More Than Mobility: Why Access to a Shower Prosthesis Matters

After more than 14 surgeries and a life-changing amputation, Keith Kimbrel went from fearing he’d lose his job—and his independence—to helping change Georgia law so individuals living with limb loss and limb difference can access secondary devices. In this episode, he shares how faith, family, and a “bucket in the hotel shower” story transformed his journey with limb loss into a powerful testimony of dignity, mobility, and hope.

Follow Alliance Prosthetics and Orthotics below!

Website: https://www.alliancepo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliance_po/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/alliancepo

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alliancepo

Questions? Email us! Info@alliancepo.com

Host: Rachael Auyer, Co-Owner, Alliance Prosthetics + Orthotics

Guest: Keith Kimbrel, patient and recipient of the first secondary shower prosthesis dispensed through Georgia Senate Bill 101 at Alliance Prosthetics + Orthotics

Producer: Laine Johnson, Marketing Coordinator, Alliance Prosthetics + Orthotics

Transcript

Keith Podcast

SPEAKERS

Keith Kimbrel, Rachael Auyer

Rachael Auyer  00:01

Welcome back to the Alliance Goal Digger podcast, where we share patient stories and talk through the best practices in prosthetic and orthotic care. I'm your host, Raelyer, co-owner of Alliance Prosthetics and Orthotics. I'm so glad you're here today. Today's conversation is one that really matters to me personally. We're talking to someone who shared their story across our state to ensure other patients could have secondary devices, mr. Keith Kimbrel is an incredible patient at Alliance, and I'm so glad that you get to hear his story today. Keith, thanks for being here today. 

Keith Kimbrel  00:36

Well, thank you for having me on. This is a good experience for me to be able to share, but also I think internally there's been a lot of things that I've had to kind of go back and look at. I think in one of your past discussions you talked about counting the blessings, counting the things that in your life that are positive, 

Rachael Auyer  00:58

yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  00:59

and taking stock during this process of kind of preparing for, you know, talking to you today, there's a lot of positive things that have come out of of my journey. 

Rachael Auyer  01:11

No, thank you for being willing to share your story. And Keith, why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners, who you are, your family, and then feel free to lead into how you know Jason and I and your life with a prosthesis. 

Keith Kimbrel  01:25

Okay, so born in Marietta, Georgia, 1965 I turned 61 in August, so not a spring chicken. I've been around, but Dad was in the military, so we moved around a good bit. Lived in Ohio. It was in Ohio when I was seven years old that during a revival at church I accepted the Lord as my personal savior. So I'm a Christian, and from that time I've tried to live that life. So then we moved to Texas, where he was stationed there for a little while, then he retired, and we moved back to Georgia. So, full circle, we were able to come back. That's where I came, seventh grade, summer of 1977 It's a big highlight, because that's when Star Wars came out. 

Rachael Auyer  02:16

True. 

Keith Kimbrel  02:17

And so, anyway, I was started junior high back learning how to speak southern again, 

Rachael Auyer  02:24

true, 

Keith Kimbrel  02:25

which you can tell that I've picked up greatly. 

Rachael Auyer  02:28

Yes, 

Keith Kimbrel  02:28

so high school was in the marching band, met Amanda, my wife. We've now been this year we will have been married for 40 years. 

Rachael Auyer  02:39

Congratulations, 

Keith Kimbrel  02:40

I just realized that I had to call her on my way to the studio, and I said, "Honey, I just realized we've been married for 40 years. Where is the time gone?" Three beautiful children who have given us eight wonderful grandchildren with a new grandson on the way in June, so anyway, so we are blessed beyond measure, so anyway, so we have tried to be simple, we, you know, we've tried to elevate our faith, our family, I learned a lot of good things from my parents, my dad's work ethic was tremendous, you know. He would not take off work for anything, so I kind of picked that up for him. So, so I try to, I try to be as faithful at work as I am with everything else. So I work for a company called Allegiant. Allegiant is is a global security company. We produce door hardware products, some that you may even have on your home, but I really work on the commercial side. We have 1314, brands. I've got 13 direct accounts in the state of Georgia that I call on, so I get to travel a little bit. 

Rachael Auyer  04:00

Yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  04:00

So I've got kind of, kind of to triangulate where my territory is. It's from Dalton to Augusta to Columbus. 

Rachael Auyer  04:11

Oh, so you get to really travel, yeah? 

