Traumatic Amputation But a Positive Attitude

Today is Day 3 of the January Ultimate Blog Challenge and the suggested topic is Who Do You Admire & Why? It only took a few minutes to come up with who I would write about because of his traumatic amputation but a positive attitude.

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Mark was in a devastating motorcycle accident in February 2018. He was obeying traffic laws, but another driver wasn’t. The driver ran a red light and never even saw Mark coming. Luckily, Mark was a seasoned rider and when he realized the inevitable, he was able to maneuver his bike so that his legs and bottom half would take the brunt of the damage. Although his actions saved his life, they cost him his leg and a fractured back. He had to have his leg amputated above the knee and have rods and pins in his spine. He was in the hospital for quite a while, then in rehab for a few more weeks after that.

The following quotes are updates from Mark. If you notice, even though he has been through so many surgeries, I’m sure he’s in constant pain and worry, he never feels sorry for himself. Mark has such a positive attitude, something I’m not sure others would be able to have under such devastating times.

March 22, 2018 Update

“It’s been 28 days since my life was changed forever;
I ‘ve had surgery on my back. They used rods and screws to secure and stabilize my back. Its doing well and they removed the 39 staples last weekend.
I’ve had five surgeries (at least two more will be required) on my “stump” in an attempt to keep as much as possible. My leg was amputated above the knee. The way it was torn up in the accident did not leave as much “meat” as they would have liked so we are aggressively doing every thing we can to insure the best attachment for a prosthetic.”

April 24, 2018 Update

“Seeing how yesterday was the two month anniversary of the event that has altered my life forever I am giving an update on my recovery.

After 49 days in the hospital i was released to go home to the condo. I have Home Health coming in three days a week for wound care and physical and occupational therapists coming in twice a week.

Both of my legs are healing. My right thigh, where they harvested skin for the skin grafts, is healing well and not hurting everytime I bend my knee. My “stub” is healing, but has a couple areas that we want to keep an eye on so I will be starting to go to a wound center next week. I’m also having a lot of phantom pain in the foot and leg I no longer have.

As I may have shared, the way my leg was ripped off & my diabetes have added challenges, but the surgeon has done an outstanding job. I found out yesterday that i came very close to a total amputation all the way to the hip, but they were able to save my leg to above the knee which makes a prosthetic and walking again possible in the future.I have a long road ahead of me. At least three months of healing. Then most likely another surgery and more healing before I can start the process of preparing for the fitting of a prosthetic. All that must happen before i can be fitted and have a prosthetic made. Then the process of learning to walk again will start.

I don’t even want to know what all this is costing. The guy that hit me only had $25,000 worth of coverage and I’m sure I spent way more than that as soon as I entered the trauma unit.

Through it all I’ve managed to keep my spirits up. That’s most likely what will make me heal the best. Your love and caring have been my inspiration to do all I can to come through this the best I can.”

June 2018

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“It’s been four months since my accident and time for an update.

I’m doing well. I’ve had some bad days that are to be expected. They are times of anger towards the person responsible for my condition and sadness for the things I loved that will most likely never be a part of my life again. Running into the ocean, riding a two wheeled motorcycle, jumping up and walking without some type of apparatus, working at a job that pays what I use to make, just to name a few. Yet I refuse to stay down! I still have to much to be thankful of and to many loved ones to be strong for.

I’m still going to wound care three times a week and my stub is healing. It’s just a slow process. I’m wearing a PICO dressing 24/7 that keeps negative pressure on my wound to promote blood flow and promote quicker healing. Monday I received more skin graphs in hopes of getting my wound completely covered with skin. It’s been a challenge having an open wound this long, but considering the massive size it was after the accident its healed fast for the most part.

Once my wound is healed I’ll have another surgery to shorten the bone to give me the best opportunity to comfortably wear a prosthetic. At present the bone is only covered by a thin layer of skin. The Dr tapped on it with an instrument he was using and it sounded like he was tapping a pen on the edge of a desk. After I’m healed from this surgery I can start the process of being prepared and fitted for a prosthetic and then start learning how to walk again.

