Just wondering? Artificial Body Parts.

Rearranged innards due to ruptured appendix but mostly still stock. I have a steel BB in my ankle my brother put there when I was 12. Orthopaedic guy said it would create more trauma to remove it so it's been there ever since.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Forgot to mention 4 staples in intestines to stop internal bleeding. Had to swallow a camera and wear a device around my waist to record everything. Luckily, didn't have to return the camera
 
Pam has some tiny screws in her R foot for broken bones, some staples from a gall bladder removal, plus a tooth implant. Kevin has some significant metal in his lower leg due to a really ugly break just above the ankle plus a knee replacement. Not too bad for our ages (70 and 72).
 
Other than a tooth implant and some fillings, you can add me to the pacemaker club. Didn't think anything was wrong, but it turns out the reason I kept passing out or coming close was the malfunctioning ticker. Got it done on Valentines day of 2020, right ahead of the Covid crap. Told my wife her Valentine's day gift was me! Other than my second set of eyes (that I still can't see well through), it's all good.

Oh yeah...supplemental ears also (hearing aids). I guess that's what 20 years of searching, tuning, and copying Morse Code (for the Air Force) does to the ears. Not to mention the forever Tinnitus.
 
So far, just a cadaver's part to replace a destroyed ACL... And a handful of related SS screws to attach it... Hearings pretty bad so I'll soon be knocking on the VA's door for hearing aids... Plenty of stitches but no staples...
Butch
 
So far, just a cadaver's part to replace a destroyed ACL... And a handful of related SS screws to attach it... Hearings pretty bad so I'll soon be knocking on the VA's door for hearing aids... Plenty of stitches but no staples...
Butch

Remember Butch, the VA does the hearing aids for free. If your hearing is really bad, get in there and get it done. Mine is not real bad, but they do make a little difference.
 
My wife and I both have had total knee replacements on our left knees. Other than that she is "original equipment".

I also sport a Bluetooth spinal cord stimulator which is implanted in my back to ease the pain of degenerative arthritis. I've had that for close to five years now. I am probably due for a battery change in two or three years. I also have a Bluetooth "embedded heart monitor" that does daily reports, sends the reports to my iPhone which then sends them to my cardiologist. In the 4+ years I've had that, only once has it caught any abnormal heart patterns. Thankfully my two Bluetooth devices are compatible with each other. Also, I have a heart stent, but it's not electronic.

Thankful for medical technology.
 
On July 31, 2017 I became a member of the Bionic man / woman's club with a total knee replacement of my right knee. It's hard to imagine that was 8 years ago, seems like it was just yesterday. My knee is 100% fine now, by the way.

My wife has been having some serious back issues for years now. The last round of injections did not last very long and now she is facing a joint fusion procedure with some kind of rod that looks like a torture device from the days of the Inquisition!

My son had a motorcycle wreck some 20 years ago which resulted in him having a plate put in his wrist to hold smashed bones together. That plate will forever be a part of him now.

My mother (at age 90) feel and ended up having a metal rod implanted on the inside of her leg bone.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law both had pace makers.
My sister has fused bolts in her back also.
My dad had false teeth as did my mother.

Now, I've had more body parts "removed" from my body than were added to it, like wisdom teeth, my appendix, things like that. I've had broken bones, and surgeries of different types. But, my artificial knee is he only part that is not "native" born in me.... well ... maybe some of those self-dissolving sutures may still be floating around.


So, with my wife's Doctor visit today, talking about the "implant" for the fusion in her back, it got me to thinking ...

How many others on these forums are walking around today with artificial body parts inside you?

So, how about you? Anyone else "dare" to share if "YOU" are not totally the original "YOU" you were born with? What part? (If you dare to share?)
Both hips replaced over 4 years ago, spaced surgeries about 3 yrs apart. Improved my life beyond belief. No hip problems at all now. you never really know how much pain you are suffering until you have the procedure. The little bit of pain from the surgery was nothing compared to before. about 4 weeks for total recovery on each. Don’t hesitate if you are having hip problems, a life changer for me.
 
