When facing amputation, the journey doesn’t end with loss — it begins with rebuilding independence, identity, and purpose. In this episode of Justice with Dr. V, Dr. Greg Vigna is joined by prosthetics expert Cary Frounfelter to break down what life after amputation really looks like — from the emotional challenges patients face to the advanced prosthetic technologies helping people regain mobility and confidence. This conversation explores how modern prosthetics are transforming recovery, including innovations like myoelectric limbs, custom socket design, and individualized rehabilitation strategies tailored to each patient’s lifestyle. Through powerful real-world stories — from a young boy learning to run again to athletes overcoming lifelong physical challenges — you’ll see how the right prosthetic care can restore not just movement, but independence and dignity.
You’ll also learn:
-How to choose the right prosthetic for your lifestyle
-The most common mistakes patients make during recovery
-How insurance and medical systems impact access to care
-Why personalized prosthetic fitting is critical for long-term success
-The role of support systems in physical and emotional recovery
Whether you’re navigating amputation, supporting a loved one, or interested in advancements in medical technology, this episode provides both practical guidance and a new perspective on what recovery can look like.
CONTACT US FOR INFORMATION / RESOURCES
PHONE: 800-269-6514
EMAIL: INFO@INJURYCARESOLUTIONSGROUP.COM
Greg Vigna, JD, MD | Vigna Law Group
8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 102
Los Angeles, CA, 90045
817-809-9023 | vignalawgroup.com
TRANSCRIPT:
C: The biggest obstacle I find for amputees is some of the patients go through a deep depression when they first go through an amputation. It's not the world looking at them. It's how they look at themselves. And I think they think the world is going to look at them differently, or their life is changing. Their life has changed. But it's better than the alternative. I felt that patients were getting inferior service and care for persons capable of reaching certain goals. The prosthesis has shouldn't be the end. The specific thing that's holding them back from that.
V: Hello, I'm doctor Greg Vigna. I'm a doctor and a lawyer. I have the privilege to be with a friend and colleague I've known for many years. Cary Frounfelter.
C: Hi. Nice to meet you.
V: Cary has a unique perspective because he himself is a traumatic amputee. Cary tell me your story in terms of when you got injured, how you got injured.
C: I was at an accident. In 1987. In February, there were two vehicles chained together. One was pulled out of a ditch. I walked up to unhook the chain, and, there was probably 20 parked cars. And it was actually a prison guard that just got off work. And he was talking to one of his coworkers in his car and didn't pay attention. He was driving through an accident at 75 miles an hour, and he hit the car in front of me and pinned me between that car and my car at 75 miles an hour.
V: And you had a mangled extremity?
C: Yeah, I had a very mangled extremity I was very fortunate it wasn't both legs.
V: You still have vivid memories of that accident? Or has that faded over time?
C: It faded. What happened with mine was when, after the accident, I was put in Shands Hospital, which is University of Florida. One or hospital. I had 19 surgeries over three months. I never got to leave the hospital trying to save my leg. And then Doctor Hoffman, I brought him in my room on a Friday and I said, hey, doc. I said, I don't think I will leave here alive. So I lost my leg. I probably had about two years left, and I would have been able to graduate with my architecture degree. I was having such a tremendous problem getting a prosthesis that would allow me to do what I wanted to do. I was at the prosthetic office all the time, carrying my prosthesis back to the gentleman in a box broken, and he would tell me, well, you're just too rough on it, and you're demanding too much.
And I felt like. So I could still do what I wanted to do. But your prosthesis couldn't. I just needed a better prosthesis. So went into the field of prosthetics. We take of a lot of patients that have lost limbs due to multiple reasons. Some of the patients have lost their limbs due to blood circulation. Pbd. Some of us can be contributed to diabetes. Smoking could be hereditary, but still the circulation becomes the issue that leads to wounds. And then eventually to infections leaves space just today, because that's the majority of our amputations. We do still have trauma, whether the person's either in a vehicle or in a some type of work accident, as well as it could be military. So this is the field that I've been in for 37 years and I love it.
We also do partial feet. So anything from a great toe being amputated to a trans tibial. So when somebody says a below the knee amputation it’s truly a trans tibial. We also do knee articulations. We do above the knee or trans fromoral. So that's multiple types of sockets. They're all involved. So there are different ones that that's just your lower extremity. The upper extremity. We do the mild electric prosthetic arms as well as the body powered prosthetic arms. It matters what the patient's doing. I have a lot of farmers that prefer to have the body powered prosthetic arms, because they're putting the arms through a rigorous day. The other things we do is making sure the prosthesis is strong enough.
