Since losing my leg in December 1922, there’s been days where I’ve had down moments. But overall, I think losing my leg has not been as taxing as it would be for someone else. So much, that I worried that I wasn’t as depressed as I probably should’ve been.

I’ve come to grips with the fact that maybe I won’t be as “why me“ as some other people would be – and that’s really OK. To me, it’s my blessing in disguise for what otherwise would be an emotionally traumatic event.

Mind you, there are days where having any prosthetic leg not fit is very difficult, or taking showers in a different way that I’m used to is quite cumbersome. But as I said, I’m gonna cast tonight watching TV, it’s one of those moments where I have to look down in my leg to remember that I am an amputee.

And even though the walks may be a little more challenging, and showering will be a chore for as far as I can see, oh! and “cleaning myself” after going to the bathroom is a new experience, I feel I am adapting faster and better than I could’ve even imagined. That, in itself, is proof that I’ll continue to be just fine in my new amputee role.

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My life changed completely in December 27th 2022.. I was sick for the days leading up to Christmas, it seemed like the flu so nothing was thought of it. I spent my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day sleepless, throwing up, and feeling horrible. My parents brought me to a close doctor office that was actually open on the 26th. The doctor office found nothing wrong with me and just sent me off with some nausea medicine and that was it. I arrive home feeling just as bad as I was before maybe even worse. The day goes on still being in agonizing pain, completely sleepless, and constantly throwing up. The 27th rolls around, my parents realize it isn’t getting any better, so they take me to our primary doctors office. We get seen pretty quickly, the whole time I’m feeling like I’m gonna pass out. Once our doctor sees me she’s like we need to check vitals stat.! She checks vitals and they’re not looking good at all. (I don’t know what they were at the time) She immediately calls for an ambulance. I get loaded in and taken to a hospital maybe an hour or so away, though it felt like ages. When we get there I get given medicine and fall asleep. The doctors saw I had Rhinovirus, the OG coronavirus and toxic shock that led to sepsis. and all my organs were failing. They transferred me to a better hospital that ended up putting me on the ecmo machine (it makes majority of your blood go to your main organs instead of your limbs, causing them to go black and lose blood flow.) Which caused me to flat line twice, basically dying. During the time of that a lot of things happen that I don’t fully know at the moment, (I’m sorry I just wanted to share it whether there were bits and pieces missing or not.) it took me to end of January beginning of February to wake up, for awhile I wasn’t able to move anything. And ended up getting pancreatitis, a blood clot, and almost dying/actually dying from contrast from a CT scan. Thanks to a really good Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapist team I was able to slightly walk before they had to amputate 3/4ths of my foot. (Due to it not getting better from the ecmo machine.) I got a cast and progress with walking had to stop. It took awhile and I eventually got out of the hospital. It was in April 27th, 3 months exactly. I go through trying to learn to walk do things that I used to all over again. I forgot to mention but I had a skin graph in April from my left thigh to my left foot, causing me to have another cast. It took a bit but it finally came off. In August 22nd I had to have a blood clot surgery to try to take it and remove it, but they needed contrast so I had to go a day before to make sure they wouldn’t send me into anaphylactic shock again. They go into the surgery and find out it was calcified and so the blood cells moved around it and created another way around it. In September 22nd I had surgery on both ankles cause in the hospital they dropped and were not 90°, so I was in casts for awhile. Everything else went fine for the rest of the year. I started back to school in January and continued with everything. Until February 14th, Valentine’s Day. My foot wasn’t healing properly and they had to go in and had to clean it and graph some more skin. I’m in a cast for 6 weeks and i’ll go back to walking normally hopefully 🤞. Thank you for reading if you actually read this far! Also I’m sorry it was all over the place.

-Thank you all that are even reading this, and thank you even more to the people commenting! Y’all are helping me more then you think!

Slight Update-

I go to get my cast taken off Thursday to check how my foot has been doing since the surgery so wish me luck! Though I will be out back in another cast sadly

UPDATE

I am having to have another amputation.. the skin graph doesn’t seem to be taking, and when they did the surgery for the skin graph they messed up my ankle surgery and my orthopedic doctor doesn’t believe he will be able to fix it so I’m gonna have an above ankle surgery sometime this year..

UPDATE

They removed above my ankle, about half way on my calf, and they fixed my toe because there was a lot of scar tissue. Im in a splint till next week with a wound vac as well.

I’m about to get a replacement for my prosthetic (below the knee, socket style) and my prosthetist asked me what artwork do I want on it.

I’m stumped (pun intended) as to “what” artwork/messaging to put on it.

Anyone have any suggestions that would give positive vibes or expression or “gees” that different while maintaining political correctness? I’m definitely not looking to advertise any online casinos or adult sites but I would consider a worthy organization (e.g. my local children’s hospital) to support.

