AMPUTEE SUPPORT GROUP OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA NEWSLETTER

 

Support Group Meeting

 

     On Tuesday, July 6, 2004, the Amputee Support Group of Northern Virginia held its regularly scheduled monthly meeting in the Telestar Court Building, Gemini Room.  Thirteen people attended the meeting.  Joce and Pat attended for the first time since her amputation and she looks great!  She’s been fighting infection in her leg forever, it seems.  And, of course, along with that there are the painkillers that you take for years because infections are very painful.  Think about when you have a sore throat – hurts pretty bad doesn’t it?  I can remember Joce and Pat coming to meetings previous to her amputation and Joce would try to say something and then turn it over to Pat because she wasn’t very coherent and it made her tired to talk.  But now!!  Whew!  She’s ready to go, go, go.  The doctors took the infection with the leg and she was able to be a below knee amputee versus an above knee which is a good thing.  At the meeting she was animated and had great color (she used to look very pale and washed-out) - she was beautiful.  And I was sitting across the room, surprised and pleased to watch Pat look at his “new” “old” wife with love and wonder. 

     I think that’s why I go to the support group.  I’ve been watching Joce and Pat drag themselves to the group, trying to decide what to do for how long now – 2 years??  Finally, the time came.  And we were ALL ready.  Joce and Pat had already done their “homework”.  Everything was arranged and the date was announced.  Yes, in some ways it was a “best case scenario”.  As soon as Joce was home from the hospital, she emailed me (and Dorsey?).  In any event, Dorsey and I have been emailing Joce non-stop since she’s been home.  She’s ready to be active again (or would be if she would sit still long enough to not fall out of her chair and heal).  She has a million questions because she now has a different perspective – she’s on the amputee side of the fence versus the pre-amputee side – so we’re trying to help her out.  So it’s a wonderful thing to be able to dip your little finger into someone’s life and, hopefully, give him or her a “step up” on his or her new “amputee” life.  It usually doesn’t take very much time or effort.  I’ve probably emailed Joce 6 or 8 times and enjoyed it every time.  And I got to sit at the last meeting and watch Pat beam at his beautiful new wife.  Lucky me.  I’m sorry that you had to become an amputee, Joce, but thanks for letting me be a part of that experience with you.

 

News and Announcements

 

ASGNVA Members Featured in Transportation Security Administration Training Video – Five members of the Amputee Support Group of Northern Virginia were asked by the Transportation Security Administration to act in a training video they were making concerning security screening of persons with prosthetic devices.  On June 14, Irv Axelrod, Keith Bridgett, James Humes, Barbara Johnson and Bob McKenna picked up their scripts and had their “screenings”.  Thanks go to Irv, Keith, James, Barbara and Bob for taking the time and volunteering to become movie stars for a day.  Emmys for all!!

 

ASGNVA Funds Are Sparse – At this point in time, ASGNVA has monies in the Foundation to continue operating for another 6 months or so (a little over $600 at last calculation).  Unless we get some donations from you, this will be the last year that you receive a newsletter and the Amputee Support Group distributes New Amputee Information Packets to new amputees.  Since we first took an assessment of our financial situation and took measures to curtail spending, we have still spent half of our monies.  If you enjoy the newsletters, or if you feel the activities of the Amputee Support Group are important, please donate to the Amputee Support Group of Northern Virginia.  Remember to check Fund 352 so that your donation goes to the Amputee Support Group and not the General Fund.  If you value your support group, please donate today!

You can donate online at https://connect.inova.com/j/inovanet.srt/forms/donation/donatenow.htm. 

 

Maine Disability Organization Awards First Scholarship – This June, the Shapleigh-based Stepping Back into Life awarded the first of what it hopes will be an annual scholarship to two students with disabilities.

          Formed in the spring of 2003, Stepping Back Into Life, Inc., was developed by Steven Loignon to provide support and inspiration to anyone who is physically disabled. During the summer of 2001, Steven was involved in a car accident resulting in bilateral amputation of both legs. Through his experiences, he has discovered the need to better inform and support individuals who are dealing with life-changing events such as dismemberment. Through the www.Loignon.org Web site, which received over 14,000 visits in its first year, Stepping Back Into Life is becoming one of the fastest growing resources for the recently disabled.

          "The purpose of our scholarship program is to support people with disabilities, who wish to attend college at any level,” says Steven Loignon, president of Stepping Back to Life. “Our mission is to help individuals educate themselves in hopes that they will have an easier and more productive life.” 

