A Step Ahead: Prosthetic Limbs, Artificial Legs, Feet, Arms, Hands

You’ve been waiting a lifetime for this moment to come. “What moment is that?” you ask. Answer: the grand launch of A Step Ahead’s new and improved website!

Featuring a bold new design, updated information, and the return of the “Live Life Without Limitations” online newsletter, www.astepaheadonline.com is, in our humble estimation, the greatest thing since sliced bread. Perhaps even greater actually, since our site doesn’t load you up with unnecessary carbs, sugars, and all the other ingredients that make sliced bread so darn unhealthy yet tasty.

So, in conclusion, enjoy the new site because it will keep you fit and trim.

2. HOLD ON

Forget "hold on" -- try "are you sitting down?" instead. Amy Winters (BK), just shattered the World Record for the marathon by a female amputee. "Shattered?", you ask? SHATTERED!

Amy completed the Cleveland Marathon in 3:26:19, knocking more than 27 minutes(!) off the previous world best. In other words, she averaged more than a mile per minute faster than the previous record holder. For those of you who are not big sports fans, that's a staggering accomplishment.

Amy set the mark only 3 months after receiving her first specialized prosthesis from A Step Ahead designed exclusively for running. She reports that she was able to complete the race without ever taking the prosthesis off.

She finished 20th overall out of nearly 3400 female runners, placing her in the 99th percentile against able-bodied competition.

A Step Ahead congratulates Amy on her accomplishment. Thanks for showing everyone how to live life without limitations!

3. CHURCH ON SUNDAY

You can still go to church on Sunday, but don’t forget that one Sunday out of every month, mobility clinics are an alternate way to express your faith. And if you had come to the last clinic at Jericho High School’s outdoor track (Jericho, NY) you could have not only attended the mobility clinic for the sheer joy of meeting your peers and working with trained healthcare professionals, but to get yourself timed by official timers.

Now, you may ask: “Gee, Live Life Without Limitations online newsletter, why on earth would I have wanted to do that?” Well . . .

Uhhhhh . . .

Hmmmm . . .

Wait! We can think of a few reasons. First, it’s cool to be near the starter when he actually fires the starting gun. It lends an air of authenticity to the proceedings, and for those of us too scared to actually hold even a starter’s pistol, it makes us feel like we’ve lived a little more dangerously. Second, whether you’re walking 100 meters or running one mile, getting an official time provides you the opportunity to objectively measure your progress when you attend the next timed Mobility Clinic. And third, your times tend to be better when there’s a guy standing around with a gun, even if it only has blanks in it.

Run by David Balsley, P.T., and Phil Kreuter, P.T., the monthly mobility clincs permit individuals with limb loss to train with two of the most experienced and talented physical therapists in the country, both of whom have devoted a significant amount of their professional careers to working with amputees of all functional levels, ranging from first-time walkers to Paralympic athletes.

As always, the mobility clinics are free for all participants. Go to the "Upcoming Events" section of our website for future schedulign information. For questions or directions, call us at 516.681.3484 and we’ll make sure you get there.

4. MINORITY

While Team A Step Ahead athletes were a minority of the total runners in the recent ASPIRE 10K road race, we are proud to announce that they set the majority of – actually, the only – course records this year. A total of 10 athletes participated, including two members of Junior Team A Step Ahead, both of whom completed the Half-Mile Fun Run in their first official races.

In the main race, Amy Winters (BK) set a new course record for female amputees, completing the course in 00:45:35, shattering the mark previously held by fellow Team A Step Ahead member Lori Penesis.

Brian O’Sullivan set the course record for an above-knee amputee by completing the race in 00:53:21. Brian, who only recently began competing in road races, broke the previous record by more than 2 minutes.

A third course record nearly fell when Tommy Koehler (BK), crossed the finish line with a personal best 10K time of 00:43:12, placing him just 25 seconds off the record set by fellow Team A Step Ahead member Ray Viscome in 2004. Notably, Koehler came to the ASPIRE 10K only months after successfully completing the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon in his first attempt, along with another member of Team A Step Ahead, Sarah Reinertsen (AK), who exorcised the demons of 2004 by conquering Kona as well.

Team a Step Ahead member John Tartaglio became (we believe) the first bilateral hip disarticulation amputee to complete 5 kilometers on a prosthesis when he crossed the ASPIRE finish line in a time of 01:18:00.

Other Team A Step Ahead participants included Lori Penesis (BK), Ben Simmons (AK), who completed his first 10K only minutes behind Brian’s record-setting performance, and Al Dileo (BK), who also successfully completed his first 10K.

We would like to thank all of our team members for participating in this year’s race. Because of them, the ASPIRE 10K fielded more amputee runners than ever before. Great job, everyone!

Team A Step Ahead also got some good news from the slopes. Alison Jones (AK) and Sandy Dukat (AK) both brought home hardware from the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, Italy, with Alison taking the gold and Sandy bronze in the slalom. Congratulations to both on these remarkable successes against their peers from around the world!

