Amputation care

If you are considering an amputation or have been told you need one and have questions, we want to help. Contact our Amputation Rehabilitation Coordinator to have a phone interview or to schedule a face-to-face discussion to get your questions answered at 713-791-1414, ext. 228054.

Therapy can begin the day after surgery if you doctor agrees you are ready.  The therapists will work on walking, exercise, and education to ensure you will be ready when you leave the hospital.

Our rehab unit is CARF accredited as well as having a specialty certification for amputation care.  On this unit aggressive rehab is provided with 3 hours of therapy each day. 

The Amputation clinic is where you go to get evaluated for a prosthesis. The whole clinic team will be there and will evaluate if you are strong enough and healthy enough to use a prosthesis.  Only this clinic can order a prosthesis.  Your amputation surgery did not have to be done at the VA and the amputation does not need to be service-connected to get your prosthesis through the VA.  

Your prosthesis can be made on-site in our newly-remodeled, accredited lab or you can use one of our contract vendors in the community.  After obtaining a prosthesis you will come to see our therapists to learn how to use it.  If you would like to be seen in the Amputation Clinic or by one of our amputee specialty therapists, asking your Primary Care provider to submit a consult or call Bismy B. Joseph at 713-791-1414, ext. 228054

Throughout our program you will be provided with education from each of your providers.  We also have many different materials available for you to read.  For access to the materials, come by the Amputation Clinic or call 713-791-1414, ext. 228054 to have them mailed to you. 

Group meets virtually the last Tuesday of the month, from 2:00-3:00 p.m.. Friends and family are welcome to attend.  Each month we cover a different topic of interest. For more information, please contact Bismy B. Joseph, Amputation Rehabilitation Coordinator, at 713-791-1414, ext. 228054.

If you are interested in speaking to another Veteran with limb loss for support our program has Amputee Coalition Certified Peer Visitors and is linked to a large pool of Peer Visitors nation-wide that you could speak with.  For more information or to schedule a visit, contact Bismy B. Joseph at 713-791-1414, ext. 228054.

Therapeutic Recreation is the provision of treatment and recreation services to persons with illness or disability. It restores, remediate, or rehabilitate, reducing the effects of the disability.  Recreation therapist offer treatment modalities ranging from providing leisure resource awareness, social gatherings, transit system trainings, organized community sports clinics, and involvement in local, regional, and national sporting events, all based on one’s assessed needs and level of functioning.  These modalities are sure to assist one with successfully reintegrating into the community.

In an effort to improve the Veteran’s experience, once an amputee has completed treatment and is in the process of transitioning within the community, to learn or re-learn leisure skills once pursued, the Amputee Clinic’s Recreational Therapist, encourages all in-patient and outpatient Veterans to Get to it and Stick with it! There are therapeutic activities for Veterans of all ages, illness, and injuries offered.  For more information on how to ACCESS recreation therapy in “My VA”, contact the clinic at 713-578-5516.