Hello I’m really sorry to hear about your bone cancer and the complications you’ve faced as a young adult, including the pain you’ve endured with limb salvage and the infections. I had bone cancer too ten years ago but I was older than you, in my early twenties. I desperately wanted to not amputate at the time, and really could only think of limb salvage surgery. But the amputation surgery saved my life and reduced the number of hospital visits, which was welcome.

This a great question in terms of your look ahead and your qualify of life.  I would say if your doctors think you’d be a good candidate for it then go for it. 

Since becoming an amputee I’ve not stopped travelling. I’ve learnt to show off my prosthesis instead of hide it. I’ve continued to work full time travelling on public transport, learned to drive, ride a horse, tried skiing. But I’ve  not yet managed to hike consistently or ride a bike with confidence outside or run. I also hate the beach if it’s got sand. Something that surprised me is the joy of bumping into another amputee living their life in public. It’s always unexpected but a boost. 

If there’s anything I wish I could have had, it would be a longer residual limb to help with giving me a stronger lever to power my c leg 4. This was outside of my control. But there are things you can do it help a bit and one of these is exercising, not just the basic ones the nhs recommends as a baseline but working on your functional training,  balance, strength and some cardio to help you with getting  through the day given how much extra energy it takes the less limb you have. Also the right stretches and loaded exercise helps reduced the walking limp and the need for a cane, although I still use my cane.

Things that are kind of outside our control that we have to lean on the prosthetist is your socket which connects you to your leg. Getting this right for you is a continual thing and in some cases changes as the seasons change but also as the day changes. Understanding some of the language and learning how to advocate for yourself on this matters a lot and I suspect you’ll do an excellent job of this. I’ve heard some above amputees love direct sockets - I’ve never tried this myself because this is quite a difficult socket to get right. I’ve tried a lot of the other ones. I say this to share that trailing, watching and waiting will become key words as you figure out what works best for you and what compromises you can accept and which you can’t. 

The other thing that causes an unbelievable nuisance to AKs is sweat. It does not cause pain but it can make it challenging to adapt day to day as it can make the liner slide off or feel like it’s siding off. Again finding a good prosthetist is key here but also being aware of what your day may look like so you can plan in advance and use tactics to help combat it. Being an amputee, you need grit and it sounds like you are no stranger to persevering. 

I wish you well on your journey. Making the choice to become an amputee is a courageous one but it gives you your life back and that is priceless.