I have a gentleman that weighs 300 pounds and he six foot four, but he works as a maintenance man. If somebody says, well, okay, I gave him 300 pound componentry, it's his fault if he breaks it. Well, no, his needs are 500 pound componentry because of what he has to do on the job. So you have to look at the person more than just the person sitting in front of you. You got to look at their whole life, their desires, things that have to make their life work and function. So it's not a one size fits all. It reflects their personality and we want them to be happy. We want to be proud of their prosthesis. So we do anything from sports to Christian to whatever thing you want on a picture of your family.
So we take those pictures, whatever they want, or designs. I had a patient. She makes quilts and I took a picture of her quilt. And that's the design of her leg is one of her quilts. So I love doing prosthetics because I get instant gratification. Jamaica had a need of prosthetics. I had a young boy in Jamaica. He was five years old and he was born without his limb. So we had one of the boys. He was five years old. He goes, I just want to walk one time. I know we see him with his prostheses. He was running. Now he's 14 years old. He plays on the local club soccer teams. He does everything every other child does.
So. And then one of my patients down there, she's recently passed away. She was a bilateral above the knee amputee. She was the swim coach for the Olympic team for Jamaica. And she would take her prosthetics off and swim in the pool with and train with her athletes. She was very special. I have a congenital young man that I've known for years who played in the NFL. Here he's a twin. And him and his brother both played. They played defensive backs. And when he was born, his umbilical cord was wrapped around his wrist. So his hand didn’t form. So his father had to elect to have his hand amputated, but they made it all the way to college all over the NFL without hands.
Every patient's asking about, you know, how am I going to take a shower? How am I going to get in and out of the bathtub? How am I going to go to the restroom at night when I wake up in the middle of the night? Do I sleep with a prosthesis or do I take it off when you go to bed? All these questions are valid questions, and I tell my patients the only question that's dumb is the question you don't ask. Because if it comes, you should ask it. How's the patient going to go to the restroom at night when they wake up? Well, some patients will use crutches. Some patients will use a walker and some patients will use a wheelchair. The next thing is the patients are wanting to go, well, what type of activities can I do? We try to get the patient back to doing the activities that they want to do, but we want the patients to achieve every goal that they want and that they physically have the capability to.
V: I would say to people, don’t bump your stump, don't fall. You could add 2 to 3 months to a year.
C: Yeah. You could go from being at six weeks to six months.
V: In terms of determining the type of of lower extremity prosthetic, there are some factors that relate to funding. You know what prosthetics a person needs to achieve the function that they can potentially gain back. How do you sort all this.
C: AK modifiers, whether if k 1, 2, 3 or 4, it all matters. The payer source, the insurances. They want every knee K2.
V: They wanted you to be a K2.
C: Me to be a K2.
V: Right. And you're teaching. You're coaching football.
C: Coach football, baseball, I snow ski. I play basketball, I play golf.
V: So a K2 is a person that you're expected. This person is expected to have limited community ambulation potential. A K3 is fully independent in the community with a prosthetic, and K4 are the athletes who are running.
C: Yeah. And I'm closer to a K4 for what I felt was for Physiatrist, Right. The best progress that's.
V: Rehab doctors look past the current function and take a top to bottom look and and look at their goals and a letters of need. Does that always work, or?
C: They want evidence. And so my physiotrist and I use a there's a gentleman his name is Doctor Michael U. Honestly do you feel that they can achieve this if he goes, “Yes”, He provides me a detailed evaluation and we've not been turned down yet. Pretty darn impressive. That's good. And I'm talking about even I don't want to say the insurance that they use some of our rough.
V: They can be in terms of people who are injured in other places acutely. They have questions. What can people who are injured do to make sure that they get to the best prosthetist?
C: If it was me and I was anywhere, I would call amputee coalition of America. Okay, that's a support group that's based across the whole United States, and it's all charitable. And they have there are people that volunteer work with it, and then they'll be able to tell you because it's mostly ran by amputees.
V: Well, you're pretty amazing. I mean, your impact on people in this community and allowing me to tell you the story and carries a resource use available for phone calls.
C: And you can call me from anywhere. Would’nt matter for that.
V: I represent people who have had serious traumatic injuries from motor vehicle accidents, explosions, losing legs because of pressure injuries. And my goal as a lawyer is simply to maximize recovery. And all I can do is work to get the best financial outcome. But part of that is always to ensure that my client has choice, and that choice involves seeing the best doctors, having the means to you get the the legs and arms that they deserve exactly.