Your Voice Changes Things...Oh and 30,000 views!!!

Wow...I've had this site up for about 3 months and I'm up to over 30,000 page views. This got me thinking about voice. We all have a voice, we use it for many things, good, bad, and indifferent. I've been lucky enough that I have been able to reach more people than I have ever thought possible. I've been blessed enough to achieve most of my goals, all of which, have been accomplished because when I needed your help and asked, you were there. I needed the Genium leg, thanks to the outpouring of support from the people who read this blog I was approved directly by Humana, which prior to my case was unheard of. I want you to know, this is changing the way Humana is doing business and they are approving others for the Genium and other microprocessor prosthetics. We used our voices and have changed the world for many others in my position who haven't had these opportunities. I needed more time to return to work, once again I asked you to use your voice, and today I received a letter in the mail confirming my medical leave extension through August 31st. There is so much power in speaking out. We can change the world with our voices. I once disbelieved that the "little guy" could ever change the minds of large companies or government agencies, this has proved me wrong and given me so much hope for the future. One approval, changed the system for many others. One extension, changed my life and allowed me to keep that all important insurance. So for 30,000 views, changing the lives of myself and possibly countless others,  One word spoken in love or hate or compassion can alter an entire course of events.

Now, on to the main point. Your voice sometimes is all you have. This experience has taught me that you can speak up or refuse to speak and both can equally change worlds. Moreover, I've been mulling the thought of the EMS 2.0 movement, which I recently learned about, and how this affects us as a profession. Quick primer for those who are uninitiated as I was to this ideology, the quick way to describe it is attempting to make EMS more than a job, make it a career, change patient care standards to reflect our high level of training, and use evidence based medicine to move EMS to the cutting edge of true prehospital care. Now, this is an area where we as a profession need to use our voices, Nurses, Firefighters, Police officers, they all have a voice and a loud one. They have representation on a national level. We need to stop the in-house bickering, City, Volunteer, Private service, we all have the same training and deserve the same rights. Use your voice to change things, one word can change the world.

Preparation

Sorry for the break in transmission over the past few days. I've had to take some time off of here to clear my head and prepare for the fight ahead in the coming months. I'm so excited to get this opportunity, to have the chance to return to LMEMS and prove that I am capable of doing this job at the service I love. Now I have to get prepared for the job ahead. I'm going to start a "work hardening" program in the coming weeks, which will not only help me learn how to do my job with the prosthetic, my therapist is an above knee amputee as well, so he can show me how he would do it and let me decide if that will work for me. It gives me a lot of hope to see other AK's out and moving with ease. I hope with my new socket I'll be able to do that as well. Speaking of the new socket, I'll be going on Monday to start the process, was supposed to go yesterday but I had so much going on that I just couldn't make it.

I've got to start sleeping...I've had insomnia over the past few weeks and now my days and nights are blurring, this makes getting things done and exercising very difficult. I'm up on my leg for at least 5-8 hours a day now, so that has increased significantly, but I'm a long way off from the 16 hours plus I'll need for my work schedule. I have a ton of conditioning and strength building to do before August gets here. I'm learning how to use my leg and all of it's amazing functions, I can go up and down stairs, walk in any direction, I'm learning to lift, kneel, get up from a prone position. I'm getting there, its just a slower process than I would like. I know I've not had my prosthetic that long but I have to constantly push myself. I want to be ahead of the curve. I want to be better everyday than I was the one prior. Until tomorrow...thank you all for your support and for reading this crazy journey I've been on.

Victory!!! Part 2

Well the impossible has happened. Thanks to the hard work and determination of many Louisville Metro Government has decided to give me the time I need to return to work. I got the call from HR yesterday that they will give me until August 31st to start with, and more time if it is needed. I can't believe that they decided to give me the chance after all this time and fighting. I'm not sure really how to feel; I'm cautiously optimistic that I can make it back to the streets and prove that I am able to do this.

So, I just want to say thank you to everyone who emailed, facebooked, and tweeted Mayor Fischer or who just supported me throughout this long, arduous process. I'm going to keep working hard to get through physical therapy, start the work hardening process and back to the streets.

Insomnia

Can't sleep tonight. Have thousands of things running through my mind. I've got so much on my plate right now. I'm rapidly approaching one year since I fell. That's 366 days (gotta count leap day) of highs and lows, a year of triumph and Hell. That means that my family and friends have had to deal with this for a year as well. Pressure like this can really put a strain on any relationship, but I have to say that despite a few bumps in the road Kate has been a warrior. Everyday she gets up and pushes on, somedays it's her going in to work when she is mentally and physically exaughsted, sometimes it's her keeping me going. I am amazed at the resolve she has shown. For the past year she has had to be the anchor of this family, a role she was forced into, but she has taken it on with fearless abandon and I couldn't be prouder of her. She amazes me everyday. She always knows when I need a push and when I need to just be told "it's ok, we'll get there." I just want to thank her, but there's no way I can ever repay all she has done for me in this past year. She has literally picked me up off the floor countless times both physically and emotionally. All I can do I say, Kate I love you, I couldn't have done this without you.

