Amputation of foot below knee in a Diabetic

L

Libralady

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Carer/Partner
Does any one have experience of dealing with a loved one who has had to have an amputation because of foot infection due to not looking after their diabetes type 1 and not going for medical help with foot infection. My son age 52 has had type 1 Diabetes since he was two years of age. My son lives with his family 250 miles away from us . He went into hospital around 2 weeks ago and it was thought that they could save the foot/part of leg but sadly today he has told me that he will need an amputation as it is not healing. He has had various problems since being in hospital which they are gradually sorting out and then he will have the amputation. As you can imagine my husband also diabetic but type 2 are devastated by this news. So can any one with experience offer us some information on what will happen and how to support him. Than you
 
Desperately sorry to hear this news about your son and can understand how gutted and worried you must all be. Sending virtual (((HUGS)))

The only regular member of the forum with a BKA is @MikeyBikey and unfortunately the support he has received has not been very good, but the NHS is a bit of a postcode lottery so hopefully your son will be more fortunate but it will probably be important for him to be pushy about getting support, both with managing his diabetes better and also getting regular wound dressing and then physio and prosthetics appointments afterwards. Hopefully Mikey can give you some pointers of what to expect and timescales, although I think his treatment was hampered by Covid.
 
rebrascora said:
Desperately sorry to hear this news about your son and can understand how gutted and worried you must all be. Sending virtual (((HUGS)))

The only regular member of the forum with a BKA is @MikeyBikey and unfortunately the support he has received has not been very good, but the NHS is a bit of a postcode lottery so hopefully your son will be more fortunate but it will probably be important for him to be pushy about getting support, both with managing his diabetes better and also getting regular wound dressing and then physio and prosthetics appointments afterwards. Hopefully Mikey can give you some pointers of what to expect and timescales, although I think his treatment was hampered by Covid.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your kind words Barbara. I will try and get in touch with Mikey
 
Libralady said:
Thank you so much for your kind words Barbara. I will try and get in touch with Mikey
Click to expand...
I have tagged Mikey in my post above, so he will hopefully see this thread and reply when he has time.
 
Please start watching 'The Last Leg' on Channel 4 if you want to see what people can do with only 1 foot - Adam Hills (Australian comedian) plays Rugby Union for instance.
 
Hello Mikey So sorry I have not posted sooner. It has been a roller coaster during the last few weeks. Our son has been in a vascular ward, High Dependency, and twice in ICU there were a couple of times when it was touch and go. He has had Ketoacidosis a short while on dialysis and they discovered an Ulcer well I think more that one which they treated but he started bleeding again and ended up with transfusions. They finally successfully managed to stop the bleed a few days ago the the below knee amputation was done yesterday. We were told it had gone well and he was groggy but ok. This was last night so waiting for update now. We have been to see him a week or so ago we had to wait until my husband got over Covid. I was shocked how he looked but really hope although there is along road ahead that there will be no more emergencies. It will take time and patience but I have every faith he will come through it. I hope you are keeping well how do you find the hot weather I must admit I have never liked the heat London was muggy and crowded.
 
I am desperately sorry to hear of your foot loss Mikey.I myself are waiting for a major operation regarding skin graft surgery on a wound on my left leg..but I've been told by the hospital in question(The Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London)that I'm on a long waiting list...so who knows when I'll be going in for it.
 
Goodness @Libralady - what an ordeal for you all.

Glad the op was able to go ahead, and glad that it went well.

Very best wishes to you all for a speedy post-op recovery, and hope he is able to adapt well to the challenges he’ll be facing over the coming months.

Let us know how things go 🙂
 
My heart goes out to you @Libralady on this ordeal.It's been a terrible time for you but rest assured you're among friends here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top