Today I’m excited to host a guest post by my friend Elizabeth Stinson. Elizabeth is an amazing young woman, currently doing her grad work in microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh.
“No, I can do it ALL. BY. MY. SELF! I do not need your help.” How many times have you thought this or heard your child say it, whether you/they have a limb difference or not? I think it is completely normal to want to be self-reliant and not ask for help. When I was growing up, though, it went beyond that for me. I felt I needed to prove something not only to myself, but to the world.
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth and I am twenty-two years old.
Me!
I was born with a left radial clubbed hand (my wrist was bent so my hand looked like an ‘L’) and I do not have a thumb on my left hand. I also have an incomplete wrist, elbow, shoulder, and clavicle. I had seven surgeries between the ages of ten and fourteen to straighten my wrist and lengthen my forearm to increase function through the use of an external fixator.