Keith Kimbrel  04:13

So I get to see a lot of the state. There's a lot of, a lot of great places, and there's a lot of nice places, because there's no cell phone coverage in the country, and I don't have to worry about my phone ringing, which I'm hoping doesn't ring while we're talking, but anyway, so that's kind of the big part of my life, which, which does allow me to travel, so kind of my health history is, I am, I am a little overweight. I'm not a gym rat. I, you know, I get up and down to do the things I need to. I at work, I sit at a desk quite often, or behind the wheel of a, of a car as I'm traveling. And so, anyway, there's there.Is not a lot of mobility in there, but found out in 2004 I believe it was that I found out I was a type two diabetic because of the symptoms I was having, and then from that, you know, going medications, insulin, all the other things that come along with that come the neuropathy that obviously a lot of diabetics have, a lot of people in general have. I've heard that, you know, that that can be caused by smoking and other things in your life, but not having the sensations in my feet and my lower legs caused me then to be very careful. I went to a podiatrist regularly, Dr. Cisco was, he's a friend because he was there for me through a lot of things, and so in 2021 the reason why I remember that is because my son and I got to go to the Orange Bowl to see Georgia beat Michigan, and go on to be the national champion that next that year, that season, and so anyway, I had developed a blister on my heel, on the back of my heel, on my left foot, and so what happened was it got infected, and it didn't matter, I'd been to the doctor, I went through my wife counted 14 surgeries to try to save my leg, to try to save my foot. I had doctors along the way who were saying, why don't you just get that thing taken off and everything will be great, and I'm like, no, that's the last thing I want to do. So, what ended up happening was in 2023  after all the surgeries, I was going to three times a week to be in the hyperbaric chamber. 

Rachael Auyer  06:51

Yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  06:52

that I didn't like. It's, it's not, it's not fun. I mean, it's, it probably eventually might help, but it was the kind of the I think that probably is what helped me turn the corner. I just Googled what's the mortality rate for a diabetic patient who has an amputation, and I didn't, I didn't have anybody to talk to. So I've got two daughters that are in the hospital system, one of them who's actually a nurse with Dr. Rideout, who she ended up introducing me to, and so I finally just said I need to talk to somebody. So I met with Dr. Rideout. He left it all up to me, and he said, What do you want to do? I said, I'm ready. I think I think I need to have my foot removed now. I didn't know what that entailed, 

Rachael Auyer  07:41

Right,

Keith Kimbrel  07:42

So, anyway, so that was February of 2023 and then so I went in, had the surgery. In recovery is where I met Jason. 

Rachael Auyer  07:53

Yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  07:53

so Jason came in, he's telling me all this stuff, and I'll be real honest with you, I didn't listen or retain a bit of 

Rachael Auyer  08:02

Most don't, don't worry. 

Keith Kimbrel  08:03

so  he gave me some paperwork, he put this blue thing on my leg, what was left of it, and that's how we started the journey with Alliance, so I didn't come into it knowing a lot of stuff, 

Rachael Auyer  08:18

Right.

Keith Kimbrel  08:19

 But but that got me to the place where I, you know, I had resolved in myself there's a maturing that has to go on there, where you sober up and you say, oh my gosh, 

Rachael Auyer  08:33

yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  08:34

this is going to change everything. I mean, you think that, you know, hard things like making a major purchase, you know, or something like that, that's nothing. This is, you know, is going to be with you every day of your life. Now, I don't want that to sound negative, because it's not. It is life, and you know, I was just glad that the doctors, the surgeons, my podiatrist, my coaches, everybody got me to that point, and that I could continue to live my life right. So, anyway, so that's that's kind of who I am, and how I got here. 

Rachael Auyer  09:14

No, I, I love what you're sharing, is really you're an everyday person. This is nothing that you had some traumatic accident, you had some risky behavior. I don't think you practice risky behavior. I've known you fairly well,

Keith Kimbrel  09:28

Probably not.

Rachael Auyer  09:30

but in the end, this came knocking at your door, and when it did, you received it, and you started to work a plan. Why don't you help our listeners understand what were the most important activities you knew you wanted to get back to. How did you decide those things? 

Keith Kimbrel  09:46

So, my first.. I'm trying to remember my first two or three goals. I had a lot of goals, because you know, before I had my prosthesis, I didn't know.. I didn't know what I didn't know, so. I was at a place where I'm like, I just hope that somehow I can get around, that I can keep my job because I need it, and that I can, you know, I don't want to scare the grandkids. That sounds silly. 

Rachael Auyer  10:14

No, it doesn't. It's so important.

Keith Kimbrel  10:15

But that was one of the early conversations I had with, with somebody, and it might have been while, while I was in rehab, that I'm like, I'm so afraid when the grandkids see me, it's going to scare them, that I'm missing my foot, you know. And that was nothing. I mean, they didn't, they took it really well. I won't say it's nothing, but they were young enough, they took it well. That wasn't a big deal, but goal setting was things like, while I was out, I watched a lot of YouTube videos. I know a lot of people do this as well. So I started watching this guy who goes around to different people and he cuts their grass because their grass is too tall, and he does it for free, and they're like, "Wow, this is the greatest thing in the world. I'm watching that, and I'm saying, "Man, if I could just cut my grass, you know? That was just it. Was so funny because everybody around me was like you're crazy, I hate cutting grass. I said, but you get to do it. 

