AMPUTEE SUPPORT ASSOCIATION

SUNSHINE COAST INC.

 

P.O. Box 1374, BUDERIM QLD 4556

 

 

 

NEWSLETTER

 

GENERAL MEETING   Meetings are held the 3rd TUESDAY of each month at 10 A.M. at EDUCATION CENTRE, HIBISCUS RETIREMENT RESORT Lakehead Drive, Chancellor Park For information please contact: President:  0411 499 488

 

Sept – Nov 2016

 

 

 

 

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

 

 

President:                                            Brian Poulter                                       0411499488

Secretary:                                            Debbie Murr                                       5478 9286

Treasurer:                                            Bob McClintock                                  5443 4561

 

Committee Members:

Joy Laxton                                          5442 1860

Graham Flatters                                  5477 1818

 

 

 

Welfare/Liaison                             Brian Poulter                                       0411499488

 

 

 

Newsletter Editor               With thanks to the Office of Mark McArdle, Member for Caloundra

 

Contact                                              Debbie Murr                           debbie@amputeesupport.net.au

 

 

 

Website                                             www.amputeesupport.net.au

 

 

 

Patrons:

 

Fiona Simpson MP                                                                                         5443 7995

Member for Maroochydore

 

Jarrod Bleijie MP                                                                                            5478 1189

Member for Kawana

 

 

Clinics by Appointments Only

Nambour Clinic – 3^rd Thursday of each Month

For Appointment Telephone: (07) 3636 7286

Currimundi Clinic, Coora Street, Currimundi – 1^st and 3^rd Thursday of each Month

For an Appointment telephone:  3266 1255

 

Disclaimer:  The material contained in this publication is in the nature of general comment only and never purports, nor is intended to be advice on any particular matter.

Readers should not act or rely upon any matter or information contained or implied by this publication without taking appropriate professional advice which relates specifically to their particular circumstances.  The Association expressly disclaims all and any liability to any person whether an Association member or note, who acts or fails to act as a consequence of reliance upon the whole or part of the publication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incoming President’s Report

Welcome and thank you for your vote of confidence. I would like to thank the committee and members for giving me this opportunity to serve as President of the Sunshine Coast Amputee Support Group.

I have big shoes to fill … Cliff had always been a huge personality, a quiet achiever of many causes and an absolute gentleman who only had good intentions for the service of others.

I hope I can continue his good work with the support of the committee and members in providing the required services to our existing members and to those who may need our services in the future.

I would like to encourage you to offer your thoughts with regard to funding and support for future equipment and support needed. Please feel free to contact us with any ideas by email on debbie@amputeesupport.net.au.

Brian Poulter

 

Secretary’s Report, AGM August 2016

 

Another year has flown by, hard to believe it’s been 2 years since I became Secretary. I’m still as busy as ever.

 

Sadly, we lost 4 members this year. Van Van Altena, Michael Berry, Bob Brown and our much loved President, Cliff Hargreaves.

 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we cancelled lunch at Cocos in September.

We had our Christmas lunch at Mooloolaba Bowls Club 13^th December 2015. 58 adults and 4 kids joined us and enjoyed the day.

 

I had 1 week’s holiday in Honolulu and Hawaii in February, with 2 of my best friends. We had a great time doing a lot of sight-seeing, eating and drinking. We did a lot of walking and of course, had to do some retail therapy.

 

Our Easter raffle started 10^th to 12^th March. This week was a bit quiet, probably because we were near the newsagency, that was closed for renovation.

 

Cliff passed away 20^th March and we had to continue our Easter raffle 22^nd to 24^th March. I must admit, that was pretty tough. Thank you very much to everyone who supported us by selling the tickets.

 

Thank you to Maureen for helping me make a lot of phone calls. I was happy to run away from the phone to visit family for Easter.

 

We had our first lunch at North Shore Tavern 29^th March. There were 25 of us to enjoy the free lunch. Unfortunately, the coffee machine packed it in so we couldn’t have our caffeine fix. Some of you enjoyed a cup of tea.

