For what ever reason you are now an amputee you have made a step in the right direction by reading this page on the Amputee Home Page.

Right off the top - YOU ARE NOT ALONE !!!

Although it may seem like you are the only amputee in the world, rest assured from this point on, you are not !(There are an estimated 3 million amputees in the United States alone)

Many of us have gone through the steps you are currently treading, we have been there before and in doing we hope to make your journey that much easier.

Not everyone becomes an amputee ! Some people are born with an amputation, people with "limb loss" are not defective, they are simply born without a limb or limbs, usually for some unknown reason.

Amputees have been around for many years. But it is only in the last 150 years or so have amputees been able to take a more productive role in society due to the development of prosthetic componentry.

As a non-amputee you probably never considered the existence of amputees in society. If you are a new amputee reading this then it is probably all you can think about right now.

As a new amputee you probably know diddly-squat about being an amputee. And unless you are lucky and have had excellent rehab and physical therapy you are still in the dark

First thing: although you may have never seen another amputee in your non-amputee life, reality is we are everywhere ! In fact you will be very suprised to find out that some famous people are amputees.

• Quebec leader Luciene Bouchard is an AK amp
• Numerous US Senators are amps
• TV/movie star Jim Byrnes is a dbl AK amp (Highlander)
• Drummer for Rock band Def Leppard is an arm amp
• Succesful lawyer and future president Ted Kennedy Jnr is an AK amp
• Patrick Watson former chair of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is an AK amp

Every person's experience at becoming an amputee is different. But we all share some relatively similar experiences: like our first visit to the prosthetist, our first prosthetic limb and learning to function again.

First visit to a prosthetist is a scary thing. You know you know nothing, the prosthetist knows you know nothing and it can be rather intimidating to the best of us. The main thing on your first visit is to learn from it, don't let the prosthetist do all the work. Ask questions, ask lots of questions from your prosthetist. Ask him or her for info on local amputee support groups, if he or she does not know any ask for someone who does know.

If you feel the prosthetist is not telling you all you need to know then you are in the right to talk to someone who can answer your questions. It may be the prosthetist or even your doctor does not know the answer to your questions, check your local library, phone book city hall, recreation centre.

One significant point is that you may have been told about all the things you won't be able to do as an amputee. Bullshit !!! Amputees do everything non-amputees do, we just do it differently.

The truth is out there !!!

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