Join our conversation with Mike Bolland, host of the We're Not Stumped Amputee podcast, you'll hear a journey of resilience, self-confidence, and determination. Mike, who has been living without a prosthesis for 40 years, shares candidly about his daily encounters, the activities he engages in, and the unique ways he thinks about and navigates life.
As a child, Mike was raised to be independent and to bear an unshakeable self-confidence by his parents. This foundation has been the bedrock of his life - propelling him to break barriers and achieve milestones, such as being the first one-handed amputee on the Professional Bowling Tour. Mike also gives us a glimpse into some of the obstacles he's faced, such as job discrimination, and how he surmounted these challenges through sheer determination and grit.
Our chat with Mike also brings to light his insightful perspectives on the subject of prosthetics and the importance of establishing a trust-filled relationship with prosthetic clinicians. He emphasizes the value of open dialogue in achieving the best outcomes and shares his journey from professional bowling to stand-up comedy.This episode is filled with inspiration, insights, and innovation. It's a blend you don't want to miss!
Join our conversation with Mike Bolland, host of the We're Not Stumped Amputee podcast, you'll hear a journey of resilience, self-confidence, and determination. Mike, who has been living without a prosthesis for 40 years, shares candidly about his daily encounters, the activities he engages in, and the unique ways he thinks about and navigates life.
As a child, Mike was raised to be independent and to bear an unshakeable self-confidence by his parents. This foundation has been the bedrock of his life - propelling him to break barriers and achieve milestones, such as being the first one-handed amputee on the Professional Bowling Tour. Mike also gives us a glimpse into some of the obstacles he's faced, such as job discrimination, and how he surmounted these challenges through sheer determination and grit.
Our chat with Mike also brings to light his insightful perspectives on the subject of prosthetics and the importance of establishing a trust-filled relationship with prosthetic clinicians. He emphasizes the value of open dialogue in achieving the best outcomes and shares his journey from professional bowling to stand-up comedy.This episode is filled with inspiration, insights, and innovation. It's a blend you don't want to miss!
Hi everyone, my name's Joris Peels. This is another episode of the prosthetics and orthotics podcast with Brent Wright. How you doing, brent?
Speaker 2:Hey, joris, doing well. Have you recovered from foreign next?
Speaker 1:Kind of. I mean, I'm not supposed to have my voice back this early. I actually, I think you know I got quite lucky. I didn't get too sick or anything. I could still speak. So I'm getting there, I'm getting there.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Well, we, we handled the podcast without you. That was the funniest thing, you know. I sent you the link and you're like, dude, I'm at foreign.
Speaker 1:Next, I'm not being on the podcast. I don't know how did it go. How was it? It was a better without me. You can say it was better without me.
Speaker 2:No, I mean the cool thing is so I mean we hopped into the weeds of scanning. So that's where I wish that you would have been a part of that with Bo Helmer from. Digitized Designs, but it's gotten really great reviews. I mean it's it's quickly become one of the fastest downloaded shows because I think there's so many people interested in scanning.
Speaker 1:Okay, so maybe we should do some more stuff on that. Yeah, you have more without me.
Speaker 2:No, no, I had to talk too much, you know I that. So, yeah, so you were. You were missed, and we reminisced about the things that we were missing at form next, in your absence. So did anything kind of pop out at you? Or I know that there there appeared to be a lot of prosthetic and orthotic stuff. Was that a surprise to you?
Speaker 1:No, no, I think there were a lot of what. There was a lot of like elastomeric stuff. So a lot of stuff that was just generally from by candles to headrests to seats, not only from like is been doing for a while with carbon, but also from like HP, a lot of stuff like that also from a lot of other players, a lot more soft things, and compared to other years, so that was a really interesting thing. There was a rapid liquid print, who we know already. We both love the technology and I think that has a lot of potential for for for MP as well. And then there's chromatic, which also is kind of like rapid liquid print, as you extrude into a hydrogel and you can then mix materials. And then the hydrogel is like a support material and you can make, you know, rubber, like a luster American of materials. And then there's another one, chromatic, which uses a mixing head to extrude material, this time on kind of a flat surface, but they have the innovative chemistry to make that stuff adhere in a better way, let's say, than in another case. So that's, you know, more flexible, more durable, more solid material. So that's very exciting I think.
Speaker 1:And yeah, there's a lot of stuff, there was generally a lot of stuff there. My head is still swimming. I saw a awful lot of stuff like a ridiculous amount of stands, ridiculous amount of people at like 30 meetings, so it's a bit overwhelming still. But but the exciting things I think is the rapid liquid print and the chromatic. I think those are new technologies and also, just like you know, you know, you know you can't really see the difference. So a lot more materials to choose from that are super relevant. I think in that polymerization and also in powder bed fusion and in FDM material extrusion, a lot more luster American materials. So that's that's really good for for OMP. I think that's cool.
