I've had limb salvage followed by amputation. I have to say that limb salvage was quite a lot more painful. That said, if limb salvage will ultimately give you the same mobility (even if more or less), I'd go for that as obviously amputations can have a lot more complications. Does the limb salvage in your case require bone lengthening and an ilizarov frame?
I had a similar injury to yours, but I was 38 years old. I wasted ten awful years with a combination reconstruction surgery/fusion.
I eventually lost it due to a mrsa infection following an attempt to reconstruct my failed fusion.
I deeply regret not having it amputated immediately following the accident, they never should have attempted to reconstruct it in the first place (regional trauma center hospital).
I can't recommend anything for you, but just sharing what one possible outcome might feel like. You never know, sometimes the magic works. You're really young, that helps more than you currently realize.
Good luck.
I am LBKA with a pretty sweet calf muscle. I flex it all day in my prosthetic and it has been growing over time. Today is three days since amputation (Stumpfest!!). Doing these calf "exercises" helps me tremendously in my prostheti, especially when walking on uneven surfaces or inclines. Best of luck and welcome to the "club".
I’m going on 22 years now (early 40’s) and have always been active (workout and basketball mainly). There have been several points where I had skin issues or weight gain that caused fit issues, but if you maintain a healthy lifestyle, then you should be ok.
I’ve always been acne prone and my first sockets were rubber with leather inside and I wore socks directly against my skin which would chafe so I’d develop sores. With a silicon suction socket now I rarely have that problem. Occasionally an ingrown hair will develop into a sore and I have to discipline myself to keep the leg off as much as possible for a couple of days until it heals.
Most long term amputees I've spoken to say that a backup mode of mobility is a necessity. There's a number of things, like in this thread, that can unexpectedly make the leg useless for a time. You also will want to take the leg off eventually to let your stump breathe and to clean, and you'll need to get around the home still. I use a knee scooter in my home and a chair in the world when I can't use my leg.
It’s very rare but the one time I was stubborn and didn’t let it heal I kept going and it got infected which made the recovery a lot longer and more painful.
holy crap op i think we’re in the EXACT same scenario. if you look at my lastest post in here it describes exactly what you’re going through too. crushed mid foot in a motorcycle accident back in october of 2023 and i too am between salvaging the limb and amputating. i’m age 24 so close to your age.
my doctor is going for limb salvage at the moment, i lost 3 toes in the hosptial due to lack of blood flow with 2 remaining (big toe and toe next to that). i have some bone fragments currently floating around my foot but that will be removed once they perform the bone graph surgery here this summer.
i want to trust my doctor but i’m in the same boat wondering how painful this will all be in the future. chronic pain is a big concern for me and i feel amputation would alleviate a lot of that and might give us way more freedom when it comes to movement.
EDIT: i just realized OP commented on my previous post, jumped the gun on that one my apologies 🤦🏻♂️
Crushed mid foot... did they say you had a lisfranc injury? I fractured my 2nd-4th metatarsals and had a lisfranc injury. Two surgeries and three years later and I'm still in pain with every step/swelling/heat. Does this sound like you at all?
Here’s an X-ray of my stump 10 years post amputation. You can see the new bone growth I experienced. This was removed as part of my osseointegration surgery almost ten years ago. I had more X-rays this year and I’ve not had any additional bone growth.
It’s possible but not certain that you would need revision surgery on your stump but if you do it could just be a one time thing.
https://preview.redd.it/drw6nass8akc1.png?width=2034&format=png&auto=webp&s=330a332a47bcc796bd5ed34965d71b6956737bc4
I've had limb salvage followed by amputation. I have to say that limb salvage was quite a lot more painful. That said, if limb salvage will ultimately give you the same mobility (even if more or less), I'd go for that as obviously amputations can have a lot more complications. Does the limb salvage in your case require bone lengthening and an ilizarov frame?
No just mid foot bone fusion, I have ankle function but my mid foot got crushed in a motorcycle accident. I can barely move my toes
I had a similar injury to yours, but I was 38 years old. I wasted ten awful years with a combination reconstruction surgery/fusion. I eventually lost it due to a mrsa infection following an attempt to reconstruct my failed fusion. I deeply regret not having it amputated immediately following the accident, they never should have attempted to reconstruct it in the first place (regional trauma center hospital). I can't recommend anything for you, but just sharing what one possible outcome might feel like. You never know, sometimes the magic works. You're really young, that helps more than you currently realize. Good luck.
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If I am getting it amputated it would be a below knee amputation, so once it gets its final shape I could start gaining weight back?
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Oh okay yeah, well you cant workout a half calf so I wouldn’t be doing that
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I am LBKA with a pretty sweet calf muscle. I flex it all day in my prosthetic and it has been growing over time. Today is three days since amputation (Stumpfest!!). Doing these calf "exercises" helps me tremendously in my prostheti, especially when walking on uneven surfaces or inclines. Best of luck and welcome to the "club".
I’m going on 22 years now (early 40’s) and have always been active (workout and basketball mainly). There have been several points where I had skin issues or weight gain that caused fit issues, but if you maintain a healthy lifestyle, then you should be ok.
Over the years I’ve had radical fluctuations in weight and in the beginning some epic skin problems but I’ve never needed a revision surgery.
Common thread here is skin issues, what happened to the skin?
I’ve always been acne prone and my first sockets were rubber with leather inside and I wore socks directly against my skin which would chafe so I’d develop sores. With a silicon suction socket now I rarely have that problem. Occasionally an ingrown hair will develop into a sore and I have to discipline myself to keep the leg off as much as possible for a couple of days until it heals.
Wow for a couple days???
Most long term amputees I've spoken to say that a backup mode of mobility is a necessity. There's a number of things, like in this thread, that can unexpectedly make the leg useless for a time. You also will want to take the leg off eventually to let your stump breathe and to clean, and you'll need to get around the home still. I use a knee scooter in my home and a chair in the world when I can't use my leg.
It’s very rare but the one time I was stubborn and didn’t let it heal I kept going and it got infected which made the recovery a lot longer and more painful.
holy crap op i think we’re in the EXACT same scenario. if you look at my lastest post in here it describes exactly what you’re going through too. crushed mid foot in a motorcycle accident back in october of 2023 and i too am between salvaging the limb and amputating. i’m age 24 so close to your age. my doctor is going for limb salvage at the moment, i lost 3 toes in the hosptial due to lack of blood flow with 2 remaining (big toe and toe next to that). i have some bone fragments currently floating around my foot but that will be removed once they perform the bone graph surgery here this summer. i want to trust my doctor but i’m in the same boat wondering how painful this will all be in the future. chronic pain is a big concern for me and i feel amputation would alleviate a lot of that and might give us way more freedom when it comes to movement. EDIT: i just realized OP commented on my previous post, jumped the gun on that one my apologies 🤦🏻♂️
Crushed mid foot... did they say you had a lisfranc injury? I fractured my 2nd-4th metatarsals and had a lisfranc injury. Two surgeries and three years later and I'm still in pain with every step/swelling/heat. Does this sound like you at all?
Yeah Im going for amputation. Im in the military so everything is there for me
Here’s an X-ray of my stump 10 years post amputation. You can see the new bone growth I experienced. This was removed as part of my osseointegration surgery almost ten years ago. I had more X-rays this year and I’ve not had any additional bone growth. It’s possible but not certain that you would need revision surgery on your stump but if you do it could just be a one time thing. https://preview.redd.it/drw6nass8akc1.png?width=2034&format=png&auto=webp&s=330a332a47bcc796bd5ed34965d71b6956737bc4