Amputees Support Group

Sorry for your father, Yes you do need upper body strength and balance plus a strong mind. I am not sure on how to advise you or tell you. I do wish you all of the luck that you will need to pull through this. Be strong for him and help him out as much as possible.

Dennis

my question is this..If he doesn't have anything done would it end up killing him? If not leave it be if he would die, then give him a fighting chance..The doctors told my uncle that his leg was gangreen and If they took it off it might kill him but If they didn't it would kill him..He chose to keep his leg and he did pass away..I'm diabetic and have lost both big toes and should I be asked to remove my leg as much as I love my body parts I'm going to give life a chance..
Tammy

Upper body strength does help, but as a 59 year old couch potato, I've found that most of the really important things can be done with one leg and a couple of so-so arms. If he is like most 80 year old men I know of, he's got some surprising muscles in those arme, maybe just hasn't shown it. As for myself, I don't care if it's the most ungraceful way of mobility, If I wan to get somewhere, I'll butt-scoot or do the three legged crabwalk to get where I want to go, then use whatever I can reach to get vertical again and do whatever it was I had in mind to do. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out exactly HOW to accomplish something, but for the most part, it works out. I've never had to resort to the sliding board, but I have a lot of nice holds I can reach to get around, up and down. So, if his mental condition is such that he's able to be active, he'd probably do fine if he has the amputation. And, if he can have a prosthetic afterward, he might surprise the heck out of everybody.

I've come to realize that a lot of the caregivers of someone who has had an amputation tend to presume being missing a leg or arm is much more devastating than the person who actually has the amputation views it. We tend to imagine a worst case scenario, then realize "Hey, there's still stuff I can do for myself!" because until you're in that boat, you can't figure out how you'd paddle it and get around. But once you ARE, you begin to see ways to do things. A lot of it requires "thinking outside the box" and often requires a whole new "WHAT box?" mentality.

Example: recently I was at my friend Irene's. She is convinced I can't do much, and having the typical nurturing, caretaking genes in massive abundance, tries to be there to do things for me. One morning, we were outside and I needed to go get something in her front room, so just decided to let her work on what she was doing and go get it myself. So there I am, made it toher front door, when she starts calling my name in a panicy tone. I shout that I'm at her front door and she's AMAZED that I had transferred from an old recliner that;s outside, to my wheelchair, wheeled across about 25 feet of desert dust, transferred out of the chair onto the steps, and got the door open and ready to buttscoot through the front room.


Which I proceeded to do, got the papers I wanted to look at, and reversed the process. I think by the time I was back at the recliner and got in, she'd figured out I wasn't so darned crippled up as she'd imagined. I looked at her and said, "But I *STILL* can't carry my dang coffee cup..." (Wheelchair won't go into her place very well, so I have to use crutches)

Point is, if he's got the mentality to solve problems, odds are, he won't have too rough a time of adjusting to it.

This is one of those times when you and he have got to have a very serious conversation and ultimately, he has to evaluate his own abilities and potentials. If he does that, as I had the opportunity to before my amputation, odds are he'll make a fairly good transition.

Good luck to him, and I hope all goes well!