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Post by snowyh on Jun 29, 2010 3:22:38 GMT -7
From a recent article about an amputee having to remove her prosthesis for airport secuity: "So I was stuck sitting in the Plexiglas room in front of everybody with my limb exposed. I think unless you're an amputee, you don't realize how very personal the residual limb is to the amputee. It's akin to showing your genitals or going bare-breasted. It's just something you don't feel comfortable showing in public."
How do you guys feel about showing your stumps in public? I've never had a problem showing my "area" (I don't have a stump)--I used to wear halter tops regularly when I was a teen, and losing my arm & shoulder didn't change that. But then again, I don't wear a prosthesis except for special occasions; maybe if you're a regular pros-user the stump does feel "exposed" when it's bare. But the comparison to baring one's genitalia or breasts seems a bit overblown to me. Does anyone else feel that way?
Helen
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Post by ann- on Jun 29, 2010 11:16:03 GMT -7
I read this article too Helen. I feel the same as you that the comparison to baring one's genitalia, was a bit over the top. I'm usually a regular pros-user, so they are generally covered. and am aware that one of mine is not particularly good to look at .... depends on whats appropriate given the situation ... I think its more a matter sometimes of vulnerability ... and think in this article, if its the same as I read, they had them taken away from them ..... thats more what would cause me more of a problem ... even if not on I would like them nearby.
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Post by cherylm on Jun 29, 2010 11:54:23 GMT -7
I've been in public legless a number of times. It was only mildly unnerving to me at the time, and I don't think I'd be all that concerned about it if I needed to do it again. However, I read the same article...and I think the fact that the person in question had her leg TAKEN AWAY from her probably made her more aware of the situation, and possibly more sensitive about it. And I do know, for myself, that now that I'm fully used to having my prosthesis, I tend to be more circumspect about removing it in public: I have to really NEED to do some adjusting before I just pull it off in public...normally, I try to make it to a ladies room and do my adjustments in private.
While I don't think that exposing my stump is "the same" as exposing genitalia or a breast, I do tend to think of it as a rather "private" part of me...and I would want to be the one responsible for deciding to remove my prosthesis and when, where, and how to do it. I'd also want my leg in reach! The only place I feel comfortable with someone taking my leg and walking away with it is in my prosthetist's office...and even there, I want to be the one to take it off and hand it to them.
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Post by stonecutter on Jun 29, 2010 14:43:43 GMT -7
While I don't think that exposing my stump is "the same" as exposing genitalia or a breast, I do tend to think of it as a rather "private" part of me...and I would want to be the one responsible for deciding to remove my prosthesis and when, where, and how to do it. I'd also want my leg in reach! The only place I feel comfortable with someone taking my leg and walking away with it is in my prosthetist's office...and even there, I want to be the one to take it off and hand it to them. This is the exact way I feel about it. |
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Post by ann- on Jun 30, 2010 5:36:44 GMT -7
I've been in public legless a number of times. It was only mildly unnerving to me at the time, and I don't think I'd be all that concerned about it if I needed to do it again. However, I read the same article...and I think the fact that the person in question had her leg TAKEN AWAY from her probably made her more aware of the situation, and possibly more sensitive about it. And I do know, for myself, that now that I'm fully used to having my prosthesis, I tend to be more circumspect about removing it in public: I have to really NEED to do some adjusting before I just pull it off in public...normally, I try to make it to a ladies room and do my adjustments in private. . I am more or less the same opinion as Cheryl on this. Though this person was I think a single amp., its actually, for me, more of an issue being bilateral .... , if both legs are taken off me. Even when I have one leg off, I will quite often have the other one on .... and I feel very different from when I don't wear either ..... its more of a vulneralbility issue I think ... as I am aware how vulnerable I am ... and, esp if there was no wheelchair ... I know how stuck I would be. I am a b/k and present legs are easy to slip off reasonably unobtrusively, but thinking of a/ks perhaps, are they going to be happy taking it off in public? I really wouldn't want my legs taken away from me ... out of sight ... at an airport ... who knows where they might end up .... to me they are very precious. |
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mitchee
Female Member 
LBKA - 2006
Posts: 55
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Post by mitchee on Jun 30, 2010 8:51:00 GMT -7
I don't care if anyone sees my residual limb but I wouldn't want anyone taking my prosthesis.
