Angie's Story

Kyle Fairbanks loved sports so much, his mom’s legs couldn’t take it.

Baseball in spring. Football in fall. Hockey in winter. Not a season passed without balls, shoulder pads or pucks, and every year, 51-year-old Angie Fairbanks found it harder and harder to keep up with her son.

Earlier, the same nagging pain in her legs had caused her to switch from a job on her feet – an optician – to the comfort of a desk chair for an accounting firm.

Now her bad leg was encroaching on her family. Years earlier, a car crash had shattered Angie’s ankle. Doctors surgically fused the bones of the ankle together to hold them in place, but over time the connections began to break apart. She lived with injections, a brace and a searing ache that just wouldn’t go away.

Finally, Angie took her doctor up on an option that might sound nuclear to some ears: leg amputation.

But it worked.

“Now,” she said, “I don’t live with pain.”

That’s not to say it was easy. The first days after her operation were loaded with challenges so seemingly insurmountable, Angie knew she’d need help. She couldn’t stand without assistance. Moving from her bed to a chair was impossible. While Angie was hopeful about the future, she felt overwhelmed. Would she ever be able to get back on her feet?

Her doctor pointed her to Cleveland Clinic Rehabilitation Hospital, Avon, where a physician-led team of occupational and physical therapists joined with nurses to help Angie make the jump to the new of which she’d been dreaming.

Getting used to one leg

Angie arrived for pre‑prosthetic inpatient rehab ready to learn and heal. She connected with her nurses immediately.

“One nurse even prayed with me once I told her I was religious,” she said. “So many places lose you in the system, but here you guys seemed to be on top of all the things before I even need to do it.”

On admission, Angie could not transfer on her own or stand without help. Phantom sensations and weakness made the most basic tasks a challenge.

Her occupational therapist taught her how to wrap her limb at the surgical spot to protect it, help with shaping it to fit in a prosthesis and to assist with swelling control. Angie practiced seated bathing, dressing and grooming with adaptive tools.

Kitchen sessions in the hospital’s Activities of Daily Living suite – a room appointed like a living space -- helped her prep meals and do dishes safely.

The occupational therapist also had her exercise her arms with dumbbells, which, as she gained strength, made pushing up from surfaces and moving her chair easier.
By the time she was ready to return home, Angie could complete self‑care like getting dressed, showering and using the bathroom independently.

Physical therapy sessions at the hospital focused on strength, flexibility and pain control. Angie stretched both legs to keep her hips from tightening. She performed strength-training exercises like weightlifting in front of a mirror. The technique calmed her phantom pains, or the aches amputees sometimes feel in nerve endings confused by the absence of a limb.

A prosthetist – a health care worker who would help Angie adjust to life with the prosthetic leg she would receive later – helped get her ready for a new limb. The prosthetist taught Angie about the process of getting an artificial limb.

The physical therapist also worked with Angie on transfer training, or moving from surface to another, without her new leg. Her husband, Michael, took part in the hospital’s family training program – called Care Partner Training. He learned to help her get into and out of a car or wheel chair and manage her pain.

After a week, armed with strategies for her new life, she was ready to go home. Her plan was to return later for post-prosthetic training.

Home, healing and a new start

Back in her own house after months of continued therapy and wound healing, Angie received her prosthesis and began to work with outpatient therapy. Soon, she was ready to return to Cleveland Clinic Rehabilitation Hospital, Avon, to fine tune her abilities with her new leg.

“The first stay was so good it made me want to come back a second time,” she said.

She arrived for post‑prosthetic training hopeful and motivated. Her goal was clear: “To walk without assistance,” she said.

Her physical therapist began by having her don her prosthesis and for a secure fit through the day. She started walking with a rolling walker, then progressed to a single‑point cane as her weight shift improved.

A safety harness let her practice brief walking without a device while staying protected. She stretched to keep both legs flexible, then added lunges, squats and reaching to challenge her balance.

Nurses reinforced daily skin checks, limb care and energy pacing. Angie set a routine to protect her skin and keep her fit steady.

Occupational therapy focused on having her complete tasks with her prosthesis on. In the Activities of Daily Living suite, she practiced laundry, dishwashing and cooking while turning and reaching safely.

In the gym, therapists set up a mock grocery store had her retrieving items from different heights to sharpen problem‑solving.

Getting around in the community came next. Angie and her therapist took a trip to a local grocery store and used a cart – not just to carry her food but to lean on for stability. Back in the hospital’s Activities of Daily Living Suite, she turned the items she and her therapist and bought into a salad, working on standing time and safe movement at the counter. Floor transfer training built confidence for real‑life spills and chores at home.

One day, a breakthrough came when she walked a short distance -- with no device for support. Her physical therapist had told her she probably wouldn’t be able to do that right away.

“You are going to make me a liar,” her therapist joked.

Angie texted Kyle right away. “Proud, happy,” she typed.

After about a week, Angie was ready to go home again for the second time. Now, she could walk with a cane independently, managed sock adjustments required to ensure the best prosthetic fit and handle high‑level balance tasks.

Family, faith and the small wins

Michael, who had learned to help Angie during her first stay, learned when to step back so Angie could build independence.

Kyle, a college sophomore, spent the summer between her amputation and getting a prosthesis getting her out for their “normal” routines. “Our whole family has just a better outlook on life now,” she said.

Before rehab, cheering at Kyle’s games meant constant stops to sit. Shopping was short. Cooking or folding laundry took a toll.

No more. “I can walk with a cane,” she said, “and I feel so much more confident in everything I am doing.”

Angie planned to continue outpatient physical therapy.

“Basically getting back all my independence and function without pain,” she said.

Seasons still turned. Baseball. Football. Hockey. The stands were waiting. Angie’s choice had taken away the pain. The games would go on, and now, she would go with them.