Rachael Auyer  11:03

Yep, 

Keith Kimbrel  11:04

and I want to get to that place. Now, I'll be honest with you, Rachael, I have not cut grass because I have a guy that cuts my grass, so I'm like, but I do get the trimmer out every now and then, 

Rachael Auyer  11:19

I love the honesty.

Keith Kimbrel  11:20

but but part of it was things like being able to walk to the mailbox, being able to take out the trash, being able.. I've got a corgi, his name is Dudley, and he looks like the Queen's dog, but he's a country dog, and basically Dudley's crazy, and I knew I need to be able to walk him because he needs walking, and so that was some of my early goals, and also at the at the church where I attend, I'm kind of the assistant backup for a teacher in our Sunday school class, and so Whose name also is Dudley, and Dudley hadn't been able to ask me for a while because I was having problems. I was on a knee scooter for a year and a half before I even had my amputation, so there were a lot of mobility issues that I needed to overcome. So those were all my goals, where I just got to be able to get up and be able to move and be able to get from here to there. I don't want somebody hanging on to me, and I don't want to use a walker. I need to be able to get up and move around. So my early goals, that's what they were, and we were able to attain them. 

Rachael Auyer  12:28

I love that. I love that you had these goals, but the part I want to frame for our audience, because a lot of our listeners are considering amputation or have a loved one who has had an amputation, but then I have a handful of people who just listen because they need encouragement, and I think you are talking about something that everyone needs, which is dignity. You moved from thinking I don't have the capability to doing it to I'm going to figure it out. Talk about how you did that? What were the things that in your mind you started thinking, I want to be able to do this. What is that motivator? And it could be because you're a guy, I'm not a guy, so I can't. I'm surrounded by men at home, but they don't want me to do it for them, they want to do it themselves. I think that's for our caregivers to hear from you too, of how important it is to regain your dignity. 

Keith Kimbrel  13:23

Yeah, and you hit the nail on the head. Is a, as a guy, there are a lot of things that I want to do for myself. A matter of fact, I'd like to do everything for myself. I'm not very good at delegation, and I don't think of it as delegation, I think of it as a weakness, so to me the motivation was like I said, I've got a, I got a family, I was, you know, active in church, I had a lot of things going on personally that I felt like there were people counting on me to do well, now right or wrong, because at the end of the day I had people saying, you know, I can't believe you still work. Well, I can't believe you're still doing this, and I'm like, well, why not, 

Rachael Auyer  14:09

right.

Keith Kimbrel  14:10

You know, so the motivating factor for me was something inside, whether it was God impressing this on me, my raising the ideals that I have, just as a person, I'll say, as an American, that I felt like I need to contribute to society, and you know, and I really hadn't heard a lot of negative stories from people who had gone through the same thing, so to me I was like, I'm just doing what everybody else is doing. I'm getting up every day, you know. I still can remember the early days when Jason and I would talk, and he would say, "Keith, you got to take the leg off, you're on it too much, and I'm like, "But there's things I have to do, so you know. Well, maybe it's hard to say, but, but I will, I will say this, and one of the things that takes me back to my faith is the fact that one day, when I was laying it, it was a Sunday, and I was laying in the hospital bed, this was before my amputation, when I would wake up in the morning, and I would reach down and feel in my leg to see if it was still there, because I was having a lot of people saying a lot of negative things about where I was and what was going to have to happen in all this and so I remember hearing a couple of songs and I don't remember exactly everything about it but one of the songs was called was talking about how God keeps hope alive in us, so I needed to hear that. I believe that was Mandisa that did that song, and I've just heard it out of the blue. I went on the phone and I said I want to hear some happy inspirational songs, and that was the first one that played. Another one that I listened to was a guy by the name, I think his name is John Reddick, and he had a song that basically was talking about turning, turning this around, and so the more I kept leaning on my faith before I even could lean on everybody else, this was while I was by myself, that those, and I've shared those songs with people, and they don't get it. 

Rachael Auyer  16:23

Yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  16:23

but I got it, because that's what I needed to hear. And so, you know, I don't know. I don't know if somebody hearing this, if they say, "Well, that's what I needed to hear. I hope so, because my, my prayer is, and my hope is that when you find yourself in this, it's just like anything else in life, you know. You get out of school, everything's cool, you have a good summer, and then you got to go to work. Yeah, and I've been working ever since, so it doesn't, you know, so you have to just, you got to take that next step. And you know, I remember hearing one time a gentleman who was who was talking, and he said, you know, would be a shame, you know, think about, think back to your favorite year, when you were a child, it would have been, it would have been a shame if you would have stopped right there, not grown anymore, not done anything different, but stayed right there, and so I think that the journey that I've gone through, the walk that I've had to go through has been able to let me grow. 

Rachael Auyer  17:24

Yes, 

Keith Kimbrel  17:24

in what I'm doing, and what what I can't do is give up.

