Newbie..from Ohio

[heckinohio]

Donna H. here....61....I managed to get under a great big farm tractor in Oct. 11. Spent 92 days in OSU; lower left was crushed beyond repair...then lost circulation; right leg also crushed, got infected, talk was about a hip amputation there but they managed to save it. I am grafted from thigh to ankle right, from below knee to amputaion (picture) left.

I am having considerable prosthesis difficulty & severe discomfort using it because of the grafts sensitivity. Mine also wears a hole in my grafted skin on regular basis, then I am out of it for a month.

Hope to find anyone here who has dealt successfully with grafted skin & prosthesis use.

Donna H. 740 446 1822

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[stonecutter]

Hi Donna,

Welcome to the forum.

I used to have a skin graft on the inside of my below-the-knee stump. It was the reason for me dropping out of technical school in 95. I over-did it at my night job working as a bartender, and when I got home, there was an almost perfectly round hole in my skin graft about the size of a nickel. My guy told me to be off the leg as much as possible for at least two weeks and then we'll talk.

The was my only real hole in the skin graft and for the most part it was pretty much problem free, with the exception of heat-related issues at the edges. I was able to have it taken out as a part of a revision surgery a year ago.

I do know that there are others on the board who have skin grafts. I'm sure they'll be along soon.

Again, welcome to the forum.

Trevor

[ann-]

Hi Donna,

Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear about your accident and the problems you are having with your prosthesis and your skin graft.
I am a bilateral below knee amp., but you might be interested to hear that I also have a skin graft on one of the stumps, and have had this since my accident which is now over forty years ago.

Looking at your pic., your graft area looks more or less in the same region as mine, mine comes down the front of the stump and I think the area where you show where you have the 'hole' is about the same spot I have to watch too.
I am not sure how 'successfully' I myself have dealt with this, I have had my ups and downs with it over the years and it has caused me problems with prosthetic fit, I've also had a revision, but I am now all these years on and the graft still there, but I am still going strong and still walking.

I too have had problems with sensitivity, though with mine I think its more to do with damage that was done in the accident which is under the skin graft, than the actual graft, so am not sure if that is the case with you. However, for you it is still really early days, and I do remember the first few years my graft breaking down whilst they were working out the prosthetics, I also used to have to be careful with what I used on it, plasters etc., though this is not so much the case nowadays, and the actual graft has got a lot stronger as the years have gone on.

Over the years I've probably changed a bit of what I do and don't do, and nowadays probably take more preventative steps than I did in the early years, mainly in terms of checking the skin, keeping it moisturised, but also in terms of resting it from time to time and being more pro-active in getting the socket fit right, if I notice repeated pressure areas I am back at the prosthetic centre for adjustments or socket refit... I am probably their nightmare patient, but they usually realize I need the sockets to be fitting right to manage things and keep walking.

So I tend to juggle walking and not walking, or more with the grafted leg, wearing the prosthesis and not wearing it, as I find sitting in the prosthesis/liner can sometimes make it as sore as walking in it. This probably sounds a bit restrictive, but I find it allows me to actually 'walk' more, than if I wear it all day, day in day out, though I haven't always done it this way and sometimes even now, different things work with different sockets, these days I just go with how the leg feels, or how the skin looks and how comfy the leg is and try and fit that in with whatever I am doing or want to do.

So really I do whatever works for me at the time, which sometimes isn't the conventional way, but I am guessing as time goes on it will be very much the same for you. It is slightly more restrictive than my non-grafted leg, frustrating also at times, but it becomes part of you and I find I have got quite protective of it, so for me its all been do-able and let me live a pretty normal life. So do wish you lots of luck too.

Ann

[barclay]

Hi Donna - Welcome !
Cynthia

[ann58]

Helo Donna Welcome to R group...I am from Southern Ohio {around the Athens Ohio University area}...live in a small little town where everyone knows everybody else. What area R you from? Sorry we had to meet this way, but glad to know someone else from Ohio.