AMPUTEE SUPPORT GROUP OF

NORTHERN VIRGINIA NEWSLETTER

Support Group Meeting

The Amputee Support Group of Northern Virginia (ASGNVA) assembled at its regularly scheduled meeting time on September 6, 2005, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., at the Telestar Court Building in Falls Church, Virginia.  Attendees were as follows:

It was an intimate meeting but we all had a nice time and each of us got time to ask questions and converse with each other.  No new amputees attended the meeting.  We did have two (count ‘em, 2) prosthetists attend the meeting to assist with technical questions from amputees but we didn’t have very many technical questions.  Thank you Charlie Crone and Phillip Rothschild for taking the time to attend the ASGNVA meeting; I hope that you will consider coming back again.

            Roland Padgett from Area Access attended the meeting and demonstrated scooters and power chairs.  He also showed us the difference between power chairs and scooters.  Area Access does rentals of scooters but Roland said to call well in advance because the rentals go fast.  Roland also told us that Area Access no longer performs vehicle modifications (left-footed gas pedals, hand controls, etc.).  Area Access does carry many, many other kinds of assistive equipment – from elevators and stair lifts to canes. Visit their website at www.areaaccess.com and then please call Roland with any questions about assistive equipment that Area Access might have.  Roland can be reached by e-mail at roland.Padgett@areaaccess.com or by phone at 703-396-4949 or 1-800-333-AREA. 

News and Announcements

ASGNVA Funds and Donations — I have been unable to verify if there have been any donations to ASGNVA Fund 352 since last month. This is ASGNVA’s fund to publish/mail our newsletter and New Amputee Information Packets. 

          ASGNVA does not charge any dues.  If you can, please make a donation today.

          To obtain a donation form, call 703-289-2072.

          To donate by check or money order, Payable to Inova Foundation Fund 352,

Inova Health System Foundation, 8110 Gatehouse Road, Falls Church, VA 22042. 

To donate by credit card, https://connect.inova.com/j/inovanet.srt/forms/donation/donatenow.htm.

Remember to indicate Inova Foundation Fund 352.
 

ASGNVA Newsletter Database Update — I’ve received a few replies from members updating their personal information with ASGNVA. This is important so we don’t waste money sending and re-sending a newsletter to an incorrect postal address or sending a newsletters to a postal address when it could be sent to an e-mail address and not cost anything for copying and postage.

PLEASE DO THIS

I’m sure everyone is getting tired of seeing this in the newsletter and it takes up a lot of room. Professionals and associate members – this includes you too.  Thank you for your cooperation. 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  I ran an upgrade on my operating system and might have lost information in my address book. I believe I recovered everything but, if you have e-mail and are receiving this newsletter by snail mail, please send an e-mail to asgnva@earthlink.net and put ASGNVA Updated Info in the Subject line (otherwise I might delete it due to possible invasion of viruses on my computer).  Thank you very much.

Toll-Free Hotline for Aviation Issues — A handy number to keep around when traveling is the Aviation Consumer Disability toll-free hotline which is available to people who experience disability-related air service problems. The toll-free number for the hotline is 1-800-778-4838 or TTY 1-800-455-9880.  The office is staffed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. EST, seven days a week and provides general information to consumers about the rights of air travelers with disabilities and helps them with time-sensitive disability-related issues. (Thanks to Fairfax County Disability Services E-Newsletter for this information.)

Online Course on the ADA and Small Businesses — A new web-based interactive online course, "Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities," is designed to educate small business owners about their obligations to, and the benefits of serving, customers with disabilities. The course instructs business owners, managers, contractors, architects, and others about the ADA in an easy-to-understand format. People interested in finding out more about the course can access the ADA home page at www.ada.gov or call the ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301, TTY 800-514-0383. (Source: Fairfax County Disability Services E-Newsletter.)