Rachael Auyer  17:31

Such a powerful message. I love that we transition perfectly to the big goal, which was showering, and so I, I want people to understand, because you already told us you travel for business, and really Jason came home, and we call it the evening news. We are always HIPAA compliant at the evening news, so mr. Kimbrel, know, 

Keith Kimbrel  17:51

That's okay.

Rachael Auyer  17:52

We protected the innocent, but we would talk about it with our kids, and to know that there is a patient we have who wants to work and is traveling and why don't you tell your side of the story and then I'll pick up whenever you're done.

Keith Kimbrel  18:06

So okay, so what happened was I was in, you know, the thing about Jason is and the folks at Alliance is I would I would show up and maybe it's just a checkup, maybe it's just, hey, how's everything going, and he'd say I got this new thing, let me put this new thing on there, you know, like I complained about my knee would get sore driving. He says, okay, we got this new attachment we can put on there, and all these other things, and you know, so that was always cool. So, so I'm talking to Jason, and who, you know, throughout has been great. So I told Jason the story, and I said I was in Columbus. It was sometime in 2024 That's the best I can give you, but I had mentioned to him that I had a problem, and I thought it was a funny story. I didn't think another thing about it, except I'm just.. we're just having a conversation. I said, "Well, you know, I bought this foldable shower chair thing I was having to use, because you know, part of the issue is you go to a hotel, you got a shower, you got to get in and out. How do I do it without my leg? You know, I can't get my transport chair in there, there's all kind of other things going on. So I use this little stool looking thing, it wasn't all plastic, but it did have some plastic on it. So I'm on there showering as I get in and get situated. I'm sitting down on the stool, and I notice physically that I'm sinking, getting lower and lower. And then I notice, oh, and then I ended up sitting on the shower floor because this thing completely collapsed, so I had to kind of first of all I'm like, okay, so I get the water off and I'm like, how am I going to get out of here because I don't have my leg, my leg is over here, I could put it on, but even if I put it on, how am I going to get. Out of this, so I ended up having to crawl over and pulling myself up on the sink, getting my leg back on, you know, then drying off, and I'm like, well, what am I going to do tomorrow night, because I'm here for a couple of nights. And anyway, so what I did was my son-in-law, Colt, gave me an idea, inadvertently he didn't even mean to, he's got a very high step in his back door, and so for me to get up into his house, he didn't have a railing or anything, but what he had was he had a bucket, so he had this plastic five gallon bucket with a padded seat on it that he could carry out when he was hunting, and so that gave me an idea. I said, I know what I can do. I'm going to go, and I'm going to get a bucket, so I can sit on it, because my chair is gone somewhere. I have a picture, I think. I even gave a picture to Jason of that thing, flat as a flitter. And so I got the bucket, I used it. I went to another account in a different town, and I was able to use it, and I was like, this is crazy. The craziest thing is I gotta tote it in when I'm checking into the hotel, and everything else, and, and so, so I tell this story to Jason, and so Jason comes back to me, because I had to follow another follow-up. He goes, "Is it, is it okay? Is it okay if I share that story? And I'm like, "I don't care, because to me it was, it was like this is silly, because I had to go through it. So, yes, when you're speaking of dignity, part of the dignity part of it is overcoming the fact that you have a prosthetic, because I get attention, yes, not always the kind of attention I want. Now, I have, I have shorts on today, because I'm not working, but usually with work I don't have shorts on, but sometimes, sometimes I may, depending on, you know, what the, what the, what the activity is. Plus, if I'm in the car and I need to take my leg off, it's a lot easier. If I'm going a long distance, I can do that, and all that stuff, but I got a lot of, you know, what's that? How do you, how can you do that? You know, you know that they're trying to understand, but yet a lot of it is well, what'd you do to cause this, you know, that kind of thing. So, there is a lot of negative, I'd say negative press about having a prosthetic, but I didn't look at it that way, because again, like I said, going back to one of my doctors, who told me, he said, Keith, this is the way you're, you want to walk, you're going to walk quicker this way, so I always had that in the back of my mind as part of my coaching to know I just got to keep driving forward and I've got to get there, so anyway, so then I spoke to you, and then you started telling me about this thing you're working on with the state legislature, and I'd already heard the story, and I think it was from the Goal Digger banquet when I listened to the gentleman there who spoke, who started talking about when he was a child, and how he was athletic, and all the things, and so I got to thinking, and as I was talking with Jason, and even talking with you about what a kid do if they want to get in the pool again, what do they do if, because I knew already what I've got, this is what I've got, my one leg, yeah, and it's, it is what it is, so you know, you just gotta, you gotta use it, so that's how come I wore it a lot, and I did everything with it, but the one limitation, and it became a goal, was I'd love to be able to stand up in the shower, I'm tired of sitting down, and I don't want the instability of worrying about something holding me up, so that I can get clean, that's it, you know. And I know there's a lot of planning and preparation that you can take care of things, but I didn't want that. I want to just be able to get up in the morning, put my leg on, and go get in the shower, just like normal people do, and you take that for granted. That's one of those blessings that you should be thankful for, is that when you get up in the morning, you don't have to do anything else, except maybe, you know, head to the bathroom and get in the shower, or go fix a cup of coffee. You don't have to plan out logistically every step between those points, which with the prosthetic, especially with missing a leg, I do have to think of that all the time, so that's changed a lot, but, but I think the the bucket story, and I've heard people ask me about that, and I've, I've talked about it to where it's like I hope that that helped.

