Thursday Night's Surgery

While this entry isn't graphic in nature, I do strongly urge parents to read this before allowing young children to read on. That means if you're under 15 - go grab your mom or dad. Otherwise, I'll tell Aunt Dee on you! :)

I apologize for not posting in a few days; we were faced with a difficult decision and, along with my mother's approval we agreed to have surgery Thursday evening to further amputate both her legs through the knees. This is to facilitate walking using prosthesis - both her lower leg bones were too short to allow her to use them otherwise (weight bearing is an issue). My mother said, as the doctors gave their opinions, that she wants to walk.

This is the greatest chance she has of walking.

Another reason that motivated me to agree to this decision is something I haven't shared online. I mentioned previously that her wounds were left open from the amputation so the surgeons could monitor healing of the tissue. What I didn't go into detail over is how excruciatingly painful it is for my mother to endure wound dressing changes on her legs, which happen daily in order to prevent infection.

She had surgery Thursday evening. The anesthesia team came in to prep her at 4:15pm, but the actual surgery probably didn't start until about 6pm... and ended somewhere between 9:30 and 10pm. We received regular updates with the assurance from the surgical nurses that she was doing well. One had even called my Aunt Esy to let us know what an inspiration my mom has been to the hospital staff, and that my mom would be in their prayers. Finally, one of the surgeons came out to let us know everything went well and to let us know, again, that my mother is an inspiration. The other surgeon (there were two) sat down with the family to show us pictures of his work- he performed the skin grafts on her legs. While most people probably wouldn't like to see fresh surgical pictures, please understand that my step-dad, my aunt, and I have all seen my mother's open wounds during her dressing changes. It was such a relief to know that she can finally begin healing. As my aunt has said of my mother, "she's ready to move on to the next level."

Friday morning after the surgery, my mother was in a lot of pain and had a fever. This is normal for post surgery, but needless to say we don't want her to be in pain. She had slept some in the afternoon but during the time she was awake, she was still in a lot of pain. After trying different pain medications throughout the day, the nurses were finally able to find something that helped relieve both pain and anxiety. When I left last night, she was calm and fading in and out of sleep.

Before going into surgery, I had suggested to my mother that she might need to use a wheelchair to get around, but would most likely be able to have her prosthestic legs on so she can get up and walk around when she wants, and still have her wheelchair so that she can rest when she needs to. I've read over and over that having an amputation at the knee level takes up to 80% more energy to walk using prosthesis. Having both legs amputated increases it to more than double that percentage.

I spoke with the prosthesis specialist (a prosthetist) Friday afternoon. She said my mother's number one priority is to heal. Once she is healed, she will be able to go to a rehabilitation center. The prosthetist explained that my mother would most likely first be fitted with a hand prosthesis so that she can learn how to grasp objects (this is the third medical professional to say "this is huge that she still has her thumbs!")... and learn to do basic tasks that most people take for granted, such as brushing her teeth, going to the bathroom, picking up things, etc. This will take some time, but once she is comfortable using her hands, she can then begin learning to walk- This is highly dependent upon my mother's motivation level because it will be very difficult, but she is a brave, strong woman; it's our job to support her during this journey. They'll start her with "stubbies" which will be lower to the ground and weigh much less than a full prosthetic leg... once she gains confidence and mobility, they will increase the height until she is ready for full length legs. The reality of this is, it will be very exhausting for my mother to walk. The prosthetist explained it as, "if you're walking a mile, it will feel like 2 and a half miles to her." Once my mother reaches that point, I'd like to find out how much each prosthetic leg weighs, and then invest in leg weights and wear them myself so I can at least understand how much energy is used to carry the extra weight anywhere she goes when she walks. Of course, I won't understand what it's like to use the concentration level to put them on using her prostetic hands, or to balance on them while walking, or the frustrations she'll invetably face. But I can be there for her.

-Karen