VA Board for People with Disabilities Seeks Nominations for Outstanding Achievement Award — The Virginia Board for People with Disabilities announces the solicitation of nominations for its new Outstanding Achievement Award.  This award is designed to further the Board's work to provide Virginians with disabilities with greater opportunities for self-determination, independence, productivity and inclusion in all facets of community life.  The award will recognize an individual or organization that has provided exemplary service and support on behalf of people with developmental and other disabilities, the results of which have had a lasting and significant impact on quality of life or improving the effectiveness of the disability services and supports system.  Detailed information on the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities and the Outstanding Achievement Award-including nomination criteria, procedures and forms-can be found on the Board's website at www.vaboard.org or can be requested by mail, by calling Voice/TTY 1-800-846-4464, or by e-mail to info@vbpd.virginia.gov.  Nominations will be accepted through October 15, 2005.

Services and Products

City of Alexandria’s Computer C.O.R.E. (Community Outreach and Education) — Most jobs now require some degree of proficiency in computer skills. A significant percentage of low-income adults do not have these skills that are prerequisites for gaining more meaningful employment, and Northern Virginia's businesses need more skilled workers. Computer C.O.R.E.'s training program addresses these needs by providing training in computer skills, personal development, and job search strategies. In addition, Computer C.O.R.E. gives free computers to its graduates so that they may continue learning and share computing access with their families.

C.O.R.E.'s Mission is to help low-income adults acquire the technological and life skills they need to pursue career aspirations.

C.O.R.E.’s Vision is a world where all people shall have the skills and confidence to pursue their dreams, reach their full potential, and make meaningful contributions to their communities.

Washington Elderly Handicapped Transportation Service (WEHTS) — The Washington Elderly Handicapped Transportation Service (WEHTS) is an exciting program that sprang-to-life in 1982. WEHTS is a basic life-support transportation for DC senior citizens that transports them on short runs for doctor's appointments, medical treatment, and for certain other transportation needs. Funded by the District of Columbia Office on Aging, WEHTS staff members transport participants to and from medical appointments, group grocery shopping, and some personal business that is related to housing and income. WEHTS serves more than 500 customers per day.
          The WEHTS system also transports seniors to and from five geriatric day care centers and two nutrition sites. Other trips include scheduled transportation to and from appointments dealing with social security matters, housing, and food stamp offices.

All WEHTS services are free of charge to seniors. The program can however accept voluntary contributions from participants. No one is turned away because of an inability to contribute. WEHTS operates Mondays through Fridays 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Ms. Lester Monica Wynn is director of UPO Special Operations (WEHTS and others): 202-635-8866, FAX 202-635-2087.

Advocacy and Self-Help

For at least the last year, I have been trying to pull myself back together from major surgery, get into a “new and improved” prosthesis (I’m a short A/K, getting older and starting to lose residual tissue), and keep together the Amputee Support Group of Northern Virginia. Yes, I’ve had some help here and there. Patti Skinner has facilitated a few meetings for me (she comes to the meetings via taxi), Joce Graham has assumed responsibility for notifying the media of our meetings and editing the newsletter (which she does very well and can do from home as she doesn’t drive), and George Willis sends out New Amputee Information Packets and calls new amputees. But I feel that, as a group, we should try and do more - there is power in numbers

            First, however, we must advocate for ourselves.  We need to be able to talk to our doctors and/or therapists and understand what is occurring with our bodies and/or our minds.  This is true whether you are talking about life in general, aging, or being an amputee.  By being an amputee, you have a chronic condition – one that will not go away.  As such, it must be managed.  And you are the manager. 

            Each month I will try and give you a way to gain some sort of independence for yourself.  Some of you will say, “I don’t need to do that.  I already know that stuff.”  But some of you will say, “I don’t know how to even start to do this”.  Whichever faction you fit in, I urge you to read the materials presented.  If you are having problems with advocating for yourself, come to a meeting or call someone on the contact list.  That’s why we’re on the contact list – so you can contact us if you need us.  And for those of you who already think you know everything, you might just learn something by accident.