          Both of this year’s recipients will receive $1,000, thanks to generous grant contributions from Endolite North America, Maine Artificial Limb & Orthotic, Pratt & Whitney and Alpha One. Loignon is hopeful the program will continue to expand in future years.

          The first scholarship recipient, Shabnam Mohammadi, is a recent high school graduate from Fairfax, Virginia, who will attend Northern Virginia Community College to become an x-ray technician. Mohammadi escaped the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and came to the U.S. in 1999 with her mother and five siblings. Mohammadi, who has a 50 percent hearing loss, is a right leg amputee, as is her mother. Her goal is to help poor people and those with disabilities.

 

NIDRR Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center Needs You - Improving the Accessibility of Fitness and Recreation Facilities is a national study conducted at the University of Illinois-Chicago.  The purpose of this study is to identify strategies and solutions for improving the accessibility of parks, trails, fitness centers and swimming pools for persons with disabilities.  We also want to understand potential barriers to making such facilities more accessible for persons with disabilities.  It is hoped that making fitness and recreation facilities more accessible will lead to increased participation in enjoyable recreational activities by persons with disabilities.

To Be Eligible:  You must have a mobility limitation, be at least 18 years of age, and be fluent in written and spoken English.  Though this is not a requirement for participation in the study, we are particularly interested in individuals who know of a specific fitness or recreation facility, including a park, trail, fitness center or swimming pool, that they would like to use but is currently not fully accessible.

What You Will Do:  As a study participant, you will first be asked to complete a brief questionnaire concerning your interests and goals in participating in fitness and recreation activities.  We will also ask you to identify a fitness or recreation activity in your community that you would like to use but find inaccessible.  If you are not able to identify a facility in your community, we will help you identify one.  You will then be asked to visit the identified fitness or recreation facility in your community in order to assess its accessibility.  This will involve the completion of a questionnaire instrument called AIMFREE (Accessibility Instruments Measuring Fitness and Recreation Environments).  In addition, we will also supply a portable camera for you to take pictures of inaccessible areas of the facility.  After returning the questionnaire and camera to us in a self-addressed return envelope, you will then participate in a discussion (by phone) with experts in the area of fitness and accessibility to identify ways in which the facility’s accessibility can be improved.  This team of experts, the Technology Response Team, will send a report containing a summary of the assessment and recommendations for improving the facility’s accessibility.  Six months after this report is sent, we will ask you to visit the facility a second time to re-assess its accessibility.  The information you provide to us will be kept strictly confidential.  Participants in the study will receive $50 for their involvement in the study.

Benefits of Participation:

• You may learn how to make facilities more accessible.
• You may contribute to making a facility in your community more accessible.

To Become a Participant In this Study:  Send an email to nudge@uic.edu or call us at 1-800-900-8086 (voice and tty) and we will send you an assessment package.

Questions:  Email nudge@uic.edu or call Dr. Barth Riley, Project Principle Investigator, at 312-355-4054.

 

New Screening Program to be Tested at U.S. Airports – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that, in coming months, it will fund test projects to evaluate technological processes serving amputees who travel by air. The National Safe Skies Alliance, in partnership with the ACA, will be responsible for testing at several airports across the country. If you are traveling through these airports and encounter this test program, we encourage you to volunteer to participate in a short interview.

          New screening procedures are being disseminated nationwide that allow for the explosive trace sampling (EDT) to be taken from a broader accessible area (area that can be accessed by lifting or raising clothing and for skirt to the knee-level). These new procedures alleviate the need for the removal of clothing during the screening process. 

          The new Screener Standard Operating Change becomes effective June 21 nationwide. It specifically states: "under no circumstances should a screener require or accept someone's offer for removal of a prosthetic device." 

          General travel information is available at the TSA Web site www.tsa.gov/public.

 

Services and Products

 

ASGNVA Lending Library – Come to a meeting and borrow a book or see what new handouts are available.  For more information, contact Jason Bulger on the Nascott web site, www.nascott.com.

 

Member Updates

 

Joce Graham – Joce had a right below-knee amputation on April 19, 2004 at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.  After a 2-month follow-up checkup with her doctor in Baltimore, he said she could proceed with getting fitted for her artificial leg!  YEAH!! 

          She’s going to be going to Charlie Crone – Charlie, I hope you’re ready.  For Joce, this amputation is like getting her old life back – or as much as she can.

          Joce graduated college in Bristol, VA, in 1986 and shattered her ankle when sliding into base while playing baseball.  She has had multiple surgeries and a lot of pain over the past 18 years.  She developed osteomylitis in her right tibia 8 years ago.  She tried many options, instead of surgery, and was not successful. 

