Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
For the Love of the Game: Construction superintendent Tim Mathews, 47, had his leg amputated above the knee last January after knee surgery shattered his femur. A devout Forty Niners fan and golfer, Mathews had his $20,000 prothesis customized to accommodate his love of both.
Breakey helps thousands step out and reclaim their favorite activities
Willow Glen clinic focuses on clients' continuing care
By Moryt Milo
Tucked away in a corner of Willow Glen is one of Santa Clara County's best-kept secrets: Breakey Prosthetics Inc., 825 Malone Road.
Part of the Willow Glen community since 1988, Dr. Jim Breakey, 57, has been quietly helping people who have lost a limb due to an illness or accident to re-enter the walking world.
The office is where above-the-knee amputee Tim Mathews, 47, from San Jose, discovered hope when he turned down Malone Road on his way to visiting his father-in-law at Willow Glen Villa. It is also where below-the knee-amputee Tom Francois, 60, from Campbell, came when an illness left him with no other option. And it is the place where office manager Dolores Valladarez, a resident of Willow Glen for 12 years, came first as patient and now as an employee.
For these patients and others, Breakey Prosthetics provides long-term health care to those who have lost their legs. Its medically trained staff members fit amputees with prostheses, custom-build the legs in its on-site workshop and spend time training patients to use their new limbs.
It is the on-site lab, the prosthetic training and Breakey's 35 years in the profession that distinguishes this Willow Glen business from other businesses in the field of prosthetics.
Mathews found Breakey by a stroke of luck four months ago and says he is grateful for the serendipitous event. He was having trouble with his first prosthesis, fitted by a different company.
"I just happened to go another way that day and saw there was a prosthetic place in the area," Mathews says. "I decided to stop and go in because I was having problems with the length of time it took for repairs. It was taking over two weeks to get things fixed."
Mathews, who has been an amputee for only eight months, thought the waiting time was normal, but when he connected with amputees on the Internet they told him he should locate a company that provides greater personal interaction.
Mathews walked in off the street and spent the next two hours talking with Breakey.
"I wasn't even his patient, and he started talking to me about different components in a leg," Mathews says. "He took the time to find out what I wanted to do and what I expected out of a prosthesis. Not once did he say, 'No, you can't do that.' It was really inspiring to me."
Breakey's used also a completely different approach than the one used by his previous prosthetics company. All Mathews heard from the other business was that living an active lifestyle wasn't possible.
Prior to his amputation, Mathews had been very active, even though his problem originated in his teens while playing high school football. His youthful injuries resulted in radical knee surgeries in the 1960s and '70s before the use of orthoscopic surgery.
Because of those surgeries and the overuse of cortisone steroid shots, Mathews developed degenerative arthritis and had his first knee replacement by the time he was 35. When his third knee replacement failed, Mathews was told his only remaining option was to amputate his leg above the knee.
"Although I looked up amputee sites on the Internet, talked to lots of people on message boards and did a lot of research, I was petrified to learn I required surgery above the knee," Mathews says. "I still saw it as a peg leg."
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Legs in Waiting: A line up of prosthetic legs leans against the wall in the hallway of the Breakey Prosthetics workshop, next door to the main office.
The stigma of being disabled, the sense of pity and the discomfort from people unwilling to make eye contact were all part of what he saw as his future.
But Mathews wanted his future to still include his work for a commercial construction company, playing golf, using his boat and going fishing. Breakey told him he would still be able to do those things.
Mathews switched to Breakey Prosthetics and was fitted with a leg that has a hydraulic knee and an ankle that rotates.
"The day I got this leg and they taught me how to do step-over-step and foot-over-foot, it was amazing," Mathews says. "It puts you back in the world and takes a lot of the fears, anxiety and animosity of going into crowds away."
Staying active was also an integral part of Francois' life. Francois lost his leg seven months ago. His problem started out as a circulatory condition, which led to 12 surgeries and no solution. After exhausting every option, amputation was the only choice left, Francois says.
"The doctors said any more surgeries might result in amputation above the knee," Francois says. "I knew darn well I didn't want to be an AK--above the knee--man. I still have my knee as a hinge."
Francois met with Breakey, and they talked about Francois' goals. Francois then had only one--to walk.
"After that I got a little more ambitious and wanted to be back on the racquetball court, go fishing and drive," Francois said.
Throughout the discussions, Breakey never told Francois it couldn't be done, and although Francois is upbeat about his situation now, he did grieve, cry and become frustrated as he went through rehabilitation.
"It was hard work, faith and attitude that got me through," Francois says.
"And all these amazing people: Mike [Gidding, registered prosthetist from San Jose], Chris [Pimental, prosthetic technician from San Jose] and Dolores [Valladarez] who you didn't have to call when there was a problem. I could just come in and they made the adjustments. It made everything easier."
Francois' new leg enables him to walk, dance and even play racquetball.
"It's not like it was 30 years ago when they just stuck a peg on you and that was it," Francois said. "When I put my new leg on for the first time, I cried because I could walk again."
