Drug Haze

Drug Haze

from: Prison Amputation
4.166.150.191
06-03-01
22:19:30

Carol, I saw your post. You have started in the right direction by looking for help over the Internet. You can learn a great deal online with some effort. When I had my leg amputated 12 years ago, I didn't have this resource. I was also in prison with people who could care less about me. With that said, I will try to give you some advice on the many topics you need to learn about. After the amputation, you will need extreme pain medicine. Morphine is the most commonly used. Morphine will not, however do anything for phantom pain. I am not sure what is commonly used now, but when I started with the phantom pain (5 days after the operation) they put be on dilanton. This did not do any good and I was in agony. They then put me on low doses of kalonopin, methadone, and delodid (Spelling?). This helped alot and over the course of a few months I was weeded off as I became more used to the pain. I have had this pain every day since for the past 12 years but I hardly ever even think about it anymore. When its raining or going to rain, it will get worse and sometimes it sneeks up on me and creates a sudden stabbing pain. It sucks for a little while but it goes away. You will need some sort of physical therapy. You will need to learn to strengthen your stump, (good) leg and hip muscles. You will need to learn how to get around without a prosthesis. If you get a prosthesis, and lets hope you do, you will need to learn how to walk with it. For a number of months, probably a good part of the first year, your stump will be in a shrinking process. You will need to either keep the stump wraped up in an ace bandage or use a shrinker sock when you are not wearing a prosthesis. The shrinker socks are excellent and I would try to get one. I don't know anything about medical treatment in prisons, but I am sure there are places you can look to to find out. Go to the Amputee Coalition of America at http://www.amputee-coalition.org/ . They can probably help a great deal.

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