Speaker 1:Did anybody pull you aside and say, yours, we've got to talk about this art, you, you, you, these articles that you're writing, you've got to change. You've got to change your tone. There were a lot of people. No, I think everyone at Forenm atically understood. Then, in particular, latte, everyone at Formax at least understood. They didn't agree with everything, or so some people did and some people didn't. But there's this RIP series that the people at Formax typically really understood what I was trying to do. So it's definitely got negative stuff. It's from people who are new to the whole 3d printing thing. I don't get it but but it got a lot of feedback on the article, so that was really really good. I'm really happy with that and then just released the third one and the fourth one's coming out soon as well.
Speaker 2:Oh man.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, that's so. That's gonna be good. The third one is about rapid application. So it's my idea of Just developing application much quicker in a different way and everyone's doing which I'm gonna be doing this couple of years, and Brent's gonna help him as well.
Speaker 2:And the other one.
Speaker 1:And the next one is is let's kill the 3d printing evangelists. That one's gonna be fun. So who's on our? We got on the podcast today, well, this is gonna be a fun one.
Speaker 2:I'm really excited to have Mike Boland on the podcast. He does a bunch of things. If you haven't checked him out on LinkedIn, check him out on LinkedIn, mike Boland. He is a is part of a nonprofit multiple nonprofits. He's a fellow podcaster with man. Why didn't we think of this kind of podcast title? We're not stumped amputee podcast, well, and I don't think we could have. Mike is missing his right arm.
Speaker 1:I think it's better for him to do this.
Speaker 2:And but. But what's interesting is he chooses not to wear prosthesis. But he is a massive advocate for those living with limb loss. So I'm super excited to hear from him today and he's just well connected and I'm I'm excited to kind of hear his story and just see where our, you know, paths cross along the way.
Speaker 1:Okay, welcome to the podcast. So, mike.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Yeah, it's great to have us also for you.
Speaker 1:I guess the how you gonna involve with MP is is is well, probably not a great story, or or is it?
Speaker 3:Well, really, as far as the prosthetics are concerned, like Brent was saying, I am a huge advocate, for I just happened to Break mine when I was 14 years old because I used to, you know, wear one and I broke it. My parents asked me if I wanted to get it replaced and at that point I was more. I was on and off with my own prosthetic, and probably more off than on. So I said no, I'm good, and that was the decision I made back then and you know, to this day I still don't wear one, except on Halloween. I got it made, I do come out as a pirate every Halloween.
Speaker 3:Okay, I do put it back very good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely and and wait a minute and okay. So I don't know sounds a 14 year old. You're trying to find your own identity. You want to lose the thing. I get it right. But I mean you've been tempted later on, been like, oh, this is, they're getting better now. You know, I've been tempted time and time after time, or no, I really haven't.
Speaker 3:And one of the reasons why is I think I've just spent so much time of my life looking at things that because two-handed people Ask me how I do acts whether it be like work on cars or whatever it is and they'll say well, how do you do it that way? And I think, obviously, two-handed people look at things as a two-handed person, whereas me, the first thing I look at is how I do it as a one-handed person. I don't look at things as a two-handed person, then back it out and go how am I going to do it? So for the last, you know, let's say 40 years, I've just been looking at things as a one-handed person.
Speaker 3:Now there may be a time in the future I I would never rule it out, because there's the one thing that I've Certainly learned from the people that have been on my podcast and got to meet in person is the wear and tear on your residual limb or the your regular limb. It can add up and you know, after so many years of I was on the Pro Bowler store, I play basketball, golf, so, yeah, there's, there's a little bit of wear and tear on my left side, so I would never rule it out. I.
Speaker 1:And then and then, because I'm really curious about this. So if you're one hand, you say you approach a problem, the one hand a person is that. Is that much more in a sequential way Right, because you could do less things together? Or is it more in a kind of like you adopt every situation just like Anyone else would, is it or is it you do think completely differently? How does that work?
Speaker 3:Well, as an example, I think you know when I brought up working on cars, like a vice grip is my best friend, right, because it's hard to hold two wrenches, let's say. But if you have a vice grip on one side, you certainly can hold two and not in a bolt and get things off. So there's like just little tips and tricks. I have a tremendous amount of balance in my arm and my stump so I can walk around with my, my, my Cell phone, and almost it's almost like I'm holding it, but it's really balanced on my stump.