That can be said of my mom, Kate's mom, and my brother and sister in law as well. They have all been amazing during this time. I know that dealing with me can be frustrating, as my mom says "You're very direct and you have a tone sometimes that just gets people mad even when you're not trying to do that." I'm sorry for the frustrations. I'm trying my best to get back to being me again. Honestly, somedays I wake up and I don't have the mental strength to get out of bed, but I do. I know that I have you there, waiting and wishing for me to get better. This Thursday will be 3 months since the amputation, 3 months since I've started on this path of rehabilitation. I've come a long way in those 3 months, but I have a very long road ahead of me still. Thank you all for your support and not only "dealing" with me when I get frustrating, but loving me no matter what I'm going through at the time.

To all my friends and supporters both here and abroad. Thank you as well. I'm going to continue to write and work on achieving my goals, and you all give me the drive to do so. Just thought I'd take my inability to sleep tonight to reflect and thank you for all the messages and visits over the past year. Can't wait till I can write on here about my first day back to work. First, I have to get walking on my own. I promise that will be soon.

Joe

Call from Dr Ross and Looking Toward the Future

Got a call from the surgeon who performed my amputation today. Dr Ross was the surgeon who saved my leg after my fall and performed my amputation, as a review for those who are new here. He has a patient that he wants me to speak to about having an amputation and life afterwards. This will be my first time speaking to a "prospective amputee" as it were, I'm honored and excited to do this. One of the most helpful things that helped me make the decision to have my leg amputated was being able to speak to several amputees who are living a wonderful and active life post surgery. Most of them have been amputees for years and I'm thinking that being a relatively new amputee I'll be able to help prepare him for what's to come. One of the best parts of the amputee community is how we rally around one another and welcome in others. The support I have received from others and knowing what to expect made the choice an easy one, I hope he calls, and that I can be as beneficial to him as everyone was to me. Those of you out there who spoke to me, and continue to help me, I may have him contact you as well. I can give him my view as an amputee for a few months, but hearing how you can have a normal life after will be very helpful as well.

On another note, I haven't heard from LMEMS, and really I don't expect to. I hate this, I want to stay there, it was my home for 6 years, I loved that service and sacrificed myself to get back there...that being said, I know that with the doors that have been opened since my surgery I will find another service and be happy there. I will miss the people I worked with. I made some great friends there, and honestly, that is what I will miss the most. Yes, working in an urban/suburban service can be very exciting. Yes, there is a massive abuse of the 911 system and it gets old quick, but there is ample opportunity to do some real good and actually make a difference every once in awhile. I'm saving my actual goodbye for when I am terminated from the service, so I'll stop going on about this for now. For those Medics/EMT's in the area who are thinking of applying for LMEMS, I still say it's a wonderful service that has it's problems, but could be great and will be again.

Spoke with Matt at Kentucky Prosthetics, start designing the new socket next week...any suggestions for what I should have put on it? I'm open to any ideas...I'm thinking about my tattoo design I'd decided on..."Pain is inevitable, Suffering is optional" of course I'm going to get it designed with a Celtic Oak Knot.

Almost Socket Time

Had a good day today. Went to PT, Kate went with me so she got to see me actually work out and what I'm doing when I'm there. Also, started to bottom out on this socket, so it's almost time for another new socket. The design on the next one will be radically different than the rigid suction socket I'm currently using. The next design will be a carbon fiber frame and a silicon liner. This will let me be able to contract my leg muscles more normally and be able to feel more when I sit down and not have as many pinches as I do now. I'm excited to try the new style socket. I'm working towards my goal of August and trying to get ready to rejoin the workforce.

Also, my physical therapist has mentioned me to a person who can help me get "work hardend" and show me some exercises to help prepare me for the daily grind of being back on the ambulance. Amazingly, this therapist is also an above knee amp so he can actually perform some of the tasks and show me how he would do them, and let me adapt my way that works best for me. He's also on the C-Leg, which is similar to my knee as well. I'm very happy to meet this guy and get his input, also he lost his leg while in the military, so he went through the military training to get back up and moving, and uses that training in his program to get people ready to go back to work. Tomorrow, until I bottom out, I'm going to try to spend a few hours without the cane and get the house clean.

Open Doors

It's amazing how things work out. It seems as my termination from LMEMS draws closer doors are opening in other services. Today I spoke with Todd Early who was one of my instructors in paramedic school and former head of the education department at LMEMS, he is now Car 1 (Operations chief) at Shelby County EMS. He saw my article in the Courier Journal and took it to his boss at Shelby County. The judge and Todd have given me an open offer to come work for Shelby County EMS as soon as I'm ready. It would be a part time position to start, then full time whenever a spot opened up. This is amazing to me. To hear of the amazing way this service treats it's employees has shown me that if I am forced out of Metro EMS that my career is far from over and there are other places that have recognized my determination and are willing to award it. I have heard stories of employees there going thru tough times, medical conditions amongst others, and instead of forcing them out, they helped make sure they had a job and the full support of the service. It's heart warming to hear this and gives me hope that there are companies out there who believe that employees come first.

Also, yesterday I walked for as long as I could without my cane. It was my first attempt at walking for an extended period without any assistance. My walk still needs help, my hip flexor muscles are still weak and I'm working on strengthening them. That's the hard part of my physical therapy now, I have to get my stamina up and learn to trust my prosthetic.