Rachael Auyer  24:41

It did, you told it on camera. It went across our state. It's used across our nation. 

Keith Kimbrel  24:46

Yes, 

Rachael Auyer  24:47

that people understand. Because, truthfully, like you said at the top of our interview, you didn't know anybody who had a prosthesis. This was brand new for you, and that's across our nation. It's a small population. A mighty, fierce population of people who have decided to overcome and to get back to mobility by using the prosthetic devices in a variety of ways, but most people don't know that you can't use a primary device as a shower device, or your warranty no longer works, and all the reasons I was afraid to get it wet, you can't. 

Keith Kimbrel  25:21

Yeah, 

Rachael Auyer  25:21

if you were to get it wet, or if there was thunder and lightning, and all the different things that were happening. 

Keith Kimbrel  25:26

Oh, yeah, 

Rachael Auyer  25:26

there's all these very clear bylaws, and this is an expensive device. 

Keith Kimbrel  25:31

Yes, 

Rachael Auyer  25:32

and we didn't want to replace it out of pocket, so you took care of it. You didn't get it wet, you didn't get soap on it, 

Keith Kimbrel  25:37

Right.

Rachael Auyer  25:37

But wanting a shower prosthesis, which is a secondary prosthesis, which is what the legislation was for, which did pass, but for our listeners, our representative, David Clark, he told your story in health committee, and he brought a Home Depot bucket, and he told all the legislators about a man who works here in Georgia and just wants to be able to stand in a shower at a hotel, because the other part that you're so kind not to tell on all the hotels, but a lot of them will say that they have these items, or that they have ADA compliance, 

Keith Kimbrel  26:11

they don't understand. Yeah, they don't, 

Rachael Auyer  26:13

they don't know what that means, and so you always came prepared with your own, because you couldn't count on them. 

Keith Kimbrel  26:19

Yes,

Rachael Auyer  26:20

and you figured out a way, you've continued to adapt, but thought, oh, wow, maybe if I share my story, this will move things forward. Well, Mr. Kimbrel, you are the reason things move forward, because when all of those legislators heard about you and children, they thought we've got to do something, so it passed, and we got to do something very special in our office, which is to deliver the very first prosthesis, shower prosthesis, which is yours, and that's why we wanted to bring you in. And full disclosure, audience, it's still brand new, we're still figuring it out, he's setting goals, but I thought maybe you'd talk about what is it like to stand in the shower and how does that feel? 

Keith Kimbrel  27:01

So, yes, yes, that has been something I've been getting used to. I have used it. It's, it's great. It's hard to explain until you have to sit down for so long taking a shower. I mean, it's one thing to get in a tub, which I don't do that either, but you know, you're when you're in the shower, you're supposed to be standing up, and so to be able to do that has been great. I'm glad that when I got the call, and you know, I forget who it was that called from your office and said, 'Hey, you know, you're a candidate for this, we want to do this, and I'm like, 'That's great. So I have, I have been able to use it a number of times. I don't have a perfect shower at home, because we don't have rails, and you know, things that we really need, but, but we're, we're remedying that now, but I am able to walk around with it, because it is a little different, and so, so that, that's that's been great, I mean, that's, that's worked good, and, and, and listen, I know there are people who have desperately been needing something like this. To me, it's an added convenience. 

Rachael Auyer  28:09

Yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  28:10

and you know, I was, I was coping, I was making it work, but to have that and to know that I can do that without burdening my family financially for just something that I felt like I wanted, and then, so, as I'm using it, and the more and more that I rely on it, the more and more I need it, and find that I need it. So, so, anyway, it.. hey, it's just as my grandkids call it, it's another robot leg, I forget which one named it, but right off the bat, Poppy's got a robot leg, and so now I have a robot leg in the shower, and it works great. 