Valladarez, 43, who has been Breakey's office manager for 12 years, was a Breakey patient when his practice was located on Little Orchard Street in San Jose in 1978. Valladarez lost her arm in an industrial accident and has worn a passive arm--designed for cosmetic, not functional, use--for 23 years.
"I could have gotten an expensive arm, but this one works fine for me," Valladarez says. "I can do everything with one hand."
Breakey tried to persuade her to switch to a mechanical arm, but Valladarez finds the passive arm more comfortable.
"I tried to get her to use an it [a mechanical arm], but Dolores just didn't want to," Breakey says.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Doctor of Extremes: Dr. Jim Breakey stands in the lobby of his offices in Willow Glen. Breakey has been in practice since 1978 and at his current location on Malone Road since 1988.
He believes his the philosophy of good old-fashioned care is what makes the difference between whether or not amputees have a positive attitude towards themselves and their futures.
Breakey, who commutes regularly from Prunedale in northern Monterey County, has seen thousands of patients since he entered the field in 1966, he says.
"The business of prosthetics is an art and a science," he says. "You have to understand the science, the physics, the bio-mechanics, the anatomy, the physiology and the psychology. Other places just hand you the leg and tell you to go to a physical therapist for training. Often, the physical therapist doesn't know what needs to be done or doesn't have the time. In order to get a good outcome, we provide a lot of [physical] training."
During the first year of losing a leg, an amputee is subjected to various stages of physical development, from the healing after surgery and getting a temporary leg to moving into a permanent leg and its subsequent adjustments, which occur during the first year to year and a half, Breakey says.
"It's not like getting a hat," he says.
As an amputee works through the physical aspects, he or she is also working through the emotional and psychological changes. Some amputees are very positive, but others have low self-esteem and become emotionally depressed. All patients will go through a grieving time, Breakey says. But how they emerge from their grief can be greatly aided by a well-fitting prosthesis.
His Willow Glen lab facility, with its ability to build and repair legs on-site, also helps him provide ongoing patient care.
The prosthetics industry has also made big leaps in technology, which make wearing a prosthesis much easier. One of the biggest changes was in the 1970s, when the industry moved away from wood parts to modular components, Breakey says. Instead of having to replace the whole leg, technology enabled the prosthetist to replace a part. The technology made further advancements in knees and feet in the 1980s and '90s.
"We used to talk about three types of feet. Now we have 25 feet," Breakey says.
Recently the industry has seen another major breakthrough in prosthetics for above-the-knee amputees--a state-of-the-art leg called the C-Leg, the first completely computer-controlled artificial leg.
"The C-Leg is the biggest leap in the leg aspect of the industry," Breakey says.
First used in Europe and Canada, it's been available in the United States for the past three years.
The leg has a microprocessor, which controls leg movement. Its technology is so advanced that it's able to anticipate what will happen when walking down steps or a hill and even running--it adjusts automatically.
Because it is a computerized leg, a prosthetist can fine-tune the leg by hooking it up to a software program and customizing the amputee's movements.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Molding and Fashioning: Prosthetic technician Chris Pimental works a piece of heated plastic onto a mold for a prosthetic training leg. Pimental has been in the business for eight and a half years and also teaches 'prosthetic training' to recent amputees.
The C-Leg's computerized knee allows the amputee to lower his level of concentration, Breakey says.
"Now you are paying attention to the person you are walking with, you are hearing the birds and looking up at the sky," Breakey says. "Instead of being in the body, you are now in the world, and that's big."
Because of his relationship with C-Leg manufacturer Otto Bock, a German company with offices in Minneapolis, Minn., Breakey was one of the first prosthetists in the United States to be part of the C-Leg fitting process. He has fitted 40 C-Legs and now teaches the procedure to other prosthetists in the United States.
With so many more choices available to amputees, skilled prosthetists are more critical than ever in helping amputees understand their needs and evaluate their goals, Breakey says.
Breakey's goal is to turn each amputee into an expert in understanding his or her needs.
Pimental, 29, and Gidding, 40, help in the process by working with patients extensively. They fit the new prostheses and train amputees to feel comfortable using their new legs. They also use numerous training rooms with various ramps, bars and stairs to help patients progress through different stages of rehabilitation.
"First they come in a wheelchair to practice on the parallel bars," Breakey says. "Then they come in with a walker, and then a cane."
Both Francois and Mathews say the journey they faced was made easier by the support system at Breakey Prosthetics.
Now Francois and Mathews use their situation to help others. Francois goes to schools and churches where he shares his experience with other people and amputees. He wants other amputees to know there is hope.
"What happens with some amputees is they get in the chair and become part of the darn chair," Francois says. "It doesn't have to be that way. A lot of it is mental. You just have to do it."
Mathews also believes educating fellow amputees is critical. It's an integral part of the healing process, Mathews says, and "Jim has the expertise and the capacity to listen to the patient and understand what they need, and that's the greatest thing."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
