Edward-Elmhurst Health: Support is key for amputees

WARRENVILLE, Ill., March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tom Carlson greets and registers patients for their procedures at the Edward-Elmhurst Health outpatient testing center in Plainfield, Illinois.

They likely have no idea he has a prosthetic leg. Carlson, 52, has been an amputee for six years, having lost his right leg below the knee after a severe infection.

"When patients see my prosthetic leg, which has the University of Michigan logo on it, they say, 'I didn't know you were an amputee!'" Carlson says. "I don't like to be treated any differently from anybody else."

That said, he isn't upset when someone notices. And he isn't shy about sharing his story. In fact, he runs an online support group for amputees and has been working to get more resources in suburban Chicago's Edward-Elmhurst Health hospitals for patients who have had amputations, so they don't experience the same confusion and isolation he did.

Infection led to amputation

Carlson's amputation occurred while he was hospitalized in Tennessee, where he lived at the time, for an infection that had spread through his foot to his calf.

The hard part, however, was just beginning. In addition to dealing with the hardship of an amputation, Carlson was left largely on his own to navigate the abrupt, substantial life change.

"I was a little nervous at first, because I thought, 'How am I going to adjust or get help?'" Carlson says. "I wasn't finding any information about support groups, so I went to social media."

He found a website for the Amputee Coalition that offered peer visitors, though none were located near his home in Tennessee at the time.

"I fell into a depression. Not having that support, not having those resources," Carlson says.

Finding support

Support after amputation was a big missing piece of Carlson's experience, and he vowed to do something to help other people who are amputees.

He was trained as a peer visitor through the Amputee Coalition. His personal experience also motivated him to start a support group for amputees on Facebook and to push for more involvement from the coalition at Edward-Elmhurst Health hospitals.

With all the uncertainty and upheaval an amputation can bring into someone's life, having support and guidance can make the transition to a "new normal" more manageable.

"You can get pretty close to your life before the amputation. Maybe not 100 percent, but you can get pretty close," Carlson says. "You have good days and you have bad days. People struggle with it. But there is support out there for people who are amputees."

Get more information at EEHealth.org/blog/categories/hd-voices-of-diversity.

SOURCE Edward-Elmhurst Health