Key points from today’s guests:
Conor Cox, uses myoelectric prosthesis
- In December 2022, Conor lost his hand in a farming accident. Being in a rural setting, he had to be flown to The University of Kansas Health System.
- While they were able to reattach the hand, it did not take, so he was set up to receive a bionic hand.
- As a farmer, a husband, and a father to two small children, he had to adjust to a new life.
- Conor uses a TikTok account to share videos of his life and journey, inserting humor with real-life situations.
- This has been mentally tough for him because he struggles with body image, but he said he has slowly learned to love himself.
- He recommends that others use their support systems to help them get through tough situations. Conor has also been a big advocate for mental health awareness for farmers.
Dr. Charles Christopher Jehle, hand and nerve microsurgeon, The University of Kansas Health System
- Fortunately, accidents don't happen like this every single day, but they happen frequently enough that you have to be prepared for them and there's not a textbook answer. I will go to every length possible to try to salvage a limb.
- I genuinely feel that my patients are our family in that sense and I would really hope that if it were me or one of my kids or my wife was in the hospital, somebody would have that same approach.
- There is about a 6-12-hour window to be able to reattach a hand. But in Conor’s case, even though the surgery was done within that window, that reattachment did not work.
- We did work to set up Conor’s hand to be able to receive an electronic prosthetic. That means making sure we can amplify the nerve signals and bring the muscles in the arm closer to the surface.
- The most rewarding part of this is seeing actual people who go on and will still live their life and do things that they need to do.
- I really like extremity surgery because it's very functional based. A lot of people think about plastic surgery and they think of all the cosmetic aspects of it. But allowing people to get back to work, get back to their life, perform daily activities, is so rewarding.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The hospital COVID count for this week is down slightly to 15 inpatients from 21 last week.
- Another case of raw, unpasteurized milk products has been linked to 10 illnesses around the country, according to the CDC.
- Pasteurization is just really a simple process that heats the milk up to help reduce the proteins that help cause enzymes that cause spoilage. But it also reduces bacterial burden in milk as well.
- Some people are looking to go back to early life without pasteurization and vaccines, but that can be dangerous. Both are known to be safe and effective.
Wednesday, July 3 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics With Doctor Stites. A fireworks display goes wrong, leaving one woman severely injured. We’ll hear her story, and step into the operating room to see the advanced techniques that reduce scarring and add “new skin” to patients.
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