Military Amputees Advanced Skills Training (MAAST)

So I am here training with the department of defense guys because soon these young active duty boys will be discharging and yours truly will be responsible for their amputee care. I am getting up to speed on the high tech goodies being issued. Today we did some gait and run training with all sorts of amputees from Iraq and Afghanistan. I heard some stories today that will blow your mind. The technology is amazing but I just keep going back to why we are being forced to use and develop it. I am sure the prosthetic companies are loving the drawn out war.

I worked with the guy on the right today, Army Sgt. Mike McNaughton who was injured in Afghanistan by landmine on christmas day. Also shared a bus seat with him off the base, he has some serious crazy tales. On the Left is the commander and chief!

I also have been spending some time with our VA/DOD osteo-integrated research team from Salt Lake. Now this is real inspector gadget stuff. The prosthetic hardware will be implanted into the medulary canal of long bones which will then be available for attaching hardware, gone will be the days of poor socket fit and endless skin issues. This will revolutionize amputee care. Currently it is being tested on sheep and should move to human trials in about 2 years. It's been done in Europe but with huge infection rates. Infection control techniques thus far with the rabbits an sheep are great but it is still early. I will be working on a post-op casting/management system to adhere the skin to the distal bone. We will see where this leads.

I know for all you cyclists out there this may be stale, but hey I write what's on my mind. Most of the time it is biking but not always. Tonight I spent a nice evening being wined and dined by the Ossur people down on the river walk. I had a lot of friends as I was one of the few people who did not care to use their 3 drink options, hope they enjoyed, my water was pretty good.

The heart of the 8th largest city in the country

The Alamo, there is no basement I checked!

Looking forward to doing my first ride on the week tomorrow when I get home, might need a good opener for the Lava race.