BTW: My current artwork has a robotic/terminator style and I’ve have lots of people indicate that they like the artwork … it’s a great way to strike up a conversation.

One idea I considered but it way to lengthy and there’s too many fanatic fans: “Bet my leg grows back before the Leafs win the Stanley cup”.

Will consider any good suggestions…

I wanted to create an infographic to increase awareness of the structure of transtibial prosthetics. I know a few people who have them and they always talk about how overwhelming learning about all the parts is, and how little people know about it. I'm looking to get some feedback on what I created, as well as make sure what is in it is accurate! I don't have a ton of access to prosthetists in my area so I'm looking to the community to ask questions. All advice is welcome.

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Hey all, I'm new here and firstly wanted to say how excited I am to have found this space.

However, I was amputated above the left knee almost 10 years ago, but recently - over the pst 2-ish weeks - my phantom limb pain is spiking and it's almost worse than before. Previously the phantom pain would come and go througout the weeks, but never to a point where I couldn't have a 'normal' day. Now, I can barely keep a straight face.

I've looked into possible reasons why this could be any it ranges from medication changes to changes in the weather. It being that season-changing time of year - I live in South Africa - could be be to blame, seeing as I've not changed meds, habits or anything of the sort in the past 18 months.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of spike so long after their amputation? I'd be really curious to know if anyone has, and also if you have any alternative tips on how to manage the pain it'd also be amazing.

Thank you all in advance.

Hi 👋

Totally excited to have found this!.

So, a year ago, I fell asleep on my sofa and woke up 7 weeks later, having fallen into a coma.

To keep me alive, they gave me medication which resulted in limb death, and eventually, I had to have a BKA on my right leg and lost most of my toes on my left. I am now completely deaf and have between 70 and 80% lung capacity.

I'm in my 30s and the two most astonishing things to me following the amputation are:

I miss being able to wake up in the middle of the night and walk to the toilet!

Lastly, it really bugs me that people assume it's because I'm a type 1 diabetic. It wasn't. It was pneumonia, sepsis, and medication!!!!

Thanks for allowing me to share.

ETA: I am a type 1 diabetic, but it has been well controlled since I had my son 7 years ago and is definitely NOT the cause of my amputation.

Additional edit: I just wanted to say I'm not trying to throw shade at or be disrespectful to anyone that is an amputee due to diabetes, it just annoys me that people make the assumption about how I arrived here.

Hello, I'm Brittany. I joined this group becuase my 23yo brother Logan will be losing his right leg due to complications with NF1. He has a massive tumor on the back of his leg that's been causing complications for years now and it's putting him at life or death risk. He is so scared and he and my family are seeking support for him to prepare him as best as possible for this. He has seizures when he gets overwhelmed and it's difficult for him to talk about it or hear about it of course. We've been dealing with the possibility for about 6 months now but have just found out about it definitely happening for a few days. I welcome new friends and any advice you have !!

Being an amputee with a right below the knee prosthetic leg, I find it really hard to rock heels or dresses like I want to. Sandals are usually my go-to, but they don’t always make me feel as classy or feminine as I’d like. I envy the confidence that comes with wearing heels, but I often feel like people just see me with pity, which makes me want to skip dating altogether. It’s not about what any guy thinks; it’s really a personal thing for me. How can I keep my confidence up when I can only really wear flats and sandals?

Anyone that can help me please?

I had a BKA in September of 2022. I got my prosthetic January of 2023. Everything has been going well until this last week. My prosthetic fits looser than before, but still fits okay. I wear 3 to 5 layers of socks and it stays fine.

Starting last week, I started to get pain while walking. It is excruciating pain around the tibia nub in my stump. Now, I can't stand or walk on the prosthetic without almost falling over from pain.

Any ideas?

I posted awhile back. My dad has stage II pancreatic cancer, had uncontrolled diabetes (somehow even with cancer his A1C is now 6.2, it was 12.5 in October so this is a win), & was a heavy smoker of 50ish years (just officially quit). He had narrowed veins & arteries in his right leg. He was in the ICU for about a week and they performed three vascular procedures to clear out the arteries and veins in his leg. They were confident that they had saved his leg at that point. When we went to the follow up appointment, the nurse practitioner that we saw at the hospital told us that he would only be having a partial foot amputation. When we were in preop on Thursday, the surgeon came in and talked to us and basic explained it would be a lower below the knee amputation (you could tell he felt bad that we didn’t have proper expectations set). We made the decision to consult his cancer care team before proceeding with surgery. Ultimately, there’s not enough skin on the bottom of his foot for a viable partial foot amputation and this is the best option, he’s taking it OK and we will find out today when his surgery is. From what I’m understanding, they believe he’s going to be able to start radiation in a few weeks after surgery. I know that he will be staying in the rehab section of the hospital at some point for his amputation but not sure for how long.I know there’s a lot of post I could read in here but I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. I need advice on what we should expect and how to best support him would be very appreciated. Thank you all. Things like what to have at home, my parents have a multi level home with a good amount of stairs.