 

 

Cliff’s funeral service on the 31^st March, was a full house, at Gregson and Weight Caloundra. The numbers showed how well known and loved he was.

 

We had a “Walk for Cliff” on the afternoon of 6^th April. This was organised by Terry, an Occupational Therapist from Caloundra Hospital.

 

Our Treasurer, Bob McClintock had surgery in April. I must admit, I found myself getting a bit stressed with receiving phone calls from hospitals and trying to organise equipment etc. Lucky it wasn’t a very busy time.

 

Thank you very much to Brian Poulter for taking care of welfare. Between us, we have managed to keep things going. Grahame Flatters, Frank Connolly and Stephen Barbe have also offered to help with equipment. Peter Williams, Brian Poulter, Stephen Barbe and Robyn Boxsell offered to do hospital visits.

We are relying on team work to keep the association running smoothly. I can’t thank you all enough for being willing to help out.

 

I must also thank Chris Price for selling raffle tickets at our meetings, Joy Laxton for printing, stapling, folding and posting our newsletters and Ruth Jones for ordering and picking up fruit trays for our meetings.

 

Membership is being taken care of with Grahame Flatters, thankyou Grahame!

To our Treasurer, Bob McClintock, thank you very much for your support and good humour. You are always good for a laugh!

 

Lastly we had our Christmas in July on the 24^th July at Mooloolaba Bowls Club.

56 adults and 4 kids attended and we were very well looked after by the staff, who do an amazing job.

 

Thank you to you all for supporting me. I’m willing and able to give another year to the Association. We owe it to Cliff and Bill to keep the Association going, and we will.

Regards, Debbie

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

ü Free lunch at The North Shore Tavern Tuesday 13^th September 12 noon

698 David Low Way, Pacific Paradise, for members and their driver

 

ü General Meeting Tuesday 20^th September 10am at Education Centre, Hibiscus Retirement Resort, Lakehead Drive, Chancellor Park. Stay for a cuppa and a chat

 

ü General Meeting Tuesday 18^th October 10am at Education Centre, Hibiscus Retirement Resort, Lakehead Drive, Chancellor Park. Stay for a cuppa and a chat

 

ü Christmas Lunch Sunday 4^th December 12 noon Mooloolaba Bowls Club

 

NO GENERAL MEETING DECEMBER AND JANUARY

 

 

News

 

Marc Burton was born with a clubed right foot and had many operations throughout his younger years, with Dr’s attempting to correct the foot.  This however didn’t slow Marc down and he was always involved in sport at school,finding cricket to be very rewarding.

 

At the age of 14, whilst working, Marc was run over by a truck in the loading yard, and unfortunatly his clubed right foot took the full weight of the truck’s skidding wheel.  In and out of hospital for up to a year, the Dr’s were able to make his damaged foot look like a foot again but he was never going to be able to weight bare properly on it and there was a real chance Marc would require crutches or a walking stick for the rest of his life.  After much discussion with the Orthopedic Surgon, Marc made the decision to have his right leg removed below the knee.

 

Once healed, Marc was back into playing A Grade indoor and outdoor cricket and swimming laps at the local pool.  He always jokes that he lobbied the local council to put in a round pool as due to only kicking with one leg, he swam in circles.  Cheeky bugger!

 

Work, marriage and kids came along, which saw Marc let his sport and exercise fall away.  4 years ago however, Marc joined a Gym and found his love of exercise again through, of all things, running up mountains!  Lots and lots of hours were put into training and Marc decided he would be the first amputee to compete in “The King of the Mountain” race at Pomona.

There was a lot of media interest in Marc around this time which saw him in the papers, radio and T.V.  To date, Marc is still the only Amputee to compete in this race.

 

After completing “King of the Mountain”, Marc was asked by the Caloundra Chamber of Commerce if he would like to compete in “Tough Mudder”.  This is a crazy 20km race which sees competetors diving into ice baths, crawling under electric wires and jumping off high towers into a dam, just to name a few of the outrageous obsticles.

