Jeffrey Allen Mangus - Ampossible: Real-World Solutions for Amputees to Accomplish the Impossible

AMPossible

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom

Copyright 2021 by Jeffrey Allen Mangus

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mangus, Jeffrey Allen, 1966- author.

Title: AMPossible : real-world solutions to help amputees accomplish the impossible / Jeffrey Allen Mangus.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020054140 (print) | LCCN 2020054141 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538141878 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538141885 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: AmputeesRehabilitation. | AmputeesPsychology.

Classification: LCC RD756 .M319 2021 (print) | LCC RD756 (ebook) | DDC 617.5/8dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054140

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054141

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

I want to dedicate this book to my wife, Kelly, who stood beside me, lifted me up from the bottom, carried me, and showed the world the true meaning of For Better or For Worse. I love you with all my heart and soul. Thank you for never quitting and always seeing the best in me.

This book is also dedicated to our five children: Brady, Ryann, Gabby, Jacob, and Sophie, along with Thaddaeus, Katie, and Allison and my grandkids Elora Grace and Liesel Sue.

I cannot forget my late friend John Gillenwater, who was there for me and my family through every painful step of my limb loss journey, unconditionally. I love and miss you, my brother. RIP

Lastly, I dedicate this book to my mom and dad, Irene and Fred, and my sister, Dianna, who have always been there through it all. I love all of you very much.

W e have to take you to surgery now! the doctor shouted as my fever raged and cold, clammy sweat poured out of me. Around me, nurses and medical staff swarmed as I struggled to breathe. My engorged left foot was a sickening green, oozing with infection, and little did I know that my life was hanging in the balance. Only hours before I had unraveled the bandage from my left foot to find it swollen three times its usual size and green as a dying weed. Even as I stared at my foot, I didnt realize that the day I had planned was shaping up to be a nightmare that would change the course of my life.

For three years I had been battling continuous wounds on my feet as a result of diabetes. At this point I was used to the normal routine of going to the hospital, getting treatment, bandaged, and being sent home. Even as I hobbled to the car, shoeless, foot engorged, I thought to myself, They will examine me, clean my wound, give me a strong antibiotic, and send me on my way. I was confident that the doctors would bandage me up, stick me in the ass with antibiotics, and send me home to fight another day.

This time I was dead wrong.

When I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital the air had a strange stillness; everything was seemingly dark and gray. As I turned off the cars engine, I sat, remaining completely still. Surrounding me was a feeling I could not ignorea strong presence signaling every ounce of my being that things were about to change. Not knowing and scared, I suddenly felt the need to squeeze every second I could, and I didnt know why. I took a deep breath, embraced the moment while listening to the whisper of the stillness. As I made my way to the emergency room, a soft voice told me, It will be okay. A cascading peace washed over me as the doors of the emergency room closed behind me. Little did I know that in a few short hours that walk would be the last I would ever takewith my own two legs.

I would like to acknowledge Mr. Warren Tuttle, president of Tuttle Innovation and president of the United Inventors Association for being instrumental in helping me start my writing career, believing in me, and being my dear and close friend every step of the way.

Thank you to my agent, Gary Krebs, for believing in me and this book from the very beginning. Thank you for all the help and guidance throughout. I could not have done it without you.

I want to acknowledge and deeply thank my editor, Suzanne Staszak-Silva, for her belief in this book project, guidance, and making the writing process one Ill never forget.

From every trial in life, there is a wound, and from every wound, there is a scar. And from every scar, there is a story that says, I survived.

Unknown

T hree years prior to that walk through the emergency room doors, the little toe on my left foot was amputated due to a wound that never healed. That amputation was my first, and I admit, before the toe loss, I did not effectively manage my diabetes. I am a type 2 diabetic. I ignored the signs and lived haphazardly with vast amounts of stress, terrible food choices, and worst of allno sleep. I was a walking time bomb. It was utterly my fault, and I had no one else to blame. After an immense amount of soul-searching, I decided that losing a toe was the last straw. I had to make drastic changes in my life. I attacked my health and diabetes head-on and began taking care of myself. Within six months, after eating an all-vegetable (no meat) diet and following strict diabetic management, I dropped my A1C from 18 to 7.1. It was a vast improvement; however, this is when things began to unravel.

Even though I was eating healthy and following a strict diabetic management plan, my left foot would not completely heal. The doctors were baffled, yet healing efforts went on for two years with extensive wound care treatments. It was exhausting, frustrating, and tiresome, yet despite all efforts, the nickel-sized wound remained. I never realized that I was playing Russian roulette with my life by going in and out of the wound care facility daily. The wound clinic was a cesspool of germs with bacteria hidden in the smallest and darkest of places, and the odds eventually became too great.

I lost the game.

As my foot became severely infected, I still never thought the worst. I had a fever and chills and believed I was coming down with the flu, but I grew weaker, lethargic, and eventually sepsis set in and took over my body. Everything seemed to be slowly shutting down as my kidneys began to fail, and my heart struggled to beat. My body was struggling from the massive infection in my foot. My brain and organs were not receiving enough blood to function, turning my situation critical. I didnt have a choice when my surgeon emphatically announced that I needed to go to surgery if I wanted to live. My world was spiraling, fading, and still I never dreamed that I was facing losing my limband even death.

I was fifty-one years old on November 29, 2017, when my world crashed to a grinding halt, changing it forever. My left foot was inflamed with infection, and in this fleeting, horrifying moment, I was now faced with the inevitable choice of losing it or risking pending death. Doctors and nurses scrambled and rushed me immediately into surgery. (The amputation on that foot was the first of three major operations.) I woke to the sight of the entire top of my left foot, including all muscles, tendons, and ligaments, removed. My heart sank at the spectacle; my foot torn to shreds, damaged beyond healing. I now faced a life-altering decisionto amputate or never walk normally again.