When I don’t have to use my arms for support to get around, as I do with a walker, I’ll have another surgery to reattach the clavicle in my right shoulder. Sometime it seems like I’ll never be to the point where I’m not waiting on another surgery. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve had or how many times I’ve been under anesthesia.

I’m pleased to say that the rods and pins used to secure the fractured vertebrae in my back are doing well.

All of this will take longer than my company benefits are in force so I’m having to apply for the long term disability insurance I had purchased and SSDI. Once my company benefits are exhausted I’m no longer an employee and out of work. This happens in August.

The thought of being unemployed and at this time being unemployable is a major concern for me. The thought of no money coming in and medical Bill’s growing in excess of $2,000,000 is hard to accept and my biggest concern.

Yet I’m looking to the future with great optimism. I can’t wait to be healed and walking again. Sure there will be challenges and times I’ll still have to use a walker or a wheelchair, but I can live with that. I’m just taking one day at a time and figuring out how to cross each bridge when I come to it.

I cannot tell you what your support and generosity has meant to me. The visits from old friends and relatives have lifted my spirits. The selfless giving of time and effort of my dear friends to move my belongings out of my apartment in Marietta was humbling. The generous gifts to help me financially have brought many tears. The offers of help from strangers have restored my faith in humanity. Through all the pain and struggles, it has been all of you that have given me the strength and desire to fight the good fight. I love each and everyone of you.”

August 2018

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“It’s been a little over five months since my life changing accident (2/23/2018) and I wanted to update you on my recovery. I’ve been going to Wound Care multiple times a week where I was was receiving “Theraskin” grafts in an effort to promote skin growth over the area of my stub that is still exposed muscle tissue. It has helped, but there are still two spots where the bone is only covered by a thin layer of skin. It is these areas that may make another surgery be required.

Then on Tuesday, 7/31/2018, I noticed that at one of these areas the bone was starting to protrude through the thin layer of skin. This makes surgery a must. I have an appointment to see my Surgeon next week to discuss the plan forward. That plan could involve trimming the bone which may require an orthopedic surgeon. A plastic surgeon may also be required to get enough muscle tissue to provide the padding required for good fit and use of a prosthetic.

I’m still having pain from the separated clavicle in my right shoulder. This will also require additional surgery to repair. This separation allows my chest cavity drop and cause severe pain in the right side of my chest and sternum. At present though I need to be able to support myself with my arms so a surgery at this time would make me almost completely unable to get around to do anything. I really need to be able to walk so that I can have this fixed and it heal properly.

All this is still required for my recovery to allow me to possibly go work in the future while my company paid disability will end at the end of August. At that point I am hoping to be approved for the long term disability insurance I had purchased. If this is denied I will have no income and no health insurance.

Mentally I am doing pretty good. Yes I have days when I have down times. Sitting on my porch overlooking a community pool and not being able to get into it. Thinking of, but never being able to wade out chest deep into the ocean and just enjoy the waves as they roll by. Not being able to enjoy riding a two wheeled motorcycle again, just to mention a few. When I think of these that is when I have times of depression, but I quickly start looking at all I still can do and that I’m alive and have a future.

As I stated in a prior update, this will be the first time since I was 13 that I will be unemployed AND unemployable. The thought of this scares the crap out of me! I have worked hard all my life and to think that at the age of 56 I could see everything I have worked for be taken from me due to the careless act of someone else, and 100% no fault of my own, scares and angers me.

I had an appointment today with the orthotics Dr. to discuss my prosthetic, the process of getting fitted, learning to walk again and costs. My prosthetic will be $25,000! And it has a life expectancy of 5 years. My attorney is working really hard to get as much of my medical expenses as she can, but my bills are astronomical. Just the hospital stay was $1,600,000.00. By the time everything is done I will easily top the $2,000,000.00, if they haven’t already. My insurance has paid well, but they are wanting any money I may get in restitution.