 

This was NOT what a prosthetic leg was made to withstand, so after much consultation with Devet from SOS Prosthetics, Marc’s leg was made as waterproof as possible and taped on to ensure it wasn’t lost in the water.  Again, Marc attacked this race and finished in a very acceptable time of 3 hours.

 

After this, Marc took a break from heavy exercise for a while as his body was very knocked around from all the running etc.  Then a late night phone call from Cliff asking him if he would like to go to a try out day with theMooloolaba “No Limits” Outrigger Canoe Club.  Marc loved it and was hooked.

 

3 months later, Marc competed in the nationals championship and placed second

In February 2014, Marc severed the tendon in his thumb, putting him out of paddling for 14 weeks.  Eventually he slipped back into a canoe and trained like crazy, on the water, in the gym and with a personal trainer.

 

His goal was to compete in the Nationals in october and hopefully qualify for the Worlds in March.  At the Nationals Marc won both the 200mtr and 500mtr sprints, he is the current national champion. This qualified him to  compete in the World sprint championships in March. It was a very proud day the day his Australian Shirt arrived in the mail, not many people can say they have worn the Green and Gold and represented their country. Even more training was now required, and Marc stepped up to the challenge as always with a grin and dogged determination.

 

Again the media showed a lot of interest in Marc and he again got his 5 min of fame, using the time to promote the fact that you can do anything if you just put your mind to it.  Marc competed against the best in the world and was only beaten by Patric from Tahiti taking out the Silver in both the 200mtr and 500mtr sprints.

Watch this space, I don’t think it’s the last we have heard from Marc Burton.

 

 

News

100 years of prosthesis: How war amputees have driven design innovation

774 ABC Melbourne

By Clare Rawlinson

Between minefields, booby traps, gunshot wounds and tropical infections, the loss of limbs is an inevitable part of war.

But an amputation is no longer the life sentence it was after World War I thanks to dramatic advances in prosthetic technology.

At the Caulfield hospital in Melbourne’s south-east, some of the earliest prostheses used by veterans are kept in a small display cabinet, showing just how far things have come over the past 100 years.

The hospital was established as one of Australia’s first military rehabilitation hospitals and has treated amputee veterans since 1916.

Back then a split tree trunk with some leather straps was the best offering for a replacement leg, but over time veterans demanded better.

“A lot of the big advancements have happened because of war,” Jim Lavranos, senior clinician at the Caulfield prosthetic ward, said.

“Essentially after World War II, the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association formed because of the drive from amputees to upgrade components.

“That’s when the initial impact in innovation happened.

“Since then it’s taken [later] wars to boost the prosthesis to the next level.”

In the 1950s, major strides were being made in prosthesis, and amputation surgery was progressed with the help of muscle transplant technology.

The introduction of the hinged knee was followed by a major international investment in biomechanics during the 1960s.

After another wave of amputees from the Vietnam War, scientists and clinicians went further and began to develop prostheses with the aim of mimicking the natural gait.

“You do get these influxes of amputees coming back, and they’re not geriatric or paediatric amputees — these are active, driven individuals who want their prosthesis to do almost as much as their sound limb,” Dr Lavranos said.

Modern trends in prosthesis

Dr Lavranos said the buzzword in the prosthetic industry today was “embodiment” — where the amputee is so at ease with their prosthesis that it becomes part of their physical and personal identity.

Still, he said patients’ responses to amputations and their interaction with a prosthesis was a highly personal experience.

In fact, the collection at the Caulfield hospital only exists because veterans’ family members returned the prostheses when they were no longer needed, not wanting to throw the important artefact away.

 

 

 

 

News

 

Stepping Out with Kayla Woods

 

First Published 2008

© Limbs 4 Life Inc.

www.limbs4life.org.au

Our daughter Kayla was born with a condition called Tibial Hemimelia – an abnormality of the tibia bone. Her femur and tibia were joined at the thigh, appearing as a bone split into two parts. She was also missing a knee joint, her fibula was short and her foot was clubbed. We discovered her condition about 19 weeks into my pregnancy, but the doctors were unsure of the cause.