Speaker 3:I kind of make a joke. It's like this is really a hands-free phone. I don't know what you guys are talking about. That's kind of but. And so because of that balance it's really enabled me to do quite a bit, because I use that balance for a lot, you know, whether it be even just walking around with a glass of water or going to a buffet, let's say. I know those are kind of funny things, but it definitely is something that I've been able to do and it's just, it's something I have. I don't even think about it, to be honest, it's just such a natural thing for me.
Speaker 1:That's kind of interesting and and do you feel like like you could advocate for this? I had like a similar situation. Would you tell me like, try my way, because it's better than just getting that prosthetic, or do you just think everyone should find their own path, kind of I.
Speaker 3:Think everyone should find their own path. That's why I was. I really am a huge fan of prosthetics and I I believe in them 100% and I think it's. I think it's a personal choice and this is my personal choice, and I think people need to Experience what is best for them, and I wouldn't. If they want to go my way, that's fine. If they want to have a prosthetic, which I know many, many of my friends and acquaintances that I've met over the years do wear prosthetics and and it's fine, it's great. I think it's a very good.
Speaker 1:Okay, and there's one thing I can talk about other guests as well. But you know this whole thing like if you're a child. I don't think you really notice that much and and and you may think of, you don't really think of them. I don't remember this kid not really think anyone was different from anyone else, no matter how different they were anyway. But I think as a teenager you become acutely aware of like the herd and not being in the herd and not having the right jacket or not. You know, having saying the right things was it very difficult at that age to have limb loss.
Speaker 3:Well no because the first thing I did was buy a red jacket. I'm kidding, of course. Actually, it's one of those things that, in my experience, and that I can only speak for myself I was meant to be born with one hand. This is the way I am, so it doesn't bother me at all, and so if people want to make fun of me and they have, I mean people try to bully me. I'm not gonna Say that never happened, but in my situation it was more like well, I also have brown hair. If you make fun of me for having brown hair, be like that's what.
Speaker 3:That doesn't make any sense, and it's the same thing about me having one hand. I actually like it quite a bit. It's one of the things I do like about myself. I'm human, just like everyone else, so there's other things about me I wish I can improve on, but having one hand isn't one of them. But I do want to say, though, to your point that I have met people that are just like me.
Speaker 3:You know, this is the same type of beginnings and life Missing, and born without a hand, and they did go through some bad experience, bad experiences when they were younger, and and I feel bad about that and it's it's. It's a tough thing to have to grow up being a little bit different. So when I speak to others that are like me and maybe at that vulnerable age, I just try to Kind of convey that having confidence isn't necessarily a bad thing and you're okay being the way you are, and if you're, and if you want to wear a prosthetic and you're 14, 15 years old, great. If not, that's fine too. Just make sure you have your head up and be proud of yourself, and It'll be like Teflon if people want to make fun of you for how you are.
Speaker 1:I think a radical self acceptance thing. In your case it seems to kind of more of a. Is it a religious thing or is it just really a radical acceptance of self, like I was born this way, I'm meant to be this way. I think that could seem like a really really healthy kind of position to start from right.
Speaker 3:I think it is and I'll be honest, I have to give all the credits my parents. You know the formidable years of me growing up and I have a brother and a sister and we never treated each other differently, let alone me. So I really have to give it up to them. Unfortunately they're both no longer with us, but they really planted the, they started the foundation of my life. That it wasn't for them, I don't know how things would have turned out. I really believe that they help me quite a bit in the way that I feel today.
Speaker 1:That's super cool, super cool. And then and then another thing I want to ask other people but the and how is that become like things like dating, for example? Is it difficult, or do you filter out although not so nice people, so actually kind of like it's kind of a help in that sense, or what's that kind of thing, or do you just have to overcome that with self-confidence?
Speaker 3:Well, that's a great. You actually brought up a really good point. I mean, let's face it, if someone is and I'll say it this way if someone shallow enough not to want to go out with someone with one hand, I probably don't want to date him anyway, right. So that's a very good point, but I just never. I guess it's just weird the way I think of it.
Speaker 3:I just the only time I really think that you realize I have one hands, if I see a picture of myself, because I see the mirror image of myself in the mirror right and I just look normal to me. But when I see, when I see me in a picture and I go, wow, I have one hand, I bet people notice that that's got a little bit more noticeable than I think. That's the only time I really see that. But as far as when I was dating I've been married 28 years, but when I was dating it was just one of those I just hey, I'm me and hopefully I'm a nice enough person. They want to date me. If not, you know, that's fine too. But if I never let having one hand scare me away from getting shot down anyway, Okay, that's good, that's good.
Speaker 1:I think that's a really healthy attitude and I hope that you look, because I think you now I guess you can have a self-confidence. I just remember that you know, as a teenager is really difficult that kind of level self-confidence about anything like what is a pimple in your face or anything more kind of different.
