The Miracle of Healing: How best healing practices will help Mark Boyd walk again

By Savanah Bandy

In July 2021, Mark Boyd became a double amputee when a diabetes-related complication led to the amputation of his right leg below the knee.

He had already been through the process of amputation, healing and learning to walk on a prosthesis once after losing his left leg in January 2020 (read his full story in the November 2020 edition of Show Me The Ozarks). While he was still working through the grief process of losing his left leg, what seemed like a harmless wrinkle in the tongue of the right shoe caused a diabetic wound on his foot that would not heal. The wound led to an emergency lifesaving surgical amputation.

Beverly Helms, owner of Grand Prosthetics & Orthotics LightWeight Artificial Limbs & Braces, stresses the importance of proper healing to new amputees.

“We treat the whole person,” Beverly said. “We strive to realistically build their confidence in their own ability, encourage them to persevere and comply with rehab care. Our goal is to keep to a minimum the time needed between healing of tissue and fitting of the prosthesis, thus preventing deformities…Then our goal of fitting as soon as possible is usually met 2-3 months after the amputation.”

To better prepare amputees for the healing process, Beverly teaches continuing education to physical therapists, nurses, physicians and other healthcare providers to help prepare recent amputees for their approaching journey into life with a prosthetic limb.

“We believe in a team approach for maximizing their rehab potential post amputation,” Beverly said. “That’s why I volunteer my time for these classes. I feel if one amputee is helped to retain their ability to ambulate, the good Lord has paid me in full.”

Beverly teaches that vigorous education and patient compliance are required for the amputee to reach the maximum rehab potential. Here are a few tips for the best possible healing:

• Eat protein that “still looks like the protein God made,” such as nuts, eggs, meat and fish, and is not fried. “Whole, natural protein food sources seem to be the most helpful to heal wounds. We are what we eat, and it takes protein to heal protein, and our tissue is protein,” Beverly said.

• Exercise extending the remaining hips and knees every 4 hours to increase strength and decrease contractures.

• Elevate by resting the residual limb on a slightly elevated rigid surface always while sitting. NO pillows under the knee!

• Encourage the amputee to get out of the wheelchair every hour and stand well supported and extend every joint.

• Do not flex the residual limb while it is wrapped with a stump shrinking device.

• Massage residual limb every 4 hours and cleanse it to decrease adhesions, increase healing, circulation, and the patient’s awareness and acceptance of the residual limb.

• Above-knee amputees are best served by becoming ambulatory with walker or crutches in order to become ambulatory with a prosthesis.

“We prefer to see the amputee just after the sutures are removed,” Beverly said. “When the amputee achieves the above, is no longer swollen, overly sensitive, weak, contracted, overly obese, scabbed, adhered excessively, can accept this differently challenged state, and has the motivated excitement needed to competently master wearing a prosthesis, and is able to get themself out of their chair alone and have good balance, depending on the rules imposed by their insurance we then cast for, fit and deliver a custom prosthesis designed specifically for their specific needs.”

For Mark Boyd, the road to recovery is ahead of him once again, but he feels empowered to do the work and get back on two feet again. As a father of five and grandfather of seven, he said his greatest motivation comes from his family.