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Post by allenuk on Jul 1, 2010 3:54:04 GMT -7
I don't care if anyone sees my residual limb but I wouldn't want anyone taking my prosthesis. That sums up my attitude, too, Mitchee. When I go to my prosthetist, I always take my spare leg (over my shoulder) so that when he takes my primary leg away to the workshop I am not trapped! Allen. |
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ann58
Female Member
Posts: 278
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Post by ann58 on Jul 1, 2010 5:14:29 GMT -7
That's pretty cool Allen...I never thought of that.....because you are really trapped when they take off with your leg.  |
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Post by bluedogz on Jul 2, 2010 19:39:06 GMT -7
I used to feel much more sensitive about my stump, but not so much anymore. I still try to cover up as a matter of course, but I don't feel "naked" if it's visible.
That said, I also feel, for example, that a massage of my cold, circulation-impaired stump is about the most intimate thing Mrs. Blue can do. So maybe that's a conundrum... I don't know.
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Post by carolyn4860 on Aug 12, 2010 7:16:13 GMT -7
I may have been tempted to have hit the idiot in security over the head with my pros.... I chose a few months ago to stop wearing my prosthesis, so flying is much easier. I think it's a matter of personal comfort and a very personal thing to have someone ask you to take it off and take it away. When you rely that much on any device it would be horrible.
As far as how I would feel, certain times in my life I would have been abosolutely horrified. I have thought for years of my stump as a very private thing. Now, I don't care I wear shorts, and I live on a lake and am often seen in my swimming suit :-) I am afraid my temper would have gotten the best of me in this situation however :-)
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Post by ann- on Aug 13, 2010 0:28:00 GMT -7
I may have been tempted to have hit the idiot in security over the head with my pros.... I chose a few months ago to stop wearing my prosthesis, so flying is much easier. I think it's a matter of personal comfort and a very personal thing to have someone ask you to take it off and take it away. When you rely that much on any device it would be horrible. As far as how I would feel, certain times in my life I would have been abosolutely horrified. I have thought for years of my stump as a very private thing. Now, I don't care I wear shorts, and I live on a lake and am often seen in my swimming suit :-) I am afraid my temper would have gotten the best of me in this situation however :-) I agree Carolyn, it is a personal thing.. I am bilateral and am probably different with both of my stumps .... the skin grafted one is much more vulnerable to the slightest knock, cold etc. etc. so I tend to always cover that more out of protection than anything ... I do hydrotherapy with non amps and cover the left side but don't worry about the right, but its more out of protection for the graft...... but am with you on being asked to take the leg the off and have it taken away out of sight, that would be a no-no. I would liken it to someone it who depends on wearing glasses for their vision ..... I am not sure if they would like these taken off them completely and taken away by a stranger either! |
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Post by raymond2168 on Sept 23, 2010 9:27:17 GMT -7
Baring my stump does not brother me but allways whent swiming and.I think women would have a harder time with that.at the airport they allways ask me if you like to go do a room if they whant me to take it off I say no.I have golf shorts on so its easyie to slip off.I'm a ak amputee.I worry I have if the alarm every would go off what would happenn next??
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Post by headoncollider on Apr 16, 2011 7:27:55 GMT -7
I worry I have if the alarm every would go off what would happenn next?? LOL@ Raymond ;D Yeah, they would probably tackle us to the ground or tazer us on the spot. I wonder if my pros would spark if I was tazered?,,, Not that I care to know first hand. Note to self: Tazer another leg amp so I know if my own prosthetic will spark/melt in such an event. I dont expect it to happen in the near future, but if knowledge is power, i'll be directing my pros back at the person holding the other end of the tazer  |
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Post by cherylm on Apr 16, 2011 13:08:29 GMT -7
Oh dear....I hadn't even THOUGHT about the combination of tazers and prosthetics! I will say that I've always announced to the TSA staff that I have a prosthetic leg and it's going to set off the metal detector, so sometimes they don't even make me go through the detector...just take me aside and do the pat-down.
