How Would Your Life Change if You Lost a Leg to a Diabetes Amputation?

60% of all amputation are the result of foot problems from diabetes. Every single minute, 2 legs are amputated from diabetes. If you have diabetes you are at risk (about 25%) that you will get diabetic neuropathy (numb feet from diabetes), a diabetic foot ulcer (an open sore on the foot that is difficult to heal) or worse, a diabetic amputation. If you have ever talked to a person who has a lost a leg to diabetes, they will tell you it is tough to deal with. If this happened to you, what would your life look like?

Award winning diabetic foot strategist and podiatrist Dr Christopher Segler discusses the difficulty a diabetic amputation can cause, and how it can disrupt your life.




Dr. Christopher Segler is an award winning diabetic foot surgeon, author and inventor. He is the founder of a groundbreaking private consulting firm that specializes in diabetic amputation prevention. If you or someone you care about has diabetes, you can learn more by simply requesting your FREE report “No Leg Left To Stand On: The Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know About Diabetic Foot Amputation” at http://www.ineedmyfeet.com.

What Does it Cost to Save a Leg and Prevent a Diabetic Foot Amputation?

Whenever a person with diabetes discovers that the problems leading to diabetic amputations are preventable, the first question is...what does it cost? In this video, the Director of the American Limb Preservation Society discusses the cost of limb preservation as well as the cost of having a diabetic amputation.





Dr. Christopher Segler is an author, inventor and award winning diabetic foot doctor. After discovering how amputations resulted from a failing health care system, it became his passion to teach strategies to stop diabetic amputation. If you have diabetes, you can learn more by requesting your FREE report “No Leg Left To Stand On: The Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know About Diabetic Foot Amputation” at http://www.ineedmyfeet.com.

Diabetic Foot Infection

Today I saw a patient who had a diabetic foot partial amputation only 3 weeks ago. He called the office and said he had a new spot he was worried about. Just earlier this week I had taken out his stitches from the amputation site. He had already been admitted to the hospital, taken to the operation for emergency surgery and then had an amputation.

Today the new spot was a blister right next to the amputation site. He said that his neuropathy causes his feet to feel cold. So he sleeps with a heating pad on his feet. Unfortunately the heating pad caused a second degree burn which since became infected.

So, today I used a scalpel and tissue nippers to trim off the dead and infected tissue. I took some wound cultures from the pus draining out of the blister. That way we can tell what bugs are living in there and causing the infection. I also started him on antibiotics. But his still has an open sore and the potential for another preventable diabetic foot disaster.

This episode illustrates the way additional amputations can happen in a those with diabetes and numb feet. Statistically a person with a diabetic foot amputation will experience re-amputaion in less than 5 years.

In all likelihood, this incident will be less eventful than the last, but it was also avoidable. As with just about every other diabetic foot problem, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.

Some basic rules:

1. Always check your feet for open sores, red areas or new problems. Check twice-a-day.
2. Never sleep with a heating pad, hot water bottle, or other heat source near your feet.
3. Seek treatment immediately as soon as you see a new sore or detect a problem.

If the antibiotics work, he will stay out of the hospital. If the infection gets worse he will be admitted to the hospital with more of the hideously expensive intravenous antibiotics beating up his already weak diabetic kidneys. If it goes badly he will get diabetic foot amputation #2.

Lets hope for the best.



Dr. Christopher Segler believes diabetic amputations are preventable. He teaches strategies that help his clients avoid amputation. He is also and award-winning diabetic foot surgeon, inventor and author. If you have diabetes, you can learn how to avoid amputation by more by requesting your FREE report “No Leg Left To Stand On: The Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know About Diabetic Foot Amputation” at http://www.ineedmyfeet.com.

Phantom Limb Pain After Diabetic Amputation

At one time, surgeons thought that phantom limb pain was a hoax. Really, doctors thought patients were making it up. They were crazy. It was all in their heads. Well, in fact it is in their heads, in a way.

There is an old saying that "pain is in the brain." That is certainly true with any amputation leading to phantom limb pain. For example, we now know that there are several factors that can influence the risk of developing severe, debilitating phantom limb pain after an amputation.

The first is pre-operative pain control. For some reason, patients that suffer with poorly controlled pain just before the limb is amputated will have a higher chance of developing phantom limb pain. We also know that "control" has an influence as well. For example, if you think that a diabetic limb amputation is inevitable, and you actually get to have some say in the decision making process, your chances of having phantom pain goes down. If however, you feel you had no control or perceive you were forced into it, you willbe more likely to develop phantom limb symptoms.

We also think that your perception of post-amputation disability can have an impact. If you have worked with an orthotists and feel you be able to recover, walk and enjoy life, your risk of post-op chronic phantom pain goes down.

Knowing this, you must work with your doctor to decrease your chances of developing phantom limb pain. You must report pain and be honest about how much your foot or leg hurts in the time leading up to the operation. Pain medicine and local infusions of numbing agents can be very successful in controlling your pain before the amputation. You won't get a medal (but might get phantom pain) for trying to "tough it out" through the pain. Be smart. Control the pain.

Join an amputee support group and get counseling so yo can meet other amputees who have gotten their lives back after a diabetic leg amputation. Don't just rot away in a wheel chair parked in front of a television.

Meet with a specialist in prosthetics to get an understanding of limb prosthesis advances and options. I can personaly say that the devices are amazing. I was once passed by an amputee at Ironman Arizona. That race is 140.6 miles. All in one day. And for that person, on one leg. You can stay active too. Don't let diabetes (or even an amputation) get you down.


Dr. Christopher Segler believes diabetic amputations are preventable. He teaches strategies that help his clients avoid amputation. He is also and award-winning diabetic foot surgeon, inventor and author. If you have diabetes, you can learn how to avoid amputation by more by requesting your FREE report “No Leg Left To Stand On: The Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know About Diabetic Foot Amputation” at http://www.ineedmyfeet.com.