media Lab working on specific parts of his design.
A very hands on project after the detailed research of measurements and calculations.
 “Measure twice, cut once” is more his philosophy.

 

I am totally amazed and completely impressed by Dan’s imagination, thoughts, and unique view of the world. It takes very special people to be in this space, creating the next great technological advancement in the engineering world and because of people, like Dan, our amputee community will be seeing some incredible advancements to our devices and thus our ability to live the best, most full life, as if we were not missing anything.

This is truly something to be celebrated!

Thank you, Dan, for spending your time with me diving into the world you have been in these past 6+ years. The devotion, the exhaustion, the hard work and at times, I’m sure, the frustration of getting things completed the way you envisioned them and the successes you have accomplished I thank you! Our community thanks you, for bringing us one step closer to higher potential (pun intended!).

And for all of the university students out there trying to make our world a better place, we see you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I look forward to what the future holds for myself and other amputees. A world where nothing inhibits us from achieving all of our hopes, dreams, and goals.

I hope you have all enjoyed hearing about the technology and advancements these young adults have been working on. Please help me spread their names and accomplishments by Liking, Sharing, and Subscribing to my podcast. My hope is to check back in with them in the near future to see the strides they have made and I wouldn’t want you to miss that!

 

Thank you and have a very blessed week!

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

 

 

The Future is Now: Part 4 of 5

The Future is Now: Part 4 of 5

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University of Michigan

Mira Mutnik, Jake Kanetis, and Marty Kilbane

 

 

Amazing conversation with not 1, not 2, but 3 PhD students at the University of Michigan this week!

A true, authentic conversation about the innovation and design of future prosthesis and the growth and research of creating a surgical procedures to aid in using these newly designed prosthesis all with the purpose of replicating the natural human movement.

We packed so much conversation into this episode with so much more we could have talked about.

Once again, we discussed what we could, but some details must be left out due to the highly competitive field these young adults are working in.

What I love about these three students is that even though they are all in a different sector, so to speak, of research: Mira-above limb amputees, Jake-below limb amputees, and Marty-prosthetics, they are all working towards the same goal; creating the best way to unify the surgical procedure and prosthesis to give the amputee the best, most natural movement possible.

 

Jake all hooked up to monitor human movement to collect data for his research

 

Marty working with a study participant on their design of a prosthesis they are working on in the lab.

 

Mira collecting data on her upper limb project and how to get the best hand movement and dexterity of a prosthesis.

 

We had a great discussion of what it could look like for the future of amputees and the length of time these studies take. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, safety regulations, data collecting, and trials. The FDA must approve procedures and products that they hope to take to market some day, but these students have become three of the many students going through the program at University of Michigan, working tirelessly to bring this technology closer to us being able to access it.

I find it so unique to see the shift from making the newest, coolest, most advanced products for us to wear, as amputees, to surgical procedures to make our bodies work in harmony with a prosthesis. The one thing we did dive deep into was the procedure of getting candidates who fit the bill to doing the trial procedures, and finding willing participants as well. This can be so tricky as we struggle with the idea of going back in and revision the original amputation in hopes that the outcome will be the same if not better, but the concern that it could be worse.

I hope you will join us today, listen to the entire podcast and see what dedication these students have for helping our amputee community, what motivates them to continue into this higher level of study, and what their plans are for their future after graduation.

Thank you Jake, Mira, and Marty for sharing your passion. Your dedication to helping our community find a better way to live is inspiring and deserves our gratitude!

Continue doing what you’re doing, and know we all thank you for the time, ideas, and ingenuity to take amputees to the next level!

Please make sure you all Like, Share, and Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode as we continue with our 5th Student interview next week as we visit MIT again from a different angle.

Wishing you all the best, and a blessed week ahead.

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!

 

Much love,

The Future is Now: Part 3 of 5

The Future is Now: Part 3 of 5

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Limb Loss Awareness Month

UCLA: Ophelie Herve

 

As we come into our third week of April Limb Loss/Limb Difference Awareness month I am so excited to have a female voice in the engineering program from UCLA on our podcast today.

Ophelie was  born in France and came with her family here to the United States at an early age. In high school she reflects on watching the news when the Boston Marathon was bombed and she saw peak athletes, within 24 hours, become wheelchair bound. As an athlete, herself, this event created a desire to help and  gave her the direction she needed to jump into engineering and working in prosthetics for her undergraduate and Masters program at SMU.

