abair01
New Member
Still Smilin
Posts: 24
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Post by abair01 on Mar 16, 2011 7:19:00 GMT -7
I lost my left leg below the knee on april 15 of 2010. I had lots of problems and still do that let me in the hospital for a total of 7 months. While there it was recomended that I join some supports but never could face it right. In 2 moths it will be my first year and I have decided to Dive in and learn to cope better. I lost so much with my leg : job, apartment; identity and loads of other stuff. The only way I have been able to deal with it is with my twisted sense of humor. Which with time you will either love or hate.  Anyway. Thanks for allowing me to join and I hope I can contribute as much or more than I glean. MIke |
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Post by allenuk on Mar 16, 2011 7:31:19 GMT -7
Hello Mike.
Glad you found us, but sorry you had to.
How old are you? I know it doesn't matter THAT much, but it does to the extent that our advice would be different for a guy of 25 than to a guy of say 65.
Humour is a good thing, twisted maybe less so!
But do tell us more about yourself. How it came about, and so on.
All I can say at this stage is that there ARE ways of getting on and living - there's around 100 of us on this site, and tens of thousands of amps out there in the world, and most of us have found ways of living without a limb or two.
Best wishes,
Allen, bka, London UK
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Post by stonecutter on Mar 16, 2011 7:51:59 GMT -7
Hi Mike, Thanks for signing up at these forums. Like Allen said, sorry you've found it necessary to join up... When I lost my leg (LBK - just like you...) I realized that I had to make a choice. A) Be angry that I've landed in this situation and let it affect the decisions I make and the way I let the world treat me for the rest of my life or B) Grab life by the horns, treat it like a hurdle that was cast before me and get on with life. I chose 'B' and I hope you do too. Life is too short to dwell on something like losing a limb. Yes ---> It's a big deal but I'm telling you - You **will** adapt. You will learn to do the little things that right now you think you can't. Have a look at the guy we discussed in this thread does that help to focus your mind a bit on the positive? We're here for you. Keep talking... That's important. Don't hole up in your head with your dark thoughts. That won't help. Again, Welcome to the forums! |
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Post by cherylm on Mar 16, 2011 18:43:45 GMT -7
Welcome, Mike...I agree with Allen and stonecutter: this is a good place to be when you're having to adjust to a challenging situation. Good people here, with lots of good advice, so feel free to take advantage of that, ask questions, vent if you need to, etc.......
I'm also a left below-knee amp, since March of 2005. For me, amputation was a life-saver...I'd been through months and months and months of serious health problems, all springing from a badly fractured and unrepairable foot. Losing that unfortunate foot was the thing that allowed me to get my normal life back. Yes...my life is normal. It took me some time to get there...like you, I had some additional problems and recovery time to get through...but through it all, I focused on remaining self-supporting and independent. I continued to live on my own, eventually was able to return to my normal job, resumed my previous hobbies and activities, and got back to having a real social life.
If you're still dealing with problems, that can seem like an insurmountable obstacle to get over. Know that you can't set hard-and-fast goals for recovery from an amputation...we're all different, have different interests and abilities, and may need to go about doing things in different ways. But as long as you're continuing to move forward, you WILL eventually reach your goals. Your attitude does make a big difference. In my case, I decided that I could either get out there and see about living a full life again with a single leg, or sit around and cry and moan and feel sorry for myself...and still have only one leg. Going the route that provided the best chance of pleasant experiences just seemed like the way to go!
Do tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to find yourself part of this exclusive little "club" of ours? What was your background pre-amp? What are your interests? What problems are you still dealing with? And just HOW "twisted" is that sense of humor? (Lots of us can get pretty warped on that front...this is one of those things where, if you can't laugh about it, it becomes way too easy to cry, so why not laugh?)
Remember, unless you previously based your entire identity on your lower left leg, you have not "really" lost that part of yourself. You are much, MUCH more than your leg!
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Post by barclay on Mar 19, 2011 2:41:53 GMT -7
Hi Mike - Welcome here to the board and life after the amputation!
I'm LBKA as well, Nov. 2007, and like Cherylm, with the foot I lost a lot of problems. In my case it was a life of infections and crutches and carrying vacuums around my neck (a wound treatment method) and operations every year or so to remove toes and other bits that wouldn't heal and, and, and. For me, the amputation was a chance to start living a normal life, a life not dictated by health emergencies.
All the best, and I'm looking forward to reading your twisted humor parry with Allen's irony.
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Post by ann- on Mar 21, 2011 1:54:19 GMT -7
Hi Mike.
Welcome to the forum. Was reading your posting and see that your leg anniversary date is the same as mine, though mine was forty years earlier than yours.
Like Cheryl says, everyone is so different and there are no hard and fast rules, to what you should or should not be doing at a given time. If your doing rehab, physio etc., its hard work, but you need to keep looking forward and looking after yourself, you will get back to doing those everyday things again, its all a bit of a process and probably all feels alien at the moment, but stick with it and plod on, you will get there.
Myself, I had an accident and had both legs amputated, like you was in hospital for some months and remember thinking I was never going to get home, but think its only when you get home from hospital that the reality hits you, so imagine thats somewhere about where you are now. But forty years on i can say that life has been pretty good, and like others on here, have worked, raised a family, etc. etc. , so you see its all do-able and well worth giving it a go.
Ann
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abair01
New Member
Still Smilin
Posts: 24
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Post by abair01 on Apr 1, 2011 19:54:40 GMT -7
Wow, thank you for such a warm welcome.
Let me see, more about me. I am 50 just hit that mark in march. I used to work as an assistant psychiatric caseworker for a place called collage. Collage is a recreational center for people with psychiatric disabilities.
I love taking picture and am really looking forward to getting out and shooting picture very soon. I am learning to make webpages so I can put stuff online.
I got my first prosthetic in october and am having a tough time using it. you see on top of the diabetes I have congestive heart failure and a few other things that limit my ability to exert myself.
I am suppose to be getting my seconond leg if I can get my stump to stop swelling up from my heart failure.
I really do have a good sense of humor and it has helped me repeatedly through all this. I hope that I can contribute a lot to this forum and I am truely greatful you are all here.
Mike
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