Lost both legs above the knee 10 years ago, don't ask I don't want to talk about it. What I do want to know is if anyone else suffers from residual limb pain or phantom pain and what thier experiences have been.

In my case, I have suffered with it from the day I woke up missing my legs. It is constant and never stops, and is slowly driving me down a dark path. I haven't found a good way to describe it that people who haven't experienced it can understand. The best way I can describe it is like if television static was a feeling coupled with the sensation of my big toenails being pulled off and random bee stings. IYKYK. This has been going on to varying degrees every second of every day for 10 years. Opiates make it tolerable but never silence it completely. I've tried every neuropathic pain med you can think of with no success. I have a TENS unit that works but only gives relief for the 20 minutes it will run before shutting off. After that I'm right back where I started.

Have anyone found anything outside of heavy narcotics and/or pot that helps releive the pain?

Hello reddit, I hope this is okay, I am NOT a devote or wannabe, I just have a few questions, here they are: If an amputation leaves some of the limb/digit behind, does that part still count as a limb/digit? If a person lost their writing hand, could they train the other to write? Does anyone here consider being called/compared to pirates insulting?

Does anyone else have trouble asking for help cause you don't want to be a burden? How did you overcome those feelings?

I'm really sorry if this post is inappropriate or breaks the wannabe rule, that's not my intention.

I was in a car crash in 2018 and degloved my foot and had an open calcaneal fracture. I left part of my ankle in the car, I needed 7 surgeries to put it back together including a bone, tissue and vessel graft. Now I have limited RoM, severe arthritis, chronic tendinitis and growing neuropathies. But many of my symptoms are getting significantly worse.

Recently I developed Achilles tendinopathy and was told I probably need surgery. I was warned I would need life long surgery to keep the pain at bay. The alternative to all this was amputation and they said if the grafting failed obviously that would be the result regardless.

The amount of pain I'm in daily is immense, just from my ankle/foot alone. Nevermind because my gait is off, it affects my knees, hips and back which are also messed up. I'm at the point where I'm wondering whether pushing for amputation NOW would be better. And yes I know insurance probably won't do it currently...

But I also know amputation and prosthetics don't come without their own issues and drawbacks. I guess I'm just looking for any opinions, anyone who had experienced anything similar to weigh in or what it was like for you? I'm just at my wits end with the pain and feeling so useless.

How long after an amputation can I start working out like bodyweight exercises? Will sweat in the wound cause infection or anything? Also will more blood flow from exercising help healing or hinder it

Hi I originally had my left leg amputated below the knee in October 2023 and I ended up getting an infection December so I never made it to my prosthetic. It started forming a really thick scab above my sutures but my surgeon kept telling me that it will fall off on its own and it’s nothing to worry about. Early December my leg started hurting like crazy to where I couldn’t even move it so I went to the ER and there is quite a bit of infection so they did an irrigation debridement so my question is what can I do to improve the probability of me making it to the end of my healing process without giving an infection again I changed my dressing every day like I was supposed to have an infection

I had my left amputated above the knee in August of 2022. I received my first socket and a Linx Limb System in January of 2023.

Within the first six months - which I hear is standard - my residual limb shrunk. At first, this was solved my additional plies of socks and inserts, but later started bottoming-out on the regular. Too many plies prevented me from getting into the socket, while enough plies to accommodate still put weight through the end of my residual limb and caused little pin-prick blood blisters. However, I started bottoming out in August. I met with my physiatrist and she wrote me a Rx for a new socket casting.

Through the process of receiving the original leg, I had a total of three separate prosthetists. The guy that is the regional manager for several Hanger clinics in the area assured me that he would remain my prosthetist, until I was later gaslit. I decided to give the third guy a chance, but when I got to my fourth test socket with major leg whip, I asked and encouraged for another test socket, he assured me that it would be taken care of in the finalized socket and to not worry. Unfortunately that was false and in late December, the socket had so many issues I demanded my original prosthetist take over.

I have been working with him since January of this year. It took two months of starting anew on the casting to find out there wasn't ischial containment... he decided to manually cast during that same appointment in early March. Now we're into April and the formalized socket still has problems. Although we have solved most of the leg whip with aligning the foot with the knee, there are still issues with the foot turning outward upon weight bearing and the rear medial quarter of the top of the socket rubbing/pinching - but unfortunately there isn't enough room for a sock. Although he swapped out my K4 springs for K3 springs, I'm not sure if I like how loose they are when walking over uneven terrain (which is nearly everywhere).

