I checked out 3 different prosthetic facilities last week.
First of the three was a strong maybe, second a definite no, and third a weak maybe. These were the third, fourth, and fifth facilities, respectively, that I’ve checked out from the five total I’ve seen so far to date. There were a couple of things at the first place that I wasn’t sure about, hence the strong maybe. The second place, where do I even start. Word of advice to that place, don’t hire prosthetists that are creepy…BIG turnoff…couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I liked the prosthetist at the third facility but she (first female prosthetist I’d met with!) was much younger than the rest of the prosthetist, which meant she didn’t have as much experience as the others. Going back to the first place I checked out when I starting looking into facilities to ask them some questions. I had no idea what I wanted or what to ask when I first started this process so figured it would be a good idea to speak to them again now that I’m more educated on the topic.
But hey, I can always go the alternative route…leg transplant. Or…maybe not. Definitely cutting edge and beyond interesting, but not sure if it’s my cup of tea. I recently spoke to a doc in Boston that my brother put me in touch with who’s a part of this potentially amazing new surgery. After answering some medical history questions, it turns out I’m a pretty optimal candidate for limb transplant surgery.
Facial, hand, and arm surgeries have been completed but leg transplants are still in the VERY early stages.
As life changing and miraculous as this surgery can be, if successful, it still comes at a price. Let me start with how this process would go..It would start with me going on a transplant list and when 2 legs became available (ideally an Asian woman around my age, with my blood type, around my weight and height, etc..) I would be notified. Keep in mind, this “wait time” could be anywhere from 6 months – 2 years..maybe less, maybe more. And I’m not sure if I’d be able to get prosthesis while I wait, which means I’d be wheelchair bound for as long as it takes. I believe the doctor said an ideal donor would be a stroke victim, but don’t quote me on that. It was a lot of information to take in all at once. Once notified, I’d head to the hospital and be put side by side with the donor in the OR. After the surgery, I’d have to be on anti-rejection/immunosuppresants the rest of my life and if I got sick (even a little cold), my immune system would be so much more susceptible to breaking down even further…which in a worse case scenario, could mean an infection of my transplanted legs. And because this surgery is still brand new, there isn’t even a benchmark of how much time needs to pass after the surgery to determine if it was a successful transplant. I would also have to undergo an extensive amount of PT. If however, the transplant didn’t “take” or I got sick or developed some sort of infection, I’d have to be amputated..AGAIN. Yup. Again.
In my opinion, I think this type of surgery if proven successful would be miraculous, but only if you weren’t eligible for prosthesis and if the surgery didn’t leave you worse off than you were, physically and mentally. And I don’t think I’d want to be part of the experimental phase…
Next up..finding another PT facility that requires less traveling..once I make a decision on prosthetic facility. And figuring out the wheelchair and car situations.