Here we are at the end of 2024. A time to look back at how this year has gone. We spoke with many of our patients during the year about how their prosthetic journey has progressed. Here are a few highlights:

Our prosthetists pride themselves on creating prostheses that fit well and are comfortable, but they are only half of our clinical team. Our occupational therapists teach our patients how to use their device. Our patient Isaiah, seen below, initially came to our center after his accident to learn about what we offered, but his insurance provider asked him to see a different prosthetist. The other prosthetic care provider fit Isaiah with a TASKA hand and a bulky frame. The frame was not ideal, and they didn’t teach him how to use his device at all. After advocating for himself, Isaiah was eventually able to come back to us for his prosthetic care. “I went to the Arm Dynamics center in Portland in November of 2023, so three years after my accident. There, they finally fit me with a socket and frame that are at least 40% smaller than what I had and showed me how to use my TASKA hand. They also fit me with an activity-specific device. I’m getting pretty efficient with both.”

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One thing that we have heard from several patients is how we involve them in the process of creating their device. Yes, our clinical teams are upper limb prosthetic experts, but we need the collaboration of the person who will be wearing the device to truly create something that will work best for them. Our patient Rachel, below, had lived her whole life with a left hand difference, the result of symbrachydactyly. Rachel had figured out how to navigate the world with just her thumb and one finger on her left hand. She hadn’t needed a prosthesis until her thumb began to give her pain due to overuse issues. At that point, she sought help. But because she’d gone her whole life without a device, she knew what she needed to thrive. “It’s a one-of-a-kind hand, a collaboration between my prosthetist and myself,” featuring two passive fingers and a passive thumb. Rachel’s design is a unique combination of passive and body-powered, with passive fingers and a body-powered wrist, which can bring the fingers together to create a pinch grip.

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Dakota, who is 17 and pictured below, needed an activity-specific, below elbow device to help him with weightlifting. His mom, Kara, echoed the sentiment that our prosthetists create the best devices because we listen to our patients. Kara recalled, “Dakota knew what he needed to be successful — he didn’t know the exact tools, but he could describe what it was he needed a prosthesis to do for him. What impressed me the most about the Arm Dynamics team was how the prosthetist was looking at Dakota, while he described what he needed. Like he wasn’t just treating him like some kid who is telling him how to do his job. He was never like that.”

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Dakota had more thoughts on the matter: “I couldn’t believe he was listening to me. Of course, the prosthetist is the one that's making it. And they know what they're doing. But he's listening to what I'm saying and he’s gonna do what is best for me. They’re always asking me questions about what I need and what works for me.”

Jameson is a near teenager at 12, and he and his mom, Brooke, spoke with our team in the fall of this year. Jameson has a bilateral upper limb congenital difference and has been our patient since he was just a wee one. Brooke had so much to tell us about Jameson's journey, and Jameson had so much to add. But what we wanted to share was what Brooke texted us after the interview, when she was sending us pictures from over the years: "This crew is really like our family!" The picture below is from around 2018 and and features Jameson's family and the Arm Dynamics team in Portland, OR.

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The last quote that we’ll add here is one that is so nice to hear as a member of the Arm Dynamics team. In August of this year, I spoke with Gerry and his wife Denice, both seen below, about what their journey was like after Gerry lost both his arms below the elbow after he was electrocuted while working as a lineman. When Denice spoke about the beginning of their journey, she talked about coming across the Arm Dynamics website. “Those patient stories you guys will never ever know how much that touches people and gives them hope. You know, I was sitting there looking at him with no hands and knowing how busy that man is and how can he fix and do everything he wants to do? What is our life going to be like? But on the website, when I saw other people with injuries getting back to their life some even more severe than Gerry’s  it gave me hope.”

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That hope is something we will continue to give people in the year 2025. Our clinical teams and support staff are all committed to creating opportunities for our patients that allow them to thrive in their lives. What can we do for you in 2025? Please contact us to set up a complimentary consultation, either in-person or over video chat, to find out more. If you have a comment to leave for us or one of the people above, please leave it below.

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