Ophelie using an exoskeleton that is a power device used to help paralyzed individuals walk.

 

From there she turned her attention to injury prevention, and found interesting research on the female body and the how and when training can sabotage us by putting us at high risk for injury and when we will have a peak performance in the gym.

Using a robotic arm to replicate the knee joint in her studies on injury prevention.

 

This week I wanted to delve into the topic of how the female body is different and how as amputees we need to protect our sound limb for the long haul. We have always been so amazed by the newest prosthetics and bionics to come out into the world, and it is a very competitive field, but without research we don’t have the information to make technology better for the human body

Her research is fascinating and goes deep. We joked about the rabbit holes she went down as she began this research, but it was her unique perspective as a female athlete (and one who has injured herself playing soccer), coupled with her research on our female bodies and cycles that we really dove into some extraordinary conversations about injury prevention, especially for women who are down to one sound limb. As a female amputee, I can tell you that I have thought about this often, and what would life look like if I injured my “good leg”. That has also been a topic many times in my ladies’ chat group.

 

Working out at the right times of the month help protect our sound limb.

 

How we workout, eat, and rest all help play a part in stabilizing our sound limb, and when different cycle changes throughout our lives make a difference in each of those aspects.

This was great to learn about as the world of sports and nutrition tend to clump us in the same  workout and nutrition regiment as our male counterparts, without regards to our different hormones and biological differences.

I hope you enjoy hearing about Ophelie’s cutting edge research and Master’s project as she explains in greater detail some findings and how that will affect us as female amputees and athletes.

Please make sure you give her some love and Like, Share and Subscribe!

We have 2 more weeks of Limb Loss/ Limb Difference Awareness month, which means I have 2 more students who have dedicated their college journey to the betterment of the amputee community. You don’t want to miss this!

Have a beautifully blessed week ahead,

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

Hiking with my pups keeps my sound leg strong and health for the long haul.
Keep moving!

 

The Future is Now: Part 2 of 5

The Future is Now: Part 2 of 5

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Limb Loss Awareness Month

  1. MIT: John McCollough

 

John is a student at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts working towards his Masters and PhD in Medical Engineering.

I met him a year and half ago when he reached out to see if I was interested in coming to MIT for a Gait Study that he was assisting a student working toward his PhD. Of course I said Yes!

 

This is what it looks like when you agree to a gait study!

 

 

Now as time has flown by I have gone back to check on John’s progress in the field of Biomechatronics, stayed connected with those in the lab and couldn’t wait to have him on the podcast.

 

 

Once in the media Lab building you can see prototypes, unique sculptures, and their purpose and mission.

 

However, a quick disclaimer, some of the work being done in the MIT Media Lab, like other universities, is private and not up for discussion as they are still in the works of their projects in a very competitive field, but the topics we discuss today are amazing, eye-opening and incredibly groundbreaking and I can not wait for you all to hear what’s on the cusp of becoming products and procedures available to the amputee community!

John working on the project I took part in last year.

Let’s jump right into our conversation on the work being done with 3D printing, Oesteointegration, AMI procedure, and how students and university create, trademark, and market their designs and how long this process can take.

Once again, I am blown away at the desires of these young men and women to create a better world for our amputee community.

The future is looking so good and positive for us and I truly want these students to be seen for their hardwork and dedication to a community they are feeling led to assist. We are extremely blessed with what the future holds and I believe that the next 5, 10, 20 years we will see the struggles of amputees today become minimal if not obsolete, making our lives stronger, healthier, and physically complete.

Join me this week as John and I discuss all things on the drawing board and please don’t forget to Like, Share, and Subscribe so you don’t miss any of these university students’ conversations about the future of prosthetics.

 

John McCollough MIT Masters student Mechanical Engineering

John, thank you for spending time we me on the podcast and sharing so eloquently the field of study you are in, breaking down the process so we could understand the stages of a study, and for sharing the work that could be shared. I look forward to having you on again as you complete your Masters and PhD.

Thanks for joining us  and I hope you have a beautiful week ahead!

And as always, until next time,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

The Future is Now: Part 1 of 5

The Future is Now: Part 1 of 5

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Limb Loss Awareness Month 2025

Colorado State University: MediFlex Prosthetics LLC

 

CSU MediFlex Prosthetics team

 

Here we are again for the month of April and bringing awareness to the Limb Loss/Limb Difference community.

