Voices of prosthesis users, part 2

Guest post by Helen Millward

Graham likes to joke about his prosthetic hand. He once told someone that he lost his hand due to a shark attack off the Great Barrier Reef while working as a scuba instructor.

In fact, Graham was born without his left arm below the elbow. He had several different types of prosthetic limbs as a child, and when he was 15 years old he received a myoelectric hand.

Having the latest technology was very exciting, but being a teenager made training less of a priority.

“You were told to go home and practice, but unfortunately when you’re that age, you know, there’s other things to be done than sitting in your room opening and closing a prosthetic hand.”

He wishes he had taken the time to train when he first received his myoelectric prosthesis.

“I don’t have a good use of the arm, basically because I didn’t put the time in then… You lose confidence once you drop [something] a few times, so I tend to use my residual hand instead. I do regret that now, in that I’ve seen other people, how they use them, and I sort of wish that I could be like that.”

Graham’s use of his prosthesis is varied. “Getting up in the morning I tend not to put it on straight away”. He does wear his prosthesis at work but once he gets home “the arm comes off and that’s it. Yes, you do forget where you leave it as well. (laughs)”

Graham likens wearing his prosthesis to putting on a pair of trousers, or wearing a watch. “You can put on a nice watch when you’re going out in the evening, which is the same as my arm really. Is it a fashion accessory? I don’t know! (laughs)”

Graham enjoys an active life participating in various sports. This can affect the fit of his prosthesis, as variations in the frequency of training for sporting activities can lead to either weight loss or gain. If the prosthesis no longer fits, this can cause his hand to open and close at unwanted times.

Having a prosthesis makes it difficult to blend in sometimes - and sometimes not. “I’ve been on two or three dates with a girl and she hasn’t even noticed that I’ve got a prosthetic arm.”

Graham finds it empowering to be viewed as doing day to day activities the same as everyone else. His prosthetic hand is viewed as a part of his identity by both himself and others.

“People refer to me, “oh do you know, Graham?”, “Graham, Graham”, “guy with the one arm”, “oh, yeah, yeah”, or “the guy with the plastic arm” … so people automatically associate it with me and I suppose I do as well”.