Speaker 3:I completely agree. Like I was saying, there's other things in my life where it's like hey, you know, I wish I can improve this, I wish I was better at that. So at the end of the day, and as I talked to other amputees, it's the one thing that we all have in common is we're all human, so we're all. Certainly, you know, we have our faults in our places where we wish we could be better. But For me, just for whatever reason, my never focus on me, have one hand in mind was always more of hey, let everybody gets to stare at me. That's great. I'm a ham, I like that.
Speaker 2:Mike, I'm kind of curious. I mean, you mentioned it and gave a lot of credit to your parents and we have our listeners span a large Gamut of people you know, not only users but parents, clinicians and that sort of thing. Can you share a little bit maybe four parents of what, what parents can do if they have a child with limb loss? That has you know. That's made you who you are today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my parents really allowed me to try and fail, and one of the things I talked about working on a car or any kind of mechanical thing with the, with the, the wrenches and things like that after I'm blanking what I said earlier, but my dad is one of taught me that. He taught me, hey, you can use this type of wrench on this side and this type of wrench on that side, but after that was like now it's figuring out by yourself, because one of the things my parents I think in and I have to give them more credit because at the time there was not the ability for them to do a lot of research, jump on YouTube, things like that they just had this innate belief that I'm going to teach my son had to do it, but we're not going to be over his shoulder to do it. That's where I go back to saying they allowed me to try and fail and I fail, and if there's one fault I do have, I can get frustrated at times, just like we all can maybe, especially when I'm golfing, but that's a whole another story. But they allowed me to fail, but the failures, though, built up to the successes. So if I had to try something three, four, five, ten times just to figure it out. I would do it and they allowed me to do that. It wasn't like on the fifth attempt, if I fail, they would just take a utensil let's say, you're like a knife and a fork and let me get your, me for you.
Speaker 3:No, I had to figure that out for myself and it was kind of a, as I look back, maybe a unique bond there, because not only did they let me try and fail, I wanted to try and fail, so it we kind of met in the middle on both of those things. But again, as I said, I have a brother and a sister and I think one of the other things too that they did that was fantastic for me was not treat me any different. I mean, we all, we all joke around about it and I still joke around about it, but they didn't treat me any different. I wasn't cut any break and they weren't either right. We were all together. We were all raised Very similarly in how, what our expectations were in life and what we can achieve, and all three of us were taught that if you work hard, you can achieve whatever you'd like. Those are the some of the things that my parents did for me growing up.
Speaker 1:I think that the consistency thing is really could be really important. You don't want to be like kind of the victim or the special one, or you can't pick on Mikey because Mikey you know, I think that could be a recipe for disaster if you get like kind of treated as like kind of like the special one by the parents. I think that could have ended very badly for you as a personality.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree 100%. I, if they would have treated me Special, yeah, it could just have a negative effect on the rest of my life thinking, well then I, in the real world, as I got to be older and had a career, I expect to be Treated special, and I really don't. I expect to be treated like everyone else, certainly not less than anyone else, which is, if there is a battle, sometimes that's the battle. But I don't want to be given any opportunities just because of the way I am, but I don't want to lose out any opportunities just because of the way I am. And my parents Really instilled that in me and I really appreciate that that sounds very, very healthy.
Speaker 1:And then, how about like a school, like? Is other teachers that really treated you in a very special way thought all that's really commendable how they did this, or did they kind of ignore you and did you really appreciate being ignored? What was the most? What really worked for you? What really helped you?
Speaker 3:One thing I do remember is my parents, when it comes, especially my mom. My dad was. He worked quite a bit, but my dad he certainly wasn't. He was always there for me. I don't want to make it sound like he was, but my mom was a little bit more there when it came to school and there were times where, for whatever reason maybe something I came home and said, or maybe my sister or brother saw something, if there was a time where they thought that the teachers were giving me any special treatment, my mom would go down and talk to him, say no, I want my son treated just like everyone else. He doesn't need any additional help, he'll figure it out. If he doesn't, you know, let me know, let us know and we'll figure it out together.
Speaker 3:But for the most part it was more about not trying to get that special treatment. It was about trying to be just another person and by that it really helped everyone within the class to even the kids understood hey, you know, he's just another, he's just my, he's just there. And you know, especially in elementary school, I would say I probably always wore prosthetic in elementary school. It was just, it was just an accepted thing and everyone, all my friends and everyone. I went to school with all my teachers that I can remember.