Every year, in the month of April, I shift gears on my podcast and create a theme centered on the amputee community and interview people versus talking from my personal experience.

Each year I have met some amazing people from doctors, to athletes, to innovators and entrepreneurs. This year I am excited to announce the future of our community, students!

Each of the 5 weeks of April I have students, of varying levels of their education, from all across our nation, talking about what they are studying, inventing, building, and perfecting in the prosthetic world. We have undergraduates to PhD students, all of whom are spending their college careers, and life after, making our community a better place by creating the next generation of products meant to allow us to live fuller lives as amputees.

 

Today, I am excited to introduce Garrison Hayes and Eric Gutierrez-Camacho, two of the five student team from Colorado State University, they are the founders of MediFlex Prosthetics LLC and their creation is part of their senior project at CSU.

                 

 

The work they do focuses primarily around 3D printed feet modules for amputees, both above knee and below knee. Their idea, which I will allow them to explain, is a tough, indestructible foot that allows for more energy return to the user.

This could be life changing, not to mention energy saving!

So many of us already struggle with moving around for long periods of time due to fit or phantom pains, but we also deal with exhaustion due to a loss of energy as our foot hits the ground, giving nothing back.

 

Internal carbon fiber skeleton of foot

 

3D printed foot shell that is built in sections for ease of replacing portion that might wear down over time

 

 

Garrison, a lead in the creation of this foot, is also an amputee. He has been able to trial each prototype and give instant feedback from an amputee’s true perspective. A vital component when making a new prosthesis before marketing it.

This team of students has created an LLC to continue building, bettering, and supplying this type of equipment to our amputee community well after their college careers end. Their goal is to make their product quick to get and affordable for everyone.

                               

As they formulated their ideas and worked around getting large 3D printers to create such strong feet with high quality materials they have also been competing in this field with their product and I am excited to say that this past weekend they received an overall 1st place finish at the Murals competition at CSU for their product The Goldilocks Foot.

Way to go,Team!!

 

These students are just one example of the intensely competitive world of biomedical and medical engineering that can be found in our universities around the nation. Each team, each level, building off of other projects, creating all new ideas, and researching the field of prosthesis and a deeper level, all in all, working towards making the life of an amputee as comfortable, balanced, and natural as they once were with the part they are missing.

This month, I want you to make sure to like, share and subscribe to my podcast as we go deeper into the world of engineering for the amputee community and what these inspiring students are bringing to the table.

If you would like to watch the whole interview it can be found on my YouTube channel

The future is NOW!

To find out more about Garrison and Eric’s prosthesis and the work their team is doing by visiting their Video HERE 

You can also ask for more information or ask questions that you may have for their team at: mediflex.co/outlook.com

They are also seeking testers that live near them or can travel, so if you would like to be on the cutting edge of this technology please scan the QR code below and fill out their form to join their testing program.

 

 

Thank you again, Garrison and Eric for reaching out and allowing me an hour of your day. As an amputee, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring, creating, and dreaming about a better future for all of us. You are all so inspiring! Keep doing what you’re doing and let’s chat again as you continue to grow and enhance your product.

I hope you all enjoyed hearing, first hand, what our college students are inspiring to do for the greater good of the amputee community.

Continue to listen in this week as I bring on students from east coast to west coast and undergraduates to PhD students. Their stories are inspiring and their drive to do good in our world needs to be shared. These students are our future, and the future is looking bright!

Have a beautifully blessed week!

And as always and until next time,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!

 

Much love,

 

Statistically Speaking

Statistically Speaking

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The Reality of the Numbers and What We Can Do About It

 

The stats on amputees is staggering.

In the US 1 in 200 people have undergone amputation!

Over 2.1 million people live with an amputated limb.

Worldwide, 1 million ampuatations happen annually, that’s 1 amputation every 30 seconds!!!

 

1 EVERY 30 SECONDS!

Amputee Coalition’s diagram of statistics taken from Promedeast.com 2023

 

Even more alarming is the projection of the 2.1 million in the US doubling by the year 2050!

(🚨Please excuse my error around the 3 minute mark. I meant to say over 4 million, not 400 million)

On a different note and other statistics:

The #1 cause of amputation, currently, is vascular disease, such as diabetes and peripheral arterial disease at 54% of major amputations.

A close second at 45% is trauma with cancer being  less than 2% of amputations.

From this we see the emotional impact an amputation has on us. Amputees deal with depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Work is also impacted, making it harder to earn a living, keep a job, and even getting a new job, adding more stress to a person’s life and complicating relationships, new and old.

