Ron Smith

This is a brief history of my adult life. I joined the Marines in 1972 to do my duty and serve for my country. My experience in the Marine Corps, taught me: discipline, responsibility, sacrifice, service, and most importantly the value of staying in top physical condition. I spent my entire life being very active and was known for my desire to push the limit on everything I did. This was not different in my military life. I was always striving for top scores in physical training. I quickly adapted to my new military life and often enjoyed to solitude of running to provide time away from distraction to focus on my personal goals.

Following my discharge from the Marines, I continued this practice of physical training as a necessary part of my daily routine. With new responsibilities in civilian life and a young family to provide for, this was not always easy to accomplish, though I managed to stay on task.

My life changed drastically In August of 1993, when I had a motorcycle accident. A Vehicle ran an intersection and the focus of the impact was between my right knee and ankle. The impact was severe and I was launched through the air. The Surgeons made several attempts to re-attach the limb, though I had lost a lot of blood and the tissue was ultimately dead. On a Wednesday night, my Doctor was making his rounds and I was told that they would be taking the leg off below the knee in the morning.

The surgery that was performed that dreadful morning was a procedure that is commonly performed in our state, as I have learned recently. The procedure is referred to as a guillotine-type amputation in the prosthetic world. The pain, during recovery was intense. I had to deal with the psychological impact of my condition, and then the constant pain of recovery. I was able to get through these difficulties, as I was anxious to be able to move past the setback and return to my daily routine of working and getting back into physical shape.

My initial prosthetic treatment left much to be desired. First I was fit with pelite type prosthesis with a sach style foot, which no longer fit after the first several days. Ambulation was terribly painful at first although they told me I’d get used to it, and I trusted that to be true. I forced through the discomfort, believing that it’s just part of the rehabilitation. I was motivated to have my life back, just the way it was, and I wasn’t going to let a little pain slow me down.

I suffered with pain every step throughout the day. If I could just get through a days work I could make it home, and rest up for the following day. I just learned to live with the pain. I also learned that there were a handful of different prosthetic facilities in the area, so I thought there might be an alternative to this ”live in pain all day and recover at night“, cycle I was in. I made the rounds to every facility in town. They would try different technology, and every thing they did was the new amazing ”fix-all“.

Through lack of exercise and inability to maintain a regular daily routine, I subsequently started gaining weight. I was relieved to finally find a facility and practitioner that would dedicate there time to my regular weekly appointments. I finally had a fit that was ”tolerable“ and would allow me to run my construction business and stay somewhat active. They devised a system that would eliminate the contact to the bottom of the residual limb by applying pressure primarily at the knee. I would shred the gel liners and it was necessary to have constant adjustments performed to accommodate my swelling and shrinking.

Now the prosthesis was working as well as it could, though I still could not tolerate heavy activities such as running, riding a bicycle, or even extended periods of walking. It wasn’t until my Prosthetist, Jonas, posed a question to me. He said, ”On a scale from 1 to 10, how do you rate your current lifestyle?“ I had to think for a bit, ok for a while, and I said, ”probably about a 2“.

It clicked, every day I had to focus on my prosthesis and my physical condition. Everything depended on how my prosthesis fit. I would schedule everyday around this obstacle. They had been talking about the way my amputation was done for years and the complications that it was creating in making a prosthesis to accommodate the limb. Then they asked me if I would like to see a video that they had ordered in. They set up an area for me to sit and watch the video. I associated with the patients in the testimonials, everything about the description and the actual procedure made perfect sense.

Well that was it. I had to have this! All those years of suffering, I had put in my time. I had recently reached a weight that I thought I’d never reach and surpassed it. I weighed myself and I was up to 303lbs. At my age, I couldn’t afford to neglect my physical condition any longer. Jonas contacted Dr. Weresh and accompanied me to a consultation. Dr. Weresh was known for providing successful amputations, though this would be his first Ertl procedure. We discussed all of the details of the reconstruction, and all of the risks involved. They performed a thorough examination: x-rays, physical, etc… And then scheduled my surgery for February 2nd, 2006.

And well that’s where the rest of my life began. The initial hospital stay was very uncomfortable. I had forgotten how painful it really was, though I knew that the pain would only be for a limited time and I’d be able to do all of the things I’d been dreaming about. I followed the Ertl limb conditioning exercises. Jonas was particular to not let me rush the healing process though the bills were piling up, and I was not able to be very productive.

We waited for six weeks after the surgery to begin socket fitting. The first several steps were so terribly painful. I almost lost hope, but they reassured me that this time, the pain was only temporary. I focused on letting the limb tell my when it was ok to start walking on it again.

After one week of limited weight bearing, using crutches, I was surprised to find that I could start to put more weight on the limb. After two weeks, I started full weight bearing and walking without the crutches. The pain went away. We went through several socket fittings as the swelling quickly disappeared from my limb. Then something miraculous happened. I noticed that my socket had become so loose that I was walking only on the bottom, and I could not feel any discomfort at all!

At the two-month period, we returned to Dr. Weresh’s office for a follow-up visit and X-rays. We looked at the x-rays and I could see the bridge starting to solidify. I was able to amaze Dr. Weresh by standing on my prosthesis without any discomfort. We have set a time for the 1-year mark to see the progress.

Well I’ve abandoned my weekly prosthetic appointments now. I don’t have to spend more than 20 minutes a day worrying about my prosthesis, and only then it’s to add/remove a sock. I’m pain free. I’m currently remodeling my entire house. I’ve re-joined our local Y.M.C.A., and I’m gradually building back up to my desired exercise routine. And I’d like to say that when I weighed my self today, the scale said 280lbs.!! A good start!!

Aside from all of that, I’m happy, not quite to the 10 rating, but it’s early yet. I’ll be running now, and taking care of business! Catch me if you can!!!

Thank you so much to the Ertls, The Barr Foundation, Jonas Chladek, and most of all Dr. Weresh for taking a chance, trying something new and changing my life forever!

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