Speaker 1:We're always very kind to me and I really appreciate that super good, and also in cases of like you said, that some people may funny, but I think Maybe you alluded to maybe some cases were a little bit closer to bullying. What do you do? I have no idea what would be the right course of action. You jump in there and be the protective parent, or you know. You know what's the right thing there.
Speaker 3:Well, I never came home with a story that was to the point where they should have gotten involved. I think they would have definitely gotten involved with the bullying. But again, it's one of those things where when people try to bully you, they're trying to pick at what they perceive as your weakest link internally. And when they make fun of me having one hand, that is far from the weakest link as far as I think. I really believe that it's my strongest link. So I was always able to just stop that at the very early level. If they wanted to make fun of me, I probably would tell them a better joke than they had. So they would be like, okay, well, this ain't going to work, and they go on to whatever they were going to do next.
Speaker 3:When it came to me, I was just always very happy that I had one hand. So having one hand was just not something that people could make fun of me about. I mean, hey, listen, I'm not going to tell you that. There hasn't been times in my life where people have said something and I'd be like, oh, that's not a very nice thing to say. But as far as the bullying when I was a kid, it just because of the way I felt about myself. I think it was just like I said earlier, like a Teflon shield to the bullies.
Speaker 2:Talk a little bit about sports. I mean a lot of amputees that have come on the show have said that sports really also helped their mindset. You mentioned basketball and golf and other things. Have you been a sports person your whole life or is that something that you've picked up later on in life and how has that sports or athletic adventure, so to speak, changed who you are or made you part of who you are?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm a big, big sports fan and I love playing sports. Probably the thing I like to do more than anything is go out and play basketball and shoot baskets. At this point in my life I think more people are amazed that I'm still able to do that because of my age and then having one hand, but I love it. It's so fun. I could dribble with either hand, I could spin the basketball on either hand. I just love doing basketball.
Speaker 3:Golf is another thing. I picked that up probably in high school and didn't really get serious. Probably, I'm going to guess, until my mid 30s, but I golf quite a bit now. I really enjoy that game and of course I mentioned it a little bit earlier. But I had a friend to give you the back story on bowling. I had a friend that asked me to join a junior league when I was 13. And I was just so excited about that sport and fell in love with that sport so much that my mom would drop me off at a local bowling alley here and I'd bowl 50 games a day 50?
Speaker 3:Take the term 50. I was very fortunate yeah, I would be there all day. I would be there all day. And I was just so fortunate that my passion to practice met some natural talent and within three years I won my first state title and then, within a few years after that, I bowled my first 300 game and then, in my early 20s, I became the first one handed amputee professional bowler on the professional bowlers tour and that was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. It was shortly I had a cup of tea.
Speaker 3:The problem with any kind of sports like that whether it be golf, bowling, any kind of single sports, probably tennis you do need backing to stay out there to pay your expenses as you're coming up and climbing the ladder, and that part was really difficult for me, just gaining those funds. But hey, I did it and I had a good time. I cashed on a national tour, my highest finish in a regional tour, second. So I like the numbers I put out, but I also like my life now. So it was time when I was, it was time to retire from that game. I did retire.
Speaker 1:And then how about in business? I mean, you know how many times when the one Handedness kind of like harm doing business, or do you feel like it didn't affect you at all or much at all?
Speaker 3:No, I think it did. I think that, I will say, did have an effect on me. There's many times I would apply for jobs and I just wouldn't Get the call back and after the interview, I mean they were pretty excited about getting me in for the interview. Then after the interview I wouldn't hear a thing. And Even the job that I did have I work for a company here in In in the States called discount tire and I worked for them for 30 years and I was very proud that I was able to work myself from working in the stores changing tires with one hand all the way up to corporate and, you know, really heading up some of the major initiatives, whether it be e-business, digital marketing and our customer experience.
Speaker 3:When I decided to move on from the company, but they had me work under the table at a store location For a couple days just to see whether I could do it with one hand, and I I don't really Take that as a negative thing, because if I can't change someone's tire safely, well then, boy, I probably shouldn't be changing people's tires. But it was still a different path than a Normal person with two hands would go through, and I do know that many times, many Applications, many tries it at different organizations Just didn't work out, probably because of the way I looked. But again, it's almost like dating. You know, if they don't want to hire someone like me, I probably don't want to work for that company.
Speaker 1:I think that is a good test. I mean, you never I know so many people to work really, really hard for companies that didn't deserve it. So I think I think that is a case where I think that may have actually given you dividends, but it may have caused you to be without work for much longer than than then maybe you should have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it was frustrating. There was times I was very frustrated, I'm not gonna lie on that. So, and you know, talk about some of the, the challenges, that that was definitely one of the challenges and, as I talked to others Like me and certainly other amputees of different, differently than me, that's one of the challenges that we all seem to share. Is that one? You know, the, the employment one, is a little bit difficult because of how we're we're looked at at times and I again, I think maybe we're all looked at this at times. But I'll just say, in my experience I think there's, and others that I've talked to, at times people do look at us and and they think it's more than just a physical handicap and.
