CASE HISTORY: Patsy Delp

Before she became a trans-femoral amputee, Patsy Delp was one of the most active people in her community of Citrus Springs, Florida. She not only played golf several days a week but also worked for the golf course. Life was good.

In 2012, when a dime-sized spot on her right shin was diagnosed as cancerous, she followed the doctorprescribed protocol of antibiotics and wound care, but the lesion got worse. So much so that in June, her leg was amputated above the knee. Five months later, she was fitted with her first prosthetic leg.

“I wasn’t going to sit in a corner and feel sorry for myself,” says Patsy, now 62. “There was so much pain associated with the leg when I was going through the cancer. Once it was amputated, that pain was gone. I’ve never had phantom pain, blisters or any problems.”

Patsy’s sister, Jo Ann Heller, stayed with her to help after the amputation, promising Patsy she would be playing golf again.

“We were playing while I was still in a walker before I got the prosthetic,” smiles Patsy.

Her first prosthesis was, as she puts it, “a pretty basic model,” but it served its purpose. The following year, she stepped up to a more high-tech version complete with a microprocessor knee. (“There are actually USB ports in my leg!” she laughs.) The new-and-improved leg bends at the knee, which is able to sense whether Patsy is moving backward or forward and where she is in her gait cycle, enabling her to walk much more naturally.

Patsy found that adjusting to life with a prosthetic limb was as much about attitude as the physical challenge.

“It’s really a choice. Do you want to go forth in life or just say, ‘Forget it’? I was active before, and I wanted to remain that way,” she says.

“I can see why someone would be depressed if they didn’t have a support system. Between my family, Citrus Springs Golf and Country Club and Chicks with Sticks, a group of women golfers who really came together and helped support me, that’s the reason I made it through. I had good doctors, and my body adapted well; I think I’m very fortunate.”

Today, Patsy can be found working as a ranger at Citrus Springs Golf and Country Club two days a week. The other five days, you’ll find her on the course, playing golf.

“I just wanted to live, and that’s what I keep trying to do,” she says.

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