where do i go from here?

[waden75]

Ive lived with a right leg below knee amputation for almost ten years now. It never slowed me down, only changed the way i do things. I have had the same job for fifteen years as a deisel mechanic. My boss has been very understanding and once i received my prostheses i returned to work (after a 6 month leave). I even returned with a almost $2.00 an hour raise. I worked this way for 9+ years.
Then in july 2014 i had to have my left leg amputated, first below knee then two weeks later above the knee.
When i received my new right leg, within 3 days i was walking with no aids like crutches or walker. Now after fighting with insurance company for several months, i finally received my new left A K prostheses. And so far i cant even stand up with this new leg let alone walk with it. My job is still there waiting on me but the more i think about it, i dont know if ill ever be able to go back.
The doctors want me to do therapy, but that in itself is a big problem because i have arthritis in both hips and it hurts to even try to move with this new leg. Does anybody have any recomendations on how to learn to walk again and deal with the awful hip pain? I would also like to add that with the shape of the socket of the A K leg i cant sit down with the leg on because its painful to my...well....genitelia. it kinda smashes things that hate being smashed.

[SteveInMd]

An AK is far, far more difficult than BK. Work if you can, but disability status might be in your future. But even an AK prosthesis shouldn't hurt as yours does. A good prosthetist should be able to address this, possibly by replacing your socket. Don't give up -- lots of time, good care requires persistently bugging the professionals over time.

If hip arthritis pain is seriously hindering you, a hip replacement might be an option. I had one done for severe pain, and it's almost exactly like having a normal hip again. So glad I had it done.

[waden75]

Wow hip replacement scares me mainly do to my size. Im a big boy 6'3" and 300lbs. My family doctor was not able to try many meds to help because i was on warfarin blood thinner. But the vascular surgeon took me off of them. So now my options have increased. Now he has me on 1000 mg a day of nabumetone, but so far its not made any difference. Hes also talked about cortezone injections but that scare the heck out of me due to the possible negitive side affects ive read about in my research.
Yeah im know its gonna be alot of work to learn to walk again which i guess is the hardest part because im a restless sole who hates to be stuck in the house. My biggest fear is not being able to do my job well when i return to work.

[Ann]

Hi Waden, your posting caught my attention, partly because I am bilateral too (though both b/k) but also because I have had some similar problems at times in recent years so can identify a bit with some of the fears you talk about here.

From what you say, it doesn't sound like they have got the 'fit' of your prosthesis right at the moment, that will alter how you stand, maybe even how you sit (sometimes I can find sitting almost as uncomfy as walking when I am not level) so perhaps work on getting the prosthetics sorted out if you can first, it can make the world of difference.

Have you also tried stengthening up those core muscles (and quads on b/k side) but you should be able to manage some basic core exercises without your prosthetics on at your levels, just doing this has helped me a lot, but you need to do it regularly, set aside a time every day. It actually makes you feel better too. You mention your size, and weight issomething that I have been picked up on and not something that is great to be told, but probably true, and its not something I have fully achieved myself yet, am still working on that, so if you are overweight, trying to lose some might help with the hips.

Wish you lots of luck, none of its easy but even if you do have to go down the surgery route getting yourself as fit as possible will help, but get the prosthesis/socket fitted correctly it doesn't sound comfy!