Dear members,
I have an interesting dilemma that I am posting for another Prosthetist in our facility. We have a BK amputee who has been to several facilities in several surrounding states. He has now returned to us after 6 or 7 failed attempts elsewhere. Our last attempt with this gentleman entailed over 30 appointments with an unsuccessful ending like all the others. We’ve all seen this type of “problem child”. He has no life and dwells continuously on his prosthesis. No redness, but it just “doesn’t feel right.” He goes from facility to facility, Prosthetist to Prosthetist, and design to design. The end results are always the same and the prostheses are comparable in end result. Well, our “problem child” is baaaaaaaack. As we all know, there are many psychological factors at play. As those of you who have dealt with this type know, recommendations for psychological counseling are not greeted with open arms.
Onto my question: Are there specific facilities or institutions within our field that are considered the best? And I do not mean those that have the best Prosthetists, necessarily, but those that have the ambiance and reputation within our field. The old Sabolich facility used to be one of these. I don’t think they were any BETTER than us, but they indeed had the reputation. Patients FELT they were receiving the best based on this reputation. Their facility was ultra high tech in appearance (psychological). My question is where would you refer this type of patient? Would a teaching institution such as Northwestern
(RIC) be the best solution? Or a well known name such as Duke? I am playing more on the psychological aspects of this “problem child”.
Surgeons, for example, have the “best of the best” in their respective fields. Certain spinal surgeries or major organ transplants have well known surgeons and institutions that are the most experienced and well known throughout the world with their reputations. Do we have any of those in prosthetics?
Please do not respond unless you identify yourself with first and last name and your credentials and/or occupation (therapist, patient/client, physician, etc). Thank you in advance.
Joan K. Cestaro, C.P.
Rehabilitation Practitioners, Inc.
Winchester, Virginia