Ultimately, her surgeon recommended a right below-knee or possibly above-knee amputation as the disease was spreading.  In March of 2003, Joce contacted Irv and talked to him.  She and her husband attended a few meetings, received a New Amputee Information Packet and were armed and dangerous with information and contacts.  She had an appointment with Dr. Shin, the physiatrist at Inova Fairfax Hospital Rehabilitation Department, in March to get his input on her course of action.

In April, Dr. Robert J. Brumback, Osteomyelitis and Post-Traumatic Reconstruction Specialist, successfully rid her right leg of chronic osteomyelitis, by amputating it, after 18 years of pain.  So I think Joce is ready to rock and roll!  Go for it, Joce!

 

Angela Jones – Angela Jones is in the end stages of renal failure (kidney failure).  Roy Dwyer, President of the Washington Amputee Association, has offered Angela the gift of life – one of his kidneys.  Roy talked it over with his wife, Veda, and she agreed that, if this is what Roy wants to do, then she is fine with it.  Angela told Roy that there is no way that she could possibly repay him for such a gift.  But Roy told Angela, “That’s what friends are for.” 

          This is not a procedure that can happen overnight.  There are a lot of tests and procedures that will have to be performed prior to even knowing if Roy’s kidney is a match for Angela.  But thank you doesn’t seem like enough to say.  Roy, you are truly one in a million.

 

Scheduled Events

 

Amputee Coalition of America Annual Conference & Exposition - The Amputee Coalition of America will hold its 2004 Annual Conference and Exposition in Nashville, Tennessee, August 5-7. 

          The purpose of the conference is to bring amputees, their peers, health care and other industry professionals together in one arena to interface, share expertise, keep abreast of new technologies, products and services, and find solutions to common problems.  The conference includes educational sessions, technology information, and peer-support sessions; fitness and gait labs to improve mobility; advocacy information on access to care; and exhibits displaying the latest technology.  For more information, please call 1-888-267-5669 or go online to http://www.amputee-coalition.org/annual_meeting_about.html.

 

Monthly Meeting – The next monthly meeting is August 3, 2004. 

 

July
				1 Ayalew Assaye & Missy Wolff-Burke	2	3 Bill Shaffer
4	5	6 ASGNVA Meeting	7 Steve McCarthy	8	9	10 Betty Roberts
11 Lenny McGarvey	12	13  Winchester ASG Fredericksburg ASG	14 Kernan ASG	15	16	17
18	19 Keith Bridgett & Frank Rackley	20  WAA Meeting	21	22 Georgetown ASG Debbie Pearce & Helen Weinberger	23	24 Pat Baker
25	26	27	28	29 Ability W/Mobility ASG Irv Axelrod	30	31

 

August
1 Chepi DiCalogero	2	3 ASGNVA Meeting	4	5	6 Andrew Ryder	7
8	9	10 Winchester ASG   Fredericksburg ASG	11 Kernan ASG Barbara Johnson	12	13 Daniel Cripps	14
15 Art Tracy	16	17 WAA Meeting	18 Joann Levin	19	20 Ernesto Gomez	21
22	23	24	25	26 Georgetown ASG Ability With Mobility ASG	27	28
29	30	31

Washington Amputee Association (WAA) – National Rehabilitation Hospital, 102 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC, Ground Floor Dining Room (rear section, near the windows and behind the partition), 3^RD Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8:30 pm.  Contact Roy Dwyer (301-897-2816) or Becky Lehman, RT/NRH, 202-877-1578, rebekahlehman@juno.com.

Georgetown University Hospital Amputee Support Group – 4^TH Thursday of every month, 7:30-9:00 pm, Martin Marietta Conference Room, Lombardi Cancer Center, Entrance 1 (park in the Levey Center; handicap parking available; transit access can drop off/pick up at this location). Call 202-444-8037 and leave a message.

Ability With Mobility – Last Thursday of the month, 6:00-8:00 pm, 2nd floor, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, 9909 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD.  Contact Sandy Shehadeh, 240-864-6200. 

Kernan Hospital Amputee Support Group – 3^rd Wednesday of the month, 6:00-8:00 pm, Room G604, Kernan Hospital, 2200 Kernan Dr., Gwynn Oak, MD.  Contact Mark Senker at 410-581-7027.

