It first happened in August 2011. Without warning, my right leg completely gave way and I felt excruciating pain. I couldn’t walk, so I called my mum Kerry, 56, who rushed me to hospital.
X-rays revealed that my calf bone had already been broken for some time without me knowing. It emerged that the bones in my right leg were badly bowed and slightly shorter than the ones in the left, and my shin had snapped under the pressure of supporting my whole leg.
While the novelty of crutches and having my leg in plaster seemed fun at first, that soon wore off.
After three months, the cast was removed, but a year later I tripped up the steps at my parents’ house and broke my leg again. Back at hospital, doctors decided to operate, putting metal plates in my leg to stabilise my shin. Two years later, they added an external frame to lengthen the bones.
Although the plates were no trouble, the frame, which I had to wear for 15 months, proved really tiresome. Even going to the supermarket was a chore because it was hard to walk without needing rest.
By the time I was 24, I’d reached my lowest point. My leg felt like a nuisance and despite taking huge doses of painkillers every day, I was in agony. Then, in October 2016, I was told the frame was no longer healing my leg.
I had to undergo a painful bone graft and have two more metal plates inserted to replace the frame.
BTW
- 5,000 patients in the UK require an amputation each year.*
- Transtibial (below the knee) amputations are the most common.**
- For help and support, visit Limbless-association.org.
- Sources: *National Vascular Registry **Blesma
At first they seemed to do the trick but then, in April 2017, I woke up with terrible pain in my right leg. I put it down to the cold and headed out that afternoon to meet my friend at the local shopping centre. As we walked around that afternoon, a huge cracking sound stopped me in my tracks and I knew my leg had just broken again.
At the hospital doctors said they could try another plate, but it might not work. That’s when I seriously began to consider having my lower leg amputated. At 26, I thought about the effect it would have on my future: how would I find a husband or cope with children? But then I realised I’d practically been living with one leg for the last six years anyway, so what was the difference?
I asked my surgeon if it was an option and he took me to meet a limb-loss specialist. After a good chat, I felt certain it was the right thing for me to do. When I told my mum she was shocked, but understood why I wanted to do it.
I was determined to celebrate my decision and on December 15, 2017 – three days before my operation – I threw a party at my parents’ with my friends to help me get ‘legless’. We had a cake shaped like a leg and played drinking games such as ‘pin the leg on Vicky’.
I didn’t stop laughing all night. Everyone said it was the weirdest – but best – party they’d ever been to.
On the day of my amputation, I was cracking jokes all the way to the operating theatre. No part of me was nervous – I was at peace with what I was doing. Phantom pain struck straight away when I woke up after the op, which felt strange as I could no longer see my right foot.
I didn’t spend time grieving and started physio as soon as I got my prosthetic fitted a month later. I finally felt I could do anything I wanted. Nine months later I completed a triathlon – swimming 200m, cycling 6k and running 1.5k. It was hard, but worth it when I got the medal at the end.
I’ve since done a 5k run and my friends say they’ve got the old Vicky back. Over the last year I’ve partied in Vegas, danced at a Taylor Swift concert and been on a hen do in Ibiza.
Now I’d like an adjustable leg so I can wear heels again. And after seven years of being single, I’m looking forward to having my first post-amputation date at some point. Of course, sometimes I don’t want to put on my prosthetic as it can be uncomfortable, but I’ll never regret my choice. I might have lost a part of my body, but I definitely got my life back.
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