BOSTON – Medical device companies are reaching out to those who lost limbs in the Boston Marathon bombings, offering them hope as they begin a long journey toward recovery.
“We’ve had a flood of potential donors,” said Dr. Ross Zafonte, vice president of medical affairs at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. “A lot of companies have talked to us about donating or offering prosthetics at a discounted price.”
In all, 15 amputees have been treated at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Five are now at Spaulding for rehab.
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Heather Abbott’s left leg was amputated just below the knee on Monday. Abbott, 38, of Newport, R.I., could have kept her foot but opted to have it removed after doctors and other amputees told her keeping a maimed leg could lead to years of pain.
“My foot was very badly mangled, and it most likely would never heal, and one of my legs would always be longer than the other,” Abbott said yesterday. “But a prosthetic I could get used to, so I said to myself, ‘I need to make a decision, and the best case scenario seems to be to have the amputation, so I just went with that.’ “
Greig Martino, whose family owns United Prosthetics in Dorchester, said once doctors give the go-ahead, the company evaluates the patient, takes a mold, fabricates a socket, then turns to a manufacturer to make the components.
“Some patients get up and walk immediately,” Martino said. “It’s a process that most learn.”
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The cost can range from $4,000 to $6,000 for a body-powered, upper-extremity prosthesis to as much as $100,000 for a myoelectric one, a powered prosthesis that detects electrical changes in the muscles of the limb that is left and converts it into movements.
The company will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to donate a prosthesis or offer it at a discounted price, depending upon whether the patient’s insurance or the fund set up for bombing victims covers the cost, Martino said.
Christine McConville contributed to this report. ___
