A Leg to Stand On - Standing Up for Amputees
Author: Bohlsen Group : Contact: 1 (317) 602-7137
Published: 2015-02-19
Synopsis:
Vietnam-era veteran Lois Olson describes life as amputee in endearing new childrens book A Leg to Stand On.
Main Digest
The Amputee Coalition states that almost two million Americans have experienced limb loss. With this many people living as amputees, society should learn to accept these differences.
The removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. The word amputation is derived from the Latin amputare, "to cut away", from ambi- ("about", "around") and putare ("to prune") In the US, the majority of new amputations occur due to complications of the vascular system (the blood vessels), especially from diabetes.
As a leg amputee, Lois Olson uses her personal experiences as inspiration for "A Leg to Stand On."
The book features Olson's family friends and three-legged therapy dog Kip. Together they all learn to accept each other's differences to help an injured goat.
Olson is a Vietnam-era veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force.
She has personally discovered the mental benefits animals can present to people with disabilities. By weaving a personal aspect into the storyline, Olson encourages readers to embrace diversity with open arms.
"I wanted to create a book that described amputees to children," Olson said. "The book incorporates the compassion of animals into the lesson of acceptance."
By viewing the world through the eyes of an amputee, children and adults alike can learn about the people with disabilities and understand some of the struggles they encounter.
A Leg to Stand On - by Lois Olson
About the author:
Lois Olson is a Vietnam-era veteran. She has twenty-five years' experience raising Saanen dairy goats and is the adoptive mother of six international special needs children.
In addition to publishing, Olson is affiliated with her church, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and American Dairy Goat Association.
Olson resides in northern Michigan with her two English setters and an elderly cat.
"A Leg to Stand On"
By: Lois Olson
ISBN: 978-1-4908-4833-4
Available in softcover, e-book Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and WestBow Press
Quick Facts:
Some studies have estimated that about 75% of amputees feel pain in their nonexistent limbs. It's so mysterious that psychologists, doctors, and neuroscientists have argued for centuries about the pain's cause, with some asserting that the trouble is manufactured in the mind, and others insisting that it comes from a bodily malfunction - Phantom Limbs More Common than Previously Thought
Statistics
- There are nearly 2 million people living with limb loss in the United States.
- Approximately 185,000 amputations occur in the United States each year.
- In 2009, hospital costs associated with amputation totaled more than $8.3 billion.
- African Americans are up to four times more likely to have an amputation than white Americans.
- Of persons with diabetes who have a lower extremity amputation, up to 55% will require amputation of the second leg within 2-3 years.
- Among those living with limb loss, the main causes are vascular disease (54%) - including diabetes and peripheral arterial disease - trauma (45%) and cancer (less than 2%).
- Nearly half of the individuals who have an amputation due to vascular disease will die within 5 years. This is higher than the five year mortality rates for breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.
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