I'm an amputee..ask me anything!

[HappinessIsKey]

Thought I would start a thread, as a young (ish) woman, who has had a below knee amputation..

Since having my leg removed friends and family have always had a lot of questions about what's it's like etc..

I constantly get stared at and sometimes even followed, when I go out. So I thought I would start a thread to answer questions people have about it..

You ask me whatever you like, I will answer them!

Don't worry I'm a rough cookie, so can handle any questions 😊

How have you found acceptance of losing your leg?

Were you bitten by a shark? :o
Seriously, what's the worst thing about it, and are there any things you'd assume would be awful but actually aren't?

I'm sorry you had that. Were you in an accident?

Do you ever forget you don’t have one foot and try to stand up?

(I mean when you don’t have your prosthetic on)

Sorry this has happened to you.
Do you get phantom limb pain?

Do you have dc and did it hurt more than childbirth if you do? Do you use a prosthetic? If you do how long did it take to get the hang of it?

Fission that made me laugh. I could totally see myself doing that if I was an amputee

Have you ever embellished how you lost your limb just for the fun of it ?

I don't know how to articulate this question, I hope it makes sense!

Following on from the question about phantom limb pain, do you feel like you can wiggle phantom toes?

Do you have more than one prosthetic eg a fixed one and one that bends at the ankle for example or ones for different uses?

Have you ever played a trick on someone using your prosthetic/limb?

Are you always aware that you're walking with a prosthetic, or do you sometimes forget?

Wow didn't expect so many questions straight away!
@theemmadilemma I found it very easy at first, as my leg had lots of infections, which was causing slowly killing me. So when the surgeons first amputated my leg, I loved it. But I do find at times it very difficult and get upset.

@StealthPolarBear No I wasn't 😂 I wish I had a more interesting story than mine!

@FissionChips when I first had my leg chopped off, the surgeons warned me I would forget I didn't have a leg anymore and to be careful..I came out of hospital the same day..waking up the next morning I got out of bed and completely forgot and smashed my little leg as I call it
(stump) straight down and split all the wound open. I have never forgot since then!!

@HollowTalk Yes I was. I was 22 at the time of the accident. I was hit by a drink driver. I had a brain injury,shattered my pelvis, numerous broken bones, and severed my sciatic nerve. This resulted in me losing all feeling and use from my lower back down to my foot. It was four years after the accident that I had to have my leg amputated

I got out of bed and completely forgot and smashed my little leg as I call it
(stump) straight down and split all the wound open

That’s awful.

How long does it take you to put your prosthetic limb on? And do you wear it every day or if you are staying at home do you give yourself a break from it?

Thank you

@Ihopeyourcakeisshit I get horrific phantom nerve pain. The specialists said that because I had had my leg for such a long time, my brain might never be able to forget that I had a leg.
And it hasn't. I suffer tremendous pain daily as a result. My brain is constantly sending signals down to my leg, to see if it's still there (if that makes sense) my bodies reaction to this is to send pain signals back.

@BillywigSting After the accident, I was told that it would be absolutely impossible to be pregnant, as my pelvis was so shattered.

Four years later I got pregnant! When I fell pregnant, I didn't have a prosthetic leg, as my nerves didn't work my wound took over 18 months to heal.
We had to play it week by week with the consultants, but luckily I made it to 38 weeks.
I did have to have a c section.
I refused to use a wheelchair so hopped my whole pregnancy 😂 and didn't get my prosthetic until my first DS was two months old

It took me ages to get use to having a leg. I had to learn to walk again, just like a baby does. You have to teach your brain to put all its trust into something you can't feel. It was a very difficult long process.

@NamelessGem Yep on many occasions 😊 the stories get more and more dramatic, the more I get asked..it's my DH's favourite part of me having one leg..the utterly ludicrous stories he makes up. And people believe them every single time 😂

@Iputthescrewinthetuna yes for example my heel itches sometimes, or I can move all my toes even though they are not there

@OhMyGodTheyKilledKenny I have just had my new second leg. The problem is your stump shrinks over time so the leg doesn't fit anymore. The leg I have is £22,000. It's just a basic leg, the foot doesn't bend or anything, but I have a skin out over the top of it that makes it look more realistic like it has beauty spots, little hair follicle dots on it, a few wrinkles on my toes etc..

I have done some highly embarrassing jokes with my stump 🙈

@oopslateagain no I have to always be aware that I have a prosthetic. I can never allow myself to forget..trip hazards etc, saying that I still regularly make a fool of myself falling over 🤦‍♀️

What do you do about shoes? Sorry for the blunt question but I have only knowingly seen male amputees, always in trousers and you can't really see how the shoe on the amputated leg is worn. As a woman,when you want new shoes, what do you do? Buy a pair? Do ordinary shoes fit on a prosthetic?Do you have to buy special shoes?

Hi OP,

My family member lost a leg at 17 (in his 50s now).

He's done loads of film work as an extra - although this probably peaked in his 20s when he was in all sorts of battlefield movies - but he still gets occasional work.

Would you/have you been offered the opportunity to do this? Would you fancy it, or too weird?

Is the prosthetic comfortable, or is it a relief to get it off at the end of the day (like when you take your bra off and everything goes "whooo that's better"!)

Oh & with the shoe question - can't speak for OP but my relative apparently has an Expensive Trainer Buddy he met online - same size, opposite leg amputated. They share a pair quite often.

Don't know if that's a regular thing?

Also, you did say ask anything, how much weight did you lose when your leg was removed? Ie, how much does a lower leg weigh?

Perhaps more sensible question: have you set yourself any goals, e.g. to climb a mountain or something similar, with your prosthetic leg, and have you managed to achieve that?

I LOVE the thought of an expensive trainer buddy

@FissionChips yes it was..I split it all open and could see all the bone. I have had some bad accidents. Not long after I had my leg amputated, one of the worst accidents was I fell asleep in front of my log burner. I can't feel any of my left lower side, and didn't know until I woke up that my stump had been touching the log burner and I had a third degree burn..

Sorry if I'm being too graphic!

@hardheadedwoman literally takes less than a minute to put on. I put a silicone sock on first, which has a pin at the very bottom and then push my stump into the leg. The pin goes into a hole and it clicks into place.

Because I can't feel my stump, I don't ever know if it's rubbing in places or I'm getting pressure sores, so I have to take it off every couple of hours and check my little leg is ok.

Yea when I'm at home, I leave it off the majority of the time. Main reason being it's a bloody pain in the bum trying to pull skinny jeans over a silicone leg! Takes ages!