
Life After Losing an Arm - GuiA
http://nymag.com/health/bestdoctors/2014/miles-obrien-2014-6/
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FigBug
I lost an arm in 1991, but had it re-attached. I'm still not sure if that was
a good idea or not. I wasn't awake when the decision was made. My Dad argued
for, the doctors were initially against the idea, but no doctor now will
remove it.

So now I a arm that is basically useless from below the elbow, the only real
control I have is at the first knuckle, all fingers together. My forearm is
more skin graft than skin.

I've tried a few alternate keyboards, but gave up trying to learn and now just
use a regular keyboard and a track ball. I had to learn to write again as it
was my dominant arm. Computer programming is probably the best available
career, so I'm glad I already had an interest in it.

I really identified with the everything is slower part. There is very little I
can't do, but everything is so slow that I just do a lot of things half way. I
still don't have a good way to clip my finger nails.

I got nothing from the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia do to
an improperly filled out form. At the time, if you worked for a family
business, you needed to be registered differently, which I was unaware of.
Still bitter to this day.

~~~
x1798DE
>I still don't have a good way to clip my finger nails.

I'm not an expert in this or anything, but I've found lately that I prefer
frequently sanding down my fingernails with an emery board rather than
clipping them with clippers (which can leave jagged edges). If you were to
staple or glue an emery board to something solid, maybe that would help.

You can probably achieve the same effect by taping/stapling some fine-grit
sandpaper to a piece of plywood and setting it in your lap while you run your
fingernails over it. I've had some success doing that with I think
180/240-grit sandpaper for a "coarse" filing of the nails, followed by a finer
grit (320 or 600) as I get close to the optimal fingernail length.

~~~
cowpewter
Even better for your nails is a glass file, and then you don't have to replace
it all the time.

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jacquesm
A friend of mine has been in a wheelchair since his 17th (moped accident, he
drove into a little divider post and ended up paralyzed from the waist down
because of it). He's never let it slow him down though, to the point where I
tend to forget about his situation. This leads to me doing stupid things like
proposing we go for a beach walk (he'll just sit there grinning at me until I
figure it out).

He's an absolutely awesome character, runs his own electronics company and
does whatever the rest of us do. The one thing that _really_ bothers him about
interacting with others is that for some reason people will automatically
assume that because there is something wrong with his legs that there is also
something wrong with his head.

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x1798DE
Not really the same thing _at all_ , but I got into a minor motorcycle
accident a few years back and I had to leave my right arm in a sling for 6
weeks or so. I was _shocked_ at the number of things that I ended up having to
contort my body to do just because I had no way of doing it one-handed. My
girlfriend tied my shoes for me in the mornings because otherwise it would
have taken me half an hour just to get my shoes on.

I really hope that prosthetics technology continues to improve, because the
idea of losing an arm (or even a finger!) is scares the crap out of me.

~~~
threedaymonk
> the idea of losing an arm (or even a finger!) is scares the crap out of me.

I damaged my right little finger in a bicycle accident several years ago, and
for a long time I couldn't bend it properly. One might think that a little
finger is insignificant, but it really isn't! I couldn't even hold a handful
of coins without them falling out.

I did eventually win back normal movement in my finger, and I'm very glad.

(Edit to add for the benefit of US readers: little finger = pinky)

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hyperliner
I hope I don't appear insensitive. I promise you it's not my intention. A joke
in a movie (name is not important) had a character threatening to punish a
person who was a developer by "cutting his hands."

I started thinking what is the best interface to type when ones hands or
fingers are not operational. There are a few things current auto typing
software can't do (as they are primarily focused on mass market for word
processing in general).

I wonder if some of this software had commands (or can be configured for those
commands), for example, for "Next function call" or "Go to end of line" or for
example enter syntactical elements into the code (it can get tiring to say
"curly bracket" for example). Or things like "Show class methods" -> "Scroll
down" -> Select ".print" etc. and then "git" commands, or ... you get the
idea.

Probably not a huge market, but a valuable thing for developers.

~~~
morsch
You'll enjoy this:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyMA_bT7UI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyMA_bT7UI)

The first demo is around the 9 minute mark.

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brickcap
I had a friend in college who could not use his legs (he had polio) He never
let it slow him down though. He travelled about 50 KM daily to college in a
bus, sometimes standing on his support. Every one in our college knew him.
From the canteen workers to the photocopier guy. Last time I talked to him he
was working as a computer lab assistant. I can't even begin to think how
difficult it is for people who have lost or can not use one of the organs but
I never detected a feeling of self pity or despondence from my friend. Always
cheerful and calm as if he had no trouble in the world.

I have made this observation that those who have suffered great misfortune in
their life generally know best how to live in the moment. It's funny how we
take some very important things in life for granted and worrying over silly
small trivialities. I hope the Miles will emerge stronger after this tragedy
and find strength in his life.

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xtracto
> I’d always heard amputees talk about the stares and the acute awareness of
> being viewed as different. During my first shoot for the NewsHour with one
> arm, I was wearing a blazer when I met a researcher I was to interview. She
> left the lab, and I took my jacket off. When she returned, it was a good
> thing she wasn’t sipping her coffee, because she would have offered up an
> amazing spit take. As we both looked at my stump, I shrugged and said, “It
> happens.”

I can relate with him on this. I lost the distal phalange of my left thumb
when I was about 6. It is not very evident, but every once in a while
colleagues discover that, and ask "what happened to your finger". My story has
getting shorter and shorter as years pass... nowadays it just goes "I lost it
in an accident". I stil feel uncomfortable phasing that question.

~~~
jessaustin
Since I have only one eye, I can relate to your annoyance at "the question".
I've coped with this by concocting creative and somewhat-unlikely lies. "I
lost it in a knife fight." If the questioner is an acquaintance with whom I
share one mutual friend, I'll say that mutual friend poked my eye out. The
goal is to tell them something just barely plausible enough that their
confusion will make them more uncomfortable than their presumption made me.

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marcosscriven
I mentioned this story to my partner, who's a doctor. He told me about the
treatment for compartment syndrome, which is called 'fasciotimy'. Seems grisly
and barbaric, but it's a shame this guy didn't get it done in time:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciotomy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciotomy)

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snarfy
My uncle lost his arm in a car accident. He was very grateful when I showed
him this video about phantom pain:

[http://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind](http://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind)

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marcosscriven
Beautifully written article; matter of fact tone whilst managing to be
incredibly touching. The last paragraph made me well up a little.

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freshyill
Can a mod fix this so it links to the first page in the article?

~~~
dang
Done. Thanks for pointing that out!

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robinhoodexe
I thought it was an article about the arm CPU architecture... What have I
become...

