Stop twisting his arm about it. He’ll update us when he is good and ready.
…because in this case you can’t twist his leg. 
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Since leaving the hospital my days have been dominated by phantom pain. I hate eating painkillers but man oh man do I wish they’d sent me home with something that touches the ghosts. It’s been pretty rough, but the wound itself is healing very well, so the important stuff is still on the up and up. The docs tell me the phantoms, in typical diabetic/trauma amputations, can take up to a year to abate, but for someone who’s suffered damaged nerve pain for an extended period, take not unreasonable for that window to extend from 3 all the way to 5 years. In addition to telling me I ought not expect to live to see old age, I’m sorta regretting going thru w it. They told me it would remove a lot of the imminent risk, and improve my quality of life, and I know it’s only been a few weeks since they sawed thru my bones, but if I can expect to be feeling these phantoms for YEARS… I really fucked up. Life got harder, and more painful, for God knows how long, because I couldn’t handle the pain of taking a step, because I wanted to walk my dog.
And a lot of my brain chemistry is on the fritz, so I have to talk to head shrinkers. Damn, and I thought the hospital sucked… At least the nurses that come out to my house are sweethearts. Always a silver lining.
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One thing you need to keep in mind, doctors are real big on not giving false hope and laying out worst case scenarios. As bad as it sounds I suppose it’d be better than saying you’ll be back on your feet in a month only to find out that even a year later you still only have 1 foot. Sorry, couldn’t help the joke.
Personally if it were me I’d start looking heavily into whatever therapies and mental tricks you can find to help out that phantom pain.
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It might suck having to deal with the pain and side effects of the operation, but if it’s something that removes an immediate risk and gives the potential for a longer lifespan, I personally think the limb needs to go.
You’ll get used to the lifestyle changes in time, and you’ll probably feel a lot better about it once you have a prosthetic, so just stick with the physical and mental therapy and keep making progress.
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Y’all are totally right. It’s rough, but it’s still fresh. Time and a bit of effort remedy all maladies.
And yeah, my main doc tends to be the grimmest. I swear he doesn’t actually walk, he just sorta glides spectrally. I understand the prep for the worst vs false hope mentality. I just wish he could’ve spared me the lecture on dying young, that one really sunk it’s claws into the forefront of my thoughts, and being a professional scab picker, it’s been hard to not obsess over it. I know that’s not helping, it just sorta sneaks up on me at the most importune moments. Blah.
I appreciate the pep talk, y’all.
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Yeah, that sounds like a pretty rough go. But it’s only been a week. Don’t talk yourself into a funk yet. Think of
the positives:
- It’s much easier to weave Chuck Norris into a story about how you lost your leg than a story about why your foot is swollen
- Stump jokes. Mother ■■■■■■■ stump jokes
- That moment when you get to take off your leg and hand it to a shocked bystander while saying “hold my leg”
- Cosplaying as the Phantom Limb from Venture Bros.
- Future Fulgore leg
EDIT: on the subject of doctors - I find they are more or less ■■■■■■■■ 90% of the time. And they are often wrong about stuff. Don’t let it get in your head.
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Just a short list of things I’ve heard from doctors:
I was told after I broke my pinky knuckle I would have severely limited movement in that finger…I actually have better movement in it now.
My uncle was told he’d die of heart failure in the 70’s…he lived until the late 90’s.
My wife’s uncle had a similar scenario…supposed to die in the late 80s, lived until last year.
My wife’s aunt (different side of the family) had stage 4 ovarian cancer, was told she wouldn’t survive for a few months. That was 7 or 8 years ago.
So yeah, try not to focus on the gloom and doom right now.
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@BigBadAndy holy ■■■■ that list had me cracking up. And you’re right, it’s too early to be talking myself off a cliff. It’s hard to keep that in perspective… The days seem to go by incredibly slowly, and a lot of the nerve meds I’m on have been wreaking havoc on my memory and perception of time. It’s only been a week. Stitches ain’t even out yet.
@WrathOfFulgore thinking on it, my own grandfather was diagnosed w TB I’m the early 80s and told he had 5yrs. After 2 serious electrocutions and cutting off his own index finger, then a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in the early 90s, he didn’t cross life’s threshold until 2009. Docs probably be tripping.
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Adding to @BigBadAndy 's list:
- If you’re a wrestling fan you can never be put into the Figure Four or the Sharpshooter.
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OMG That’s so true!
But you can be put in the STF!!!
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I love this community 
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But he has NO TOES TO HOLD!! (on that foot anyways 
)
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Adding one more,
- You can now easily reproduce Quan Chi’s best fatality.
https://youtu.be/w8r2eiaE87s
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I know it’s cliche, but stay positive, as my fella always says “you could be run over by a truck tomorrow, don’t worry so much.”
When you look at life like that, it all seems to make so much more sense, in my humble opinion anyway (also, for some perspective, that’s coming from somebody with social anxiety and depression, I’d call that positive negativity.)
Take comfort in that the surgery has diminished the immediate risks to your health and that we literally never know what tomorrow brings and sometimes it brings wonderful things. 
Also, because I didn’t make a leg/foot pun, keep your feet on the ground and just deal with the here and now. 
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STF doesnt need toes. STF is an old name for the move, I cant remember who exactly used it and that name but it only takes one leg and foot combined with a forearm choke hold.
Most newer generations know it from Jon Cena but this move was used way back by Bret Hart, Holly wood Hulk Hogan, and Chris benoit. I cant remember who it was that first brought it to WCW, I did some research and I cant find the name.
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Benoit did it,was called the crippler cross face.
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It might have been regal that did it way back in WCW and called it STF. So long ago but I remember that was my go to move when we all wrestled lol
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Dang, you guys are making me feel old. I haven’t watched wrestling since WCW got bought by WWE.
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