The Given Limb Foundation funded a grant to the Amputee Coalition of America to develop training for caregivers tending to military amputees in the Veterans Affairs system.  The need for training and support of the caregivers was proven by a survey conducted as part of the grant which showed that caregivers spend over 44 hours per week in their duties and that over 75% have no additional support in their efforts.  A caregiver peer visitor training program was launched in 20 of the 22 VA Amputation and Polytrauma Network Sites and Regional Amputation Centers.  The training focused on skills such as how to reduce physical complaints, including how to transfer, lift, and bathe without causing injury, as well as how the caregivers can tap into the support resources available to them.  The Given Limb Foundation is proud to have sponsored this program, which benefits our wounded soldiers as well as those who dedicate much of their lives to care for wounded soldiers.

“The Economist” has reported on a new technique called “targeted reinnervation”, which allows doctors to rewire the nervous system of amputees so that they can more naturally use their prosthetic limbs.

Prosthetic arms are becoming more sophisticated, but many amputees prefer to use the older, simpler mechanical models.  This is because learning to use the more sophisticated myoelectric devices can be difficult.  Using the arms, which rely on electromyography (EMG) sensors on the skin to control movement, requires retraining the brain to make new associations between muscle movements (e.g., shoulder flexing) and the resulting movement of the prosthetic.  Doctors are addressing this issue by using a technique called “targeted reinnervation”, which involves rerouting the nerves that were used to control the now-missing limb and connecting them to another part of the body.  They are also developing sensors that can be attached to prosthetic limbs and connected to the skin’s underlying sensory system, so that prosthetic limbs will be able to “feel” sensations like temperature and pressure.

Forty people around the world have already undergone targeted reinnervation, and the hope is that someday it can also be applied to paraplegics, and that electrodes can ultimately be implanted in the motor cortex of the brain

See the complete article in “The Economist Technology Quarterly”.

On Easter Sunday, 2009, a roadside bomb exploded under the vehicle  Army Specialist Brendan Marrocco was driving in Iraq.  He was rushed to the trauma center at nearby Camp Speicher, where surgeons found both his arms and one leg had been sheared off by the explosion (the other leg was hanging by a thread and had to be amputated as well) and his carotid artery was severed.  Doctors were stunned that he had survived these injuries.  In the year since the accident, Brendan has been working tirelessly on his rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center, where he is an inspiration to other wounded soldiers, including the another quadruple amputee, the second (after Specialist Marrocco) of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

Specialist Marrocco can now walk for short periods, type and text.  He uses a myelectric arm for his left arm, and a body pressure hook for his right arm.  He is waiting for a double arm transplant, which will greatly improve his quality of life.  There are several charities in his home town which are hoping to build him a wheelchair accessible home.  For the complete NYTimes article about Specialist Marrocco, click here.

The Given Limb Foundation recently provided a grant to a young man who lost an arm.  He had begun training with Team River Runner, an organization that helps wounded warriors regain their strength and confidence through whitewater boating and other paddling sports.  Carl was planning to join the group this summer on a canoe trip through the Grand Canyon, and needed to train for the trip.  GLF provided him with a TRS hammerhead device, which allows his prosthetic arm to connect easily to the oars so he can paddle the boat.

We are grateful to Team River Runner and to Dana Alexander for making us aware of this opportunity, and for all they do to help our wounded warriors!

An amputee himself, a GLF reader named Dan has developed a way to decorate prosthetic devices with custom designs or tattoos.  He has produced a variety of designs on prosthetics–American flags, Marine insignias, roses, etc.  If you visit his website, www.gtopi.com, you can see examples of his work and get information on how to contact him.

Several people have written to us offering gas pedal devices or left foot gas pedals for amputees or people who cannot use their right foot on the gas pedal.  If you know of someone who could use such a device, write to us and we will try to connect you with someone who would like to donate a device.

Given Limb was contacted by Taliesin Cochran, who has developed a guitar tuning method that would allow someone who has lost a limb or is missing fingers to be able to play the guitar effectively, and he wants to share this information with people who could benefit from it.   
 
Taliesin’s technique, which is described below, should be useful to someone with a basic understanding of music theory music theory and/or basic  familiarity with the guitar.