Team A Step Ahead and Junior Team A Step Ahead are composed of athletes in a variety of sports. Any A Step Ahead patient who demonstrates a commitment to a particular physical discipline is eligible for team membership. Members of the adult team serve as mentors to the juniors, providing them training tips, education, and general advice and encouragement.

For more information about Team A Step Ahead and Junior Team A Step Ahead, please do not hesitate to contact us.

5. MISERY

Put the words “prosthesis” and “insurance” in the same sentence, and usually they’ll lead you inexorably down the path to misery. That’s because insurers continue to try to control costs by altering, limiting, and sometimes even eliminating prosthetic coverage from their policies (see the next section of this newsletter for more on the topic). But you’re not fated to live in misery because our Insurance Task Force, as it always has, continues to monitor your insurance policy and fight for your rights as a premium-paying insured.

Since our last newsletter, the Insurance Task Force has notched several more important victories on behalf of A Step Ahead patients, ensuring that they get medically necessary prosthetic components when they need them.

Always remember the five cardinal rules an educated patient should be aware of when it comes to insurance: (1) never voluntarily change your insurance policy without first consulting with the Task Force; (2) if your employer is changing its health insurance benefits, call us immediately so that we can work with you, and if necessary, your employer to determine what the ramifications of that change are; (3) if you are thinking about changing jobs, contact us before you accept a new position so that we can verify the benefits provided by your new employer (that big salary may not look as good when you’re confronted with paying all of your prosthetic costs out of pocket); (4) if you are transitioning from life as a student to life as an employee, contact us so that the Task Force can confirm that the benefits offered by your prospective employer provide you sufficient prosthetic coverage; and (5) if you are losing or dropping your health insurance coverage altogether, contact the Task Force immediately so that we can work to protect you from the dreaded “pre-existing risk” exclusion.

Misery isn’t fun. It’s miserable. By following the five cardinal rules, you can avoid misery, and instead enjoy a life of nirvana-like bliss. Well, if not nirvana-like bliss, at least you can achieve temporary relief that will illustrate the fundamental Buddhist principle that all experiences are merely transitory and impermanent, like a bubble on a fast-moving stream.

6. WARNING

Warning: more and more insurance policies are restricting people’s ability to gain access to a prosthesis. This isn’t just about being able to get the most recent state-of-the-art component, but rather, about getting any kind of prosthesis. A policy with a $1,500 annual cap on prosthetics effectively provides no coverage, whether you’re looking for a microprocessor-controlled knee or a traditional hydraulic device.

Fortunately, the Amputee Coalition of America is working to protect your interests with its Action Plan for People with Limb Loss (APPLL). ACA is now leading nearly 30 states in their effort to pass legislation mandating that insurance companies provide appropriate levels of prosthetic coverage to all insured amputees.

For information about APPLL in your state, you can visit the ACA’s website at www.amputee-coalition.org, or you can call at 888-AMP-KNOW. Your help is needed in order for APPLL to come to fruition (nice play on the apple theme, no?), so any assistance you can provide as a volunteer in your state will help both you and all amputees directly.

7. DEADBEAT HOLIDAY

We have no idea what a deadbeat holiday is. However, it could arguably refer to the act of taking a week off in June without notice to your boss to go to Minneapolis and attend the Amputee Coalition of America’s Annual Education Conference and Exposition.

There will be numerous special events, including a Welcome Picnic, Mobility Training Seminar, and the “Light Up the Night” Dinner and Dance. New educational programs include upper-extremity sessions, travel for people with special needs, parenting an amputee, and dealing with depression and adjustment.

If that’s not enough to entice you to Minnesota, perhaps the following facts will push you over the edge:

The bundt pan was invented in Minnesota, a contribution that may have indirectly contributed to this great nation’s obesity epidemic;

The world’s biggest concrete statue of a pelican resides in Minnesota; and

HMO’s were invented in Minnesota. Wait, strike that from this list. Or, alternatively, pretend that HMO stands for Heavenly Marvelous Oatmeal.

Anyway, the ACA Annual Conference takes place from June 15-17. For registration information, visit the ACA’s website at www.amputee-coalition.org.

8. DEADBEAT HOLIDAY REVISITED

If a week off in June is no good for you, then instead take a week in July. Travel to Orlando to attend the O&P Extremity Games. Sponsored by College Park Industries, the Extremity Games offer participants 13 and older, like, the chance to compete in some, like, sick events. Skateboarding, BMX biking, wall climbing, wakeboarding - like, ALL of these will be happening at the Games in Orlando, July 28-30. You want to see people shredding, kicking it, and otherwise engaging in activities that I, as an older person, lack both the hipness and lexicon to describe, then head to Orlando in July. For more information, visit http://www.extremitygames.com/index.htm.