            This month I’m starting with “Creating a Health Journal”.  Have fun!

ASGNVA Web Pages — INOVA Fairfax Hospital’s official ASGNVA web page:

www.inova.org/inovapublic.srt/rehabilitation/amputee_support.htm.

The ASGNVA UNOFFICIAL WEB PAGE: 

home.earthlink.net/~asgnva/ASGNVA.html.

Newsletters and other information will continue to be added to the unofficial web page, as applicable. Contact Beth Harris, 540-439-3656 or asgnva@earthlink.net, if you want anything added to the page, find something missing or wrong, etc. I am considering moving the web page to yahoo. Any comments?

ASGNVA Lending Library — Come to a meeting and borrow a book or get the new handouts. To borrow materials from ASGNVA’s Lending Library, please contact Jason Bulger at 301-680-2159, or Beth Harris at 540-439-3656 or e-mail asgnva@earthlink.net.

Member Updates

Doug Sloan — You can’t keep a good guy down. Doug is back doing his thing, painting (he was at my house on Thursday) and everything he wants to do (and he’s probably not supposed to do yet).  Maybe he’ll come and tell us his tale so that we can learn from it at a meeting. He actually had a neuroma and had it fixed by Dr. Attinger!

Hugh Elliot — Hugh was unable to make the August or September meetings.  In August he was in Denmark serving as a Judge at the Mirror Dinghy World Championship. Then, in September, he was off to Denmark to judge the Paralympic Sailing Classes World Championship. Our world traveler sportsman will return in October to revel us with his stories of overseas travel.

Debbie Pearce — I haven’t heard if Debbie has returned from her cruise and started chemotherapy or not yet.  I’ll keep you posted.

Scheduled Events

Canine Companions for Independence Informational Program – Learn how Canine Companions enhance the lives of people with disabilities, who is eligible, how to apply for a CCI assistance dog, and how you can volunteer! Meet CCI Graduate teams with working Canine Companions, CCI Volunteers, Puppy Raisers and Puppies-in-Training on Saturday, September 24, 2005. Bagel and Juice Reception at 9:30 a.m. Service Dog Demonstration and Informational Program at 10:00 a.m. at the Silver Theater at the American Film Institute (www.afi.com), 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring, MD. The theater is 2 blocks from the Silver Spring Metro Station. Free parking at the Wayne Avenue Parking Garage. Directions available at 222.downtownsilverspring.com. To RSVP or get more information on the event, please call 703-938-1733.  Canine Companions for Independence, PO Box 205, Farmingdale, NY 11735, 1-800-572-BARK, www.cci.org.

Conference on Inclusive Emergency Preparedness & Response — The National Capital Region Conference on Inclusive Emergency Preparedness & Response for Individuals with Disabilities and Special Needs will be held on Tuesday, September 27, at the Cafritz Conference Center at George Washington University in Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The conference is a free one-day conference bringing together leaders of the disability and emergency communities in the region.  Teams from counties, cities and other local jurisdictions will work together on ways to make emergency preparedness and response more inclusive of people with special needs in emergencies.  Individuals with special needs in emergencies because of disability, aging, cultural characteristics, communication challenges, or for other reasons are encouraged to attend.  For more information visit www.disabilitypreparedness-ncr.net.

World Of Possibilities Disabilities Expo And Senior Expo 2005 — November 4-5, 2005, Landmark Mall, Alexandria, Virginia, Friday, November 4, 2005, 10:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m., and Saturday, November 5, 2005, 10:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m.  New this year, a large Senior Expo will be held in conjunction with our Disabilities Expo in Alexandria, VA. These premier consumer expositions, which are free to the public, are dedicated to improving the lives of children, adults, seniors, their families and caregivers, as well as health care and education professionals. World Of Possibilities will allow an opportunity for an anticipated 3-6,000 attendees to explore a vast array of products and services all conveniently displayed to see, touch, and compare in a "one-stop-shopping" experience. This will give individuals who do not typically have easy access to comparison shopping, a hands-on opportunity to try devices and speak directly to equipment representatives about products and services. World Of Possibilities will also offer informative workshops, demonstrations, and representatives from local and statewide agencies and organizations to assist the community in gaining more information about supports, services and resources that they may need now or in the future.