Speaker 3:With me, that's all it is, and with many others that's all it is. So it's interesting how we're looked upon and it does get me, it does affect our ability For careers and jobs.
Speaker 1:Okay, I think, yeah, I think that that is quite limiting and I think but but does it at the same time give you like an extra kind of spirit or something about, or not at all? You just thinking yeah. I'm a hundred percent like everyone else brown hair, blonde hair, black hair, it's all good.
Speaker 3:No, I that. That drives me even more. That will give me even more initiative. It just, it, just, yeah, it's, it's, it's. Even though I'd like to think myself is extremely determined when there's times where either I can't do something you know, I'm just like any other person there's times where I can't do something or it takes me a few tries. That just makes me work even harder and just like focus even more. So I Don't, I don't just sit around on that one. If there's something, if I'm not getting an opportunity and I feel it's because of the way I am, I will work harder, I will do whatever it takes.
Speaker 1:I it does, it does like that fire and and okay, so have you thought, by the way, of venting yourself out to the insurance companies? I'll be like, oh, you don't need a prosthetic, they would love this, I think.
Speaker 3:Pay you have you?
Speaker 1:have you thought of going non-prosthetic? All the cool kids, why?
Speaker 3:they would love nothing more than that. Yeah, exactly, they would love that so much. But, again, my belief is a hundred. My parents, yeah, they Provided me one for the first, like I said, 13, 14 years of my life, so I'm a hundred percent for them. I know they're essential and they enhance people's quality of life. And that may be not in my case, but everyone is a little bit different. So, yeah, I love the Love, the spirit of your question, because I think I think you're right on that. But I would be the wrong person to ask about Be antiprosthetic, because I'm not that at all.
Speaker 1:But and so? And have you done so? You got this vice grip used for working on cars. Did you adapt anything else, like the golf clubs or the the bowling? I guess it would work. But you know, is there anything else? In any anything in your life You've adapted in some way.
Speaker 3:The golf clubs? I don't. But there is one thing I've created my own Holder, I guess, for my dumbbells, because I like to work out. So I created these Dumbbell holders, or release one, out of PVC, you know, add a PVC for Plumbing PVC and then I put a U-bolt at the end and I'm able to do curls, I'm able to do tricep kickbacks and Presses and I'm able to do quite a bit with that. So that that's one thing I have adapted for me, not I can't think of anything else, though. I mean, even when I drive, I don't use anything differently when I'm driving or anything like that, but I'm sure there's probably more. That's a great question. The, the dumbbells come to mind, but I can't think of really anything else off the top of my head. Where I've go, I gotta build this. Yeah, oh, you know, I'm sorry, I Hope I didn't cut anybody off there.
Speaker 3:So I like riding motorcycles, like more trail riding. I've done some road riding as well. So the obviously the Throttles on the right side and I don't have a right hand. So what I've done for that is I put a hose clamp on there and I tighten it up and right where you screw it in, like the screw itself. I could put my stump around that and you and push down and pull up on that. So that's something that I've done to make it easier for me to ride, like motorcycles. And great question. I'm sure there's other things. I apologize for not thinking those off top of my head, but because, like I'm saying, a lot of these things were just Just natural to me, so I don't even think about it. I do think about the, what I built for the, for my, my workouts though I actually did a video on that and how I not only me using them, but how I made it. In case anybody else needs it.
Speaker 1:I think that's a good, good, good addition as well, for both sides as well. It seems like a good idea to keep working everything out and and being really fit. So, um, and you know, okay, how can we get you know, we can get you a free kind of vision with brand. How do we come, how do we make you come over to the prosthetic side? Well, you know magical robot hand body driven. Is there nothing that would make you kind of, like you know, change your mind.
Speaker 3:Well, maybe a hand injury, that certainly would do it. And one of the things I thought was interesting I kind of kidded around earlier, but I really was Captain Hook for Halloween a couple of weeks ago, and so I put my original prosthetic on, even though the socket doesn't fit so well because I was a little younger at the time, but not too bad. I was kind of surprised. But the thing that really surprised me was how, when I put it on, and I put it on and I actually drove with it for the first time and in my life I've never driven a car with that on but the thing that really was surprising to me was it's almost like riding a bike, because my stump is probably the end of my stump to where the end of my hook is probably a good five inches right. I mean, there's quite a bit of distance there, but the distance immediately came back. It was almost. It was like I've never not worn a hook. And I'm telling you earlier this is some of the people I've met, some of my buddies. He wears a hook and I always kid him. I go, man, if I fix my hook up right now, I'd be better with my hook than you would. We're good friends, we get to rib each other and stuff like that. But I really think I could throw that hook right on right now and have no problems with it. But the only exciting thing is what you two do.
