My accident was also 3 yrs ago. I still have my leg but it looks like something from a shark attack. Often, when I wear shorts, I will hear kids whispering about "shark". Actually, it kind of cracked me up.

The real story, run over by a Black Hawk helicopter, is almost as interesting as any shark attack.

I will wear shorts all summer long and not worry about it. To be honest, my added weight, mostly to my belly, makes me more concerned of what others think.

My two sons, 19 and 13 are super supportive of me but I laugh that they won't dare touch my scars. They run from above my knee to my ankle. My leg was shredded (degloved) so much of it is now skin grafts with a rod and screws inside. Gotta watch those sharks!!!

Take care and I wish you the best,

First of all what is a trochanter? lol


Oh yeah...the hell and pain our families must have went through! I was 16 and when I came home from the hospital and rehab I still had holes on my stump that went in practically all the way to the bone. My dressing had to be changed several times a day which included changing the packing (gauze strips soaked in betadine and packed into the holes with medical tweezers). My mother took on this job as I could not do it. It was painful physically and emotionally for me. As a mother myself now, I can imagine how painfully emotional it was for her to have to do this.

Listen, your partner isn't going to care about you having to put your crutches down or taking your leg off before you get in bed...just as long as you get there and are ready for some love making or cuddling or just a good nights sleep.

The more you feel comfortable with your body and amputation, the more others will feel comfortable about it.

Some amps complain about other people staring, and some complain about other people looking away in revulsion. Sounds to me like the poor normie on the street doesn't have but a 50-50 chance of getting it right! I can only speak about my own situation; but if I want to be treated in a specific way by personal contacts, strangers or otherwise, I feel some obligation to give them a clue about how I want to be treated. Most of the time, I really don't care. Trying to imagine what others are thinking is a useless exercise, because you don't know unless you ask. You are likely to imagine they are thinking what you think of youself! To me that suggests an easy solution.

If public (or private) reactions are a problem, every amputee must find his/her own answer. Perhaps it's easier for me because I am quite functional with a prosthesis, but I mostly just go around like there's nothing wrong with having a robot leg, and people seem to react to me in the same way. What they are thinking is none of my business, so I don't need to know or imagine what it is. In reality, I am content to be the way I am; and that is real handy, because I can't change it.

Whatever works!

Hi, I am Dave, and it is good to have you here on this site. We are all going through different phases with our amputations and disabilities, but please don't expect a pity party here. We are here to help you and I for one am going to say upfront and be honest with you, that you are simply feeling sorry for yourself. At least that is how it sounds and it sounds in your last statement that you are embarrassed or ashamed of your stump. You shouldn't be at all, it is just part of life that we have to learn to deal with and accept. Intimacy is not a problem with someone who loves you and is not shallow. I've been married almost 23 years and it is just a new phase of our life together. I am nor embarrassed, I did not cause this, it was out of my control and my wife just accepted it as a little bump in the road, so to speak.

You will do well in this life if you remember that your limb loss is not what defines you, it is simply who you are! You are being tested at this point to see how you are going to get on with your life. I have been in the Ministry and in business, and each has been the study of human nature. Most people out there want you to fail in order to make themselves feel better. Look at it like this, "an obstacle is nothing more than a problem waiting to be overcome". So we have a limb loss, big deal, we can either overcome our circumstances or we can lie down and give in to our own defeat.

Keep going man, you can do it. Did you ever know someone who could experience joy and depression at the same time? Of course not, it is all a state of mind and how you look at things.

Do I have a self-image problem because I acknowledge the impact my altered body can have on other people? Maybe yes, maybe no.