 

Kayla’s leg was amputated above the knee on 1 February 2007 at the Royal Children’s Hospital; she was two years’ old. We considered it a blessing that there was no chance of a leg reconstruction – the decision of whether or not to amputate was made for us.

Thankfully, Kayla recovered more quickly than expected and was home three days after her operation.

This was obviously a challenging time for us, but we viewed Kayla’s operation as a means to her life-long independence. Without the operation, she would never have had the opportunity to walk unaided. Kayla’s surgeon, Mr. Ian Torode, had an excellent rapport with Kayla and ourselves, and we had confidence in his direction and advice.

 

We joined Limbkids when Kayla was a baby, and that was our first contact with other children with limb differences. It was most helpful and encouraging to realise that we weren’t the only ones. We also received a great deal of support from family, friends and the staff at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The development of Kayla’s first prosthesis was a difficult time. She didn’t like anyone touching her stump, as it was oversensitive and she didn’t understand what was taking place. We were given a clear plastic mould of the socket to take home for her to play with, decorate and become familiar with. This is when ‘Lizzy Leg’ was named, becoming the fifth member of our family.

 

Kayla’s prosthetist, Rod Lawlor, had an excellent bedside manner and earned Kayla’s trust quickly. It wasn’t difficult to keep her leg on, but getting a correct fit was challenging because of the unusual shape of her stump. Her stump still consists of two bones, with the femur and tibia growing in opposite directions. This will need to be addressed at a later date.

She took her first steps in the family room at home, holding onto the coffee table. It was a jubilant moment for me (tears of joy). Fortunately, I captured it on video!

That night, when my husband came home from work, Kayla walked out to greet him. It’s a moment he will long remember.

By the next morning, Kayla was walking around the house, pushing a toy pram for support and singing at the top of her voice.

 

Kayla can do everything other children her age can do – run, jump, climb play equipment. She is also taking swimming lessons. She doesn’t get frustrated with Lizzy Leg, but before discovering Prantal Powder we had some problems with heat rash on her stump.

 

She constantly amazes us with her agility, and her outgoing and confident nature carries her well.

As Kayla is growing quickly, she has regular visits to the prosthetics unit (every two to four weeks), and she is now on her second prosthetic leg.

 

She began three-year-old kinder this year, and after a slightly tentative start is now loving it. When questioned by other children about what

 

happened to her leg she replies, ‘This is Lizzy Leg. She helps me to run and walk and I get to choose her colour’. The other children are inquisitive but very accepting.

 

Kayla’s next leg will have a knee joint, and this is planned to be introduced sometime later this year. She will need to re-learn the art of walking with a different type of prosthetic and will need some additional physio.

 

I am so proud of my little girl and her ‘can do’, independent attitude towards life. She is my greatest teacher. ‘No Mummy, I can do it myself’, is a common phrase heard in our home. It can be hard at times to step back and let her learn for herself, but this approach has furthered her independence. We have deliberately tried not to wrap her in cotton wool, and we are now seeing the benefits of this type of approach as she matures.

 

Limbs 4 Life created the Limbs 4 Kids program to provide greater support to all Australian children and young people living with congenital or acquired limb differences. The Limbs 4 Kids program was also established to support all those who care for children and young people with limb differences; whether they are parents, carers, siblings, family members, professional healthcare providers, educators or community workers. Limbs 4 Kids has its own website – www.limbs4kids.org.au   Limbs 4 Kids delivers this through: ·       •  website & online Kids-Link Forum ·       •  ‘Thrive’ magazine & information fact sheets ·       •  the training of parents and carers as Peer Support Volunteers ·       •  assisting in the establishment of local Support Groups ·       •  conducting social and information events ·       •  independent research conducted by Monash University.

Judy Woods