Rachael Auyer  28:47

That's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that. And I didn't know if you could talk about what it's like for you when you're considering doing anything. So, as somebody living with limb loss, this is an added mental load that I think the average listener might not know about, 

Keith Kimbrel  29:01

So, yes, and early on, and that's why going to physical therapy early on, before I had my prosthetic, was so helpful, because they started me getting into that mindset, I had a, I've had a couple of falls because I forgot, and you're like, how can you forget that you don't have that, but you, when you get up in the morning, from the time you get up in the morning till you go to bed, you have to think about, I gotta put that on, I can't just jump up, you know, and take off running, that ain't happening, so you get up, you put it on, you make sure it's on right. You listen for the clicks, all the things you're supposed to do when you put it on, and then you have to. It's even caused me small things, like if I'm helping in the kitchen. You don't realize how many times you go from the stove to the drawer to the refrigerator, and how many steps that is. Just to make spaghetti, and you start thinking about all those things, and it's like, oh, well, How can I, you know, how can I help do this a little more efficiently, right? Number one, but the, you know, the other thing is, the great, the great thing is, is that I'm able to do it. As far as planning, one of the things with travel, because I'm a checklist guy, I have a mental checklist. I had to, because I would leave things at the hotel, I'd be at the airport, and I'd say, "Oh no, I left my glasses, I left my cell phone, you know, or something. And so I always had this mental kind of checklist. Okay, you got your glasses, got your wallet, got your keys, got your phone, got your laptop. I'm dressed, you know. I can now go outside. So I started doing that, and I know it drives Amanda crazy, and she has been very gracious with me, because I will now tell her what my checklist is all right. I'm doing this, then I gotta do this, then I gotta do this. So it worked out really good for me, because the first thing is, where's my leg? I gotta put it on, that's first. And then after that, it's okay. Now, what am I doing? So there's a logistic thing that you have to think about. So back to the hotel, so in travel I use a travel portal that the company has, and I book certain hotels, and you can check things. I want it with a swimming pool, I want it with a kitchen, or I want it with this or that. There's not a lot of choices for accessibility. 

Rachael Auyer  31:39

Right.

Keith Kimbrel  31:39

So you know, when you think of having to have accessibility, and you're talking to someone on the phone at the hotel, and you say, I need a shower, no problem, Mr. Kimbrel, every room has a shower, and I said, wait a minute, that's not true, yes, it is, there's a shower in every, I said, okay. How many of them have tubs? Well, most of them have tubs. I said, okay, I need the ones without the tub, but it still has a shower, because they don't understand, they don't, they don't understand, they're not thinking about it. Well, why don't you just step into the tub and you got a shower? Well, that's where the problem comes in. So I've found in my travels a number of hotels that I go to, and listen, my company that I work for has been great, because they say, look, whatever you need, you know, if you, if we're all staying here, but you need to stay somewhere else, because they can accommodate you, that's where you need to stay. So that's been great, and there are hotels that, when you do finally talk to somebody, and you, it helps when I bring my luggage in, and it's on a wheelchair. They then understand, oh, that's what you mean by a shower. So, so, anyway, that's, that's kind of, that's a silly point, but part of what you have to prepare yourself for, not just for, you know, your daily getting up, getting ready, getting in the car, going to work, going to school, going to whatever you're doing, you know, you've got all those logistical things, but then if you put something on top of it, like, well, I've got to be, I got to be in Augusta, and so where am I going to stay? Do they have stairs? How do I. you know, I have customers. I have one customer in particular downtown that they have a flight of stairs right up to their main, main office door, and it's, it's difficult. It's difficult, but what I have to do is, and the good thing is, I found out they have like a back door that's ground level, and so I can go in that way or go out that way to go around the building, if I need to, so those are the type of things you have to think about, because anything that requires standing, walking, stepping, you gotta, you gotta know how you're gonna do it, and you've got to make sure that you've planned that I'm this is what I have to do every now and then, I have to do job site visits. Well, if you've ever been on a construction site, it's muddy, and it is. So, we were at there was a church. I had to go look at some back doors to the worship center, and the contractor meets me, and he goes, 'Oh, it's this way, and I had my jeans on. He had no clue that I was missing anything. He scales up a two by four to get up on this loading dock to get it. He turns around and looks at me and says, "Oh, it's right here. And so I'm standing there, and he looks at me, and he goes, "You can't do that. And I said, "Well, it's not that I can't do that, it's, you know, here, give me your hand. So we, I got, we got through it, so there's always something unexpected, but the one thing that I've always tried to do in life, there are two things: number one, God is sovereign, but man is responsible, and the second thing is those who have experienced grace in their life should be most gracious, and so in doing that, I think, as I, as I think on those things, as I'm talking about obstacles and things like that, I can take it and make it positive for other people that I have to interact with, because of the fact that I've gone through it. 

