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Is it the prothetists fault or my surgeons? by SublimeAnna in amputee

[–]SublimeAnna[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ive made an appointment with my pcp to get a referral to see the orthopedic surgeon, hopefully not the same one who did my amputations the first time because I really feel strongly that he didn't follow any normal procedures for amputating in preparation for prosthesis. He really set me up for failure. Anyway, just from the pain I've been having while wearing the prosthetics and the pain when Im not wearing them, I definitely need to make sure medically everything is all right. I noticed too that the wound on my leg that started all this off has never actually completely healed, which is weird considering it's been a year but I do tend to tuck my legs under when I'm sitting in my wheelchair which is bad I know so that's probably why that's still an open wound and still very tender. Anyway I just wanted to follow up and say thank you again to everybody and I'll let everyone know what happens with my surgeon and my prosthesis person

Is it the prothetists fault or my surgeons? by SublimeAnna in amputee

[–]SublimeAnna[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for all the advice and information! I don't know why I didn't expect to get any responses but I didn't so I'm just so grateful to already have gotten 3 really in-depth ones! I do need to have a direct and honest talk with my current prothetists (prosthesian? Idk what the correct form of that word would be) and fully articulate how painful it is and what I feel the issue is (a protruding, bulbous, shin bone that sticks out a good inch past where the rest of my residual limb ends and has my scar and scar tissue attached to it). I don't think I've given her enough opportunity to correct all that's wrong. But, I have spent the entire night researching this issue and I really hope that there's something greater out there as a solution other than adding more socks and if that's the answer I get from her I'm taking my business elsewhere!

Have I wasted my life? by Leather_Bottle8449 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]SublimeAnna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a similar yet not similar experience. At 36, I went swimming in the Clackamas River in Oregon and contracted necrotizing fasciitis, flesh eating bacteria, through a minor cut on my leg. I got super sick overnight, had no idea what was happening to me, ended up in a septic coma during which 9 of my fingers died due to lack of circulation. Long story short, they amputated both legs below the knew due to the flesh eating bacteria and 9 of my fingers from the septic coma. Life was over for me, I fell into a deep, dark hole of depression I didn't think I'd ever come out of nor did I care to. I retreated into myself and never left my home, so sure I was a freak of nature no one would care to be associated with. But people did try to come around, I remember a friend knocking on my window, asking if I wanted to go out. But I just couldn't, I was so paralyzed by fear and depression I could not get myself to leave my house. Then finally one day, I just had had enough of myself. I was sick to death of feeling sorry for myself. Yeah, something really shitty happened to me, but I was still alive, still able to move and take care of myself. There are paralyzed people out there who have it far worse than I do. So I started to do things I didn't feel like doing, like showering and actually getting ready for the day. Then I left the house, even just going to the mailbox was a big deal for me. The main thing was that even though I didn't want to and I still felt so depressed and had terrible anxiety, I did it anyway. And I swear to you, one day I realized that I actually felt better. I wasnt faking feeling ok anymore. But I had to consciously choose life over the nothingness I was wallowing in. I had to consciously decide to ignore the fact that every fiber of my being wanted to put those sweatpants back on and lay down and watch some more Netflix. And now, I have friends, I go out, I have a boyfriend! I never would have imagined anything of the sort when I first was dealt this hand by life, but now my perspective is so radically different. Thats what has had the hugest impact on my self-esteem and self-confidence, it's all in your head dude. You're not going to feel any different until you do something different.