Winchester Amputee Support Group – 2^nd Tuesday of the month, 5:30-6:30 pm, Conference Room, 2^nd floor, Winchester Rehabilitation Center, 333 W. Cork St, Winchester, VA.  Contact Christie Augustine, 540-536-5113.

Fredericsksburg Area Amputee Support Team (FAAST) – 2^nd Tuesday of the month, 7:00-9:00 pm, The disAbility Resource Center, 409 Progress Street, Fredericksburg, VA.  Contact Greg Wright, 540-899-2655 or 800-333-4102.

          At a stop in Haiphong during a recent mission to deliver wheelchairs to Vietnam, Kenneth Behring was introduced to a young, sullen girl who hadn't been able to move her legs since birth. Tempting her with a lollipop, the 72-year-old former owner of the Seattle Seahawks lifted the youngster off a pile of rags that had served as her bed and gently placed her into a wheelchair. Within minutes, the child was wheeling herself around the room, smiling from ear-to-ear. It was one of the most moving experiences of Behring's life.

          "I've been very fortunate and that's why I'm giving away wheelchairs," Behring says. "It's time I try to give something back and make it a little better world in payment for the good life I've had." This past June, Behring launched Wheelchair Foundation, a new foundation that aims to purchase and deliver one million wheelchairs internationally over the next five years.

          Underwritten with a $15 million contribution from Behring, the foundation intends to raise an additional $150 million from corporations, other foundations and individuals. Donors who give $150.00 to the cause will be linked with a specific wheelchair and will receive a photo of the chair and its recipient.

          For Behring, who began his business selling cars, and subsequently made a fortune in home construction, this project is just one of many ways he's used his wealth to fund worthy causes. (In late September, he announced his donation of $80 million to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.)

          The idea for giving wheelchairs came to him after several trips in recent years to deliver medical and educational supplies to communities in Tanzania and Namibia.

          Wherever Behring traveled, he asked staff in rehabilitation hospitals what they most needed. The answer he heard again and again: "wheelchairs."

          "If you talk to government agencies, they say they furnish all the wheelchairs that are needed, but that's not true at all," Behring says. Instead, when he'd visit hospitals he would "see people shoved into corners and covered up with blankets."

          In addition to 250 heavy-duty wheelchairs Behring helped bring to Vietnam last March, he participated in deliveries to Romania, Botswana and Guatemala. To date 600 wheelchairs have been distributed in eight countries. The organization's goal is to deliver 30,000 wheelchairs to 58 countries by the end of the year.

          For Behring, there's no substitute for seeing first-hand what it's like to touch a person's life with so simple a gift. "Being there makes all the difference in the world," Behring says. "You have to see the people and hold their hands and help lift them into the wheelchairs to realize they are poor, but they have feelings and are just like us except that they have no hope. If you can give them hope and a way of life, it really makes you feel good."

          In starting the Wheelchair Foundation, Behring returned to something he knows well: providing people transportation and being an entrepreneur.

          As a young man, Behring bought 27 used cars for $900 and started the first dealership of its kind in his hometown of Monroe, Wisconsin. A few years and one Lincoln-Mercury dealership later, Behring and his family left Monroe for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "I liked the challenge of starting something new," says Behring. " I didn't know what I was going to do, but I'd had my fill of selling cars."

          As a sideline to car sales in Monroe, Behring started, on a modest scale, building houses and apartments. His business grew and by the late 1960s his company had become the largest builder of single-family homes in Florida. In 1972, he moved to Northern California where he developed the 2,300 home country club community of Blackhawk.

          Behring bought the Seattle Seahawks football franchise in 1988, and also organized the Seattle Seahawks Charitable Foundation to assist children's charities in the Seattle area. His first taste of giving turned him overnight into a philanthropist.

          "Many of us have made enough so that we don't need more money," Behring says. "You're looking for some other way to fulfill your life, to show the reason you're here is more than just to make money."

          Over the next few years Behring, who lives in Danville, California, built the Museum of Art, Science, and Culture in Berkeley (in partnership with the University of California) to house the school's paleontology, anthropology, art and science collections. He pledged $20 million to the Smithsonian and contributed $2.1 million to expand the Safari Club International Wildlife Museum. In late September of this year, Behring committed to the largest single donation ever in the history of Washington, DC's Smithsonian Institution when he pledged $80 million to it’s National Museum of American History.

          While he's proud of all he's done over the years, Behring says it's hard to beat the satisfaction he gets from his current undertaking. "When I see the happiness in the faces of the people who get a wheelchair, I feel that this is the best thing I have ever done in my life."