Rachael Auyer  35:23

Yes, 

Keith Kimbrel  35:23

and that I know that this isn't some punishment that I'm having to go through. This is everyday life, so that's where that grace comes in. At is, I don't look at it as being, let me give you the list of all the negative stuff I've got in my life. Let me tell you, how much more planning I've got to do. That I've had to buy equipment that we had to put a ramp in the front of the house, you know, all these other things that we had to do, that that's that's just part of being alive and living a life. So, you know, I've, I have a very close friend who just had her second leg taken off, and it really hurt. It really hurt me as I was speaking with her, and I'm like, you know, and I wasn't able to talk to her before her surgery, but, but you know, before that she was like, you know, Keith, I just want to, I want to be able to get up and do things, I want to. So she had the desire, and I think that with technology, both mechanically and health wise, we've gotten to a place where we can do that with an artificial limb, so I'm not worried anymore about, you know, I go to the job site, and now the only thing I'm worried about is, you know, how much mud am I going to track back into the car, that kind of thing. So, anyway, it, I think, in a roundabout way, I've probably touched on what you're looking at. And the other thing is, I don't like the term "it takes a village" because this didn't take a village. What this took was people who cared about me, and whether they liked me, loved me, had pity for me, whatever it might be, and they reached out to help me. And it started with my family, and obviously those who were closest to us. Every doctor that I've had to work with has been tremendous, because they know they know that they can tell me what to do, but I have to do it right, but what they have to do is they've got to facilitate that, so that I can do it, and I think that's probably what is the greatest thing about the goal setting, is that it kind of gives me something to drive for, but what if what if I didn't have any goals, what if I just said, "Oh, well, this is how I'm gonna be, and everything's fine, and, and Jason quit bringing in new gadgets for me to try, you know, which, which some have worked, and some I haven't used, but

Rachael Auyer  37:53

We won't let Jason know.

Keith Kimbrel  37:54

No, no, no, so, but, but I think that, that, that's that's what it takes to be successful, is to be a successful person that's living their life like they want to live it. Is it takes for me getting down to the granular checklist and making sure I'm checking the boxes to make sure I'm safe, to make sure that I'm taking care of what I need to take care of, as well as the people around me that are helping to support me to be able to do those things, and I think that's really that's that's it. I mean, that's what it takes. So I would have never thought to ask my congressman to help me get a leg, but, but you did, so you know, I can't do it all, but what I can do is I can keep myself going, and I can, you know, count the blessings, be thankful, and just enjoy living my life.

Rachael Auyer  38:56

That's so powerful. I, I know we, we say it quite often in our office, but to have an attitude of grace and gratitude does set you apart in rehabilitation in general, because it gives you a forward motion that you get to try, you get this opportunity, and then the other part is for those that are caregiving or sitting on the sidelines every time you see a curb, a step to think, we just casually get up those, but those living with limb loss and limb difference, they have to think, okay, how am I going to navigate this curb or this step. The reality is, those not living with limb loss and limb difference, there's curbs and steps for us too, and we can learn a lot from those that are navigating those more often, of how to do exactly what you're saying, executive functioning 101 breaking down a task to the smallest granular step to then begin seeing the snowball of momentum, which you've, you've done, you've figured it out, even without a shower prosthesis, you figured it out, because you weren't going to sit on the sidelines. I love that about you. I've always have, but you touched on it, and rarely do we ever get a microphone to thank the people, and I wanted you to talk about your amazing family and the support that you have, and we have so many beautiful pictures of your incredible family and community just supporting you and loving you, and you can take it away and share. 

Keith Kimbrel  40:21

So, so I have to start with, with my wife, Amanda, because she was the one who lived through all of this, just like I did, and she, she's done great, and she doesn't complain, she never complained, and so now it's kind of like the shoes on the other foot, because she's had a stroke, she has other issues going on, to where I'm her caregiver, so it's like we hold each other up. My children, my son's in Villa Rica, he's not in the backyard like my daughters are, but, but you know, he, he still comes over, he, he helps with a lot of manual things that I can't do, like cutting down trees and doing stuff like that, he's really great at that, and and then both of my daughters, who have, and their husbands have been great, because they understand we go on vacation and they're like let's make sure Poppy can get to where he needs to get, I mean, they, they still kind of are, they got an eye on me, which is, which is okay, I'm okay that, but I don't, you know, I'm like, I'm like any two year old, turn loose and I'm gonna go this direction, and that's not the way you want me to go, so I'd still do that, but they watch me really good. I have a great pastor, a great support for people from faith, a faith that have been great. I work, I mentioned Irv Scott, Mike, Jr, everybody, Lisa, everybody who has kind of been great to allow me to keep working, so that it's not a shock for me to tell people, yes, I still work, because they make it easy for me, they make it easier for me. Let me put it that way, and you know, friends, neighbors, everybody knows, because everybody sees me, so they know kind of what's going on, and you know it's funny because there's a camaraderie, so there's another guy who, whose name is Keith, who graduated with me, he's lost both of his legs due to, I think, he had, there was some medical issues, and I'll see him at the grocery store every now and then, and we just, you know, he's, he's been, it's been great that we can stop and talk. There was a lady, and I don't remember her name, but she had me go to, to the nursing school to let them kind of, hey, here's a person with a prosthetic, and so Keith was there when I went through my first round of physical therapy there in Habersham County, he was there, so we've kind of made this connection. I have a co-worker whose name is Lonnie Blakely. He lives in Ohio. The one thing Lonnie told me, because he's had a prosthetic since, I believe, sometime in the 70s, from a motorcycle accident, and he has been great. I've traveled with him, you know, great guy. And I remember when he said, Keith, you know, because he's like, well, call me if you need me, and I'd say, okay. He said, no, Keith, call me anytime, day or night. So I've had those individuals like Lonnie, and like my boss, and like my wife, and like who's also my boss, so all these people that have been so great, and then to lay on top of that layer of just the people that I have that's just in my universe to then put doctors and health care providers and coaches and all these other people who have come alongside and say, you know, I'm not gonna do it for you, but I'm gonna help you do it, and that's what I needed, and for anybody who looks at this and says that's a death sentence, it's not. I mean, I'm not gonna tell you it's a bed of roses, that would be a lie, right, but to say it's a death sentence, it is not. It is not, because again, you know, yeah, the Lord created us, He made us, He set us going, put a path in front of us, but it's our choice every day to get up and walk that path.