Speaker 3:I mean, there's so many new things that are out there To your point. Hey, is there something that would make me go to that side? Probably. You know they're neat. You know, not only they're neat, but they're so much more advanced than what I had. I have a funny picture of me when I was probably 11 years old, my parents got me an artificial hand, what was considered an artificial hand at the time, but it's 100% mechanical and I look like Woody Harrelson in Kingpin. It was about six inches too long than my hand. It looked funny, it looked kind of ridiculous, but I, you know, I'm sitting there smiling, going hey, look at, I got my prosthetic hand at 11 years old. They've everything's come along so much and I really admire the prosthetic industry and how people that are taking their expertise are helping people that really need it and that's why, again, I'm 100% for prosthetics and what they do to help enhance people's lives. I'm 100% for that.
Speaker 2:Take us a little bit down and I know you've got a lot of friends that are, you know, prosthetic users and such what makes and we have a lot of clinicians that listen what makes a prosthetist a good prosthetist specifically, and then maybe jump into a little bit. You know, upper extremity prosthetics is definitely a niche of a niche industry already, which is prosthetics itself. And so what do you say to people that are that are looking to get an upper extremity prosthesis? What to look for, what to avoid that sort of thing, you know, from your perspective or from some of your friend's perspective, yeah, that's a excellent question.
Speaker 3:I think number one, just like, as an example, I went through cancer. So going through that and having a doctor that I trusted was immense to me. Because we're talking, as we talk, about prosthetics, sometimes we're talking about a product, but there's so much more to what goes into it. A lot of it has to do with the mental health and the people going through very traumatic times in their lives. So having somebody that'll listen, I think it's number one, and being able to have that conversation and the real conversation and it's a two-way street.
Speaker 3:I would say that as I talk to people, I understand that sometimes, especially a new amputee, you might think well, this is the way it's supposed to fit, this is supposed to be loose or this is supposed to be tight. Well, you may want to ask that question. You know you may want. You have to be your own advocate and make sure that you're telling the truth on both sides. And I'll go back to my cancer. I mean, there's some things that I, you know.
Speaker 3:Sometimes you're like do I really want to say that? Well, I'm glad I did, because I'm on your podcast today, probably because of that, and I think those are the things that we should probably should do in life in general Just make sure we're very open and honest on some of the most important things we go through, and I think one of those is getting a prosthetic when you need it. You have to be open and honest and it is a two-way street, so make sure you get someone that you trust you can look in the eye, you have a good camaraderie, almost to a certain extent of friendship. It's not just numbers, it's about making sure you have that relationship with the person, just like anything else in life, those. I think that would be something that I have learned and I hope I answered your entire question.
Speaker 2:So it is interesting though you did not mention experience fitting upper extremity prostheses. So listening is, you know, is important and technically upper extremity is part of everybody's scope of practice. But would you say that you kind of dive in like, say, somebody, a clinician doesn't have experience or a lot of experience in upper extremity, but they're a great listener and you feel good about their capabilities. Do you kind of just dive in together and say, hey, let's figure this out together?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll give you the Mike Bollon answer on that. Yes, I probably would, someone that can listen and take my input. I think it's extremely important. That's just again, that's just my personal opinion. I certainly believe in the experience, though I can't say that I don't believe in that. But if I was going to err on one side, it's almost like, well, let's go back to bowling. You know, every once in a while you might be able to throw the ball a little bit outside and have it come back, or you might be able to tug a little bit and have it set. I mean, just like in golf, you know where you make the mistakes sometimes. Or if you do, it really benefits your game. And I think it's kind of the same when it comes to this, if you're going to make a mistake or gear yourself to one side or the other, I just think the relationship and the openness might be the way you'd want to go. That's my opinion, though I have nothing to back that up other than my gut.
Speaker 2:I think that's I mean, I think that's great and I don't disagree with you. There's so many creative clinicians out there that you know you might be their first experience interacting with upper extremity. And as long as they're willing to put in the time to do that and obviously perform in a good way for it, then I think both the patients and the clinicians benefit from that. And I mean we just had a patient on a few weeks ago and he said the exact same thing as what you did. It is about relationships, you know, and it has become a friendship for him as well, and so that combination and the trust that they have their year best interest in mind really makes for the best outcome. So I think that's interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would agree with that. I think the relationship, just like almost anything in life, it just helps. It helps having those honest conversations. If I trust this person, I can say you know what this strap is a little or this sock is a little tight, whatever it is. If you can have that conversation without feeling like you're offending someone or questioning their expertise, if you really have that great relationship. It's gonna go a long way to for success on both sides Learning experience for one and certainly a better prosthetic experience for the other.