Why am I talking to you about all of these numbers (especially since I am NOT a numbers girl)? These stats and the aftermath of amputation have a huge impact on how people function in society and how well they live their life.

Next week begins the month of April which is Limb Loss/Limb Difference Awareness Month.

Every year I use this month to interview people in our community to shed light on and inspire the world.

This year I am excited to announce that this month I will be talking with students from across our country who are working in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Engineering. This field has seen a boom across the country and the competition is intense! Each of these interviews are with students in the midst of creating, testing, or improving on products that will enhance the lives of amputees all over the world. Most are not even amputees (however, there is at least one who is), they are just looking to make a difference in a growing population.

These students are our future. They are striving to find a better way for those of us who have lost a limb.

I wanted to spotlight them and the hundreds of others who are studying biomedical engineering, in hopes to make a difference.

Please make sure you like, share and subscribe to my podcast here, on my You Tube channel, or on most streaming platforms so you don’t miss these April interviews and all the good these students are doing.

Apple Podcast

Spotify

iHeart

With such a growing interest and determination to improve the lives of amputees I am filled with such hope for our future and what we will be able to accomplish DESPITE our limb difference.

Join me this April as we see the heart and minds behind our bright future!

 

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

How Did I Get Here?

How Did I Get Here?

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Faith and Connections

 

Just the other day I met a lovely woman in a wheelchair. My first instinct was to smile  but then I looked down, only to see that this kindly older lady was missing part of her limb. She was a below knee amputee.

She was being pushed around the store by a younger man, a caretaker, in her wheelchair when she noticed me and my prosthesis.  She asked him to back up and push her towards me to talk about being an amputee.

Her smile showed she was a fighter. She also informed me it has been 2 years since her amputation,  and now she was dealing with cancer. But still she smiled!

I knew that she was someone I wanted to know.

We talked for a bit, I told her we’d love to have her on our women’s chat groups and I made sure she had my name written down before we parted ways. She was struggling with the phantom pains, something I know all too much about. We had that in common and our connection was amazing and immediate.

Before I chose amputation I had been fighting through ten surgeries in 5 years, plus a blood clot, before deciding on amputation.

I had 4 months to wait from the time I scheduled my amputation til the surgery, and in those 4 months I went thru every emotion know to humans. I was a wreck trying to navigate something so surreal and on my own.

That is, until I leaned into my Christian faith. I had met a nice pastor during my time in PT, as he was getting his shoulder injury worked on by my PT on many of the days I was there. We talked, I reflected, then on my birthday (which feel during my wait time) I decided to re-baptize myself at this pastor’s church, which I started going to on Saturday evenings, just a month before. I needed to find connections, I need to find God in all of this mess I called my life.

 

The love of a puppy

 

The love from my horse

 

The love of my family

 

 

What I found, while attending the Saturday evening services, was amazing people who understood and stood with me during this time.

I sat down, on campus, with this pastor and we talked about life in general. Afterwards, when I got back to my car I had a life-altering epiphany, this whole thing, this journey I was on, was God’s plan for me. I now, looking back, could see his fingerprints on it all!

I felt such a burden lifted from me at that point, and I can honestly say, I have never looked back.

I am embracing every high and low for what it’s worth, and I know it is for my own good and all these moments were meant to build me up for something else. My mindset got positive. My view of my future became positive and my fears were muted.

When I connected with this lady the other day, I saw God working again, reminding me why He chose me for this journey. I connected in a way that helped and brought joy to this new friend of mine, and I walked away feeling joyful and fulfilled once again.

Connections; we, as humans, were created for connecting with one another and with the world around us. This gives us hope and joy, it fills us with purpose and passion for our life we are living, despite the circumstances.

 

 

 

This week I want you to give it a try.

If you have been staying at home, or are stuck at home find a way to get out.

If you can’t get out then find another way to connect with people. Find a virtual chat room, like the one I have each Wednesday, or call a friend or family member. Reach outside of your own life and find out about someone else’s.

When we connect either physically or verbally with someone else we gain perspective and can step back from what is disabling us.

It’s never going to be a good outcome if you are at home only thinking about your own problems and issues. That is isolating and can destroy you, mentally and physically.  You need to branch out and see that you are not alone in suffering or struggles, we all have them, day to day and even from hour to hour.

