Thoughts on Upper Limb Prostheses from Karen, a Congenital Amputee

Karen: “I am very blessed to have the device that I have. I know many people, doctors included, are like, ‘well, if you get a device, will you even use it?’ But I think a lot of it is preference and how functional it is for that person and the things you want to do. Like, my hand is one of the fastest terminal devices out there. It’s still much slower than a human hand, but it’s pretty fast. Here’s an example: when I’m folding the laundry, and I want to do it quickly, I won’t use my device. I’m faster without it. But when I take my time and use the device — my shoulder on my affected side won’t hurt the next day. And my wrist on my other side won’t hurt. So, it’s not about how fast can I do this task, but about how can I do this task and not hurt afterward. But even with all that, if my device was slower, I wouldn’t find it as functional — there has to be that balance between speed and functionality and comfort. This hand is what works best for me.”

Rob elaborated: “I think that’s something that the insurance companies don’t always understand. If someone has a congenital difference, and it’s labeled a pre-existing condition, they might say, ‘Well, you’ve always lived like this, so you’re fine.’ Or they might say, ‘Well, here’s a body-powered prosthesis. It’s still a device’. But authorizing someone to have the cutting-edge technology, that’s going to allow them to be more functional. I’ve seen it, as an outsider, and the benefits are huge, not just physically and ergonomically, but also psychologically Karen’s device provides her with great function and makes it worth all the effort we put in to getting it.

Karen also has several activity-specific devices that allow her to do pushups, yoga, go kayaking and use her rowing machine. “Most of my activity-specific devices are from TRS. I got the Shroom for pushups and then found that it was helpful for yoga. And the kayaking device, I would have thought that I could use it with a rowing machine, but it turns out that the one for the rowing machine needed to be more flexible.” For Karen, it’s all about finding what works best for her and the activities she wants to do, and telling her prosthetist and occupational therapist, Julian and Lauren at our Kansas City center, what she needs from her devices.