As you can imagine, I am growing very frustrated. During my next appointment, I am thinking of suggesting that he mounts my previous socket onto the prosthesis and if the foot doesn't turn outward it will be clear the issue is with rotation within the socket. From there, if he continues to shrug (since I'm not happy with this being the formalized version - something he very much understands I haven't signed off on yet), I am thinking I might need to find a new prosthetist with UCHealth Anschutz - or elsewhere.

This is bizarre. Has anyone else had such bad luck with being recasted for their second socket? It's been seven months plus and I trust and believe through gaining experience that this isn't just about me being difficult. There are real issues that need to be sorted through and I'm starting to feel like my prosthetist is shrugging and essentially saying "this is as good as it's going to get", or "I don't know what's wrong". The disappointment and time-waste is palpable. My first socket I received and there were zero issues with it, aside from residual limb eventually shrinking further.

Thanks in advance for any input, or experiences you can provide. I am realizing this isn't working, so while I am discouraged about having to start over entirely anew with a new provider, perhaps at this point that is best. It's just hard though because so much time has been put into this and I am not wanting to let him off easy since from what I gather he is very busy with managing the business, so it would be a blessing if he is able to renege on his initial commitment to me as a patient. Obviously troubleshooting ideas would be invaluable input since the socket otherwise feels pretty close. I noticed with a tighter interface with suction socket, the leg is much more responsive.

PS. I used to have a heel wedge in the shoe because I wear a pair of Vans. However, it has slipped down multiple times changing the kinematics of the leg. While he said he was going to velcro it in place, he ended up eliminating it completely without telling me about it. When I brought it up to him to visits later and had questions about it, he admitted to just removing it. Could this cause it? Also, for some reason I noticed they used an adaptor that doesn't sit flush, but instead offers a few degrees of backward positioning on the socket. When I inquired about it being that way, he didn't know what I was talking about. The first socket just screwed directly onto the top of the knee; with this one, there is this metal adaptor to leave room for a rotator part, but like I said, this version has a backward angle. I'll attach pictures to clarify this.

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Hi all, I'm struggling really badly with self perception and body shame after I had a ring avulsion incident with my wedding ring (replanted, but failed as expected). I feel even worse because I recognize there's some of you going through some real shit, when I lost a very small percentage of capacity of my hand.

My doctors left me with about half a finger, salvaged just about what they could and closed it up at the PIP joint (don't think the joint itself was salvaged, in case of a successful replant it would have 30% movement max).

The functional part isn't so bad, not as bad as I expected. I can see myself regaining almost full grip strength and pinch, I can make an unaided fist and barely notice the lack of a digit in daily activity even without starting OT yet. The area is still sensitive but I'm working on desensitizing it, different materials and sudden touches feel like a jolt of electricity but it's getting better.

But the mental part, I'm in so much pain right now. I've never broken so much as a bone and I'm very careful, but all it took was a moment of lapse and a fence to lose a body part, it takes a heavy toll on me. Going through a grief period, and seeing a gap in my hand is heartbreaking.

I'm considering asking for a ray revision to bring my fingers together and feel 'normal' again, or at least, call less attention to myself but I think I should have enough to perhaps fit a prosthetic to fill in the gap.

Did anyone have a similar length left, and do you find it useful? And someone else's perspective would really help, I feel it looks so damn ugly and weird, even though I've been getting so much support saying it doesn't matter or look that bad.

Thanks so much :)

just had my operation done a few days ago and just got home last night 💪🏻 i just wanted to thank everyone who’s given me advice in my recent posts, you guys helped set up my home and provided me with great tips and tricks. i can’t wait for my new leg in the up coming months

I am the amputee, but not the subject here. Wife had her left shoulder replaced yesterday, and her arm will be 100% useless for at least a month. Does anyone with a hand or arm amputation have any tricks of the trade type advice for her about coping with one functional hand?

I have already decided that since she is a big girl and is a fall risk, should she go down in the near term, it will be an automatic 911 call for lifting assistance.

My 81 yo mother's medicare approved elec wheelchair SUCKS. we are in the 5 day grace period and will be returning it.

A few questions...my mom absolutely cannot stand, has no prosthetic, and has to transfer..period. she has to be able to get to the toilet in an elec wheelchair like she is in her 20 in manual one. I'm thinking all the bells ams whistles of the chair make it too long to work for us. The joy stick is horrible.

Are we screwed bc we went with a company already and now we are stuck with the chair types they sell?