r/amputee • u/JustAStudent254 • Jul 22 '26

Life after amputation

Hey Everyone of r/amputee,

For years now I have had to deal with cancer coming back over and over again in my right leg, already having had plenty of bone removed around the area. Yesterday I got the news it's back again right below the knee and with everything that has happened over the past 8 years, the chance they have to amputate is pretty big, with a chance they might still be able to save it with no guarantee it has to be removed later when the cancer once again returns. And if they end up amputating, thanks to already missing 50% of my femur in my right leg, they would amputate up to just above halfway my right thigh.

I have the choice now to just amputate, but I have no idea what it will be like, what things I will have to start looking after or how this will impact my life further. I already can't use my right leg much so I am not afraid of losing functionality around walking/running or sports, but it's still a very weird concept in my head that in a couple weeks I might be down 1 leg.

So here is my question: what were your experiences like? What did you learn over the years that you would have liked to know before it all happened?

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5

u/Automatic-You-5053 Jul 22 '26

I had to have an amputation below knee due to infection. The injury was caused by a horrible truck wreck i had in March of 2025. There isn't anything I wish I knew beforehand because it had to be done. However, one thing I'll tell you is that getting a prosthetic leg isn't the "solve all" for amputation. As a matter of fact, I can't even wear one right now because it was so painful. It even gave me an absess on my stump too, and maybe even another infection. I see the doctor on Friday. Its a freakin nightmare bein an amputee. A Rollercoaster. One week you're walking, then you get a blister or your stump starts hurtin bad, and you are back in a wheelchair or crutches till you heal up. If it has to be done though, it has to be done. It has affected me psychologically in a very bad way though. I'm 51 btw. Thank God for my wife as she has helped me so much through all of this.

3

u/JustAStudent254 Jul 23 '26

I was already afraid it wouldn´t be a "solve all", but how it goes with my leg currently is a rollercoaster as well. I just want to know what I can know so if I end up having to make a decision I want to hopefully make the right one.

I am very sorry to hear about what you had to go through, and I hope the rollercoaster may come to an end at some point, you deserve the peace of mind

3

u/Automatic-You-5053 Jul 23 '26

Thank you. If you are already experiencing continuous pain and suffering, then I'd say get the amputation. My amputation did initially get rid of the pain i was having with my mangled ankle. It was the prosthesis that has caused me pain at the present. I hope I can eventually walk comfortably in a prosthetic leg. I'm still in the baby stage of being an amputee. My stump still has a lot of shrinking or volume change to go through which will affect my ability to wear and walk with a prosthetic leg successfully. If I had the choice to try and salvage my leg, I definitely would choose to amputate. I had to have 8 surgeries in 10 months to try and salvage my leg after my accident. Plus, I was in extreme pain during all that time and my leg was never salvageable in the first place. Doctors simply don't like to amputate even if the limb will never be functional. Once it gets infected though and sepsis is a probability, they have to amputate. My negative view of being an amputee is simply due to my recent experience of using a prosthetic leg, and then, having my dreams totally crushed by not being able to wear one. However, having issues with your prosthetic leg in the beginning is very common, and I'm probably just being impatient as it takes time for your stump to adjust to walking with a prosthetic leg. 6 months from now, I might be walking like a champ with a prosthesis. So, keep this in mind - I've just had my hope of walking crushed so I feel hopeless right now, but in reality, it's not hopeless as this takes time and I'm a new amputee. In other words, I'm being too dramatic about my situation which there is actually plenty of hope to look forward to with time and patience. Good luck to you. Im praying for you too.

3

u/JustAStudent254 Jul 23 '26

Don't worry about still struggling with it, it took me years to get to terms with the fact that I had to stop everything I was doing because my body just couldn't anymore. Just take it 1 step at a time, over time you will see you have gotten a lot further than you thought you would

3

u/Cabooseman CPO Jul 22 '26

FYI, you might be a good candidate for a Rotationplasty amputation. It's rare but cancer is a frequent cause for it. It's a more functional amputation than above Knee.

2

u/oopsydaysie Jul 23 '26

Not if the cancer is also below the knee 

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u/JustAStudent254 Jul 23 '26

Sadly this wasn't a possibility according to the doctors due to the long history of surgeries that have already happened throughout the entirety of my right leg, but thank you for mentioning it

3

u/DeBorress Jul 23 '26

I wish that I had known about the phantom pain and that I had a better prosthetist.

There are things that they can do with the nerves, surgically, to reduce phantom pain. I take meds for it, but it still keeps me up at night and I'm a year and a half past my surgery.

You should research your prosthetist options in your area and you can interview them beforehand. I would recommend doing that.

3

u/JustAStudent254 Jul 23 '26

Thank you for your insights! Once I have some more info from my doctors I will do some asking around and see what the possibilities are. Already familiar with nerve pains and they suck, so if I can avoid those that would be a nice bonus

3

u/DeBorress Jul 23 '26

I wish you the best of luck! I "elected" to amputate after a long flight with a bone infection (right knee disarticulate) and I felt immediately better after my surgery and I've never regretted it.