Amputees: The Problems of Living Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 870 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 3

Page 1 of 3

38). In other words, the patient has to have a part in planning his/her recovery. In other years and former wars, the amputee often felt like an object with all the decisions being made by doctors and "third party payers." Pike & Nattress (Amputee Resource Foundation of America web site) point out, "...each of us...must participate in the decisions that affect the quality of our lives" (p. 1). The goal is for amputees to reach the highest level of independence and function they can in areas of daily life. Amputees also must be trained in how to use myoelectric and body-powered prosthetics.

Of course, not all amputees are injured in the war. Take someone like Dan Witkowski, a skier. In December 2003 he went into the backcountry for a few hours of skiing. He went alone and did not tell anyone he was going. Five days later, a rescue team located him, delirious and nearly dead. He had frostbite and gangrene in both legs. But less than one year later he was skiing again thanks to technological advancements in prosthetics and a lot of spirit ("On resilience and optimism," 2005). Another example is Cameron Clapp, 19, who went to sleep on the railroad tracks after too much partying. He was hit by a train and lost his right arm and both legs just above the knees.

Stuck Writing Your "Amputees: The Problems of Living" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Amputees: The Problems of Living Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

A company called Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics fitted him with computerized legs that allow him to compete in track events ("A life without limits," 2005).

Because the war has produced so many injuries, there has been a surge of funding for prosthetics research. $73 million has been invested to develop new prosthetic arms by 2009. One project is developing a myoelectric arm capable of nine separate movements. Another project wants to build an arm that will move more like a real human one. Another research project is trying to develop an arm that can "perform 22 distinct movements in a coordinated fashion, even down to fingers that can tap the keys on a computer keyboard" (Aldhous, 2006, p. 27). The main problem is to make the prosthetic arm as strong as a natural arm would be because electric motors give only about 1/5th the power of natural muscle.

Researchers are also working on how to integrate the prosthetic with the patient's own nervous system so that he or she can control the prosthetic the same way as with the natural arm -- by thinking. A surgeon, Todd Kuiken of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, has developed an operation to.....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Amputees The Problems Of Living" (2007, March 10) Retrieved June 5, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/amputees-problems-living-39496

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Amputees The Problems Of Living" 10 March 2007. Web.5 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/amputees-problems-living-39496>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Amputees The Problems Of Living", 10 March 2007, Accessed.5 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/amputees-problems-living-39496
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example