If you’ve ever been to Pittsburgh, you know it’s difficult to find level ground. The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers combine to create the Ohio River, and through the millennia have carved a deep valley surrounded by steep mountains. Staircases have street names, and there are two historic inclines to take you from The Flats to Mount Washington. Driving around the city, you’re guaranteed to cross over a few bridges and through at least one tunnel. Emerging from the dark of the Fort Pitt tunnel showcases the world-famous view of the city skyline. Milissa has lived in the suburbs outside the city her whole life. She is a fearless expert at navigating the narrow roads at the edge of sharp bluffs and quick lane changes on the lower level of Fort Pitt Bridge. One day, however, life threw a new obstacle in her path that isn’t unique to Western Pennsylvania.
Two years after the accident that resulted in a transtibial amputation, Milissa has gotten used to overcoming everyday obstacles with a fixed ankle carbon fiber foot. She’s doing well enough but is always paying attention to what different terrains are in her walking path. If there’s an incline or a decline coming, she knows she’s going to have to be conscious of how she walks because the fixed ankle foot doesn’t conform to surfaces like her intact ankle. She doesn’t go up and down steps step-over-step because she feels unsteady and uses a step to gait. Her socket comfort is ok, but after a long day at her job as Specifications Coordinator, which involves a lot of time at her desk in front of her laptop, she finds it hard to find a comfortable way to sit without the back of her knee hurting or her anterior tibia getting sore from pressing up against the socket. The fixed ankle foot she wears only allows her to sit a certain way for the foot to be flat on the floor. If she sits with just her heel on the floor, it causes the socket to rotate forward on her residual limb, so she feels like she must actively act against that rotation instead of sitting comfortably. She loves to spend the weekends at their cabin on the lake but hasn’t been able to ride the jet ski without feeling unstable, and shifting gears on the Quad has proved almost impossible.
This summer, Milissa had the opportunity to try the new Kinterra foot and ankle system by PROTEOR. It features 15 degrees of hydraulic ankle plantarflexion and 2 degrees of hydraulic ankle dorsiflexion, a 330 lb. user weight limit, and a newly redesigned EnduraCore® footplate with a split keel and heel. She spent the day with the PROTEOR team for a photoshoot, which involved a lot of walking around the city to get the perfect shots. When asked about her experience with the new Kinterra, Milissa had a lot of positive and insightful feedback.
“This is just like having two regular feet. I forget that I have a prosthesis on!” said Milissa. “When I was in the office with my prosthetist and put my prosthesis on and took two steps, I could tell the difference right away. I love it! It’s so much more comfortable. When we were leaving for lunch yesterday somebody asked, ‘How was that ramp?’ I didn’t even realize we were walking down a ramp. It was so easy going up and down the hills, I didn’t even realize that there was unevenness. There were a lot of stairs! It was so much easier; it was smoothly going one step over the other step. I usually go one step at a time, but it went smoothly going foot over foot, and I didn’t have to go sideways. I’ve always been a fast walker when I had both my legs, now I’m constantly trying to catch up to everybody, and I feel like I’m walking a lot quicker with the ankle moving. When I hit an uneven surface with the other [fixed ankle] foot, it would jolt you. [Wearing Kinterra] you can’t even tell, I was walking over sticks, and stones, and in the gravel, just very smooth. This one’s a little bit heavier, but wearing it, it doesn’t feel heavy at all. It feels lighter since it is moving with me. It feels very good, my residual limb. With the other feet that I do have, with the ankle not moving, my tibia is always banging off the socket. I haven’t had any issue with that whatsoever [with Kinterra], so it’s very comfortable. Definitely less fatigued. Sitting I can bend my knee more. With the other feet, since the ankle doesn’t bend, your heel is always on the floor, you’re never flat-footed. With [Kinterra] you’re flat-footed; it’s easier to get up and stand. The other one I basically must push myself up. Being able to sit flat-footed will make it more comfortable to sit for long periods of time. I would recommend the Kinterra to any other amputee. I love it, I’m keeping it! I’m going up to the lake and riding my jet ski this weekend, I’m going to try to do the Quad, shift gears, I’m taking it in the lake, so it’ll come back wet and sandy! It’ll be well used in less than a week!”
Sure enough, that weekend the PROTEOR team received a text message from Milissa. She had kept her promise of taking the new Kinterra to the lake to give it a spin. The text read, “Just wanted to let you know that this foot is amazing and that I was able to shift gears on my Quad with this foot, comfortably angle the foot while riding the jet ski, and able to maintain my balance in the lake.” What can the new Kinterra do for you? It’s redefining the ankle experience.
