I am an amputee, a diabetic and a cancer survivor. These challenges have changed how I live my life, but they do not define my life. They are merely obstacles that every day I must overcome so I can concentrate on what does define me and what really matters; my roles as a father, a husband and a prosthetist in my own company, Bulow Orthotic & Prosthetic Solutions.

Ben Maenza lost both of his legs above the knee in October of 2010 performing combat operations in Afghanistan while serving in the United States Marine Corps.

“Having a world class athlete like Matt Bulow on your team inspires you to go for the gold in your own life. We all face many challenges in our life, thanks to Bulow OPS my legs are not one of them.” – Cheryl Boss

On November 20, 2013, Mr. Vincent Harrigan was riding his Victory Tour motorcycle on a quiet, two-lane country road. As he rounded a curve, there was a white automobile nearing in the opposite direction, impeding on his half of the road.

Whitney is an incredible example of a person with limb loss living a full and independent life!

Zion Redington was born in China with one finger on each hand and one toe on each foot. At the age of six, Zion had both feet amputated due to the extent of his congenital birth defects.

Sydney Klepper does not remember what her life was like before leg prosthesis. She was born with tibular dysplasia – a congenital birth defect and became an amputee at the age of two. 

Zion is a Nashville patient that we have been seeing for over two years. His unique residuum made it a challenge to come up with a plan for prosthetic components that would benefit him, as he’s missing bilateral digits 1-4. Up until recently, he’d been wearing a symes prosthesis, which he adapted to very well. As got older, however, we wanted to move forward with upper extremity prosthesis. 

Terrell Smith’s life was changed forever while riding through the mountains on his motorcycle. The kickstand came down suddenly and became stuck in the road, shot-putting the bike. Terrell was thrown from the motorcycle and struck the guardrail

Within 2 months after being fitted, Jake ran two 5K races.

“I think I came in a little hot, but Matt [Bulow] was encouraging to say ‘if you feel like you can do it, do it. Just don’t hurt yourself.’ I liked that and took that to heart,” he said.

At first glance, Lily Paris seems like the typical middle-schooler. She loves the beach, Harry Potter and going to the mall with her friends. Those around her describe her as happy and fun. But, Lily has something that sets her apart from others her age—incredible bravery.

If anyone has made the most of the cards life dealt them, it’s Sarah Sternlieb.

Sarah was born with an unknown physical disability that manifested as skeletal muscle weakness. It predominately affected her lower extremities, with the right leg being weaker than the left, as well as some weakness in her hand.  

In the 1950s, a new wonder drug hit the markets: Thalidomide. It was promised to treat a wide range of ills, including morning sickness. Debbie Miller’s mother hoped she would benefit from it. After all, she’d had several miscarriages before becoming pregnant with Debbie, and lived with diabetes.

Unfortunately, the drug turned out to be very harmful to fetuses, and caused an epidemic of birth defects. For Debbie, this meant being born with proximal femoral focal deficiency.

George Wood lost his left leg just below the knee due to poor blood circulation after smoking for 35 years. For the last 10 years he was up to two packs a day.

“I destroyed my blood vessels in my lower left leg,” he said. “Smoking not only gives you cancer but it also constricts blood flow and takes away your quality of life!”

Patient Story: Tracy Medler

Tracy Medler is no stranger to surgery.

23 years ago, she had to turn her infant daughter over to the hospital for open-heart surgery.
“I remember feeling, ‘If I can go through this I can get through anything,’” she said.

Little did she know, her faith would be tested again.

Josh LeLoup likes sports as much as any man, which is how he found himself playing flag football for a charity event at Nissan Stadium. But what was supposed to be a day of fun soon turned serious when Josh tore his patellar tendon.

Ashley Martin first knew something was wrong in September 2017. Some of her toes would turn blue but after a while they would return to a normal color. She went to the doctor and they sent her for an ultrasound of my right leg and foot. It showed some blockages, so from there she visited a vascular surgeon.

Having been born with a birth defect, Amy Bream finds that self-confidence is something she must strive for.

“I’ve always been stubborn so I didn’t let my prosthesis get in the way of living life, but I shied away from the gym or any sort of sport,” Bream said.