I do have one bit of experience in dealing with an unreasonable TSA screener, but it happened before my amp. It was the first time I'd flown after 9/11, and I was a "mess of foot injuries"...I was in a moon boot, post surgery, limited weight-bearing, and using a walker as a result. I didn't know the whole TSA routine, and I was moving rather slowly. The TSA screener informed me that I had to take off my one shoe AND TAKE OFF THE MOON BOOT, and that I then needed to run my walker through the X-ray AND THEN WALK THROUGH THE METAL DETECTOR WITHOUT IT.
I lost it! I stopped the line dead, announced that there was NO way I was removing the moon boot, giving up my walker, and then WALKING unaided through a metal detector! I told them they could do whatever they needed to in the way of searching me, but I was not ABOUT to endanger my post-surgical, still-healing foot by tromping through that gate unassisted and barefoot! By then, my carry-on and my purse were already on the other side of the checkpoint, as was my sister and traveling companion. When a screener proceeded to grab my purse and WALK AWAY WITH IT, Sis got into the act and grabbed it, demanding that it be kept in our sight.
Now the screener lost it! He reared back and yelled "SECURITY TO STATION FOUR!" at the top of his lungs, at which point our little group was surrounded by a whole passel of TSA staff, all glaring at us. Much yelling, cursing, accusations, and tears ensued. The line was still at a dead stop, so the other passengers were also pretty irate. After things had reached a fever pitch, a TSA supervisor arrived on the scene. The screener and I both yelled out our complaints...my sister, still holding the other end of my purse strap, yelled out her concerns...the other passengers started yelling THEIR concerns.....................it was pandemonium! Then the TSA supervisor said something like, "well, we had a tip that there was a possibility of a terrorist trying to bring banned items through by appearing to be handicapped...." and I hollered back, "well, I'M not your terrorist! I'm a middle-aged lady with a bad foot!"
At that point, everyone just kind of deflated. It was agreed that I could take my walker up to the edge of the metal detector, at which point I would pass it through for inspection and then walk through, with shoe and moon boot both on, supported by two of the TSA screeners. Then I would be allowed to sit and remove the shoe and moon bot for inspection. My purse, having already been through the scanner, was surrendered to my sister. The whole "extra screening" procedure took less time than the hoopla that had preceded it.
All in all, traveling with my prosthesis has been MUCH less hassle!
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Post by stinker373 on Aug 15, 2011 20:24:46 GMT -7
Now that is scary and the excuse they used about "well, we had a tip that there was a possibility of a terrorist trying to bring banned items through by appearing to be handicapped...." .......in my m,ind is jsut a coverup and a slap across the face. Its bull from the word go. Think I would have just walked away and taken another form of transit.
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abair01
New Member
Still Smilin
Posts: 24
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Post by abair01 on Jun 8, 2012 22:04:22 GMT -7
wow what a topc. I am sitting in the hospital day 2 of recovery after having my right leg amputaed. Npw I am a bilateral bka. how am I supposed to do all that? Jeez
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Post by ann- on Jun 18, 2012 23:59:42 GMT -7
Hi abair, how you doing? I am bilateral b/k also .... you'll probably finding out by now that its all do-able... I've been bilateral for over 40 years, so any questions you have, feel free to ask. Hope you're doing ok.
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Post by cherylm on Jun 19, 2012 22:33:52 GMT -7
Yes, my experience was a horror story...but I've since learned the "work-arounds" for traveling with a prosthesis (or two). Soooo...just so you know, abair, in the US an amputee can NOT be forced to remove their prosthesis for security screening. You may have to put up with having your prostheses swabbed down and inspected, but you have every right to keep them on your body.
After my little adventure, the first time I had to fly with my prosthesis I asked another amputee "what to expect." He happened to know yet another amputee who was a TSA supervisor at LAX, so we called and asked him what the "official" procedure was for flying amputees. That's how I learned about the fact that I was permitted to keep my leg (and, for that matter, my shoes) on. He also told me that, if I encountered a TSA screener who was overly enthusiastic and/or threatening, I should just sit or stand quietly and refuse to do anything more until a TSA supervisor was summoned to oversee matters. In fact, that first time, I was flying out of LAX, so he asked me for my departure date and flight information and checked the supervisors' schedule so he could tell me who the supervisor-on-duty would be; that way I could ask for that person by name if necessary! (One thing to know about amputees...we look after each other!)
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