Staying secluded isn’t helpful and is hard to lift yourself out of, we aren’t meant to go it alone. Humans were built for connection.

This week make some real connections with others and watch your perspective change and watch your struggles lessen, even if only for those moments you are with someone.

Listen to someone and what they are going through. No need to give advice, sometimes we just need to feel heard.

And remember, everyone is going through something, and each moment is meant to build you up and strengthen you for what’s to come.

Are you preparing for your future successes?

Are you strengthening your resolve and character?

You were built with a warrior inside of you, we each were. It’s time to let that warrior out and fight for the life you want, the life you crave. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled that it won’t get better, your mindset matters, and you WILL find the strength needed to achieve your goals.

You are a Warrior! Believe it!

Have a blessed week ahead, and until next time,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!

Much love,

 

 

One Step At A Time

One Step At A Time

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Goal Setting and Climbing Your “Mountain”

 

Nothing in life that’s worth achieving is going to come easy. Working toward a goal, putting your best foot forward and sweating through it makes achieving it all the more sweet.

Why would becoming an amputee be anything different?

If you were active before your amputation, then you know what can be done with a lot of work, grit, and determination.

It won’t be easy. It’ll test your resolve MANY times, but, when you get to the goal you set for yourself, you will feel such a sense of excitement and joy like you’ve never felt!

Don’t worry about what others are doing or achieving. Remember that comparison is the thief of joy.

You focus on you! Do what you can do now, and each day try to be better than the last. The next thing you’ll realize is how far you’ve come since you started.

One step at a time has been my mantra since my amputation. I can’t look at the big picture or I’ll get nervous or doubt what I’m capable of. Instead I focus on putting one foot down at a time, at my pace, and what I can do in this moment. And each ,moment is different. Today I might be whipping around the neighborhood, feeling confident and without pain, and then tomorrow I could be struggling with just walking slowly around my home.

All you can do, is work hard with what you have been given each day, but if you can honestly say that you gave it your all then I promise that you will see strides at reaching your goals.

One step at a time is meant to be metaphorical, and also very literal, for us amputees. Don’t think about walking all day in your prosthesis when you get up, and don’t just tell yourself that you’ll put it on for a little bit or later today. Put it on with the mindset that you’ll wear it for all you can, however long that will be today, knowing that each day brings its own struggles and accomplishments, but you don’t know what kind of day it will be until you are in the midst of it.

 

Skiing on one leg is definitely a mind over matter exercise!

 

Mindset matters!

What you tell yourself first thing in the morning is how your day will go. When I wake up, I know I will put my leg on first then go through my day. Somedays I cannot get to the gym because it hurts too much so I do what I can at home, keeping it on, and building my tolerance up for wearing it. Other days, I put it on and get a burst of energy and hike 4 to 5 miles without even thinking about it.

Mindset matters and what you tell yourself will be the direction your mind takes, and what your body believes.

Always get moving with your best intentions and your heart and mind in the most positive place you can be and then see how your day unfolds. One step at a time.

 

This week, it is pretty straight forward.

This week I want you to remember to keep speaking positivity to yourself.

Write down “ONE STEP AT A TIME” on post it notes and place them in places you spend a lot of time in and around your house to remind yourself to take your goals and your actual steps at YOUR pace and ONE AT A TIME.

 

Hiking is my favorite activity. Every hike is different and challenges me to be focused and push myself.

 

Set a goal. Wherever you are right now physically, mentally, and based on your weather and location and decide what it will take each day to break it down and work towards it at your pace.

You can achieve anything you put your mind to if you set mini goals for yourself, or stepping stones to that goal. Make the steps small enough to find success, and big enough to challenge yourself.

 

First time hiking on snow!

 

And then watch yourself break the barriers that you thought were there because of your circumstance.

I believe in you! I believe we are all born to fight for what we want and desire. THAT is a Warrior mentality.

So, rise up warriors, and sieze this moment. You are not broken, or weak, or disabled. You are a warrior of epic proportions.

Get after your goals and dreams today, ONE STEP AT A TIME!!

 

Have a beautifully blessed week and as always, until next time,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

Much love,

 

 

 

Be Prepared

Be Prepared

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Building Strength For a Better Future

 

 

If you are a new amputee or an amputee who hasn’t been wearing their prosthesis for one reason or another we need to talk.

What are you doing to prepare your body for movement?

Balance is so important in preventing falls, even when being silly!