Remember Butch, the VA does the hearing aids for free. If your hearing is really bad, get in there and get it done. Mine is not real bad, but they do make a little difference.
You can also get a disability out of it if it was service connected.
I got 10% for hearing loss and 10% for tinitus
Thanks guys... On it.... Already getting the tinnitus 10%... I'm surprised they didn't give me the 10% for hearing loss... It was documented on my release from the Army in 1969.... I just figured that it was just one or the other... Hearing loss or tinnitus... I'll look into the hearing loss and hearing aids...
Butch
 
Thanks guys... On it.... Already getting the tinnitus 10%... I'm surprised they didn't give me the 10% for hearing loss... It was documented on my release from the Army in 1969.... I just figured that it was just one or the other... Hearing loss or tinnitus... I'll look into the hearing loss and hearing aids...
Butch
Between tinnitus and hearing loss I'm getting 50% service-connected...
 
It breaks down to 10% for tinnitus, 30% for moderate to severe hearing loss, and 20% for "social impact" (whatever that means) which in VA-math adds up to 50%...
Hey, I’ve got “Social Impact”… What ever that is. ;) …. I have to check up on this stuff again… Thanks for the info…
Butch
 
I have had tinnitus for 20 years but never had it tested. Its always there but I've learned to live with it. Until I get really tired then its hard to hear anything else. Mine came from shooting skeet with a 12 gauge and no ear protection from the time I was 15 until I was 40.

My top and bottom overdentures are my only artificial parts. I only paid $12,500 because I already had 5 implants and didn't need any extra. I love the fact I can eat anything because they clip in firmly.

My wife had the 4 implants and clips added to her existing dentures. After she wore regular dentures for 30 years she can eat steak again. But her old fashioned dentures don't have the gums and teeth cast as one part like mine. So because she can eat harder food now she sometimes has to have a tooth reglued into it.

The worst part for me was having 12 teeth pulled in one hour for the top and again later for all the teeth for the bottom . They do that so the gums heal to the shape of the denture better than pulling one at a time. And liquifying all my food in a blender for two weeks until they healed. I found White Castles and tacos tasted the best when liquified.:)

But there is a good/bad to dentures. We found that dentures seriously reduce the flavor of some foods. Some things I loved before like crab salad I can't taste at all now. So that's a curse. But that is a good thing because we've both been on the "Long Diet". IE; a diet that lasts nonstop for 40 years accompanied with a lot of guilt :) Losing the flavor makes it much easier to resist. But some things like chocolate taste just as good unfortunately. :cry:
 
As long as you all are bragging, got a couple of rods in one thigh bone, at the hip joint, a couple of new lenses from cataract surgery, capped teeth, lots of fillings, and dentures to boot.. annnnnd eye glasses sort of round out the list. Have two bad knees that should be replaced, but having those big knuckles hacked out to get them replaced, just creeps the bejeezus out of me. :eek:

Safe travels and all the best.
 
That's pretty good... I thought you could only get 10% for each that would total to 20%... I guess I'm wrong?
Butch

The VA ratings math doesn't work quite so black and white. I originally was getting 30 percent...10 percent for tinnitus, and 20 percent for "bi-lateral epiphora" (excessive tearing, especially when yawning...I cry a lot!):giggle: I later got sleep apnea added, which is (or was anyway) 50 percent by itself, but when "added" to my previous rating, I only got 60 percent. Damn new math.

Hmm, "social impact". I might have to check into that. Never heard of it before, but it kinda makes sense.
 
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So... if a cure comes along for sleep apnea and you don't have it anymore... do they take your 50% away? Or 20% or 36.4% or however they do their math.
I understand this is somewhat of a rhetorical question as there's never a cure for anything, but just wondering.
 
Thanks guys... On it.... Already getting the tinnitus 10%... I'm surprised they didn't give me the 10% for hearing loss... It was documented on my release from the Army in 1969.... I just figured that it was just one or the other... Hearing loss or tinnitus... I'll look into the hearing loss and hearing aids...
Butch
OK, I just called and I've got an appointment with the VA Audiology on Friday morning at 7;00AM for an hearing test... They said I'll have hearing aids in 3 weeks, if needed... Pretty cool, I guess... I thought it would take longer with the VA...
Butch
 

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