Deborah Smith has been through 40 surgeries, cancer, hepatitis C and an amputation.
The Western Springs resident has mounting medical bills, no immediate job prospects and is going through a divorce. If anyone would have a right to ask “Why me?” it would be her.
But the upbeat Smith, quick to flash a beaming smile, said she doesn’t do a lot of dwelling on how tough her path through life has been.
“Everybody has challenges,” Smith said. “I don’t believe in doing comparisons, saying ‘I think I’m doing worse than him’ or ‘I am doing far better than her.'”
Smith had her right leg amputated in June after 34 years of medical efforts to save the limb following a 1981 motorcycle accident — her first and only time on a motorcycle.
She and her boyfriend were heading to a picnic, but his car wouldn’t start. He called Smith asking her if she would mind going on his motorcycle. En route to the picnic, they were broadsided by a car, her boyfriend dying instantly in the crash.
“At age 19, I am in the hospital and my dad said, ‘Keep your chin up.'” Smith remembered. “A lot of days that is what I thought about. That stuck with me.”
Smith spent four months in traction and then years trying to get back to normalcy.
Before her accident, Smith was a dancer for 15 years. She ran. She played golf. Those are all goals of Smith, who uses a crutch as she recovers from her latest surgery, removing a bone fragment that had shifted. The crutch also helps as she learns to walk with a prosthetic limb.
When she decided to have the amputation done, she turned to Jan Ertl, a renowned amputee surgeon in Indianapolis. Smith said her research showed that Ertl’s lower limb amputation procedure is far superior for the best outcome than traditional procedures.
Smith, a member of the Western Springs Plan Commission, had her orthopedic surgeon, Donald W. Lyddon, taking x-rays and photos of her leg to conferences around the world for years, trying to brainstorm with other surgeons on how to tackle some of the unique aspects of her case.
“My leg x-rays and photos have traveled to more places than I have!” Smith wrote on her blog, reclaimedwisdom.com. “I used to joke with friends that I was an international leg model.”
She said after more than three decades of restoration efforts, she opted for the amputation, and has not looked back.
“The leg was an obstacle. The prosthetic is an opportunity,” Smith said.
Smith volunteers with Imerman Angels, an organization in Chicago that provides personalized connections enabling one-on-one support among cancer fighters, survivors and caregivers.
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She said being a volunteer helps her feel in control.
“It helps me to help others,” Smith said.
Smith said she did not meet her first amputee until this winter. Now, she knows dozens of individuals who have lost a limb and lead productive lives. She said 500 people daily have an amputation.
“I thought I was the only person going through these things,” she said. “People are facing the same decision every day on cutting off a limb. They are facing the same choices.”
The Western Springs resident said she would like to land a position where she can help others going through prosthesis decisions and issues.
“I would like to help other people facing challenges,” Smith said.
She said has been humbled by the amount of support she has received from family and friends.
A gofundme page, www.gofundme.com/friendsofdeborah had been created to help Smith with her medical bills and other expenses. As of Friday, $950 had been contributed in 11 days. The stated goal on the page is $10,000.
“I am at a tipping point in my life,” Smith said of the financial struggles she faces. “My life could go in different ways.”
Smith said proposed Medicare changes in amputation coverage could have a devastating effect on the amputee community. She said prostheses are just one-half of 1 percent of the Medicare budget, but cuts to coverage for prostheses could curb progress.
Kevin Beese is a freelance writer for Pioneer Press.