Speaker 2:Well, and I also think that the other thing is, everybody is so much different and it's gonna be a learning experience all the way around. Everybody you know, even though that thing that you did with a patient that has a similar amputation they have goals that are different than yours, and so the actual prosthesis is gonna be different than what you built for this other person. So I think that's interesting and it can be changed. Right, this is not. It's not heart surgery. I was actually having this discussion with somebody recently like they were talking about how their heart surgeon, that they went to the heart surgeon. The heart surgeon has essentially zero personality but is considered to be the best heart surgeon in the world, and they're like I'm okay With it being him not having much of a personality and making me happy, I care about the experience at that point and but prosthetics is not that right, it is not heart surgery, and so that's where I think the relationship side of things is so important.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the soft skills are very important. That's a great point.
Speaker 1:So one thing that I did want to point out at one point that you decided later on in life to start doing like stand-up comedy. What was that? Just like a kind of like a thumb you've always wanted to do. Was that just another challenge, or why did you end up doing that?
Speaker 3:Well, thank you for asking me about that. Really, what it had to do with was the cancer. It really had to do with that and thinking of my own mortality and things that are on your bucket list and I had. There's a couple things that I wanted to do on the other side of cancer. You know, certainly hoping that I would get it on the other side on be melodramatic, but I think anyone that's gone through cancer it thoughts do cross your mind.
Speaker 3:There was two things I wanted to do. Number one I wanted to go Back on the Pro Bowler store and hit one tour stop and I still haven't done that, but I've actually started bowling, so I mean again later in life so I may do that. The other was stand-up comedy, because it was something I always wanted to try and really the inspiration for my Comedy is my life as a one-handed person, because I've just always, I think in a way of of acceptance, I've always kind of joked around about having one hand and and again with the way I feel about and how I like it. It's very natural and a lot of my comedy centers on me having one hand and actually making fun of two-handed people Because you know, just kind of fun, you know, hey on one hand.
Speaker 3:On the other hand, I'm stumped. You know it's like. Where are the these expressions? You know I can count on one hand how many times I've done that. What you know, me too, I can count everything in my life I can count on one hand. So it just it's. It's funny and and people do enjoy it and I think it's a way to Hopefully break down some barriers and open things up and have people look at people like me a little bit different and maybe the next person coming along will have it a little easier. But I enjoy it. You know I, on a selfish side, I really enjoy it. I love it and I like making people laugh and it's, it's, it's been something that it. I've certainly Gone farther than I thought I would, just on a whim, starting it to a point to where I'm getting hired and I'm doing it. It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, mike, thank you so much. I think really, we've learned for you. It's like to just have this really, really positive attitude and this radical kind of acceptance and radical path forward. I think, I think we could all learn from that and we should all try something like that as well. They're really inspirational. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate. It means a lot to me.
Speaker 1:Thank you both and thanks brunt for being around today.
Speaker 2:Oh, this was great. And having Mike's perspective, not only I'm not wearing a prosthesis, but what adaptive equipment he uses, and then all the way down to the relationships and and I think what surprised me the most out of this, when you asked the question yours about Did it make a difference with Jobs or work, in my mind I thought Mike was gonna say no, it didn't make a difference. And when he came in like right after, said yes, it's absolutely made a difference. I've I have been on interviews and not gotten calls back, and I know it's because I didn't have an arm. That was I Mean, maybe it's just my naive self, but that was a really eye-opening. Just because that wouldn't, you know, carve somebody out from working with me, but you would see as a positive dude you would be like oh wait a minute.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I mean, but it's to me it just, and I know this is my life every day. But I was Mike. I was really taken aback by that. I did not, I really had no idea and I'm sorry to say that. And you know, I've been an O and P since I was a teenager, so this is like it's been my everyday life. But to hear that story and what other patients may face that, really that really bothered me, resonated with me. I don't know what the right word is.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's again, that's just from my, my experience, that I Won't even I can name companies, but I'm not gonna need, I'm not here to do that, but a hundred percent. I mean, you know, at times it wasn't even a feeling, it was something that I was told. So it's a challenge. It's a challenge for others like me. But you know, just keep moving forward, keep keep going, and you don't want to work for that place, it doesn't want to hire you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:All right. So thanks, eye-opener, and thank you for listening. This is another episode of the prosthetics and orthotics podcast with Brent Bright and yours peels. Have a great day.