ASGNVA Monthly Meeting —

The next monthly meeting is October 4 and our very own world traveler, Hugh Elliot, will be giving us a lecture on “How to Travel Smart As An Amputee”.  Hugh will have recently returned from Denmark where he was a Judge at the Disabled Paralympic Classes Sailing World Championship.  In July he was a Judge at the Mirror Dinghy World Championship in Sweden.  Hugh is always entertaining and travels a lot so I am looking forward to hearing him speak.  I hope you will be able to attend as well. 

          Do you have a subject or topic you would like to see covered? If so, please call Beth Harris at 540-439-3656 or e-mail asgnva@earthlink.net ASAP. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Calendar of Events for 2005

Creating a Health Journal

What is a Health Journal?

A health journal is a complete record of your health. You keep the health journal yourself. The journal helps you keep track of every aspect of your health.

What is Included in a Health Journal?

A health journal should keep track of your overall health. Some of the things you should include are:

• Illness or Injury
• Hospitalizations
• Surgeries
• Allergies
• Medications, vitamins or supplements that you are taking and how often you take them
• Diseases or illness in your immediate family.

When you fill in your health history, be sure to include the dates. For example, if you were hospitalized, write down the date that you were admitted and the date you were discharged. You can also include notes on how you were feeling.

Why Should I Have a Health Journal?

A health journal is an easy way to keep track of your health. By recording your health history, you can keep track of illnesses, medications, and treatments. Be sure to take your health journal to your doctor’s appointments. This will help you provide your doctor with exact information about your health. Your doctor can also help you keep your health journal up-to-date.

Keeping track of your health history helps you to be an informed, knowledgeable patient. Knowledge allows you to take more control of your healthcare. A health journal can also help you keep yourself healthy. Your journal will help you understand what makes you sick and how to take better care of yourself.

How Do I Start My Journal?

It's best to include as much health information as possible. You can contact your doctor's office to get information from your medical records. This can help you fill in information about past health issues.

If you don't have access to your past medical records, you can still record general information. If you’ve had surgeries or illnesses in the past, write those down. You don’t need to know the exact dates. Once you've filled in as much information as you can, start recording your current health history.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” gets a Helping Hand from Homes for Our Troops to Build a New Home for a Wounded Iraq War Veteran and His Family

Clarksville, TN July 2005 – Homes for Our Troops, a Massachusetts based 501 (c)(3) organization that builds and remodels homes for our most severely wounded veterans teamed up with the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (EMHE) crew to build a new home for Master Sgt. Luis Rodriquez, an Army medic who was severely injured delivering supplies to an orphanage in Iraq.

Homes for Our Troops provided a talented mix of professional craftsmen from Massachusetts and Rhode Island to help the EMHE design crew with their special projects. The Homes for Our Troops crew worked tirelessly with the EMHE Art Department to craft the special furniture for the children’s theme rooms, created an outdoor café and pitched in wherever they could help. Millions of viewers will tune in to ABC’s hit TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition slated for September 2005-06 season which will chronicle the complete, 7-day, race-against-the-clock, tear-down and reconstruction of the Rodriquez family home in Clarksville. The show will feature team leader Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo, Ed Sanders, Preston Sharp and Paige Hemmis.

