making a life changing choice

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Going over your concerns with your friend could help a lot. That way if you get sidetracked, they can bring it up or remind you.

I've been working on my argument for having an amputation for the past week. I'm still VERY worried that my doctor will not agree to do it. What really bothers me is that a lot of times, the doctors personal feelings towards amputations are usually that amputation is equal to failure. They'd rather see their patient have their limb even if it's painful and barely usable.

I do have valid medical reasons for requesting an amputation, but I'm worried the doctor won't agree to do it because they haven't done everything possible to fix my ankle as much as they can.

I don't want to go through years of surgery to keep a half functional and painful foot.


I've heard doctors say that even if they can fix a limb just enough so that the patient has it for another decade, and then it still results in an amputation, it's a good thing.

What about all the time wasted by the patient who is limping around in pain on a half functional foot when they could have been living a full, active life!?

Sorry if this post doesn't make much sense. I'm just ranting about it because I'm worried that this doctor will share the view that amputation equals failure and refuse to do my amputation.
That rejection would be really hard on me right now. I know I can just go to another doctor, but the added time of waiting for appointments for yet another doctor would drive me insane!

I'm gonna try as hard as I can next week to convince him that I see this as my best option.

Good luck. Wouldn't the doctor have to show some preference over your concerns over whatever views he may have personally? Just make sure to express what you want clearly, and let them know you feel definite about it.

Ideally, yes. But doctors are usually taught that amputation should only be a last resort when all other surgical options have failed. I've read so much from people who have had several dozen operations over the course of years to try and salvage a damaged limb. Many times, once they have finally had an amputation, they start wishing they had done it sooner so they wouldn't have had to waste years of their lives on painful and expensive operations.

I'm gonna try and be as assertive as I can in saying "This is what I want to do. I won't accept anything else. I'm not going to go through several surgeries that can only fix SOME of the problems in my foot when theres absolutely no way to fix it so this won't happen again!"

The only problem is that assertiveness is one of my weak points in face to face conversations.

So I had my followup appointment with my orthopedic surgeon today and it went very well! My friend went with me and helped a lot with the conversation. Between the two of us, I was able to convey all of my concerns and goals.

I said that I want to get back to being able to run and hike. The doc said that that wasn't really possible with my ankle the way it is. Then my friend stepped into the conversation and talked about her injury and subsequent amputation. She said that her and I have been talking about it and agreed that an amputation would be best for me. This took some of the stress off me because I was really worrying about how to bring this up.

After some conversation about my reasoning for requesting an amputation, he agreed that it would be a good choice and agreed to do the surgery.

Now the only thing that may be a problem is if my insurance company will agree to pay for the surgery since it's not absolutely necessary, it's more of a quality of life issue. My doctor said he will call my insurance company to try and get approval for the surgery. I have another appointment in 3 weeks, so hopefully by then I'll have a date scheduled for my surgery!

I'm glad you have persued what you want. Good luck. Hope you find life with less pain.

A little frustrated with my doctor today. At the end of my appointment earlier this week, he said that he felt that amputation is a good choice and if I'm sure about it, he'd do it. He said he needed to check with my insurance to make sure they'll pay for the surgery.
I called his office yesterday to see if he had gotten approval from my insurance yet. I spoke to one of the nurses who talked to him about it. She said he had not called my insurance yet because "He's still not completely gung ho about amputation."

This is really frustrating for me because my family and I have already started preparing for my surgery. This is causing a lot of uncertainty about what is gonna happen and when. My goal is to have surgery in mid June because the lease on my apartment is up and I need to be out by the end of June. And I need to know when I'm gonna have surgery so I can make arrangements at work. I'm using my 2 weeks vacation right after my surgery so I'll still have some money coming in for a while.

The uncertainty my doctor is causing is driving me insane! I hate these situations where I don't exactly know what's going to happen
My next appointment is a week from Monday. I'm gonna take all of the literature I have on elective amputation to hopefully make him see that I've done my research and that I'm serious about this!

Can you call the office again, ask the Doctor to call you back to discuss this?

It's fair that the he should follow through with what was agreed or let you know any other concerns.

Sounds like a bad choice of phrase for the nurse to use, maybe that's just me.

I have an uncle who had to have an entire leg amputated after a car smashed into him. He moves around fairly well, even though he doesn't have the best of replacements. Chances are, that limb will be amputated bit by bit due to circulation problems, so I say have it removed so that the risk of infection is eliminated as well as the pain.

Just had another appointment with my ortho surgeon yesterday. He asked me if I was still sure I wanted to have the amputation. I said yes, and he started talking about scheduling the surgery!

He did say that he was still kinda worried about my insurance covering the surgery since technically, my amputation is "elective".

I don't see it as elective. If I want to have an active life again, I NEED this amputation.

I should know by tomorrow if my insurance will pay for surgery and what my surgery date will be. Should be mid to late June.

Congrats! I wish you the best and hope you can reason with your insurance company.

I hope this lands in your favour.

Talked to someone at my doctors office today and finally got a date for my surgery.

4 weeks from tomorrow, I'm gonna become a below knee amputee!

Gonna talk to my doc about at what level to do the amputation. It needs to be high enough to give me enough clearance so I can wear a running foot (like this one http://www.ossur.com/?PageID=16652).

Very excited!! !! !

I'm glad you have got what you wanted.

Those spring feet look really funky.