Jon D. Wilson, Prosthetic and Orthotic Leader in St. Louis and Beyond

John D. Wilson, CPO, LPO, helped found P & O Care just over six years ago with Jim Weber; since then he has served as its Clinical Director, being both a prosthetist and an orthotist. Jon has a total of over 16 years experience in the field. He graduated from the Certificate Programs in Prosthetics and in Orthotics from the Northwestern University Medical School and then earned his ABC Certification in Prosthetics in 1996.

Later, after working as a prosthetist in St. Louis for a few years, Jon went back to Northwestern for his Orthotics certification and completed his residency in the fall of 2003. Whereas the State of Missouri does not require licensure in the O & P field, Jon is currently a Licensed Prosthetist and Orthotist under the State of Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.

Besides leading P & O Care’s team of nine prosthetists and orthotists here in St. Louis, Jon has been recognized as a national leader in the field of upper and lower extremity prosthetic care. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Howard R. Thranhardt Lecture Honorarium for his abstract “A New Concept in Prosthetic Interface Design for Hemicorporectomy Amputees Utilizing ROHO Compression Therapy.” Jon’s new invention, which utilizes a matrix of ROHO cushions inside a custom fabricated “bucket” prosthesis, enables people who have literally been cut in half to float in a seated position. With their weight and body fluid evenly distributed, they are able to lead active, mobile lives without worrying about skin breakdown. Users can get around on their own in a wheel chair (or skateboard!), and some have even driven long distances alone, instead of lying in bed.

Jo Roe, a St. Louis Heroine

Not long ago, Jo Roe broke her leg as she slid in—safe!—to home base in a soft ball game. But that isn’t the injury that led to her amputation. In fact, Jo was already an amputee, and the leg she broke was her prosthetic leg, which she used to effectively steal second on one pitch, then third on the next, before breaking it as she collided with the umpire (who thankfully came out of the situation with nothing broken). Eight years ago, none of this would have been possible. Jo once weighed over five hundred pounds; she was employed in the nursing field, working a second job and going to school, but she knew she had to do something about her health. So, Jo lost three hundred pounds! Things started looking up.

But that was before the day her beloved dog jumped in the shower with her and Jo fell, breaking her foot and ankle in multiple places. The surgery and boot that were supposed to set the fragile bones failed, and they shifted, badly damaging her nerves. The result was a foot that hurt badly all the time for four-and-a-half years. There was shooting pain, sharp constant pain, burning pain, pins-and-needles pain; pressure, cold, heat, blowing air—it all hurt. After getting her weight down under two hundred pounds and beginning to do things she loved, now Jo had to get around on crutches or just stay home. For a while her employer’s disability insurance helped with the bills, but that ran out and she had to get on Medicaid while she waited to qualify for Social Security Disability. The pounds started coming back, the pain pills Jo hated taking made her feel drugged all the time, and there still wasn’t a time when she didn’t hurt. Eventually, depression set in, and Jo says it was the intervention of folks at the South Side Church of God who “saved my life.”

By that time, the situation with Jo’s foot had gotten much worse than she realized. It wasn’t just a pain syndrome caused by damaged nerves: her foot was purple, and some of her new friends realized that wasn’t right. Jo saw Dr. Woods in South County who immediately referred her to a vascular surgeon at St. Anthony’s Medical Center, Dr. Russell Kraeger. A lot of people are understandably shocked and resistant when they hear they need an amputation, but Jo’s response was typical: “Are you serious? I wanted this thing off two years ago!”

Kraeger amputated Jo’s leg below the knee in December 2006. It was on the acute rehab floor at St. Anthony’s that Jo met Manny Rivera, her new prosthetist from P & O Care. When he finally fit her with her first prosthesis she says she thought, “This thing fits like a glove! I have literally no pain.” Jo did go through some of the pain most amputees experience, like phantom sensations of her missing limb, but she says the more she walked the less she noticed. Jo quickly lost the walker they supplied in rehab and asked to be taught how to ride the escalator on their field trip to the South County Mall. Later, she took up softball and volleyball, walks more than three miles a day, and has lost another one hundred ten pounds since her amputation. Jo says the best compliments she and Manny could receive are the times people say to her, “I had no idea you didn’t have a leg!”

An article from The O&P EDGE

The O&P Edge has announced the opening of our Festus, MO, location.