Our Mission:  

          The Wheelchair Foundation is a nonprofit organization leading an international effort to create awareness of the needs and abilities of people with physical disabilities, to promote the joy of giving, create global friendship, and to deliver a wheelchair to every child, teen and adult in the world who needs one, but cannot afford one. For these people, the Wheelchair Foundation delivers Hope, Mobility and Freedom.

Washington D.C. Team

Executive Director - Cheryl Barnes, PO Box 17083, Alexandria, VA 22302, Telephone: (703) 684-9820, Fax: (703) 684-7955, Email: cbarnes@wheelchairfoundation.org.

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What the “Wizard of Oz” has taught me about life:

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AN O&P FACILITY'S RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER ADA

 

          O&P facilities are considered "public accommodations" under Title III of the ADA, regardless of the size of the business or number of employees. As a public accommodation, an O&P facility has a responsibility to provide "effective communication" through its policies and procedures with the public, including patients who are deaf or hard of hearing. "Effective communication" does not require the provision of an interpreter for every patient who requests it or who is deaf or hard of hearing. 

          In many instances, note taking and the use of other auxiliary aids and services to achieve effective communication are perfectly acceptable. However, the complexity of the communication is largely what determines what form of communication would be considered "effective." For a routine patient encounter, an interpreter is not required absent extenuating circumstances. However, if the patient encounter involves a more complex set of communications and consideration of more complicated issues, an interpreter may well be required by the ADA.

          If the patient requests an interpreter, the practitioner should engage in a dialogue with the patient and/or his/her representative or family members to arrive at the method of communication that suits the particular needs of the patient and the circumstances of the patient visit.

          If an interpreter is determined to be required, the O&P facility is obligated to pay for the interpreter entirely and may not impose a surcharge on the patient, even if the reimbursement for the patient service is less than the cost of the interpreter needed for that patient visit. The costs of interpreter services are measured against the revenues of the entire operation, not against the individual requiring the interpreter. In other words, the provision of interpreters or other auxiliary aids and services to deaf and hard of hearing patients is a cost of doing business with the public.

          This response is provided to the O&P community as a service of the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP). Although drafted by NAAOP's General Counsel, Peter W. Thomas, it does not constitute legal advice.

 PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES - PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY ON USE OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on

Accessible Medical Instrumentation

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Accessible Medical Instrumentation (AMI) is asking people with disabilities to fill out a survey to learn more about what types of medical equipment have been found hard to use.  Later, RERC-AMI will make changes to some types of medical equipment, making them easier for people to use.

          RERC-AMI is looking specifically at four categories of medical equipment:

Diagnostic Equipment:

Monitoring (thermometer, blood pressure cuff, cardiac stress test, etc.)
Imaging (x-ray, MRI, mammogram, ultrasound equipment, etc.)

Procedural Equipment:

Furniture/Fixtures (tables, chairs, etc.)
Manual Tools (defibrillator, dental drill, etc.)

Therapeutic Equipment:

Drug Therapy (syringes, infusion pumps, ventilators, etc.)
Physical Therapy (rehabilitation or exercise equipment for example)
Assistive Technologies (used either as or with medical equipment)
Mobility/Posture/Manipulation (wheelchair, brace, reacher, prosthesis, etc.)
Sensory/Communication/Cognition (hearing aid, speech aid, personal digital assistant (PDA), etc.)

          If you have a disability and experience as a patient with any of the above types of medical equipment, please volunteer to fill out RERC-AIM’s survey.

You have a choice of ways to take part:

Online/Internet – Fill in or download: http://www.rerc-ami.org/personal/starter.htm

Paper - Download form http://www.rerc-ami.org/personal/starter.htm or contact staff by email at info@rerc-ami.org or by phone/TTY at (800) 832-0524 or by mail at RERC-AMI, c/o CDIHP Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. 2nd Street, Pomona, CA 91766-1854.

Telephone - To set up a time, contact staff at info@rerc-ami.org or by phone/TTY at (800) 832-0524.

Thank you for your interest in this important project!
RERC on Accessible Medical Instrumentation: http://www.rerc-ami.org

Jack Winters, Director: jack.winters@marquette.edu 
Molly story, Co-Director: molly@humanspectrumdesign.com 

 

DURHAM WOMAN HOLDS UPBEAT OUTLOOK AFTER LOSS OF LEGS

Injured While Performing A Good Deed, She's Learning To Accept Help From Others

          Life has become a constant process of adaptation for Stella Sieber.