Sgt. Rodriguez, a medic with the Army's 101st Airborne Division, was injured when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb near Mosul, Iraq, in an ambush in November 2003. He lost his right leg and two fingertips in the attack, which occurred as the convoy was picking up supplies for orphans in the war-torn country. Sgt. Rodriquez and his family were sent on a 7-day vacation courtesy of ABC while EMHE, members of the 101st Airborne Division, and Homes for Our Troops tore down the Rodriquez’s home and then built a brand new home with special modifications to help Sgt. Rodriquez with the challenges of his injuries sustained in Iraq.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is making the lives of many deserving Americans more secure by providing them with a home that meets their special needs. Homes for Our Troops was excited to help EMHE build this new home for a truly deserving Iraq war veteran who was severely injured while serving our country. Homes for Our Troops has 4 homes currently under construction for veterans throughout the country, and with the popularity of EMHE, we hope to be able to spotlight the needs of the thousands of severely injured veterans who deserve our thanks and our support. Providing them with a home of their own is the least we as Americans can do to express our thanks” said John Gonsalves, Founder of Homes for Our Troops.

Homes for Our Troops was founded in 2004 by contractor John Gonsalves when he wanted to find an organization where he could volunteer his 20 years experience as a contractor to help our wounded veterans with their home modification needs. He quickly found out that no organization existed to help our severely disabled veterans in that way, so he founded Homes for Our Troops. “Our motto is, essentially, “Homes for our troops”, John Gonsalves says. “It’s not a (politically) left thing, it’s not a right thing, it’s the right thing. As Americans, we have a responsibility to these soldiers and their families.”

The major hurdle many of these veterans and their families are facing is recovery. All of their time is spent trying to recover from the severe injuries and disabilities they have suffered as well as trying to find a new way to support their families, including someday having a home of their own adapted to their special needs. Finding a contractor to build a new handicap-accessible home or make the necessary adaptations to an existing home is a monumental task even without all of the immediate worries these veterans are facing. Also, many of these veterans are very young men and women with young families who simply don't have the financial means to buy a home.

Homes for Our Troops steps in where needed with a project and, if necessary, takes on all of the planning, scheduling, and building. The veterans and their families are part of the process, but Homes for Our Troops coordinates everything and takes allot of the financial and decision making load off of the family’s shoulders, so they can concentrate on getting their life back together.
Contact Information: John Gonsalves, Founder Homes for Our Troops, 866-7-TROOPS, info@homesforourtroops.org, 1 Taunton Green, Taunton, MA 02780, Website: www.homesforourtroops.org.

ABC’s Extreme Makeover is seeking a deserving person in need of a new state of the art prosthetic and an Extreme Makeover, which may include multiple plastic surgeries, dental work, fitness training, hair transplants, Lasik, dermatology, and finishing touches by the best in the country. 

• We need upbeat, inspirational individuals, preferably between the ages of 21 and 35, who are willing to share their story on national television
• All applicants must be able and willing to spend 2 to 3 months in   Los Angeles, CA to tape the show
• All candidates must be U.S. citizens and in good physical health

For all people who are interested in applying for this phenomenal opportunity, please contact: Beth Harris at 540-439-3656 or e-mail asgnva@earthlink.net for more information. 

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost. -- Thomas J. Watson

I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell. - Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972), in Look, Apr. 3, 1956

We are each of us angels with only one wing.  And we can only fly by embracing each other.  Luciano de Crescenzo

The secret to joyful living is celebrating SOMETHING every day, no matter how insignificant it may be.

How is it that you can gain two pounds by eating a half pound of fudge?

SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND AMPUTEE EXPERTISE!

COME TO A SUPPORT GROUP MEETING!

OUR 21^ST ANNIVERSARY MEETING!

7:30-9:00 p.m., OCTOBER 4 MEETING

How to Travel Smart As An Amputee

Discussion by Hugh Elliot of ASGNVA

Contact Beth Harris, 540-439-3656, BeTheHarris@earthlink.net,

or ASGNVA@earthlink.net

Amputee Support Group of No. VA

6316 Sumerduck Road

Remington, VA 22734-2308

Where do we go from here?

NEXT MEETING IS OCTOBER 4!

PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR NOW! 

ASGNVA NEEDS YOUR ATTENDANCE AND EXPERTISE NOW!