I have 30 days of insurance left with two surgeries and a prosthetic in the future. Thank you for all of your support, thoughts, prayers and monetary help. You make it easier for me to stay positive and push forward.”

Five months later, Mark continued to try to make sense of this and get his live back to normalcy if that was possible. His positive attitude continued throughout his devastating ordeal only to have another major setback. In August Mark suffered a heart attack and underwent a 5 way bypass.

September 2018

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“On Wednesday, August 22nd I went in for a revision of my amputation. It went well. I spent the night in the hospital and went home the next day.

On the evening of Thursday, August 23rd after returning home from the hospital I was in an emergency squad heading to the ER. Turns out I was having a heart attack. On Monday, August 27th I had open heart surgery and received five (5) bypasses. Because I only had one leg and am a bigger guy the Dr not only wired my chest back together, but also put in plates to make it more secure. On August 31st I moved to a rehab unit and I was discharged to go home on September 6th.

With hurricane Florence heading towards the Carolinas, the Governor ordering an evacuation and my physical condition we evacuated to Atlanta on September 11th. While in Atlanta I started to have discharge from the incision from my heart surgery. The discharge was clear and yellow so while I was concerned I wasn’t overly worried. This discharge continued until we returned home on Tuesday, September 18th.

On Wednesday September 19th I had an appointment with my heart surgeon at 10:00am. He was very concerned when I told him about the discharge I was experiencing and this time when he looked at it there was puss for the first time since it began. He called and had me admitted to the hospital and before 2:00pm I was in the OR having my chest opened up again.

As I am typing this I am in Grand Strand Medical Center. A place I have spent way to much time here this year. I’m sitting here with my chest open to the hardware, installed 3 weeks ago, wound packed with gauze and a lace up bandage that looks like I’m wearing a corset backwards. Tomorrow I am going back to surgery to have all the plates, screws and wire removed from my chest. They will then leave the wound open and place a wound vac on it. This wound vac will most likely be change late in the weekend or early next week. Then sometime next week I will go back to surgery to have the wound trimmed to get blood flow and the the plastic surgeon will overlap my pectoral muscles and close me up.

Because of where this infection was I will be on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks.

It’s hard to believe all that has happened since that fateful morning of February 23rd that changed my life forever. Losing my leg. Having my stump develop an abscess and infection. Having my amputation revised. Having a heart attack and open heart surgery. Then this infection. 2018 is a year I will never forget no matter how much I may want to.

I have kept a positive attitude through all of this, but I’d be lying if I said that this last issue hasn’t come real close to breaking my spirits. I’m fighting it off and trying to stay positive, but after 7 months of this I’m getting tired. Tired as I assume anyone would be. I’ve been tested many times this year and every time I’ve risen above it and I don’t expect this time to be any different. All of the love, support, thoughts and prayers from each of you have given me the strength and inspiration to keep moving forward. Thank you!”

Through all of this I am always reminding myself that there are others out there that would trade me places. That’s life, someone is always worse off than you just as someone is always better. I like this saying, it centers me;
“I complained because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”

From when this tragedy began in February up until now, Mark has endured many surgeries, lots of excruciating pain, worrying about paying the bills and keeping his strength for even more surgeries as he continues to keep a positive attitude throughout is definitely a reason to admire Mark.

December 2018

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Ten months after Mark’s nightmare began, he finally received some good news just before Christmas, he received his prosthetic leg! Not only is he now able to walk again, but he walked upstairs the first day he received it! Of course he did mention not to tell his Physical Therapist! For all Mark has gone through he has continued to keep positive, no complaining or feeling sorry for himself.

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Mark is my niece’s sweetheart and with all they have endured since February, they continue to have a faith, love and are thankful they have each other.

Mark’s family has started a GoFundMe account for the mounting bills and if any of my readers would like the link, just let me know.