I'm sorry, did you say amputation!?! How does one receive that information, let alone process it? After speaking with the podiatrist (foot doc), he wasn't really being confident in a forefoot amputation, nor really thinking that was the best route for Steve given his situation. The podiatrist felt that Steve was young and the technology is advanced, so he thought a below knee amputation might be a better option for him. Mainly because he could not guarantee that he wouldn't end up back in the hospital for another amputation further up his leg.
Here's how that first day in the hospital played out via my personal text messages:
Date: Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 9:32 AM Steve had a rough night, not much sleep. We still haven’t seen a doc yet, but the vascular nurse we’ve dealt with came by. They just sent an anesthesiologist, who is doing a nerve block procedure right now. We’re still not sure what the actual plan is yet, but they’re hoping this will manage his pain enough to stop the opiate meds. We’re also supposed to consult with the doc about what/when/how if they amputate. And we’ve asked to have blood work & possibly a colonoscopy while he’s in here – just trying to find the root cause of his kidney disease & arterial clotting. They’re concerned that his pain will become permanent if they don’t do this nerve block & there aren’t many risks, so that’s a plus. I’ll send another update when we’ve spoken to the doc.
Date: Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 12:38 PM Steve’s surgeon just left…to be honest with no real news. He wants to leave the nerve block in for the night & reconvene tomorrow. The Dr said he’s exhausted everything he can he can do surgically & medically to improve his condition. He said that he can go home & fight through the pain for 3 wks to 3 mon + totally leaving it up to Steve to decide…(they just don’t know) in HOPES that his body will produce collaterals or his toes will turn black & they’ll HAVE to amputate. We could tell the Dr was totally leaving it up to Steve to decide.
Date: Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 5:43 PM The podiatrist came & spoke with us this evening. He says that his foot is dying & in his opinion not worth trying to save. We will be speaking with the vascular team tomorrow morning regarding a lower leg amputation (based on where the blood flow stops). As you can imagine this is a hard decision, but we’re confident in it and just ask for your prayers for the road ahead.