          For the past four months, she's had to find new ways to do things that once never required a thought. Mixed in are moments when she nearly forgets how she lost her legs in a roadside accident while trying to help an injured motorist.

          "There are times I get ready to do something around here, then pause and say, 'No, I can't do that,'" she said.

          The 47-year-old biologist was returning from a trip to Washington, DC, on rain-slicked Interstate 85 when she saw a white SUV spin off the road and flip near Oxford. She pulled over, parking her car in front of another car that had stopped, and went to the trunk to get a pair of sneakers.

          That's when another car veered off the highway, sideswiped the first car and hit her, pinning her legs between the bumpers.

          "I remember the crunching of plastic and the breaking of the glass from his light covers," she said.

          That same day, her legs were amputated - one above the knee, the other below. Surgery two days later secured fractured thighbones with pins. She also broke two vertebrae.

          Friends and co-workers said they were shocked to hear about the accident, but they weren't surprised that it happened as Sieber played the role of Good Samaritan.

          "I'd like to delude myself to think I'd stop in the pouring rain to help someone who had slid off the road, but I probably wouldn't," said co-worker Ed Lobenhoffer.

          After nearly a month at Duke University Medical Center, Sieber returned home and now goes through three 45-minute rehabilitation sessions each week. She uses a wheelchair most of the time and has been fitted for prosthetics without knee joints to work on balance.

          "I've been so busy getting better and doing exercises," Sieber said. "My job at work is doing experiments, and I think that mindset has helped me.

          "I've talked with a few amputees that went through a real bitter, angry stage. I think I've been blessed not to have gone through that."

          She will fly to Minneapolis with her husband, Ron, to be fitted for her permanent limbs - complete with computerized knee joints.

          By the beginning of the year, she hopes to return to work at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

          "I think she's been doing amazingly well," said Laura Smith, a friend of Sieber's who lives in Seattle. "I can't think of anyone who would've handled things as well as she has. She has her normal ups and downs, but frankly, I think she has a lot more ups than most people."

          Still, there are plenty of changes to adjust to in her new life.

          Going outside to get air requires navigating down two ramps. Going into the kitchen to get a drink requires her to squeeze the wheels of the wheelchair carefully through the doorway with about an inch to spare.

          When she takes her cocker spaniel, Duke, for a walk, she has to attach the leash to her seat cushion because she often went in circles while trying to hold the leash and maneuver the chair.

          She created the leash attachment by using the Velcro from an extra wrist corsage from a recent wedding.

          "If he wants to go faster, he can pull," she said with a laugh. "A couple of times, I've said, 'Mush.' "

          Her friends have been equally resourceful in helping her deal with the financial burden of the accident.

          While insurance has covered much of her medical costs, the family has been left to pay a substantial amount because the driver who struck her was uninsured and unlicensed. Her medical bills from her surgeries and hospital stay amounted to about $200,000. Each artificial leg - thanks to the computerized knee joint - costs about $40,000.

          Adding a bedroom and handicap-accessible bathroom to the first floor of the Sieber home will cost another $80,000 - that amount coming out of pocket for the family.

          Friends and co-workers created a trust fund for her. They also created a Web site on which to give condition updates and hold an ongoing fund-raising auction of items donated by businesses.

          Most come from North Carolina, though there are several items from Seattle, thanks to the efforts of Smith, who met Sieber through an adopt-a-student program at her church while she was an undergraduate at Duke.

          The auction has so far raised more than $3,800. Items for sale include game tickets, gift certificates, golf lessons, haircuts, a week's rental of a beach cottage and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

          "It's overwhelming," Sieber said. "People who I've known from so many aspects of my life that didn't know each other have come together with a common cause.”

          "I'm a very independent person and had done a lot for other people. I think God's blessed me with a gracious spirit to accept help coming my way."

          Friends said Sieber hasn't changed since the accident and has maintained her positive outlook.

          In one breath, she admits it's tough to look down at her tennis shoes and feel no connection with them as she wears her prosthetic limbs. In the next, she acknowledges it is a miracle that she's still alive.

          She even jokes that she is excited about getting the prosthetic legs in Minneapolis because they will allow her to regain the half-inch of height she lost through "age and gravity."

          She's been angry only once: the first day she struggled with the prosthetic legs for each step while supporting herself on parallel bars.

          The rest of the time, she's thankful just to be able to sit in the wheelchair.

          "She's absolutely amazing," Lobenhoffer said. "I'm in pure awe of her motivation, drive, forgiving nature and ability to adapt."

I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far;
for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are."

~ Milton Berle ~

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