 

After becoming an amputee you spend weeks healing only to find yourself getting use the weight deficit of not having a leg. This makes adding a cumbersome, heavy metal and carbon fiber limb to your body feel like double the weight.

You will wear it, but it won’t feel great,  and it’ll be hard (not to mention exhausting) to move.

Within just a few weeks, your body has adjusted to weight change, the balance change, and your muscles will be decreasing since they have not as much flesh and bone to manipulate on each step.

You might think that your job after amputation is to heal, and some of you might even be struggling with phantom sensations and pains, which will be a learning curve as well, just don’t deny yourself some activity level to get yourself ready for movement!

Even if you are stuck at home you can still do some very basic exercises and stretches, that take no equipment, to help maintain or even build strength and balance.

At this point there are no excuses. If you really want to be mobile once you get a prosthesis you need to prep NOW!

The main things to work on are; stretches, balance, and core/back strength.

Stretching will allow your body to move freely in your prosthesis and avoid hip contractures.

Balance will be key to avoiding unnecessary and painful falls. Remember, your center will be off now that your weight distribution isn’t equal on both sides of your body.

When your core and back are strong you will be able to move with greater ease and avoid hurting your back as you learn to walk again.

The best benefit of simple exercise: endorphins! Happy chemicals released by your body when it exercises, and trust me, this is when you need it more than ever. Losing your limb can be like losing a best friend or close family member. You may grieve, be angry, scared, feel alone, uncertain, and many other emotions. You will want as many happy feelings as you can get to keep yourself in a positive frame of mind so that you CAN achieve success.

Where do you begin?

 

 

Keep it simple.

You can do these basic exercises throughout the day, in your own home.

Let’s get started.

Your challenge?

Start the exercises below today and continue to do them throughout the next several weeks. As you do them try to do more, or hold it longer each day. Work on building each exercise, and as you repeat them you will begin seeing a difference in your flexibility, strength and balance.

1. Stretch hip flexor

 

A) I suggest just simply getting off the couch or out of the chair, and lay down on the floor on your stomach. Allow your legs to lay straight behind you and just hold that position as long as you can. Do this several times a day, especially if you are home bound and sitting a lot. When you are standing up you want your leg to hang straight down, with gravity, to ensure the best fit possible for your prosthesis.

B) Same stretch but use your couch or bed, and laying on your back this time, hang your residual limb off the side and let gravity or a friend gently hold your leg down. Feel the stretch on the front of your leg? Do these two exercises several tines a day, especially if you are sitting more often than not.

2. Balance work

A) Don’t make this complicated. Find a safe place to stand on your one leg. Make sure you have a stable structure next to you that you can hold on to as you get your balance. Make a game of it. How long can you stay balanced before you grab a hold of the wall. See if you can grow your time without needing to grab something for stability. Sit, rest and repeat. Before you know it you’ll be a pro at keeping your balance. This takes time, especially if you have always had balance issues, but it can be learned. When you gain balance, you avoid falls. Falls are a part of the leaning process but if they can be avoided from happening often, you’ll be better off.

3. Core strength

 

Modified Plank on elbows and knees

 

A) Everyone knows that sit-ups can build a strong core but so do planks. Planks can be modified to using your knees and on your elbows at first, remembering to keep your back and butt in a straight line like a plank of wood. Physical reminder: picture a string coming from your belly button, through your back, and up to the ceiling, pulling your stomach up and in. Hold that for as long as you can, work your way up to 30 seconds to a minute.

 

Up, like a push-up, and hold.

 

B) Plank challenge: straighten legs, toes on ground and up on your hands like you are going to do a push up. Keep you butt tucked, stomach tight and in, hands shoulder width apart directly under shoulders. hold.

C) Simple sit-ups. Bend knee(s) raise hands to ceiling and lift shoulder blades off the ground, then lower. No need to go all the way up to your knees, we do not need to hurt our backs.

4. Back strength

 

A) Superman; while laying on your stomach stretching your hip flexors out, raise all of your limbs up and off the floor. You should look like Superman flying. feel the glutes tighten and your lower back muscles being engaged. Hold for up to 30 seconds then down, rest, repeat.

 

It doesn’t take fancy equipment, a gym membership, or even a lot of time to give yourself an edge to becoming mobile in your prosthesis, it just takes commitment.

Work on these stretches and exercises each day and when the time comes to fitting on your leg, you’ll be a step ahead.

Remember who you are.

You are a Warrior!

Believe it!

Have a blessed week and as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

 

 

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