Acknowledging Reality

[smokeywolf]

Saw my dad through this. You appear to have everything going for you. Support of family and friends will certainly go a long way toward helping you overcome and move on.

Please keep us posted.

smokeywolf

[blackthorn]

Best of luck and our prayers for a speedy recovery.

[theperfessor]

Got notification of surgery date today, will have below-the-knee amputation surgery July 17, probably be out by Monday the 21st. Should be walking a little by Halloween.

I'm laying off my apprentice for a couple months, its usually too hot to work in late July, August, and the first few weeks of September anyway. After that I plan to get out to shop on crutches or in wheelchair until I get a prosthesis.

[David2011]

Best wishes, Keith. We'll all be praying for a speedy and uncomplicated recovery.

David

[gray wolf]

Prayers for you Keith, Julie and I will keep you close in prayer.


Sam

[Echo]

Best wishes, Keith. Fecal matter happens - and it's best to do as you are doing, face it and be flexible. Just keep on keepin' on - we're with you.

[mikeym1a]

God Bless and keep you safe. mikey

[TheCelt]

Praying for your swift recovery Sir, good luck and God bless.

[John Allen]

perfessor, good luck I hope all works out.

[MaryB]

One of those knee walkers where the bad leg could be on the walker and your good foot on the ground for moving might be an idea..

[theperfessor]

MaryB, I've tried one of those and felt real awkward, with a lot of strain on my lower back. I appreciate the suggestion though, thanks for the thought. I think I can do OK using a wheelchair to get around in the house. I know I can get to bathroom door, and it is small enough that I can leave chair at door and lean on walls and sink while I hop around to get to toilet and tub. I have practiced getting in and out of wheelchair and my office chair, kitchen chair, and recliner/bed using upper body strength and one leg. I can get anywhere I need to on main floor of house.

I don't think I will be getting any home nursing care, so I don't think I will be home confined. I should be able to get out of house using wheelchair, I can roll out to shop, get to truck parked beside house and go out to eat with wife, etc. And my doctor expects me to show up at his office four weeks after surgery to get half of staples removed. The last time I was hospitalized I was home confined for several months each time, which makes me get very introverted and somewhat depressed. Not so this time. I have no problem with rolling into a restaurant with one leg of my pants pinned up for a while.

This will make things so much easier on my wife. She has had to wait on me for almost a year. For the last eight months she has had to dress my wounds twice a day, packing strip gauze up into a wound cavity in my heel the size of a ping pong ball. When she pulls it out it is like eviscerating a chicken. And even though we get carry out sometimes, my lack of mobility has required her to pick up the meals she doesn't cook, do all the grocery shopping, etc. All while volunteering in the gift shop of the local hospital, serving as a board member of the literacy center, giving tours as a docent at the museum, and running our mini-storage business. One heck of a lady!

After surgery the only medical treatment I will need from her will be to put Betadyne on the wound scar for a few weeks and wrap a gauze pad around the stump. And I can probably do that myself if need be. This will give her a chance to visit some relatives that live out of town for a few days. She has not tried to influence my decision, but I know she will be relieved that this phase of our life is coming to an end. And so will I.

[Catshooter]

Good for you for marrying a good one. Good for her for being one.

I think that's what "for better and for worse" means, doesn't it?


Cat

[Ramar]

Still praying for you...
Ramar

[41 mag fan]

You need any help Keith..I'm 20 min away...don't hesitate to call....I live right over here by Chandler now not in Princeton anymore

[Bored1]

I have a few suggestions from working as a nurse and seeing the results of many accident's after surgery.

Please, please, please install reenforced grab bars in your bathroom and another in the shower. No matter how small the bathroom is, grab bars are essential in your safety after surgery! Everything in your bathroom is generally harder than you and losing your balance is surprisingly easy. They are not hard to install, but please follow the directions and install them as recommended. A great place for one is generally where your bath towel rack is located. (Normally in front of the toilet and within reach from the shower). DO NOT PUT TOWELS ON THE GRAB BARS! In the event that you need the bar, many times you will grab the towel and slip of the bar. Many instances of the extended after surgery rehab I have seen are due to falls in the bathroom. It only takes a second to fall and it takes much longer to heal.

Also move any furniture that can not support your weight out of the path of planned hopping. I've seen plenty of people who loved a certain end table in a certain spot in the hallway and planned to just hop around it, lost their balance and had a fall that was much worse than it would've been without the piece of furniture in the way.

You will probably be able to complete the after surgery would care yourself, however please have someone other than yourself at least look at the wound daily. Cell phone pictures are incredibly handy with wound documentation.(HIPPA prevents healthcare workers from doing this, however you can do what you want with your own pics or "information") Pictures assist with concrete evidence of what the wound is doing, ie improving, stabilizing, worsening etc. Pictures also give your doctor more information, being able to show "big" "little" "oozy" "green" etc in terms black and white without any personal interjections or interpretation needed.

I would also suggest looking at local thrift stores for a wheelchair. Most can be had for less than 1/10 of a few weeks rental cost, and are generally in great shape due to only being used for a few weeks/months after a surgery, just as you plan you use it. Main things I would look for are be able to fold in sideways and no missing pieces. Your seem extremely mechanically inclined so you will not have any problem understanding how to adjust brakes, etc once looking at it.

[9w1911]

Get well soon sir!!

[theperfessor]

Bored1 -

Thanks very much for some very thoughtful and useful advice.

1. Have grab bars already in shower. Our downstairs bathroom is so small that there is literally no wall space on which to put a grab bar outside of the shower. You would have to see the layout.

2. We've already repositioned all the fragile furniture away from any traffic path. It was necessary to make room for a wheelchair. I won't be hopping anywhere really, except for one step into the bathroom, and I can leave a walker right inside the door where I can't mount a grab bar.

3. Photos are another good idea. We've been taking them all along to document the healing so far - and it is these that show that one wound hasn't healed much at all in eight months. I am not positive what after-surgery care I will be receiving, but he doctor has said nothing about home nursing care. The only reason i was getting it before was that I was using a wound vac and needed a trained health care professional to change that out. My wife is not a trained nurse or anything like it but she has been doing this so long for me that she and I both know what is normal or abnormal. We know what to look for and smell for, and neither one of us are shy about calling a doctor to report any problems. I tend to heal well from clean surgical procedures, but you never know. I have access to my family doctor (5 minutes away), my podiatrist (5 minutes away), and an emergency room at the local hospital (10 minutes away), even if I can't get hold of my vascular surgeon (20 minutes away).

4. I've got real good insurance, and all expenses for wheelchair rental will be paid by them for a period of time long enough to recover. Otherwise I would be doing exactly as you suggest.

Thanks again for a thoughtful, helpful, and considerate post.

[MaryB]

With my bad back I added grab bars in the bathroom. They have literally saved my life from a fall that could have killed me. Also make getting off the toilet easier with a leg that doesn't always work

[dragonrider]

Keith with myself being diabetic I am watching this post with considerable interest. Can't imagine having to make the decision remove a foot, for me that would be a very difficult decision. I am praying for your recovery to be smooth and painless and quick. I may need your services again so no slouching on the couch. ya here?

[theperfessor]

It would have been very hard to decide this eight months ago. After eight months of pain and incapacity the decision is pretty darned easy to make. Wouldn't wish this on anyone else.

Before surgery I'm going to have several steak dinners, maybe some baby back ribs - got to build myself up a little! And after I get through surgery I'm going to buy myself an air pistol so I can get in a little trigger time. I can get about 7 yards clear in the shop. Positive reinforcement all the way around.

Better times ahead!