Nearly 7 months in the hospital and/or long-term facilities has me feeling down. Got a moment? [View all]

[Systematic Chaos]

Mods: If you feel that this is more suited to the Lounge, then feel free to move it. I just felt the gravity of my situation warranted that this be a GD post. Thank you for your understanding.

Hello everyone! I realize that in all my many years as a member here I haven't made more than a handful of friends and I'm not terribly "cliquish," but tonight is especially hard on me for some reason and I feel the need to reach out.

You can read about my near-death experience and the loss of my left leg in 2013 here, in this rather long thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024309273

At the end of that long post, I said a little "prayer" that 2014 might be a better year for me, and for DU'ers in general. Well, my 2014 may turn out okay in the end, but I have been away from home since early June, trying to save my right leg by the use of a surgical procedure designed to save limbs on obese people who suffer from a condition known as "charcot foot" -- pronounced as shark-o foot. Here is a short, educational video explaining what I have undergone in terms of treatment:

My fixator halo has been off for a few months now, and I'm awaiting the healing of some remaining wounds on my foot so that I can begin full weight bearing and start strengthening to walk with my prosthetic + a walker.

In the next week or so I will be getting new glasses for the first time since my wife, Jeanette, bought us each two pair back in 2002 when we were first dating. Yeah, this wife of mine -- she is an absolute angel, and she is the ultimate "without whom." I graciously accept the fact that I would not be alive today without her love and support. I hope that everyone has -- or will eventually find -- a life partner as sweet and wonderful as my Jeanette.

I have to say though, with regards to my eyes, that the optometrist determined that I will need bifocals, BUT when the correction was optimized I had only minor problems reading both the near and far 20/20 lines! So, while my feet and legs have been turning traitor on me this past few years, my eyes remain largely undamaged from diabetes, and are just in the degraded condition they have been in from birth.

All of this time away from home has alienated me from our cats, and there are going to be some expenses upon my return home which I fear we may not be able to cover, such as the absolute must buy of at least a queen-size bed to replace the full-size one which was provided with our furnished apartment. The reason for that is simply that my body is as long as a full-size mattress, so it's a given that either my feet or my head will be hanging off the top or bottom of the bed. This is very bad because my feet hanging off the foot of the bed causes pressure sores to form from the wire which goes around the mattress. A queen-size or larger is about 6 inches longer, so that I can count on my whole body resting on the main body of the mattress, and there won't be any pressure sores from the metal wire which goes around the perimeter. So there is needing a good, sturdy bed. Then, I need clothes something fierce! I am about a size 4x, which means that I can find decent shirts in Wal-Mart (much as I hate to shop there) or online. I'll also need good compressive socks for my right leg, which I'm not sure insurance will cover, but I know they do cover diabetic shoes.

You get the idea. I am not resorting to e-begging here at this stage. If we can get some help before I am discharged, then everything is fine. But if you see me posting something on wish-a-doo or elsewhere a couple months down the line, please spare me a thought!

I never would have guessed after what all I went through in 2013 that this year would find me spending more than half of it in hospitals and facilities yet again! But it is what it is, and all I can do is try and keep my emotions stable, and ride this journey out in the hopes of finally receiving a break in 2015, where I'll be able to spend my time learning to walk again, practicing my guitar, loving on our wonderful cats and for the love of all that is good and right, spending some intimate time with my poor wife who has been every bit as lonely as I have over this past few months!!

This post is growing long, and I'm getting tired. I have another appointment to see my surgeon early tomorrow morning. I hope he will be pleased with how things have been coming along, and that I will be able to feel really relaxed and positive as we cruise our way through another holiday season!

Thanks for reading and understanding, if you got this far, and may we all experience a great 2015...FOR REAL THIS TIME!!