Prosthetic Prof Climbs New Heights
I went to Popular Mechanics' Breakthrough Awards last night with pretty low motives: a chance to schmooze with some of the editors who pay my rent. Maybe I'd grab a beer or four in the process. Instead, I walked out uplifted by one of the most inspiringly cool stories I had heard in months. It came from the night's final honoree, MIT media lab professor Hugh Herr.
As a kid, Herr was a lousy student and good rock climber -- a very good rock climber. Then, in 1982, he "became stranded on Mount Washington, New Hampshire for nearly four days in -20 °F temperatures and blizzard conditions," one biography notes. "Severe frostbite damage took its toll on his lower legs, and both of his feet had to be amputated six inches below the knee."
Improbably, Herr swore he'd climb again. So he became a bookworm, eventually winding up in field of prosthetics. He developed a knee that "adapts to the user’s walking style, adjusting resistance to allow for a secure, agile gait," Pop Mech observes. "Next, he plans to distribute sensors beyond the knee to allow the device to move in response to subtle electrical changes in muscles nearby."
Herr is already helping out soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he is making good on his promise, to get back to climbing. In fact, he says, his new artificial legs are better than his old biological ones. Special wedge-like "feet" allow Herr to slide into cracks in the rock face that he could never use before. For ice climbing, Herr can slip attach spiky crampons to the end of his prosthetics. Or he can use Inspector Gadget-esque extending legs for extra reach.
In school, Herr told the crowd of a hundred or so at the American Museum of Natural History, he kept raising his height an inch a day, to see how long it would take for people to notice. "It took until I was about eight feet tall," he laughed.
Standing on that stage, hopping around on his man-made legs, eight feet seemed like an understatement to me.
My comment is on the Medical Services it self provide by military physicans while youre in the Armed Services and when you get out. A word to all Veterans, Read your Medical Records from time to time. Please Read them it seems from my own experience that the military doctors have a habit of adding what they want and their own words when they talk with you about medical problems. Or they have a habit of leaving out the things you do tell them and adding things you don't say. They seem to make a lot of assumptions. Plus they just straight out lie some of them, you're sitting there thinking you have a great doctor until you get out and start reading some of the crap they write. I wish I could have a congressional hearing about this for Im sure it's not just me. If you go too often like I did when I returned from the first Gulf War you are always crazy because you're total body is breaking down. They add stuff about you're family if it's a problem with your heart or skin rash and other things these or the two that come to my mind I was in a heart study because I had continous chest pain. I read my records looking for other things for filing for compensation thru VA I found out that my father and 1 of my brothers had both had heart attacks. This was all news to me. Theres plent more in my records I did'nt know about until I started my Claim. Bottom line these things can hurt you as a vet. Most favorite line Patient denies, but this cant be consistent with illiness. The doctors need to write what you as the patient tell them about whats going on with you. Not what they have to go and look in that little book for to see if this is classic story book case, and not what they think you want to say. Of course they are there to treat us but treat us with respect and diginty. Don't make us seem as if we just want to keep coming to the hospitial to be in their company cause nine time out of ten you don't even want to see them its just something different has happen with youre health and you need to find out whats goin on. Half of the Military doctors dont want to be there any way. I dont even know why some of them entered the service, for it wasn't for the vets. You cant tell me where I hurt or if I feel sick, beacuse it's not in line with what you're little book says that you carry around. Another word to the wise watch the medication they give for they don't care I don't think half of the doctors check for interactions of mediciations this can really harm you long term and then they say it's due to you're age. But if you're smart you will use the PDR and look up everything you take. If you're going into surgery make sure it's understood you only want what you discussed. I went in for bunion surgery never new I had hammer toes hadn't talked about hammers leading up to the surgery just the bunions, well when I came out of surgery this doctor had removed a bone out of all my toes but the two big toes and that was the first time I had heard of hammer toes ( in actually I never had hammer toes. If you have back problems please make sure the doctor don't write down youre degree of movement wrong. Its very important that you read youre records while your in for they can't be corrected when youre out. Then its youre word to the lies the doctors have written. But these commits in itself can really hurt you as the vet. When you get out of the service and have to deal with the Veterans Adminstration there or things in you're medical records that you never knew was there or things left out, also missing records. I mean things that can really hurt you when you apply for compensations if you have to. Military doctors need to stop lying and write what the patient tells them. This is not intended for doctors that are doing the right thing. But if the good ones tell on the bad ones theree would be less problems and when they come into the civillian world less law suits. If you are a doctor who is not guilty of these things then you shouldnt be offended, but if the shoe fits please wear it. Veterans and Active duty read you're medical records whenever you get a chance and often. Just a word to the wise.
Posted by: Francine L. McCall at December 21, 2005 4:58 AM