Liner Breakdown

I have been an amputee for more than a decade. During this time I have remained vigilant about my limb health and have not taken short cuts- until recently. Ever since Timmy came home and was put on a revolving cycle of near constant feedings, along with the directive that he be held upright on his stomach as much as possible, I have been lax about limb care. In order to compensate for the baby responsibilities,  have been sleeping with my liner on so that I could quickly pop out of bed to prepare a bottle. Although I know better, some days flew by without my removing the liner.

My shortcut worked in the short term, but have now made my life more difficult. I have developed a flaky, bloody and painful rash along the trim line of my socket. I wish I could be angry and blame somebody else, but I know that the fault is my own. My skin breakdown is directly related to my constantly wearing the liner.

As soon as the severity of the skin breakdown was known I took action to try to minimize the damage. I dug in the back of the closet to find a new liner. Although I hate the unavoidable friction that I feel when stepping into my leg with a new liner, I figured that it would behoove me to start with a clean slate. I also started to cover the area in Neosporin, hoping to thwart yet another infection from developing. At this point my body is working overtime trying to beat back the infections which are already raging, I certainly don't need to add another battle to the war.  Perhaps most importantly, I have started removing my leg and liner whenever possible.

While it isn't an issue during the day, I know that having to constantly don my liner and leg every 90 minutes will quickly become a nuisance at night. (Of course, at 2 in the morning anything that doesn't involve REM sleep is an annoyance.) In order to minimize the frustration, I've rearranged the living room to meet my amputee mom needs. Bottles, formula, spit clothes, clothes and diapers are all within arms reach. The living room now resembles a make-shift baby nursery, but right now I care more about functionality instead of style. Sleeping on the pull out sofa next to Timmy's cradle, I will be able to care for him in the middle of the night without donning my leg. 

On top of all of our other worries, I certainly don't need to contend with amputee issues. But this one was brought on by myself, so I really shouldn't complain. I have learned an important lesson, and I won't be lax about limb care again. The seconds that were saved by me wearing the liner all the time were not an equal trade for the situation I am currently facing. I would kick myself for making such a poor decision, but right now that would be too painful!

Last night,whether or not I wore my liner was a moot point.  My Mom came down to take over the night shift with Timmy. I slept for over eight hours, which is something I thought would never happen again.