My New Leg

I was so happy to have a physician’s appointment, I called up my prosthetics shop right away and spoke with Julie, the head administrative assistant. When I told her about how I’d been waiting for a while to get some time with a physician to get a prescription, she mentioned a weekly free prosthetics clinic at UCSF where I could have gotten a prescription without having to wait weeks for an appointment. I had been waiting to call her to schedule a casting until after I had an appointment, but, boy, do I feel stupid for not having called her and learned about this clinic earlier.

The prosthetics business has an interesting gendered division of labor. Although more women are becoming prosthetists, the field is still dominated by men. But the front offices of prosthetics shops are, in my experience, always staffed by women — and they know the ins and outs of prosthetics, health care reimbursement, and how to get things done.

Lesson #3: If you have questions about your prosthesis, or the process of getting one, call your prosthetics shop first. The women in the front office are your chief advocate.

My casting, the next step in getting my new leg, will be tomorrow morning. Double yay!

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