# Amputation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245 "2020-03-11T03:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/21 "2020-03-27T02:31:16Z")
**StG** , hugs and good wishes for your sister. Having a diagnosis is especially helpful I’ll bet. I wish you peace and good luck. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/22 "2020-06-01T01:16:41Z")
My sister has done 3 rounds of chemo. They’re now quite sure that the spots in her lung aren’t cancer, but probably scar tissue from a previous pneumonia. The last scan showed the tumor had shrunk in one area, but grown in another. She’s scheduled for the amputation on Friday. StG ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/23 "2020-06-01T02:47:27Z")
I’m glad it doesn’t seem to have spread to her lungs! Wish her well from the random internet strangers. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/24 "2020-06-01T02:56:59Z")
Best wishes! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/25 "2020-06-01T03:08:17Z")
That’s good news about her lungs. Hope she makes a swift recovery from the amputation (physically - emotionally is going to be harder). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/26 "2020-06-01T07:19:43Z")
Best wishes, StG. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/27 "2020-06-05T19:03:36Z")
My sister had her amputation today. She’s come through surgery okay, but they ended up taking it off above the knee, saying they didn’t like the look of the tissue below. That will make recovery a lot harder, but I know my sister wanted them to be aggressive. What’s frustrating is, she may have kept her knee if the doctors had done the amputation 3 months ago, when they first said it needed to be done immediately. StG ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/28 "2020-06-06T04:46:45Z")
I had the same tumor type and the same slow diagnosis. Had 3 surgeries and radiation therapy spread over 5 months. That was 7 years ago. Hang in there. Best wishes to your sister and you. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/29 "2020-06-06T15:17:04Z")
> [@alnath](#): > > I had the same tumor type and the same slow diagnosis. Had 3 surgeries and radiation therapy spread over 5 months. That was 7 years ago. Hang in there. Best wishes to your sister and you. Thank you, **alnath**. May I ask the location of your tumor? Was it rhabdo? StG ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/30 "2020-06-06T16:31:25Z")
Glad that she came through surgery, and hope things go well from here. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/31 "2020-06-10T19:56:00Z")
Mrs. S had a below the knee amp almost three years ago because of cancer. The pain from the amp will hurt for a while, but it will dissipate. There will be pain as she gets use to a prosthetic, but luckily BTK prosthesis is usually pretty functional. My wife still gets odd sensations from time to time, last night the foot she doesn’t have was asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/32 "2020-06-12T15:59:21Z")
Mine was not exactly the same. Histocytic sarcoma, upper arm. It’s another oddball. I ignored it for years, then finally had it checked by a general surgeon. He had no idea what it was and did not aggressively go after it. I went to a major teaching hospital for the rest of the process. I get annual imaging studies as a surveillance measure. All good so far! Hang in there. Once you stop being shocked you will start living pretty normally again. Best of luck! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/33 "2020-08-22T19:13:13Z")
After all that, my sister went in yesterday for more biopsies on her lungs. The cancer has spread there. Of course, it all happened on a Friday night, so now no plans can be made until Monday at the earliest. But this is very bad news. StG ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/34 "2020-08-22T19:19:01Z")
Oh, @StGermain… I am so, so sorry. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/35 "2020-08-23T19:53:59Z")
Oh no! Despite the fact your extended family are veterans of all this stuff the future can’t/won’t be easy. Best wishes for the best possible outcome from here. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/36 "2020-08-23T21:53:10Z")
It never gets easier. This sister has twin granddaughters due in October. StG ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/37 "2020-08-24T00:59:40Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The purpose was to have her completely out of pain for a significant amount of time, like, an entire day-- a whole 24-hr stretch. IIRC, this was to prevent phantom pain. If she was in a great deal of pain at the time of the surgery, her brain might continue to experience the pain, but if the pain went away, then there wouldn’t be any pain in the missing part of her leg. Wow, I have never heard of this. I will keep it in mind [I have a friend who may be looking at a similar amputation, she had compartmentilization in her left leg that they have been working on dealing with] I am so sorry that cancer not only runs in her family, it gallops maniacally. I will hope for a decent resolution. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/38 "2020-08-24T01:31:21Z")
Well, what you need to remember was that this was a necessary amputation, but not an emergent one-- it wasn’t after a crush accident, or for a really aggressive cancer, so there was the luxury of doing this. I’m not sure everyone has this choice. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/39 "2020-08-27T01:22:16Z")
My sister got her prosthesis yesterday. She said the PT folks were impressed by her first-day master of things like being able to turn around. One day in and I think she’s cleared to walk with a walker. She cancer the surgeon who did the amputation told her “go out walking and get as much exercise as you can, and try to forget about the lung cancer.” My sister told her it was easier to say that from her side of the desk. She’s still waiting for the complete pathology report on the cells they removed, and the plans going forward. StG ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245/40 "2020-08-27T05:04:27Z")
My aunt had her amputation long enough ago that her first “leg” was a pylon. The cast over the amputation, once it had healed well enough for the stitches to be removed (it was kept elevated to prevent swelling, and she took anti-inflammatories), had a screw fitting, and a metal dowel was scewed into it-- there were choices of lengths down to a 1/2 cm-- then a “foot” --looked a cartoon foot-- was screwed into that. There were different sizes of those, too, and they picked one that matched her other foot in length and width. They had heel up to an inch depending on the shoe she’d brought. They told her to try to walk around her room as often as possible, with a Lofstrand crutch, and to try walking around the floor as soon as she thought she could. Moving on it, the cast pressure, elevating it, and NSAIDS all kept the swelling down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation/849245.md?page=3)