r/amputee•
jay2tall

Considering Right leg BKA. Just tired, experiences and advice welcome.

I'll keep my story short, but knowing me I'll ramble on so my apologies in advance. I am considering a right leg BKA due to ongoing pain and limited movement in my foot an ankle. Dec 21, 2013 I was struck by a car pulling out of a driveway on my motorcycle that broke my leg, ankle, heel and other things. Knocked out all 3 arteries several inches above my ankle and degloved the back of my heel. The docs put it in an x-fix were able to harvest and graft the great saphenous vein in my right leg as a bypass to my foot for a blood supply. They cut fasciotomies and put me on heavy antibiotics. To this day I have been lucky enough not to have any infections. I went to see an ortho specialist who eventually put in an intramedullary tibial nail and had several skin grafts after 3 months on a wound vac. After the nail my foot dropped and toes curled and ended up cutting all flexors in my toes, pinning, and attached a taylor spatial frame to get my foot in walking position. Had that several months and then once off I was in a cam boot a while, but my broken fibula shifted and ended up needing a bone graft, plate, and some more screws. Months later the screws came out, had a z-lengthening on my 4 minor toes, and shaved a chunk of heel bone that fused to the bottom of my heel.
Needless to say I'm tired. Last August was my 11th surgery and have been walking with a cane most times and sometimes without. I've been nursing a few small open wounds that seem to take an eternity to mend. I wear compression socks all day, and have no padding on the ball of my foot so no hard surfaces. I can drive, but took a while to get used to it due to very limited ankle motion. Most evening the pain really ramps up once I'm home and elevate my leg. I can do some outside work, but I pay for it later in spades. I was able to get off the oxy quite a while ago and stick to Tylenol and when it's bad or bed time, tramadol. A few months ago I saw my plastic surgeon about a wound and he asked if I considered a BKA. Ever since, I've been really thinking about it. I talked to my ortho doctor and he said he was going to bring it up eventually and if that's what I want he would do it, but asked I see it through the summer to think it over. I will do that, but I've really considering it. I am 36 and have kids who I really want to be able to enjoy the outdoors and events with. I've been through a lot of pain the last 2.5 years so that really doesn't bother me to much if there is an end game. I really want functionality. I get you can do a lot of things with a prosthetic, but I think I have really silly questions. Once you put your leg on, you can get around, but what do you do when you have to shower, or poop at night? I'm being very serious about that. I spend a lot of time with fixators on my leg and am no stranger to crutches, a walker, or going up the stairs on my butt. What does a normal day look like? Can you drive with a BKA prosthetic or do you need a left foot accelerator? Any general advise is welcome. I think I’ve made up my mind, but really just want real experience and advice, because as my doc said “you can’t put it back on once we take it off”. I’d also be off my blood thinners (Plavix and 81mg aspirin) for my bypass and won’t have to worry about potential future complications or surgeries to keep that going. They’d also of course take out the tibial nail.

Posted May 11, 2016, 2:45 AM UTC

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