“Gmajor/Bminor tonic/dominant open tuning for amputees or anyone else by Taliesin Cochran.  Email tdcochran2@gmail.com if you have any questions.
The tuning is either from string 6-1 (6 is the lowest pitch string on the top, conventionally E2, and 1 is the highest pitch string on the bottom conventionally E4) G2,B2,D3,F#3,A3,C#4. This gives a pattern of alternating strings either three or four half steps apart.
Playing open strings 6,5,and 4 together gives you G major, and playing open strings 4,3,and 2 together gives you D major. This gives you the tonic, dominant, as well as the less useful mediant chord (iii) in G major without having to fret any string.  You can change the key by using a capo.  Alternatively if you play open strings 5,4, and 3 together you get B minor, and if you play 3,2, and 1 together you get F# minor. This gives you the tonic and dominant chord in B natural minor.  Again you can change the key by using a capo. This allows someone to play I-V progression in major and i-v progression in minor with only one functional hand.  It also allows someone missing all but one finger on the hand used to fret to be able to play scales using open strings, or someone with two functional fingers to play any scale on the guitar without the use of a capo.

Dropping the 1st string by half a step would also allow one to play the diminished vii chord, but it you would only be able to play in major.

Be careful while tuning the low pitch strings, this tuning puts a lot of stress on the 6th string, so alternatively you could use F#2,A#2,C#3,F3,G#3,C4 for the same effect one half step down, but this causes the 1st string to hang a little lose (this only matters if you plan to use the minor chords). If you are worried about the stress on the strings you can use a lighter gauge, they tend to be able to withstand the stress a little better.  If the highest pitch string is too lose replacing it with a higher gauge string might solve the problem.

Gminor/Bbminor tonic/dominant open tuning
Very similar to the one above with the intervals between strings reversed. This would allow you to play in G minor or Bb major. The tuning is G2,Bb2,D3,F3,A3,C4. Again this could be lowered a half step to reduce strain, and you could use a capo to change key.

Tuning this will be a little difficult one handed if you do not have a chromatic tuner (the iPhone has a chromatic tuner app), so you may need help getting the guitar set up. Using a conventional guitar tuner allows you to be able to tune the first example’s strings 6,5, and 4 easily, but depending on the tuner it may be difficult to tune the last three (I can do it on my analogue tuner after some practice finding out how the notes appear on it).
Please share this with anyone it might help.”

The New York Times reports that anywhere between 2000-8000 people have lost limbs as a result of the tragic earthquake in Haiti.  And many more who have complicated fractures could be facing amputations in their injuries do not heal properly.  Right now, with limited resources and no prosthetics factories in Haiti, new amputees are being discharged, once their wounds have healed, and sent home without prosthetics, wheelchairs, crutches or other devices to help them cope with day-to-day life. 

Handicap International, a French organization, along with CBM, a Germany-based Christian disability group and the Haitian government, has been coordinating the postdisaster rehabilitation effort with about five dozen therapists, nurses, technicians and community workers.  They have been providing postsurgical care and physical therapy at 12 hospitals, and is in the process of  setting up a prosthetics workshop.

For the complet NYTimes article, click here.

We have received numerous inquiries from people who have prosthetic limbs that are no longer being used and would like to donate them to someone who can use them.  We have been referring everyone to the Amputee Coalition of America website, where they have a list of agencies that will accept those donations.  (See the previous post ”Donations of Prosthetic Limbs”  for a link to the ACA webpage.)  However, recently we have been in touch with PIPO Missions in Savannah, Ga., another foundation which resuses donated prosthetic limbs and braces to help the indigent in Mexico.  Founded by David Puckett, a licensed prosthetist who was featured on CNN’s ”Heroes” program, PIPO’s mission is to “reach out to southeastern Mexico’s indigent, physically disabled citizens who are in specific need of orthotic and/or prosthetic care, but are unable to afford services, through the provision of orthopedic braces and artificial limbs along with corrective surgery whenever possible.”  David Puckett visits towns and villages in southeastern Mexico several times each year providing free medical care to patients with orthopedic needs, fitting them with the prosthetic limbs and braces that have been donated to PIPO.  For more information about PIPO, click here.

PIPO has been able to assist approximately 150  people each year, and they welcome the donation of prosthetic limbs and devices.  Donations may be shipped to the following address:

PIPO Missions

5202 Waters Avenue

Savannah, GA  31404

Include your name, address, and description of the donated limb and they will send you a thank-you letter for your records.

The Given Limb Foundation welcomes other suggestions of  agencies that accept these donations!  Our recent post titled “Haiti needs Prosthetic Limbs” received some suggestions of where to send limb donations as well–see the comments attached to that post for more information.

We have received numerous questions about how to go about donating used prosthetic limbs.  Thanks to Glenn Standage, who informed us that the Amputee Coalition of America lists on its website several organizations that accept these donations.  We refer interested donors to the ACA webpage.  Click here for a link.