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Date Posted: 06:18:55 11/08/02 Fri
Author: Jason
Subject: Re: nearly lost my foot - still might - update
In reply to: Jason 's message, "nearly lost my foot - still might - seeking advice" on 21:49:54 11/04/02 Mon

Well, I saw the doc on Wednesday. I started by asking him to explain his comments from 2 weeks ago where he said (repeatedly) that I could still lose the foot. He clarified it by going into the various things that could have, and still might go wrong. These included things like infection and stuff like that. Was this his way of telling me he's overly pessimistic? I asked him about the likely hood of any of this doom and gloom coming true and he wouldn't give a solid answer. And I guess I can't fault him for that. He said it's not something that needs to be worried about significantly right now, and "you came this close (imagine two fingers almost touching) to losing it the night of the accident". That was his phrase to repeat several times on this visit.

My next attack was on degree of function for the foot. He repeated his comments from last time that walking is almost guaranteed, possibly with a brace of some sort. This matches the ortho doc here in town and the specialist he normally uses for things like this. Anything beyond that would be nice but not to plan on getting much more back. He eventually said that a 50/50 chance of getting more function that walking would be possible, but I would just have to wait and see what actually happens. I asked what happens if in 1 or 2 years I still have only walking and nothing else. He said "be happy you can walk, you came this close....."

My final questions involved the various pains that I get. I described the three most common (and most annoying pains) and he said one of them was the nerve injury. The others he didn't speculate about the cause. He said they might lessen in frequency or intensity, or they may continue. When I asked for how long, he said possibly indefinitely. I did NOT ask for any additional pain drugs. I've got a pain killer and a muscle relaxer, both of which work if I don't take them too often, so I try and take them only on days when it really hurts or if it keeps me from getting a good night sleep.

I think at this time, I'm going to continue with reattaching the rest of the stuff and see what I can get from physical therapy. I don't want to throw away a lottery ticket without scratching it off first, if you know what I mean.

Several friends that I can talk to pretty openly think I should keep the foot no matter what happens. My brother and a guy at work have both heard me talk about the function over flesh theory. My brother just listens and doesn't offer much of an opinion either way (he's just blown away by the whole business, but I can't tell my mom this kind of detail or she'd just totally freak and panic) and the guy from work encourages me to do whatever it takes to get the amount of function I want.

That seems to be the general drift I'm getting from all of you too. Go with what gives me the best combination of mobility and function. And if at some point it becomes necessary to remove the foot (for whatever reason) that life can continue and that it might actually improve.

I'll continue to look for information, ideas and experiences that might help me along the way. And I'm going to keep in touch here because this is one place where I feel everyone can understand what I'm going through and offer some help or guidance.

Thanks to all of you!

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