Rachael Auyer  44:37

That's such a powerful way to close our podcast to think about all that you have accomplished and really the goal setting and achieving that you and your family and your universe have worked together for I love that you talked about having people who have similar needs as you and how that has brought you a lot of strength to know that you're not the only one and if you could, would you encourage the listener who is wondering, how do I reach out? What are the things that you did when you needed somebody? 

Keith Kimbrel  45:09

So that's the great thing about, I guess, the circle, not even the already existing circle of people that I had, because a lot of people stepped up from there, but what happens is you may bump into somebody at the store, and you, I had this happen not long after I had my prosthetic. There was a couple vacationing up in the mountains of North Georgia, and I noticed that both the elderly couple, both of them are continuously watching me with my leg, and I'm checking out at the self-checkout line, and so finally the lady speaks to me, and she says, "My husband here does prosthetic, he's, he's retired, but he was a whatever that's called, prosthetic person, yes, 

Rachael Auyer  45:58

Prosthetist, it sounds naughty. 

Keith Kimbrel  46:00

So, so, anyway, so, so we're having this discussion, and he's just saying, you know, what, I don't even know your name, but I can tell that you're doing well, and you know, and I was like, well, I was just checking, I was scanning my groceries and putting them in the bag and paying for them, you know, I wasn't thinking that much about it, so I think what happens is what you can't do is close all the doors and windows and say, you know, it's my problem, I'll deal with it, but what you have to do is you have to watch for those things. Now, as far as reaching out, I'm sure you know if you have a doctor and if you're having trouble, just say to your doctor, hey, you know, will my insurance cover physical therapy? That's a great place to start, because those individuals knew what I needed. Yes, and they weren't afraid to reach out and to hold me and to help me do things, so that I could then do them myself. That's a great place to start, and it, you know, not everybody has a, has a big family or an understanding family, so you know those type of things. I'm not going to say that somebody's going to come your way, but keep your eyes open, somebody may come your way, you may cross paths with somebody you never intended to, and it's going to open a door, and all you have to do then is say, wow, that's great, you know, it's no different than when we made our first trip to the school yard and started making friends, we just had to, we had to make friends, and so I really think that, that through my life and through my walk, that I didn't have to really hunt a lot of people. There were people there all the time, but people joined in the party as I needed them. 

Rachael Auyer  47:51

Yeah, 

Keith Kimbrel  47:52

So you know, obviously, your, your prosthetic people, the team, whatever it may be, your doctor, somebody, somebody that you can talk to, who, and just say, "Hey, I'm struggling with this, or whatever. You know, I like I said, I would say to anybody that, that you know, don't lose hope. Number one, you can have hope, and there are people that will help you, but what you can't do is, you can't throw a lock around yourself and say nope, I'm not going to trust anybody, I'm not going to reach out to anybody, I'm not going to ask, I'm not going to talk, I'm going to just sit here and deal with it, and that's dangerous, because if I would have, if I would have done that from the beginning, I probably would not have been able to keep my job, I probably would be a disappointment to myself, first of all, because of all the things I could always sit and watch the YouTube videos of some guy cutting grass, but I could never get out and do it myself. So, you know, I mean, look for those drivers that will encourage you and help you, and sometimes what you have to do is you just got to take the first step.

Rachael Auyer  49:01

So powerful. Well, Keith, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your amazing story of overcoming. And if our listeners are interested in finding out if they might qualify for secondary prosthesis or orthosis, it is so simple. All you have to do is reach out to our office and we'll begin that conversation with you to see if you qualify, as not every insurance carrier does do this here in Georgia, but we do have some, and we're so excited to announce this past week is that state health benefit plan has been covered through a recent passage of Senate Bill 503 and look forward to that in 2027 and we look forward to serving more patients in Georgia looking to regain their mobility. Thanks, Keith. 

Keith Kimbrel  49:46

Great, thank you.

49:48

Were you inspired or challenged today? If so, connect with us. Follow the links in the description box below. We want to hear from you. Until next time, thanks for listening to the Alliance Goal Digger Podcast.