Building Limbs and Lives

When the ground shook in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, the magnitude-7 earthquake left behind an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 instant amputees in a land where there's little mercy for disability. MSNBC report: The nuts and bolts of building a limb, can be found here.

Wounded warriors: Service members learn to live as amputees. Nearly 1,000 U.S. service members have undergone amputations in the eight years of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among their post-battlefield challenges is adjusting to civilian life with a prosthetic. Find this Washington Post story here.

These numbers on their own seem large. But according to the Amputee Coalition of America, in the United States alone, there are approximately 1.7 million people living with limb loss. It is estimated that one out of every 200 people in the U.S. has had an amputation. Details about these facts can be found here.

Regarding Suzanne's progress, she will be undergoing another revision surgery on her right leg next Tuesday the 30th. According to her surgeon's report from last week, she will be in the hospital overnight and is expected to have one more after this, to finally complete the leg revisions.