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Looking Back to the Future
By Paddy Rossbach, RN,  As I look back over my incredibly enjoyable and
interesting life, I realize I probably would not have done half the
things that I did if I had not lost my leg at age six! Also, I
would not have been able to do those things without having access
to the best and most appropriate care--from surgery to
rehabilitation and training to--yes, prostheses. Will children in
the future be so lucky? Not unless we can change the laws that
govern the reimbursement of prosthetic limbs.
The day I was asked if I would like to write this article, I
received an unexpected and wonderful e-mail from a young man in
Spain with whom I had worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center many years ago, when he had his leg amputated. He had found
me after all these years when surfing the web and was writing to
tell me that he was working for a prosthetic manufacturer, and to
thank me "&for being the person who made our lives easier while
we stayed in New York, and of course, for being the one who opened
our eyes&."
You cannot imagine how happy I was to receive that e-mail, and I
started thinking about all the kids I have known, worked with, and
loved over the years. Many of them are doing extraordinary things:
one is preparing to be the first female to compete in the Hawaiian
Ironman; others have represented the US in the summer and winter
Paralympic Games. Still others are running marathons, climbing
mountains, rollerblading, playing ice hockey, getting professional
degrees, getting married, becoming parents, going to work, and
today are fully functional, taxpaying citizens.
Needed: Guaranteed Prosthetic Coverage
All of them have depended on comfortable, functional, and
appropriate prostheses. Often we had to fight to get them;
occasionally, in extreme circumstances, ASPIRE helped with funding
when reimbursement was less than optimal, but they did get their
prostheses--eventually. [Editor's note: Paddy Rossbach is
co-founder and president of ASPIRE Inc., a nonprofit organization
which encourages young amputees to be active through sports.] What
is going to happen to kids like these in the future? Will the baby
I saw a few months ago who has to have both feet amputated for
bilateral fibular hemimelia be able to access prostheses for his
lifetime? Not the way things are going at the moment. The time to
address this issue is now. It is not going to go away on its
own.
It is not, however, just a matter of enforcing reimbursement for
prostheses and rehabilitation--for one is no good without the
other. It is a matter of looking at the much broader picture from a
public health point of view. If we do not have access to
appropriate care, we are all at risk for the secondary conditions
that result from a sedentary lifestyle: obesity, diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, loss of bone density and muscle mass,
depression, pain, and even some forms of cancer. Obesity is already
reaching epidemic proportions in this country; children are being
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and inevitably, many of them will
lose limbs at an early age. If, on top of this, they do not have
access to appropriate care, the outcome financially, and in human
suffering, will be enormous.
ACA Takes the Lead
So, as I look backward over my own and other's lives and
achievements with great pleasure, I also look forward with a great
deal of concern for what lies ahead. Is this the sort of life we
want future generations to live? I don't think so, and neither does
the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA). That is why the ACA is
taking the lead, in partnership with other national health groups
representing people with limb loss, to develop a coalition that
will battle to provide all amputees guaranteed prosthetic
coverage!
Help us to help every amputee. Get involved. With your support,
the Access to Care Campaign will ensure proper care for current and
future amputees. I urge every individual, family, group, company,
and organization to join us in this historic initiative. To find
out how you can help, contact the ACA at 888.AMP.KNOW. President & CEO, Amputee Coalition of America 
Table Of Contents - August 2004
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