New Year New Start?

Hi all

Well below are pictures of updates on my middle toe top bone amputation.
It's a bit squashed at one side but at least they didn't take off as much as I thought they would, and it doesn't hurt anymore when I walk. The 4th toe likes to go purple but it's not throbbing or in pain. So it's just bad circulation which I will keep an eye on.

 

Also had my carpel tunnel operation on my right wrist. This picture is taken 12 days
after the operation so it's healing well. I thought it wouldn't hurt because the palms of
your hands are tough. But those numbing needles really hurt, apparently your hands
are one of the most sensitive parts of your body. Makes sense if you think about it.
And I wont know if it's worked for at least 3 years! But the constant tingling seems to
have gone so fingers crossed. But I'm not having the other one done.

Also my only leg is still getting a re-cast so at one point I was stuck in bed because I
had my arm in a sling and couldn't push myself around in my chair. Luckily I'm still living
with my parents so until I was able to move my hand with out pain I had a mum slave. :)

But it has been really frustrating just stuck not able to do much, even my computer mouse its a right handed track ball!

On 28th Jan I go for my first fitting of my old leg, to iron out any catching bits etc.
Then I will have to wait another 2 weeks to be called back in to adjust the height.
Then I should be able to take it home and walk again, hopefully in time for my Birthday
in February!

Of course because i'm not moving much i'm not making myself tired and find I've been staying up till passed midnight watching telly. Also the Christmas fat loves me too much to leave.

Also I've started trying to lower the medication i'm on. I'm down to just 300mg of Gabapentin once a night and 2x 10mg Amatriphtaline. So far the bad pins and needles feeling in my stump isn't getting any worse so we shall see how I go.

Hope you are doing well too.

Still waiting for the leg

02/12/13


Hi all


Just got back from a 4 hour session at the Prosthatists, only to be told the fitting still isn't right for my new hydraulic leg.

The suction socket is having problems with my cone shaped injury, and the tighter they make the socket to grip the suction pads its cutting off the circulation to the end of my stump, making it throb and go black, which is not good, and I can't have a belt system with a hydraulic leg because it's too heavy.

So they are going to try a different liner, one that is made of gel, hoping that this will relive the presser lower down. In the mean time I'm having my original socket (on a belt) made to fit me better and the tilting ankle put on it. So I should have one leg to be going on with by the end of January 2014. But that means I may be legless for Christmas (chance would be a fine thing!).

Hope you have a good one, and a happy new year xxx

Anyway keep plodding on!

Recovering

16/11/13

 

 

Hi all

 

Well I have finally had my middle toe top bone with toe nail amputated. I hope once this heals that I should be able to walk further without pain. But boy did it hurt having it done. Not the operation itself but the 6 numbing needles before hand.

The surgeon came into my room with what I can only describe as a horse needle and said this will be done before the op to ensure it is completely numb.

When I had my 4th toe done it was numbed during surgery so this was new.

He then proceeded to inject me on the top of my broken toe down my nail either side.

Then two more either side further down. These he had to push in deep and move around as he said' he had to get through scar tissue'. I was ok at first then when it got to these I nearly screamed and he said 'stop fighting me just relax your foot'!! I could had thumped him.

But after 5 agonising minutes it was over and within a further 10 it was completely numb.

The operation only took 10 minutes, in my last op I could feel the surgeon filing and pulling my skin stitching, but this time I didn't feel anything. Even when I got home there was no pain, which is good.

I'm now 5 days later and apart from it feeling sore like you know you have a cut, It's fine. Apart from the mass of bandage, and the fact that I cant walk on it for a week!

 

I am still waiting for my new suction leg (which I don't think it ever going to happen.) So maybe the rest will do me good, although I am so bored.

 

I also left my job last week, I was trying to get back to my normal routine, hoping it would go back to how it was. But I found as the months went on that it was just adding another stressful thing on my mind.

Worrying about the amount of time I was having off for operations and hospital appointments, and what people would be thinking of me, and panicking about travelling to work and having to sit at the front of the bus because I can't get up fast enough when I press the bell to stop.

Having to deal with employees at work who had returned from sick leave complaining about trivial little things, wanting me to scream at them 'you don't know how lucky you are!'.

So I gave my notice.

 

It still feels like I'm on sick leave with my foot bandaged up, and it's weird realising I don't have to plan for things on a weekend I can do them any day I want.

I'm not stressed anymore, and can finally take time to really heal.

I have my carpel tunnel surgery due in January 2014, and then I'm going to ask my plastic surgeon to file down the over grown bone on my stump. Then that should be it.

 

Time heals all things. x

 

My injuries a year on

Hi all


I thought it would be interesting to post pictures of my injuries each year to see how it heals and changes. Another warning to those easily upset do not scroll down!

2012
 

2013

As you can see in 2012 the leg was tight and it felt hard and was very sensitive, but numb at the same time. On the top part of my thigh where the skin was 'normal' I had no feeling at all.

