u/am1duncan

Has anyone who was a BKA with a short limb that has had trouble with their prosthetic had an amputation above the knee to help them?

I just saw my doctor today, and we are moving forward with an LBK due to so much damage to my ankle from so many surgeries. I am so glad we are done with the cycle of lets try this surgery and see if it works.

I'm going next week to a prosthesis clinic for an evaluation and discuss things.

Looking to see what kind of foot allows a very active life.

So 2 years ago, I had a bad sprain on the left ankle. I went to an orthopedic foot and ankle doctor who had good reviews. Had an MRI, and it showed I had peroneal tendon subluxation, and ATFL was torn.

So I had surgery to fix it. I had peroneal groove deping and repair. I also had the ATFL repaired. Fast forward 6 months, and I developed more ankle pain, and the peroneal tendons had torn again, so I had it repaired, and while they were in there, they did a heel slide to try to lign my foot up so it would take pressure off the outside of my ankle. Well, the heel bone did not heal, so I had to have a bone graft. Then, at the end of last year, my doctor said my peroneal tendon and ATFL had torn again. So went in for another repair. Now I am 6 months from my last surgery. After all the surgeries that I have had now, I have a lot of nerve damage, so I can't feel a good portion of my foot. I have to wear a boot most of the time due to my ankle being so unstable.

I decided to seek a second opinion a few weeks ago due to so much pain and being unable to return to work, let alone walk very far. This doctor ordered a new MRI, and he did his exam and said my ankle is still very unstable and that the heel slide surgery has made things worse. He said they should never have done the heel slide. He said he has never seen someone have so many surgeries, and it has not fixed the problem. This doctor is well known and is one of the best in North Carolina. I now await to see what he wants to do. He said, depending on what the MRI shows, he may want to do another repair or a possible ankle fusion.

So here are my concerns, I am a 35 yo male. I want something that is going to give me some of my quality of life back. I used to run a lot and play baseball and other sports. I was a firefighter before the injury. I was very active. Since the injury, I have not been able to do much of anything gained a lot of weight. Is another repair going to fix it? Is a fusion going to fix it? I am tired of going through surgeries and nothing working. I want to get back to some function of life. I am thinking about my future.

I know if they repair it and it actually works, I might be able to get back to running and a more normal life. If he does the fusion, I know I will be limited on what I can do, like running will be a no-no, and it will probably put a lot of force on the other joints in my ankle that will cause me issues down the road, and that none of this will help with the pain since I've had so many surgeries.

Has anyone experienced something like this, where their ankle never becomes stable an unable to get the best out of their life? I can't even go back to work, so I am running out of funds.

Sorry, this is such a long post.

Make a long story somewhat short.

I’ve had 6 surgeries on my ankle. I still have lots of pain unable to work, I can barely walk on it. It changes color to red and will be ice cold at times. I have nerve damage from all the surgeries.

First one: peroneal tendons repair

Second: peroneal tendon and ATFL repair

Third: heel slide basically cut and moved my heel.

Forth: heel bone became non-union had bone graft

Fifth: peroneal tendon repair and ATFL

Sixth: peroneal tendon repair

I got referred to a new ankle doctor and saw him today. I’m waiting for an MRI but he said my ankle is very unstable. He said depending on what the MRI looked like that I’m probably looking at a total ankle fusion to stop the ankle from being unstable since I have already had so many repairs. I’m a little nervous about the thoughts of fusion. I’m tired of the pain and want to get back to a normal life but I’m just not sure the fusion will help with the pain.

Has anyone experienced something like this?