Foot Fusion vs Amputation - Amputation / Prosthetic Message Board

APC · 07-15-2009, 12:55 AM

28yrs,male,married with 3 small kids.toronto,canada

At 18, I fell 65feet breaking my left wrist, left thigh, and smashed my right ankle. After 20+ surgeries over 3 years my ankle was left fused from going left/right, my toes were locked sticking straight out, and i lost a little up/down movement. however I could walk, run, etc... just with a lot of pain. Doctor told me I would need future surgery, but he wanted me to go back to school and get my life back together. 10 years later, im married with kids. I am one to never sit still, always want to be outdoors, etc...
Last year I got a motorcycle and stopped while in a turn, causing the bike fall to the right and crush my leg. Spiral fracture to right tibia, and had more
hardware put in me. right after that surgery I noticed I lost all the movement in my right ankle. doctor doesn't know why, think arthritis, and did arthroscopy to clean it out.. he said he got full movement when i was under, but i certainly dont have any now.he is only recommending fusion now. althogh i am in a cast for 6 more weeks before that can happen.

my problem is that besides my ankle movement, I have lots of pain in the bones along my foot, and my toes are no good. I've read a lot on fusion, and I hear people are still in pain, go through more surgeries, and end up causing more problems to other areas of the body. my legs,knees,back,etc already are painful and have problems. I really don't think fusion will work for me and im tired of years in hospital/therapy. I need my life, lifestyle back, for me and my kids.
I've spoken to people and have fully prepared myself for life without the foot. I know my life will be so much better, for me and kids. im very young and don't want meds forevermore, and crutches and wheelchair...

how can I approach my doctor about this? he needs to know that he's not cutting off a "good leg" and that I really want this. has anyone else gone through something like this?
if i agree to fusion, then that will be at least2 more years before we know if it did anything. not to mention the likelyhood for future surgeries. my youngest is 14 months now, and I've never been able to walk and hold her, push a stroller, take her to the park, anything...

please help.thanks

shelleybutn · 07-15-2009, 03:17 PM

i would not jump to amputation yet. my fusion is just over a year out and feels awesome compared to what it was before. i would try to fix it first. i think no foot will be a LOT worse then a fixed foot with maybe some pain.

shelley

APC · 07-15-2009, 06:59 PM

Normally I would think the same thing... but I've been dealing with this for so long now. 5 of the last 10 years I've spent off work, doing nothing but surgeries and rehab. It's easy to say "lets try again with something else", but really how long can we do this. Each surgery comes with such a long recovery period afterwards and at some point, we have to do what we think is best. By no means do I think people with below-knee amputation live an easy life, but it would finally give me the freedom to do everything with my kids and get active again.
I spoke to my physiotherapist about it and she says the same thing, to give fusion a try...
My issues are:
- I have a lot more problems with my foot then just the ankle, so I don't see how fusion will be the answer
- My right knee is not doing so well, and fusion will end up transfering the problem to knee and other parts of foot
- Left leg is getting worse, by taking 100% of my weight for the past year
- If I do fusion and it doesn't work, I can always go to amputation... but there's a chance fusion could cause more problems to other areas... i'm not sure i could risk that

... and honestly I just can't take anymore surgeries and years in rehab. I take so much medication, I don't sleep, and I'm missing out on everything with my kids... I feel that if I just had the foot removed, I would be so much better off.

Are there any below-knee amputees that could give me their perspective on how their lifesystle is now... the good and the bad.

Thanks!

Titchou · 07-15-2009, 07:43 PM

Talk about your long rehab...and endless refittings of your prothesis over the years. I have a friend who had this due to circulation issues and it's not something you want to do without a great deal of thought. Flying, taking a shower, many things will drastically change. Think about having to get up during the night if something happened to your house or one of your children. You have to stop and get crutches or strap on the prosthesis....not a simple process.

Check out the fusion...it might work and that would be huge plus.

APC · 07-15-2009, 10:46 PM

I have seen so many amputees come and go so quickly in rehab. Meanwhile I'm still there and not improving. My life now is nothing but wheelchairs, crutches, shower seats, and planning ahead wherever I go. So I think I should be ok for the most part... Main difference is rather than more pain and limping, unable to run, etc.. I would be able to do everything.
With all my nerve damage, I already get the "phantom pains" in my leg and I know how frustrating they are. I hear they get pains on the stub itself, so I'm not sure how that will be... but for prothesis, they've come a long way... simply roll on your rubber sock over the stub and push into your prothesis.. not too hard. And I'll take refittings over more surgery anyday.