Now it may look like I have put on weight, but its the inside of the thigh that has changed.
It's no longer tight and hard, its like a flobby bean bag full of squishy stuff.
I can feel the thigh bone under my skin and it's even started to grow out on the top. It doesn't hurt but I think in time the end of my thigh/stump will look and feel like my elbow bone.
I can see and feel now that there wasn't much muscle left to rap around the stump because when I tense it, nothing much moves.
But I have get feeling back, and as you can see from the picture the deep ridge that ran around the edge of the scarred area has now flattened out, and I think with time they will fade and go silvery.
The only pain I get now is on the very end of my stump if I walk too long, and I get a blood bruise on the tip. This is just due to a poor fitting prosthetic leg, and when I finally get my new one this should stop.

Also I forgot to take a picture of my foot last year so here it is.

I have lost the tops of the last two toes, and the third toe is bent over.
This is the one I am having the top amputated.The line you see next to it is where they had to cut into the toes, because when the truck ran over the foot it crushed it pushing the 4th toes bones into the 3rd toe. So they had to cut it open, pull out the bits then put them back and stitch it back up.
They appear to have stitched a bit too high but at the time my foot was in a right mess so I will let them off for that.

Also the scar on top of my foot was where the skin was ripped off right to the bone.
There was also a deep hole but this has flattened and faded over a year.
The only other annoying thing is when the truck ran over my foot it flattened it making my foot more broader than before. (I now have a hobbit foot!) I went from a size 3 or 4 to a size 5/6, and I still cant wear any hard leather foot wear as it rubs on that scar.
In time however I will probably be able to wear my Doc Martins again. But as for my size 3 New Rocks I just don't have the heart to give them away. I always used to wear them you see, so I might hang on to them and see how my foot heals.

I hope things are going okay for you, and I will update you with picks of my foot after its operation on 13th November.


                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    



 

A Few More Operations

13.09.13

Hi all

 

Well today i decided to go private to have my middle toe on the right foot. (the real one) :)

cut short. I had been waiting on the NHS list for over 4 months, and had put up with the pain

for long enough.  Private is expensive but at least i now have a date (20th September) and its one operation over and done with.

 

The creepy thing is i was late to the private appointment because my train had to make a detour as, i later found out someone had fallen on to the tracks, had their leg cut off and died.

 

This just reinforced the fact that i am so glad to be alive, and during my accident the right people were there to save me.

 

So no more doom and gloom. The final figure came in from my Ben Nevis trek and you raised 1600!! for Yorkshire Air Ambulance! Brilliant!

 

Also I've decided to make a big decision in my life and quit my job, and go back to university. I leave on 20th December, and start Uni in September 2014. I'm going to take back up my animal care, as its some thing Ive always loved doing. In the gap leading up to Uni, i hope to get all my operations done and have my new leg sorted.

 

Speaking of my new leg that had to be sent back and recast for the 3rd time, as my cone shaped stump just kept slipping out. They are trying different liners, and i will let them try again.

But if it doesn't work this time then I'm going to go private to a company called PACE.

 

So I'm really nervous so much is happening now, my toe op, my future carpel tunnel op. Looking for a new bungalow, finishing my job and starting uni!.

 

 

The Hobbit took on the Mountain

22.7.13

 

Hi all

Well on 20^th July 2013 I attempted to climb Ben Nevis. Unfortunately I only got half way

(2.5 miles) It was in 30 degree heat (trust me to pick the day Scotland has a heat wave!).

It took me 6 hours to get to the half way point, walking (and sometimes being carried) over very rocky roads. I was convinced to turn back as it would have taken us another 6 hours to get to the top and by then we would be coming down in the dark, and we were not equipped for a night walk. Plus out water was running out.

It was very hard going but I am proud that I did it and got as far as I did.
My friends helped me back down, and the next day there wasn’t a part of my body that didn’t ache. The sweat had run down into my socket and pooled at the end of my stump so the next day the skin had rubbed off and it was now raw and pain full. Lucky I took my chair!
 
I just want to thank everyone that supported me, we raised over a Thousand pounds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance!!! and I hope that I have inspired you to set your own goals, and remember NEVER GIVE UP!

At the start.
From Left Dave, Andy, Martin (orange man), Cliff, Cassie, Me, Gary

 

No Leg Yet!

17.7.13

Hi all, I went for another fitting on 9^th July to sort out the problem with the release button. It kept being pressed by either me crossing my legs or wearing tight jeans, and then my leg would slip off. Which is so embarrassing you’re your getting out of a taxi!

So when I get to the clinic the Prosthatist tried shaving the button flat so it wouldn’t catch, but then is kept slipping off and the suction wasn’t working properly. The Prosthatist was surprised, and suggested measuring me again.

He found out my stump had gone down another 1cm. It doesn’t seem a lot but that 1cm made me slip further into the new socket and the seal couldn’t stick to the edges because of this small gap.

He asked me to try push into it and put a little cloth sock around the end to try and help with the seal.

I could walk up and down but as soon as I sat down I could feel it slipping off.

He suggested I would need yet another cast, I was really upset because this would be the 3^rd socket I have had made.

I asked if we should wait 3-6 months to see if I shrink even further, but he said I don’t have much more skin left on the end to go down any more so booked me in for another re-measure and casting.

The next day at home I noticed the end of my stump was badly bruised, it must have been from trying to walk on the bad fitting limb and because of the high level of pain killers im on I didn’t notice it hurting.

So I’m back on my old leg with two wool sock liners.

Looks like I will be doing my trek in my old leg, it’s going to be like doing a trek with a full leg cast on, but if I do it slowly and take my time I hopefully should ok!