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When Ricky Little learned to walk on prosthetic legs, he gained an optimistic outlook on life that had been eluding him.
Ricky lost his left leg in 2000 when he suffered an acute allergic reaction to the blood thinning drug Heparin that was administered to him after heart bypass surgery. Instead of thinning his blood, the drug caused blood clots to form in his kidneys, lungs, liver and legs.
What was supposed to have been a one-week hospitalization turned into an eight-week nightmare. In an effort to save his life, doctors put Ricky into a drug-induced coma and placed him on full life support. Friends later told Ricky that his hospital room was so packed with equipment, they couldn’t get into the room. “The power of prayer kept me alive,” Ricky said.
After a few months, Ricky began considering the possibility of getting a prosthetic leg.
His research led him to Russ and Melanie Hauser, owners of Hauser Orthotics and Prosthetics. Russ made Ricky a prosthetic leg, giving special attention to its comfort and suitability for walking. Russ then encouraged Ricky to persevere through the lengthy process of learning to walk again.
In 2003, complications made the amputation of Ricky’s right leg necessary. The impact of the surgery left Ricky despondent. “There’s no tomorrow,” Ricky said. “You’re thinking you’re at the end of your rope. You can’t see further than that.”
Ricky, however, has always been called a fighter and soon he went back to Hauser O & P, where Russ made him another prosthetic leg. Ricky first learned to walk with a walker, then a cane. Eventually, he found that he didn’t need the cane anymore.
Throughout the process, Russ encouraged Ricky, living up to his motto, “quality with a heart.”
“He kept telling me stories about other people,” Ricky said. “Now he’s telling other people stores about me.”
About six months ago, Ricky had developed enough confidence in his new legs that he began considering the purchase of a motorcycle. A long time enthusiast, Ricky had missed riding while he had been relearning how to walk. He visited the Cycle Shack North, where the staff helped him find a motorcycle that he could operate easily. Within a month he was riding it proficiently.
Ricky has noticed that whereas people used to make him feel like an object of their attention, now he senses their admiration. “I feel like more than an object. I feel like an accomplishment,” he said. He said he often senses that people are saying , “This guy’s riding a motorcycle and he ain’t got no legs!”
Ricky and his traveling companion are planning a three-week motorcycle trip that will span the East Coast, from Daytona Beach to upstate New York, plus trips to Kentucky and Tennessee.
Ricky is quick to credit Russ’ skills and caring in helping him regain his mobility.
“He’s responsible for me doing these things,” Ricky said. “I feel like I did a long time ago. He’s given me my life back. I can’t thank him enough.”
Ricky sums up his advice for others succinctly. “Don’t give up.”
Having happy clients is not a new experience for Russ and Melanie, who opened Hauser O & P in 1999. Since that time, more and more of clients have referred the company to their friends.
Many clients are impressed with Russ’ attention to detail. He makes prostheses, including legs, arms and fingers, as comfortable as possible and makes many adjustments as are necessary to ensure that patients can wear them without discomfort or injury.
“We want it to be as comfortable as it can be. We want it to function as as it can function and we want it to look as god as it can look,” Russ said.
Because prostheses require multiple fittings, companies that outsource the manufacture of prostheses must endure significant delays while prostheses are shipped back and forth. At Hauser O & P, however, amputees can often received their new protheses in a week to ten days. Patients often tell Russ and Melanie that other companies predict waiting times up to four months.
“That’s one of the first things they ask me,” Russ said. “How long is it going to take?”
Hauser O & P also offers caring service to women who have undergone mastectomies. Melanie, a registered nurse, is an experienced, certified fitter of prosthetic breasts. She promises “absolute personal attention” in helping women achieve a good and natural look.
Hauser O & P also offers lymphedema sleeves that control the swelling that can occur when a mastectomy includes lymph node removal, as well as several lines of mastectomy bras that come in a variety of styles, both functional and pretty.
In addition to prostheses, Hauser O & P offers orthotic devices, such as shoe inserts that podiatrists often prescribe to raise arches and heal painful plantar fasciitis and accompanying heel spurs. The company can also provide night splints, a remedial therapy for those who have foot problems because of short calf muscles. In addition, Hauser O & P stocks compression hosiery for those with circulation or cardiovascular issues and diabetic shoes and socks, which are usually covered by insurance.
Hauser O & P, located on Waco Street (east of Frazier), offers convenient access for local citizens.
“A lot of them say, ‘If I had only known! I have been going to Houston all these years,”’ Russ said.
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