Read this article:
http://www.oandp.com/edge/issues/articles/NEWS_2008-09-18_09.asp

Reference Guide: Custom Prosthetics and Orthotics in St. Louis

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NYTimes.com: Pistorius Wins Third Gold

This page was sent to you by:  wmclellan@sbcglobal.net SPORTS / OTHER SPORTS   | September 17, 2008 Pistorius Wins Third Gold By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee known as the Blade Runner, finished in 47.49 seconds, a world record for his disability class. 1. Op-Ed Columnist: ‘Barbies for War!’ 2. 6 Food Mistakes Parents Make 3. Your Money: Money Market Funds Enter a World of Risk 4. Timothy Egan: Moo 5. American Exception: U.S. Court Is Now Guiding Fewer Nations »  Go to Complete List Copyright 2008  The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy

NYTimes.com: Congress Passes Bill With Protections for Disabled

This page was sent to you by: wmclellan@sbcglobal.net Message from sender: This new ADA bill is good news and a big deal for amputees who have faced firing and workplace discrimination, even though they were still able to do the job. As the article says, it reverses the Catch-22 created by the Supreme Court in which the better a person coped with his or her disability, for example by using an artificial limb, the less they qualified for civil rights protection as disabled under the law. Now, if your employer fires you because he/she thinks you're disabled, you can have your day in court! WASHINGTON | September 18, 2008 Congress Passes Bill With Protections for Disabled By ROBERT PEAR The bill expands protections for people with disabilities and overturns several recent Supreme Court decisions. 1. Op-Ed Columnist: ‘Barbies for War!’ 2. 6 Food Mistakes Parents Make 3. Your Money: Money Market Funds Enter a World of Risk 4. American Exception: U.S. Court Is Now Guiding Fewer Nations 5. Timothy Egan: Moo » Go to Complete List Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy

Artificial limb maker adds Festus office to its offerings

St. Louis Business Journal - by Angela Mueller

Link to original article here.

Prosthetic & Orthotic Care Inc. is expanding its presence in the St. Louis region by opening a Festus office.

P&O Care currently operates offices in Des Peres and Fairview Heights, Ill. The Festus office, to be located across the street from Jefferson Memorial Hospital at 1479 Highway 61, is scheduled to open in early October.

Founded by Jim Weber and Jon Wilson in 2002, P&O Care designs, fabricates and fits artificial limbs and braces. Since its launch six years ago, the company has grown from Weber, Wilson and an office manager to 22 employees, including nine prosthetic and orthotic practitioners.

“We’ve been growing pretty aggressively,” said Weber, who is chief executive of the company. “The new location is 23 miles south of (Interstate) 270. We have a lot of patients in that area who come from all the way down to Farmington. With this being near a hospital and being right at (Interstate) 55 and (Highway) 61, it seemed like the right spot.”

P&O Care is investing about $50,000 in the new 1,800-square-foot Festus office, mainly to cover equipment and set up costs. Build-out of the space is being provided by the landlord, Tammy Fadler of Signature Properties in Festus, as part of the lease deal.

The new office, to be known as P&O’s Jefferson County Care Center, will include office space as well as a full-service fabrication laboratory for artificial limbs and braces.

“We do most of our fabrication at our Fairview Heights location, but we also have set up our other offices to have full fabrication capabilities,” said Weber, who declined to disclose the firm’s revenue. “I like to have full capability at the point of service.”

P&O’s Des Peres office, known as the St. Louis County Care Center, is located at 1074 Old Des Peres Road. The Fairview Heights St. Clair County Care Center is located at 13 Executive Drive, Suite 13.

In addition to the three office locations, P&O also operates seven mobile units, which prosthetists and orthotists use to drive to patients’ homes or nursing homes to provide care.

Demand for prosthetics and orthotics is on the rise nationwide. In 1990, more than 3.5 million Americans were using some kind of orthotic, up more than 100 percent since 1980, according to a Nielsen report. By 2020, the demand for services is anticipated to rise 25 percent for orthotic care and 47 percent for prosthetic care.

amueller@bizjournals.com

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NYTimes.com: Pistorius Sprints to Gold in First of His Three Races

This page was sent to you by: wmclellan@sbcglobal.net SPORTS / OTHER SPORTS | September 10, 2008 Roundup: Pistorius Sprints to Gold in First of His Three Races By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS One gold medal down and two to go for the sprinter Oscar Pistorius of South Africa at the Beijing Paralympics. 1. Op-Ed Columnist: Hold Your Heads Up 2. Op-Ed Columnist: From the Gut 3. Popularity of a Hallucinogen May Thwart Its Medical Uses 4. Cases: Perhaps Death Is Proud; More Reason to Savor Life 5. Op-Ed Columnist: Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage » Go to Complete List Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy