Yup, while the technology is improving all the time it's going to be many years yet before it gets there IMO, and even then the price for parts that are genuinely better will mean only the crazy rich can afford them.
Yes obviously I meant "better than a quite functioning human body" because sure mobility aids and medical devices helps when something dysfunctions. It's like people saying "you use a wheelchair because you're lazy" how would moving around with your arms (weaker than your legs) somethings heavier than you body (your body + the wheelchair) be easier than walking ??? It's just not. Unless you're legs are bad or some other issues. There's no advantage of having a wheelchair if you're not disabled. It is efficient for us, but not more efficient than abled legs like what the hell are you thinking ??
Please Anne, reply to me. Please see my other comments. If you had cancer, and amputation would save your life, would you consent? I know that I would NOT!!!
@@gordanazakula4927 if it would save my life 100% I would. I have 2 young kids I couldn't leave behind... but then I'm also the person who has taken the BRCA test and would have had a mastectomy and hysterectomy as preventative if it came back positive....
I'm a Right Above Knee Amputee and considered a "shorty" by my PT because my limb was cut off 8" above the knee and don't have much left on the right leg. I lost it because of a lack of circulation because of arteriosclerosis and plaque build up in the arteries below the knee. Artificial arteries were rejected by my body. I'd give anything to have it back.
Hi sorry you have disability but when you say you you would give anything to have your leg back make sure it's not your life because you matter and without you the would wouldn't be as good
I have a disability and I honestly don’t know what people think they’ll get out of it? The inability to form relationships because you always feel like you’re being a pain or limiting what your friends/partner can do? The ridiculous expenses that come with being chronically ill? Or just the generally feeling terrible a large percentage of the time? All sounds super fun to me.
If you think it through you don't want it. People tend to only dream of the bright side and not even acknowledge the dark parts, because they just don't want to think about it. And for you- These thoughts are totally understandable, I don't know how you deal with them. I just hope you have a good outlet. There are enough people who don't think you are a pain and not feel limeted by your disability. If they are not willing to put up with you, they don't have to stay, and for your sake they shouldn't (not just for disabled people). It is definitely ok for you to feel unwell, even for days or weeks. It comes with horrible thoughts, but they don't stay if you don't drown yourself in them. It won't be easy.
I used to want a disability when I was younger. I don’t have depth perception, but my eyes work fine so that’s not considered a disability. I can’t do lots of the things required for sports because of it, like catching flying objects and not falling over kerbs and jumping off/onto objects. I wanted something to make people understand I was trying, that I wasn’t being lazy, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to do it without hurting myself. I have done so on occasion, when I push myself too hard, or if I’m careless. People understand “disability” and I didn’t have the words to express what was going on for a long time. I didn’t know why I couldn’t do things, let alone explain to other people. It’s not a recognised thing, and doesn’t matter except in specific circumstances. But those circumstances pop up more often than you’d expect. Funnily enough, I do actually have a recognised disability: I’m dyslexic. That also went undetected for a really long time, until I was 17. I’m just good at adapting, but I wanted some kind of explanation for the amount of effort I was putting in to get the same results others could get without trying. Being able to say with two words that things are harder for me in specific areas of my life is really useful. Then I don’t get accused of being lazy when I’m trying my hardest. It feels wrong, being able to call my dyslexia a disability when it went undetected for so long but not being able to say the same for my other struggle, which has arguably had much more of an impact on my life. It feels wrong to be able to get help, because I’ve never been severe enough to be recognised. I’m so used to struggling, and finding my own ways around a problem. I can understand wanting a disability for the acknowledgment that things are harder for you than the average human, and your best effort may look different. But then that’s just my life experience, and obviously it’s nowhere near the scale of chronic pain or amputation on the way it puts limitations on my life. I’m sorry if this came off as rude or entitled.
@@truebrew2004 Having no depth perception can be classed as a disabilty. You don't need to be registered blind or visually impaired for vision issues to be classed as a disability. To me if it was something you wanted I would class you as disabled from it due the issues you have with kerbs, falling objects etc. Especially if your issues have caused you to knock things over, trip over things, fall over, struggle to access pavements/sidewalks or stairs. Under UK law for example: "You’re disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities."
Being happy while having a disability gets you automatically categorised as a “brave and positive inspiration!” If everyone with a disability was sad and told everyone how horrible it is when people ask any questions, no one would “want” to be disabled. But because we act and talk normal when we’re different we are “amazing”. No we are just people who can talk without crying just like everyone else 😂
I do notice that the "inspirational" view of disability is applied much less to people with invisible disabilities. I personally have never felt that pressure. I largely run into skepticism about my need and the narrative that I'm probably playing things up to get special treatment.
GalacticGuava If my invisible disabilities are acknowledged, I’m denied accommodations/empathy as I’m supposed to “overcome” them, so why bother inconveniencing ableds?
@Angelica Cline the grass is always greener I guess. Personally I'd rather my disability be visible so I wouldn't be denied accommodations or be called lazy for needing them. When you can't live up to the same expectations as everyone else people just assume it's a character failure and blame you for it.
I'm not sure if I have biid or if I just am romanticicing amputation. Would it be OK for you to tell me about the symptoms of Biid? Maybe then I can figure it out...
@@rosegranger2872 it is different for each person. In my case, I have had obsessive thoughts about amputating my legs below the knee for as long as I can remember (since at least around 5 years old). I've always felt like my feet don't belong there. My sense of touch on my feet feels different than the rest of my body, hyper sensitive to some types of stimuli, nearly dead to others. When I remember my dreams, I am usually an amputee in them. Probably a few more things that I'm not thinking of, but those are the highlights.
@@rosegranger2872 I don't have personal experience with it, but from what I've learned it seems like there's a disconnect between how your body is in real life and how it is in your mind. Like if you've ever worn clothes or makeup that were really not your style at all and when you looked in the mirror you were surprised by what you saw and thought, "I'm clearly wearing this but I don't look like me." But more intense and persistent because it's a part of your body that you can't take off at will
It could be mentioned that BIID isn't a mental illness, and the only known successful treatment is to provide the desired amputation. Current research shows possible (intractable) neurological causes.
I used to think I had BIID when I was a kid because I wished I could be in a power wheelchair. Now in retrospect I am realizing that it was because I have several chronic illnesses now, that I might have had these illnesses as a kid too and I just really wanted to be able to go places without so much pain... but i was told it was normal to want to die all the time because of my constant agony, so I just pushed myself beyond the point of what would be considered reasonable.
I’m a left below knee amputation from a work accident caused by a wreck less equipment operator who pretty much crushed my body from my left eye socket down to my lost leg, the accident was in 2013 and I’m still having surgeries to put me back together...nine surgeries so far 2 years in a nursing home, 1.5 years in a assisted care independent apartment add the post surgery infections and the physical therapy of learning to walk again after 4 years of not walking it took 3 months to be independent of a walker!! and yes you are out of your mind or have a mental condition that you need help for There’s nothing fun about wearing a prosthetic, you can’t walk on uneven ground without a cane or walking poles, you can’t go down any steep terrain such as a river bank, etc...the people you see running marathons or climbing mt Everest have either won a huge lawsuit or have rich families or sponsors. Insurance, worker’s compensation and Medicare only cover the basic walking leg. Mine cost 25,000 that’s including 2 2,000 liners and shim sock set. Every year as your liners wear out and your stump shrinks you must get refitted to a new socket at a cost of 10,000 and the approval process can take months mean while you are getting sores and infections from the poor fit..I’ve been up to 18 plys waiting on approval. Yes I’m grateful to be alive and able to walk, sorry about the rant I just couldn’t believe someone would want this electively
To those who want to have a carbon fiber rocket foot just because it looks cool, and you don't need to lose a limb because your situation doesn't call for it, (Jo hit the nail on the head!) There are amazing tattoo artists that specialize in biomechanical art styles. If you want the look, but you don't require amputation to live a better life, and are ok with tattoos, go that route instead! Also, actual carbon fiber rocket feet can cost as much as some cars (based on a $ figure from a previous video). Tattoos, depending on how far you go with the piece, usually do not.
Jo: “you could be literally anywhere in the world doing literally anything right now” Me: “global pandemic, not allowed to leave my house.. nope. Nothing else to do” 🤣
Thank you so much for broaching this topic because taking on personal identities for the aesthetic underscores the the limits of our empathy. This notion that struggle and pain is something cool or fashionable to constantly live suggests that the experience of those who might be marginalized is reducible to a single aspect of their life, when it’s not that simple. Know that asking for an identity you don’t have comes with struggles you will never know that are not as glamorous.
I had a friend a long time ago who had a little boy who really liked me for some reason. He even tore the leg of his Teddy bear. But he was also 3. Cute kid but he was totally obsessed with my "robot leg"
I never realized that people feel that way. Your videos have actually kind of scared me about losing my leg. I see things that you do and realize that I couldn't do all that you do because of my weight. I couldn't get off the floor without help now because of my bad leg and I would think it would be a hundred times worse without my leg. I wouldn't wish my pain upon anyone though.
When I was 14 years old my knee dislocated. When I got older I had to have the knee replaced. That discussion to have a replace my knee took me over three years and a lot of pain. I did it but I am not thrilled with the way it is today. They cut my bones in my leg to put medal there. Can no longer use my knee to get up if I fall. It works ok for getting around. Not like my knee when I was younger. The other knee needs surgery now. Going to take longer this time. This was my good knee while the other was always a problem. Love your vlog. Look for it every day. PORT PERRY ONTARIO CANADA
I walked around with a nerve damaged limb that was slowly dying for 29 years, I never would wish for that. Being an amputee is now even more difficult; at least until I get a prosthetic, I can’t imagine wanting this. How ever since I constantly make jokes people think it’s really not all that bad. I deal with stress by using self deprecating humour wish people would realise that being an amputee is actually serious and while its circumstances it puts me in are funny it’s not fun for one moment.
I have hidden chronic ilnesses and sometimes I wish that I had a "visible" means of showing that something was wrong with me. Too many times people and doctors don't believe me because they can not see what is wrong with me. I understand that there are many other struggles when you can visually see that something is wrong with someone but sometimes I find it hard because I look "great". Several years ago when my ankle injury wouldn't heal I had a doctor joke that we would need to amputate but I also felt like it was only a half joke as nothing was working. Thankfully after 5 years it got better but there was a time when I seriously wondered if I would one day need amputation and I am thankful it didn't come to that. Now my pain doc jokes about amputation for my headaches.... (I am serious)
Yes i relate to this so much! I have been dealing w constant pain in both ankles for over 3 years now, and the number of people who get confused when I turn down an invitation to go somewhere even though I look fine, when really I have just perfected the art of acting like I'm not in pain all the time. I still don't have a diagnosis, but am working w specialists so will hopefully get there soon, but yeah I sometimes wish I just had something visible, or at least something predictable, as even if I am just sitting the pain often flairs up.
Hi Jo! The only reason for people to want to become an amputee I can think of is the need of attention. People want to feel special, and be noticed by others. I myself am an disabled person with a normally-looking body (MS) Because my disability is not visible from the first sight, I feel that people don't notice it and don't know how difficult it really is (not being able to use your body even though it looks perfectly ok)
Hi Jo I am a new amputee so your videos have been very helpful to me ....this journey is very very difficult and i am just getting my prosthetic on Tuesday but your videos have beena lift and comfort!Thanks !
There is a conditions called BIID/BIDD (forget the correct acronym :| ) but they genuinely believe they should have a limb, should be in a wheelchair despite having 0 real health reasons to use one, etc. So thanks for mentioning that. Its rarely brought up in these types of videos. Otherwise, its purely romanizing it. It also could be the "I want to be saved" so they jump to illness type thing. Which happens with depression SO OFTEN its disheartening. Its frustrating. I'm disabled, can't find a treatment that works, lost all my friends, fight with family to respect my limits, beg doctors to do their job and test me for crap and write down my symptoms, etc etc. I'm my advocate, my support system, my best friend, my worst enemy, my bully, my lover, my world. I am all I got. And I have been for years. The isolation alone is so damn hard. Let alone interpersonal relationships and such. I have been rejected for my health, I have been told I'm giving up when my legs are paralyzed and I can't walk, that I'm lieing when they can see me having a panic attack and clawing open my skin and bleeding, that I'm making it up when I'm vomiting my stomach out and coughing out my lungs. And that's the physical. At least most of that they can see. The mental health that they can't see? Its never, ever taken seriously. Even what little is diagnosed. Its often shrugged off. "Every teen is depressed" "just stop being anxious" "just get out of bed and go outside more" etc. And fail to realize the physical part greatly impacts the mental, and both make each other worse. So tell me, What is so cool about others debating you health? Having it be the controversial topic in the house? Having doctors tell you you painted your leg when its purple, or that for 6+ years you've had growing pains when you've stayed 5'8. How is never being able to talk about your health in fear it will be to much, how your body working against you, how the world never understanding cool? Tell me that. I have multiple undiagnosed health conditions. Because I'm not paralyzed 24/7, and it happens randomly, I'm lieing to everyone When I'm stuck in bed, all I can do is say I'm lieing and need to get up. I'm never believed. And for so many, it gets to the point they've been told they aren't sick for so long they are getting worse and worse and break. It takes a breaking point to get help. When the red flags had been up and there for years. The 4+ years diagnosis time is sad. The marginalized communities not being believed is sad. The fact you have doctors Calling you a lier is sad. Im mentally ill, I'm physically ill. And the diagnosis process for me will be years upon years and very, very pricy. Don't ever say you want to be disabled. But don't say you'd want to die if you were disabled. Just validate the ones with disabilities and say if it were to happen to you you would make the most of life. Sorry to go off. But the amount of times I've heard shit that romanized my life that is constantly being worsened by others opinions, to be told my suffering is a cute aesthetic. Your the reason doctors don't believe me. If you think you truly, and I mean truly, have a problem like your passing out or been really down and lost interest in things for a while, go see a doctor. But don't go "I've been sad for a hour guess I'm depressed". Illnesses are not adjectives. And I'll end this here. Running out of energy and my hot water bottle is getting cold lol.
I can relate heavily to this in kind of a different way though. My disability, though I'm not missing limbs, they do give me a hard time, I'm not able to be very mobile for long stretches at a time... And I've heard many times over the years how nice it must be to "not have to work that much" or "be exempt from (blank) in school" among many others. But I'm just like no, you're not jealous of me at all. Yes you have to work but you also have all of your mobility and can do so many things without even thinking about them. I have to think about everything in terms of "if I do thing A today I won't be able to do thing B tomorrow, which is more important" no one wants that. Some envy my disability support, but I'd so much rather be able to fully support myself like a normal person... The grass always looks greener I guess?
Mild mild MILD rebuttal to your point at around 8:10 ish - where you said that when you were younger you almost wished that you would have that something difficult to deal with: I was the same; but then i grew up, i found out I have a very painful condition that, in retrospect, i've been dealing with my whole life, but nobody recognized the symptoms of. I wonder if it was less "wishing that I was also in pain" and more "I wish that someone would recognize and acknowledge the pain I'm in and how hard it is for me" with a little bit of "I wish I could have that storybook arc of feeling better about myself". Frankly, I'm pretty sure that's what it was for me. And while I might be projecting here - it's not like I know what's going on in your head (hopefully good things) - I know you dealt with a lot of physical pain growing up, which culminated in where you are today. Maybe we're similar in this? (but, note, i still have all my limbs, i just have a lot of chronic pain and a questionable fibromyalgia diagnosis) Which isn't to say that all of these comments come from this place, but they could explain a handful. ps: I love this video and I think what you said was so important, and I'm so sorry that you even had to handle these comments in the first place - it's a very tricky situation. I hope that the people who do feel that way can recognize why they feel that way and work towards a solution for it, like I did - even if that solution is just acknowledging your own struggles, and allowing yourself to be okay with what your own body feels.
Well there are what, 7 billion of us out there? So yeah, probability is that any conceivable fetishes there's someone with it. I'm already left scratching my head in confusion at some of the less extreme stuff I've heard of. 🤨🤷♂️
@@ncrtrooper8786 there are those that do nasty things with maggots. 🤮 Then there's the whole 2 girls and a cup type stuff where it seems they are just begging to catch a disease.
I'm not going to lie, since I started watching your videos a few months ago, I have had the realization that life would be difficult but still very much doable (excuse my phrasing) if something ever happened and I lost a foot. But to watch your videos and think that losing a foot would be "cool" (BIID aside) is something I cannot understand.
I think this is the same type of effect like when you read a YA novel and empathise with the characters so much you do occasionally find yourself thinking "I want to be in a post-apocalyptic dystopia and lose everything I take for granted and fight for my life every day." I think it's a combination of admiration of a specific person/binging their content and being surrounded by them and the fascination of the unknown/fantastical. Most people, however, know not to voice these thoughts out loud because they realise how bad that actually sounds and how disrespectful it is to people actually struggling. In the end, my hope is that these people will get over these fleeting thoughts and, should they ever actually be in a situation where they actually face losing a limb, be a little less scared during this very tough time.
As someone who, while not having this particular thing to this extent, did hope that there was something *wrong* with me or that there would be so at least I'd have an excuse for how much I struggled with so many things...I think a part of it can also be actually having an invisible and undiagnosed disability where everything that's hard for you due to being disabled is put down to personal failure by others and, because you've always been taught that that was the case, yourself so you kind of wish that at least you had some "excuse" for failing again and again at seemingly simple things nobody else struggles with. Not even just in the way of having it as an excuse, but just of not constantly "failing" because "you're not good enough" which can really, really drag your self-esteem down. So, I guess...if anyone out there has those experiences, if you make that kind of experience over and over again, really focus on wheather it's *actually* due to a lack of trying or wheather that's just what the world wants you to believe. If you keep trying and keep failing, wheather you have something that can be diagnosed or wheather you are diagnosed, you shouldn't beat yourself up for things that you really can't do or that you can't do without a huge personal cost.
When I was 1/2 way through rehab, the therapist said to me, “We SHOULD be able to have you running marathons again!” I looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. “Ok...? I never ran anything or anywhere before...” pointing to my newly prosthetized leg. “Oh...weren’t you the marathon runner?” I burst out laughing. Athlete I have NEVER been. Between my left BKA and an AFO brace on my right for drop foot...some days I still use a wheelchair (4 yrs after amputation) for anything that’s longer than to the car and back kind of distances. I would definitely NEVER have chosen this route in life, though I do, like you said, the best I can with what I have. There’s not a day that goes by that wishes I hadn’t got those 3rd degree burns to the bottoms of my feet...not a day that I don’t wish I had taken a few moments of packing the family stuff for the water park and put my pool shoes in. When little kids talk to me about me “cool robot leg” I tell them enough to let them know, “I’m ok, but it was an accident and a real leg and your own super strong bones are WAY more strong and powerful, and cool! So take care of them and be safe!.” I don’t want to scare them, but also not to promote that a prosthetic/robot leg is something to strive or wish for. Parents always look horrified when kids ask. I don’t mind, they are curious, they think it’s a cool robot leg cause of tv and movies. The odd child understands it’s cause I got hurt. But as you say Jo....NO ONE WANTS THIS!! Thanks for sharing. 😊
Hey Jo I have Cerebral Palsy I have a hip the is hurting I was thinking of doing that same thing but after listening to my parents telling me the exact thing you just said “keep all you limbs” as long as you can. Thank you. I love watching you you are awesome I have family in Colorado.
As an amputatee, I find those comments insulting. We all wish we have the body parts we lost! You have not romanticized anything. You are just real. BTW I have balance issues and my BK prosthetic leg helps me balance better.
This is a little different, but kind of similar: I used to feel really disconnected and uncomfortable with my left arm. I had fantasized about just getting rid of it. Sometimes even joking about having a robot arm. Now that I use a cane, I am so grateful I have two arms. Trying to do anything without my “good” arm is so difficult, and if I only had the one it would be so much worse. I still am not a fan of my left arm. But my god is it a lifesaver at times.
You know.. I've been following you from the start. The reason that I keep coming back is not because I want to be like you.. as in lose a limb. But because I admire your drive and your look on life.. That you try to keep the positive in things although sometimes its hard! keep it up Jo!
I have an invisible disability and I would not wish it on anyone. It's horrible. I recently switched to working remotely even after lockdown because I got lucky with my workplace, but it's still not fun. The strain on family and friends is real even if they don't cut you off, the way people make me a fetish is bizarre, the extra expenses are so draining. Great video Jo, you put it so well. I always love your videos.
But I might actually need amputation, Long story short, bad accident, nerve damage , like 2 thirds of my left foot zero feeling and little to no function (lucky to have any ankle function at all)
Hi Benjamin! I'm so sorry that that is something you're facing and that you had to go through that accident! I hope I made it clear, but this video is really just for people who have no medical reason whatsoever to have an amputation but still "want" one. All the best to you friend, I hope that you have a great medical team and support going forward! 💜
Cases are always different still I had a massive reconstruction 20 odd years ago to save my leg after a motorcycle accident my foot is paralysed with little feelings and my ankle is almost blocked and I can tell you i live pretty well with that. Far much better anyway than my passenger who elected to become a BkA and never got over it ! Amputation was not an option for me and i never regretted to take this path! Adapt adapt adapt! Life with a prosthetic is not fun or glamour as some people might think .and in my opinion better a bad foot than a good prosthetic!
Try to be the person in the commercial doing cool things in general. We all have struggles yours are valid! You can overcome them and feel like a super hero.
I tore my ACL and had a leg brace until it got fixed. It was so frustrating to put on. I couldn't sit in it. It moved out of place when I walked. I'm so thankful my surgery was pretty successful. I don't know what I would do if I faced the decision you did but I'm thankful for you and your educational videos.
Thank you so much for this video! I personally think it´s mostly kids writing these comments. I can totally see a kid seeing you on the screen doing amazing things and handling it all so well (at least on camera) and having this cool prosthetic and thinking "omg, this is so cool! I want it too, the cool prosthetic, and all the attention she surely gets!" Like when a kid in their class has a broken arm and has a cast on it and everyone wants to sign it and pities them for it. While I think it´s amazing how you handle it all and how you don´t seem to think any challenge is too big, I in no way envy you and I think more people should realise that.
Not an amputee but have multiple chronic illnesses and chronic ankle pain, and the romanticized idea of disabilities and chronic illnesses can be so frustrating. The amount of times I’ve heard “I wish I had what you do so I could get better parking/get out of gym class” (I have a handicap parking pass), while I’m here begging to not have this life anymore. Wouldn’t wish any of this on my worst enemy.
I feel this video so much. I have a disability that can wildly vary in its impact on my mobility. I spent two years on forearm crutches unable to walk on my own. I recently regained independent mobility and no longer use them daily. I still need the crutches past a certain exertion point (so like, I hike with them) there is no guarantee of how long I will keep independent mobility. While I was on the crutches for any and all walking, I had so many people be like "omg those are so cool I wish I needed crutches!" Like, wtf? Sure, after a while I developed a symbiotic relationship with them, and they are pretty neat looking (plug for SideStix) especially to people not used to seeing that style but to WISH for the NEED of their use? *No please stop.* They see the crutches and they imagine them in addition to their perfectly functioning body. Not in addition to the inability to move through the world without them. I am doing literally everything in my power to stay where I am now.
Being disabled in general is very difficult. Finding dr's who specialize in the illnesses you have, getting them to believe you... it took 46 years to get my first major diagnosis for conditions that have plagued me since infancy. I don't go to the ER for emergencies because I'm a pain management patient, thus I'm labeled a "drug seeker"... which is idiotic as I have pain meds! If I go to the ER, it's because I have a medical emergency. I've been laughed at, thrown out, misdiagnosed, given a pregnancy test(after giving my med history of a historectomy), and asked "what do you expect ME to do?", by an ER Dr. If I can't get into my primary Dr, I suffer and wait.
Hi,Joe I completelly agree with you.I became a bellow knee amputee two months ago due to horrific motorcycle accident.Your videos are helping me to see what I will experience in the future,how my life is going to be from now on,how to be positive and how to struggle with stump pain,depression,bad days,prostetic leg,financial impact,etc. I think such coments are coming from inmature people thinking that having a "terminator" leg is a "cool" thing.I am on the half way getting a prostetic leg and I am already in hell. I did not trully accept that I lost a limb.These comments are very dangerous as you said.Wish you all the best,jo Greetings from Montenegro
Yikes, I mean, I just don't get it. I mean, I love your channel Jo, but I draw the line at wanting to lose a limb! Being diabetic, it's one of the things that terrifies me, knowing that I'm at increased risk of having an amputation during my lifetime, but it's something I try not to dwell on and certainly don't aspire to. However, your channel has maybe made me see that it's not the worst thing that could happen, and I hope that's ok too. In the meantime, I'll appreciate and look after my 2 meat legs :)
~~~ A nice hello my internet friend. It is a JOY to view your videos. You uplift us out here and a wise young lady . I hit your like bell and leave a comment when I am here. You and your husband enjoy everything you can and I care about you...
All I got out of becoming disabled was being unable to work, living in a hotel and losing contact with people i thought were friends. I used to have a good attitude until I found myself all alone. Last night I fell out of a chair while making dinner. After fighting to get back up for 30 minutes I finally had to crawl into another part of my room and call 911. That included crawling into the bathroom to use the support bars to try to pull myself up. What's so glamorous about that?
I have several disabilities that can cause me to have to be sent home on occasion and recently a coworker told me i was too disabled to work and should just quit so our boss can hire someone better. Note that she isnt on the same shift as me and my boss has no complaints about my work nor do any of my coworkers since they know i work my ass off. This was legit 2 days after i literally worked for 4 hours on my day off showing signs of building up to a migrane siezure till i called myself an ambulance
While my prosthetic leg may look cool to some as you said, if you do not need it please do not think amputation is cool. Omg there is so much that people do not see or know about, like starting with the cost. And not just for the leg either. I am on SSI and have spent a lot in the last year for cleaning stuff for my leg, new pants/shorts etc...the list goes on. Then you got the healing time, trips to the doctor and prosthetist...its never ending! I am getting cast for my 3rd leg on Tuesday and my 1yr ampuversary is the 6th. Btw.....HAPPY 1 AMPUVERSARY FOR YOUR SECOND CHOP YESTERDAY JO! Sorry...lol. Love ya! 💜💜💜 Say hi to Brian!
I think it is a medical marvel that an artificial limb as such can be developed for those who have either lost a limb or born without one. But for one to wish for an artificial limb would be disillusioned into thinking it is cool to have in place of a real limb. The pain, the adjustments, the being without, the expense, and the life changing that is not what was dreamed of. I nearly lost my right arm in a car accident, but thanks to bone replacement I was able to receive an artificial ball in my upper arm. It will never be the same as a real bone, but thankfully I can keep my right arm and it is working very well!
I just love her content and it is enjoyable to watch. Yes I did at first thank she is very beautiful then I came to the realization that I would never have a chance with her so I just watch her videos 😊
Sometimes I really have to admire how this world works, so that YOU are the one producing RUclips- videos and I don’t, because I know I wouldn’t have the calmness of yours. It’s just unimaginable to me how anybody with a normal, healthy and functioning body would want to willingly make life even harder than it already is (people suffering from BIID are excluded from that of course, because that’s something different).
Lol, I've went the polar opposite. After the second time I broke my right leg, thanks to a very good surgeon, I managed to keep it. Been 4 years now and it can hurt quite a bit sometimes, but I'm glad it's there and I have no desire for it to be gone..
I relate to this in a weird way! As someone who spend the latter part of my childhood in the care system I’ve had people say to me “wow I wish I was in care, it sounds so fun” because they’ve watched Tracy Beaker or some similar programme. I don’t think it comes from a bad place, I think people just want to experience things they don’t get to. The grass is always greener on the other side I guess.
How are you doing on the bike? I have a lack of balance due to Parkinson's but ride a three-wheel recumbent (Catrike is well known). One of the oddest comments I ever had was "boy it must being nice being disabled?" Sigh, they thought it meant automatic SSDI in the USA. Nope, it doesn't it just means we keep going as long as possible. Accept, Adapt, Adjust. I may not be able to ride a bicycle, but love getting out on my three-wheel recumbent! Someone asked if I was disabled, but I just quipped I like taking a nap when cycling. :)
Now I feel a bit guilty. I think I have commented that you make having an artificial leg look cool. I understand completely that it entails all sorts of hardships that I cannot understand and hopefully never will have to. My comment was intended as a compliment to underline that you make it seem more effortless that I'm sure it actually is. Life is complicated enough as is. Unnecessary amputation is absolutely not something to add to the pile
Oh please don't feel guilty or anything, Jógvan! I meant this video specifically for people who are actually hoping/wanting to have a disability or amputation for no real reason. I wanted to encourage people to think a little bit deeper about it - I really appreciate your encouragement towards me that you think I make it look cool! 😊
I have a psychiatric disability. It can be as debilitating as a missing limb or a sense. I won't say I want to lose a limb persay. However I would exchange my invisible disability for a fully able mind. I'm also legally blind in my left eye. I don't think any other disability would mean my challenges would go away. My greatest fear is my disability will be unmanageable before my death. I will be 65 this year. I never thought what you went through learning to adjust was easy.
I had my leg amputated below the knee on November 5 2019. and I still need a wheelchair to get around because my other foot was torn off in a farm accident when I was 17. Now this thursday they are testing me for infection in the only foot I have left and if it is I will lose that foot also leaving me with no feet. So go ahead and fantasize and maybe it will happen and you can experiance all the pain and all the things you wont be able to do anymore. Life sucks for me now.
I have wanted to get a double above the knee amputation because I have chronic knee pain for over 7 years. I know that having an amputation is hard but since I already struggle to get up and do normal activities like walking, sitting, or literally anything I do dream of them just going away. I don’t want to be an amputee because I want a disability, I already have that, I just want to be free from the pain.
I'll keep my limbs. Thank you very much. But if there's one limb I don't mind removing, it's my left leg above the knee. It's like I sprained it a couple of years ago and it has never fully recovered. I keep cracking my knee just for a little comfort. 😩😩😩
I’m a left foot btk amputee and I’m not a year into it yet. Trust what she’s says it’s not all rainbows and sunshine but you can still have a somewhat new normal life. It’s hard! Some days pain is horrible and some days are good. You also have to remember the depression that sometimes is horrible. I’m just curious I only have one prostetic and it looks really different from yours. My kids say my prostetic guy is making mine cheap! I sure hope not! Love and light to everyone❣️
Can Sophie be a regular co-host? Or... I think your other dog is Monkey and... there’s others whose names escape me but any of your furballs should be co-hosts :) Anyways, I will admit there’s been moments where I wished I could remove part of my leg but it’s because I have a knee injury that’s only getting worse to the point I literally can’t trust my leg to hold me up while I walk anymore and I’ve tried all kinds of braces and physical therapies and pain management, nothing helps. There’s been days that I physically can’t walk on my knee because the pain is so intense. So yeah, sometimes I wish I could just make it go away and get a new leg, but it’s not that I want to be an amputee or have a prosthetic leg, I just want this torture to stop...
This sounds like a friend of mine who was jealous of me and kinda wished she was me. She was jealous of a lot of the things in life (mainly academic stuff) I've been able to do despite issues with my joints and a spinal cord injury. She told me that she wished she could have that sort of life. After going into the nitty-gritty with her she changed her mind pretty quick. Turns out freaking yourself out because you unknowingly left a trail of blood in the hallway is not what people think of when thinking of the "glamor" of disabilities.
i feel like many people think of cool cyberpunk prosthetic super power things. and yes, these are super cool, but they're also not reality, they're just a fantasy, or an aesthetic.
There are a lot of new films that don't fall in either trap. The first of this category was Notting Hill. But now there are many more, treating "disabled" people as people - who just happen to have a missing limb, being paralysed or blind or ... . Avatar Pandora, Avatar - the last airbender (inspite of the titles not at all connected to one another), if you want: Dr House, and so on. I think this world is still changing rapidly and neither the Nazi approach (unworth to live) nor the romanticising will win in the end. And you and your videos are part of the process, because what you share of your life (as well the "overcoming" as the "tragedy") help people who have almost no contact to people living with those challenges to understand both parts and to establish a better, more realistic view of what this is: you are a wonderful person - and you lost a part of your lower leg. It sucks and it is something you live with. Both. Neither. Whatever.
I have a super fucked up knee, and due to the genetic disorder I have surgery on it is useless for the most part. The same goes for my ankles they're not fused but they are useless. I regularly joke about just cut them all off but the reality of that no I have bracing that helps compensate for them I have crutches I can use I have my wheelchair. Although the technology is amazing the human body's been figuring it out for a lot longer. Also I really think people just don't grasp how much it costs to be disabled. I spent over four grand on my wheelchair I have spent several thousand in bracing so far. The hip brace I'm supposed to get is another $4,000 that I can't afford currently. The push assist I'm supposed to have for my wheelchair is six grand. Being disabled costs a lot of money.
I know it’s totally different but I get loads of people saying “you’re so lucky working part time”. I only work part time because I’m disabled...! I would do anything to swap being well and work full time then to be disabled and work part time... people just don’t get it!
I’ve had this before where someone said they wish they were an amputee because we get far more opportunities (sports related)!!! This is utter craziness, if they knew I’ve not been able to wear a leg for 3 years now!!
I can kinda relate. Not fully but hear me out. Im Y11 2020 at the end when told we are leav8ng meand friends wemt roundsaying bye to friends and teachers, a Y7 said to me "ohh i wish i didnt have to do my exams" i said "Don't say that. For years we are told revise revise and revise, exams are round the corner. For years we worked sre way up and tried so so so hard and then to be told we are not sitting our exams, yeah its basically a stab kn the back, teeth kicked etc its betrayel. We've lost so much as well, you don't want this, this is horrible" she got the hint haha Point is, I kinda know what its like to have someone want something that's not good. Its annoying
Footless Jo you have given me so much good info... I had 27 surgeries on my right foot! Since 2012 my foot bones started to crumble and the Drs had to keep cutting pieces off. I bot the iwalk 2.0 and my physical therapist had been making me practice walking with it but, I'm tall and I just can't seem to walk by myself with it.... How did you do it?
Hi Jo, I am still here lurking when I can from France and following and appreciating your content. A thought crossed my mind while I watched this video... would you be who you are today without limb loss.. and maybe people want to be like you and think that overcoming life changing adversity is the only way...just a thought possibly worth reflecting. How do ordinary people become extraordinary? Love and gratitude from France ...
If you have an interest in cool prosthetics, go to school at become a technician. Turn your interest into good use instead of fantasizing a disability.
When I was around 14, I was so sick of the pain caused by my disability that I begged my parents to speak to a surgeon about amputating my left foot. Thankfully, they refused. Thirty-some years on, I'm still in pain (and it's getting worse), but I know that amputation would not have prevented that pain. My leg hurts, my back hurts, my head hurts... As well as spinabifida and hydrocephalus, I now have RA. So where would I stop? How would amputation have improved things? It wouldn't have. You made a choice that was right for you after years of pain, and you cope with the new challenges that choice has brought, but people need to realise that irreversible surgery should never be a goal.
I’m actually worried and a little scared one day I will have my right leg amputated because of all the issues that I have had with my ankle for a long time. I need to meet with a ligament specialist but I keep putting it off (which I know I shouldn’t because the problems are going to continue to get worse if I don’t.) It might be an actual future for me that I really don’t want, I don’t understand being from the outside looking in why someone would want to. I understand BIID and why people affected with that do but other people it just doesn’t make any sense.
No one in their right mind wants to have surgery for anything unless you have NO OTHER CHOICE. And the same goes for having surgery for Amputation. Whilst medical science has "made leaps and bounds " and has become a lot more safer these days, people can still suffer from complications due to surgery. And if not complications, people can still die from surgical procedures. People need to explore all other options before contemplating any surgery. And that means Amputation Surgery too...... And only if you have No Other Choice but Amputation, then listen to your doctor and have the procedure then....... I suffer from Arthritis in my right knee. And I'd never would have any surgical procedure done on it unless I had to. Cause rehabilitation can be such a b.... Rehab can impact your whole life so much. And there's always the question "will the cure be worse than the disease?"............ ☮️⚛️🌏
Living with a disability is not a beautiful wonderful thing.... ALL we want is to live as normal as we can just like everyone else does and to NOT be noticed or brought out in the the light as being a hero or being cool.... We didnt CHOOSE our disability it chose us for whatever messed up reason it did... ALL we want is to be happy and be normal... BTW I have been disabled for 29 years & I dont seen myself any different then I was when I was able bodied... I do almost everything I did before just a bit differently now
I would never actually comment that I would want to be an amputee but my ankle is always in pain not to much but it's there and seeing you go on a short hike sometimes gets me thinking about it not seriously but it's a thought that comes up
These days, people even romanticise lethal illnesses. Just look at all those movies about two teenagers who fall in love but one of them is dying. Don't even know why I clicked on Your videos for the first time, but I somehow like listening to You. I hope most people who want to be like You mean that they want to be a really cool person, not that they want to chop off their foot.
*At one point I wanted so badly to have a more serious leg injury so my family and doctors would take me seriously when I was saying it was hard to walk *Seeing a physiotherapist has worked great so far! But it took over a year to get one- almost two.
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on body integrity dysphoria - those people who truly feel like a part of their body doesn't belong, and for whom removing that part can actually be therapeutic? I'm sure that's not the only thing going on here, but may be worth considering. :)
I am not much on feet, kind of like my peg, haven't worn a foot much in the last 35 years. A foot back then was more cosmetic than functional. For those that want to be amps, it is a Damn tough row to hoe. An issue you could cover is skin health of your stump, even after almost 40 years, it is still an issue. Good luck Jo
Either those cyborg fetishists are oblivious to the issues and severe drawbacks to prosthetics, of the current time, and what it actually means to be missing limbs, or perhaps they just dream about having the vastly more complex robotic limbs like those in the Deus Ex reboots or Cyberpunk 2077. I can kinda follow the last one, because those sci-fi prosthetics look cool, and in their respective settings often don't only emulate the function of a biological limb, but enhances it greatly, but it would still have it's drawbacks.
Jo i had a doctor suggest that I should amputate my left arm because im not able to use it . Which at first i thought he was kidding but he wasn't so after i told him where he could stick his ideas. You showed how difficult and challenging your day to day tasks are . I like your channel because your more fucked up than me . Lol
![Whats wrong with me? // My Disabilities (Updated) [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5nJJGkx0igY/mqdefault.jpg)
I think abled people overestimate the efficiency of technology. Like they're sure technology is better than human bodies. It's really not x)
Yup, while the technology is improving all the time it's going to be many years yet before it gets there IMO, and even then the price for parts that are genuinely better will mean only the crazy rich can afford them.
Yeah, it's only better than a human body part if your human body part is in really really terrible shape.
Perhaps they weren't being serious and simply like science fiction. Cyberpunk 2077.
Yes obviously I meant "better than a quite functioning human body" because sure mobility aids and medical devices helps when something dysfunctions.
It's like people saying "you use a wheelchair because you're lazy" how would moving around with your arms (weaker than your legs) somethings heavier than you body (your body + the wheelchair) be easier than walking ??? It's just not. Unless you're legs are bad or some other issues. There's no advantage of having a wheelchair if you're not disabled. It is efficient for us, but not more efficient than abled legs like what the hell are you thinking ??
I mean, if I lose a limb or something, at least I know that the prostethic WILL be more efficient and cooler than my real limb. One day
She is so kind and forgiving with her explanations, even when it’s clear these comments get on her nerves! 🥰
After watching my father loose his leg id never even wish it on my worst enemy... the pain and all is no joke
Please Anne, reply to me. Please see my other comments. If you had cancer, and amputation would save your life, would you consent? I know that I would NOT!!!
@@gordanazakula4927 if it would save my life 100% I would. I have 2 young kids I couldn't leave behind... but then I'm also the person who has taken the BRCA test and would have had a mastectomy and hysterectomy as preventative if it came back positive....
I've lost the tips of 2 fingers and can vouch for that.
I'm a Right Above Knee Amputee and considered a "shorty" by my PT because my limb was cut off 8" above the knee and don't have much left on the right leg. I lost it because of a lack of circulation because of arteriosclerosis and plaque build up in the arteries below the knee. Artificial arteries were rejected by my body. I'd give anything to have it back.
Mark, please see my replies, and please answer me. I have type two diabetes, and would NOT consent to amputation, even if it would cost me my LIFE!!!
Hi sorry you have disability but when you say you you would give anything to have your leg back make sure it's not your life because you matter and without you the would wouldn't be as good
I have a disability and I honestly don’t know what people think they’ll get out of it? The inability to form relationships because you always feel like you’re being a pain or limiting what your friends/partner can do? The ridiculous expenses that come with being chronically ill? Or just the generally feeling terrible a large percentage of the time? All sounds super fun to me.
If you think it through you don't want it. People tend to only dream of the bright side and not even acknowledge the dark parts, because they just don't want to think about it.
And for you- These thoughts are totally understandable, I don't know how you deal with them. I just hope you have a good outlet. There are enough people who don't think you are a pain and not feel limeted by your disability. If they are not willing to put up with you, they don't have to stay, and for your sake they shouldn't (not just for disabled people). It is definitely ok for you to feel unwell, even for days or weeks. It comes with horrible thoughts, but they don't stay if you don't drown yourself in them. It won't be easy.
I used to want a disability when I was younger. I don’t have depth perception, but my eyes work fine so that’s not considered a disability. I can’t do lots of the things required for sports because of it, like catching flying objects and not falling over kerbs and jumping off/onto objects. I wanted something to make people understand I was trying, that I wasn’t being lazy, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to do it without hurting myself. I have done so on occasion, when I push myself too hard, or if I’m careless. People understand “disability” and I didn’t have the words to express what was going on for a long time. I didn’t know why I couldn’t do things, let alone explain to other people. It’s not a recognised thing, and doesn’t matter except in specific circumstances. But those circumstances pop up more often than you’d expect.
Funnily enough, I do actually have a recognised disability: I’m dyslexic. That also went undetected for a really long time, until I was 17. I’m just good at adapting, but I wanted some kind of explanation for the amount of effort I was putting in to get the same results others could get without trying. Being able to say with two words that things are harder for me in specific areas of my life is really useful. Then I don’t get accused of being lazy when I’m trying my hardest. It feels wrong, being able to call my dyslexia a disability when it went undetected for so long but not being able to say the same for my other struggle, which has arguably had much more of an impact on my life. It feels wrong to be able to get help, because I’ve never been severe enough to be recognised. I’m so used to struggling, and finding my own ways around a problem.
I can understand wanting a disability for the acknowledgment that things are harder for you than the average human, and your best effort may look different. But then that’s just my life experience, and obviously it’s nowhere near the scale of chronic pain or amputation on the way it puts limitations on my life. I’m sorry if this came off as rude or entitled.
@@truebrew2004 Having no depth perception can be classed as a disabilty. You don't need to be registered blind or visually impaired for vision issues to be classed as a disability. To me if it was something you wanted I would class you as disabled from it due the issues you have with kerbs, falling objects etc. Especially if your issues have caused you to knock things over, trip over things, fall over, struggle to access pavements/sidewalks or stairs.
Under UK law for example:
"You’re disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities."
ADHD is definitely something not to romanticize, you become forgetful, an insomniac, unable to focus
I am not an amputee and I would never EVER want to chop one of my limbs off.
Being happy while having a disability gets you automatically categorised as a “brave and positive inspiration!” If everyone with a disability was sad and told everyone how horrible it is when people ask any questions, no one would “want” to be disabled. But because we act and talk normal when we’re different we are “amazing”. No we are just people who can talk without crying just like everyone else 😂
I do notice that the "inspirational" view of disability is applied much less to people with invisible disabilities. I personally have never felt that pressure. I largely run into skepticism about my need and the narrative that I'm probably playing things up to get special treatment.
GalacticGuava If my invisible disabilities are acknowledged, I’m denied accommodations/empathy as I’m supposed to “overcome” them, so why bother inconveniencing ableds?
saraquill I hear ya saraquill. Loud and clear. So I don’t ask. And neither do they. Unfortunate it is.
GG, I have depression, cannot do ANYTHING!!! People call me a "lazy fat cow", no one understands me!!!
@Angelica Cline the grass is always greener I guess. Personally I'd rather my disability be visible so I wouldn't be denied accommodations or be called lazy for needing them. When you can't live up to the same expectations as everyone else people just assume it's a character failure and blame you for it.
Just seeing your "night leg routine" I can't understand someone would deliberately want to amputate their leg for fun.
I have BIID, and I find watching your videos helpful for reminding me of the pitfalls, downsides, and complications being an amputee comes with.
I'm not sure if I have biid or if I just am romanticicing amputation. Would it be OK for you to tell me about the symptoms of Biid? Maybe then I can figure it out...
@@rosegranger2872 it is different for each person. In my case, I have had obsessive thoughts about amputating my legs below the knee for as long as I can remember (since at least around 5 years old). I've always felt like my feet don't belong there. My sense of touch on my feet feels different than the rest of my body, hyper sensitive to some types of stimuli, nearly dead to others. When I remember my dreams, I am usually an amputee in them. Probably a few more things that I'm not thinking of, but those are the highlights.
@@rosegranger2872 I don't have personal experience with it, but from what I've learned it seems like there's a disconnect between how your body is in real life and how it is in your mind. Like if you've ever worn clothes or makeup that were really not your style at all and when you looked in the mirror you were surprised by what you saw and thought, "I'm clearly wearing this but I don't look like me." But more intense and persistent because it's a part of your body that you can't take off at will
It could be mentioned that BIID isn't a mental illness, and the only known successful treatment is to provide the desired amputation. Current research shows possible (intractable) neurological causes.
How terribly sad 😥
I used to think I had BIID when I was a kid because I wished I could be in a power wheelchair. Now in retrospect I am realizing that it was because I have several chronic illnesses now, that I might have had these illnesses as a kid too and I just really wanted to be able to go places without so much pain... but i was told it was normal to want to die all the time because of my constant agony, so I just pushed myself beyond the point of what would be considered reasonable.
I’m a left below knee amputation from a work accident caused by a wreck less equipment operator who pretty much crushed my body from my left eye socket down to my lost leg, the accident was in 2013 and I’m still having surgeries to put me back together...nine surgeries so far 2 years in a nursing home, 1.5 years in a assisted care independent apartment add the post surgery infections and the physical therapy of learning to walk again after 4 years of not walking it took 3 months to be independent of a walker!! and yes you are out of your mind or have a mental condition that you need help for There’s nothing fun about wearing a prosthetic, you can’t walk on uneven ground without a cane or walking poles, you can’t go down any steep terrain such as a river bank, etc...the people you see running marathons or climbing mt Everest have either won a huge lawsuit or have rich families or sponsors. Insurance, worker’s compensation and Medicare only cover the basic walking leg. Mine cost 25,000 that’s including 2 2,000 liners and shim sock set. Every year as your liners wear out and your stump shrinks you must get refitted to a new socket at a cost of 10,000 and the approval process can take months mean while you are getting sores and infections from the poor fit..I’ve been up to 18 plys waiting on approval. Yes I’m grateful to be alive and able to walk, sorry about the rant I just couldn’t believe someone would want this electively
To those who want to have a carbon fiber rocket foot just because it looks cool, and you don't need to lose a limb because your situation doesn't call for it, (Jo hit the nail on the head!) There are amazing tattoo artists that specialize in biomechanical art styles. If you want the look, but you don't require amputation to live a better life, and are ok with tattoos, go that route instead! Also, actual carbon fiber rocket feet can cost as much as some cars (based on a $ figure from a previous video). Tattoos, depending on how far you go with the piece, usually do not.
Or just build an extra leg and have three?
People do this with mental illness, eating disorders, cancer even. Thank you for putting this out there. These people really do need help
Jo: “you could be literally anywhere in the world doing literally anything right now”
Me: “global pandemic, not allowed to leave my house.. nope. Nothing else to do” 🤣
As someone with biid I just want to say I really appreciate your compassion and understanding towards it.
Thank you so much for broaching this topic because taking on personal identities for the aesthetic underscores the the limits of our empathy. This notion that struggle and pain is something cool or fashionable to constantly live suggests that the experience of those who might be marginalized is reducible to a single aspect of their life, when it’s not that simple. Know that asking for an identity you don’t have comes with struggles you will never know that are not as glamorous.
I had a friend a long time ago who had a little boy who really liked me for some reason. He even tore the leg of his Teddy bear. But he was also 3.
Cute kid but he was totally obsessed with my "robot leg"
@@kommandantvalentine6272 Okay. Not sure what that has to do with my comment though.
I never realized that people feel that way. Your videos have actually kind of scared me about losing my leg. I see things that you do and realize that I couldn't do all that you do because of my weight. I couldn't get off the floor without help now because of my bad leg and I would think it would be a hundred times worse without my leg. I wouldn't wish my pain upon anyone though.
When I was 14 years old my knee dislocated. When I got older I had to have the knee replaced. That discussion to have a replace my knee took me over three years and a lot of pain. I did it but I am not thrilled with the way it is today. They cut my bones in my leg to put medal there. Can no longer use my knee to get up if I fall. It works ok for getting around. Not like my knee when I was younger. The other knee needs surgery now. Going to take longer this time. This was my good knee while the other was always a problem.
Love your vlog. Look for it every day. PORT PERRY ONTARIO CANADA
I walked around with a nerve damaged limb that was slowly dying for 29 years, I never would wish for that. Being an amputee is now even more difficult; at least until I get a prosthetic, I can’t imagine wanting this. How ever since I constantly make jokes people think it’s really not all that bad.
I deal with stress by using self deprecating humour wish people would realise that being an amputee is actually serious and while its circumstances it puts me in are funny it’s not fun for one moment.
yeah, humour is a coping mechanism, but joking about it doesn't mean that it's really fun all the time.
I have hidden chronic ilnesses and sometimes I wish that I had a "visible" means of showing that something was wrong with me. Too many times people and doctors don't believe me because they can not see what is wrong with me. I understand that there are many other struggles when you can visually see that something is wrong with someone but sometimes I find it hard because I look "great". Several years ago when my ankle injury wouldn't heal I had a doctor joke that we would need to amputate but I also felt like it was only a half joke as nothing was working. Thankfully after 5 years it got better but there was a time when I seriously wondered if I would one day need amputation and I am thankful it didn't come to that. Now my pain doc jokes about amputation for my headaches.... (I am serious)
Yes i relate to this so much! I have been dealing w constant pain in both ankles for over 3 years now, and the number of people who get confused when I turn down an invitation to go somewhere even though I look fine, when really I have just perfected the art of acting like I'm not in pain all the time. I still don't have a diagnosis, but am working w specialists so will hopefully get there soon, but yeah I sometimes wish I just had something visible, or at least something predictable, as even if I am just sitting the pain often flairs up.
Aww your dog is so cute
Dogs are the best almost as good as cats
But where are the cats? LOL
I never said there was cats i the video just like them better than dogs but that is only better i don't have a dog but I have 2 cats
Hi Jo! The only reason for people to want to become an amputee I can think of is the need of attention. People want to feel special, and be noticed by others.
I myself am an disabled person with a normally-looking body (MS) Because my disability is not visible from the first sight, I feel that people don't notice it and don't know how difficult it really is (not being able to use your body even though it looks perfectly ok)
Hi Jo I am a new amputee so your videos have been very helpful to me ....this journey is very very difficult and i am just getting my prosthetic on Tuesday but your videos have beena lift and comfort!Thanks !
There is a conditions called BIID/BIDD (forget the correct acronym :| ) but they genuinely believe they should have a limb, should be in a wheelchair despite having 0 real health reasons to use one, etc. So thanks for mentioning that. Its rarely brought up in these types of videos.
Otherwise, its purely romanizing it. It also could be the "I want to be saved" so they jump to illness type thing. Which happens with depression SO OFTEN its disheartening.
Its frustrating. I'm disabled, can't find a treatment that works, lost all my friends, fight with family to respect my limits, beg doctors to do their job and test me for crap and write down my symptoms, etc etc. I'm my advocate, my support system, my best friend, my worst enemy, my bully, my lover, my world. I am all I got. And I have been for years. The isolation alone is so damn hard. Let alone interpersonal relationships and such.
I have been rejected for my health, I have been told I'm giving up when my legs are paralyzed and I can't walk, that I'm lieing when they can see me having a panic attack and clawing open my skin and bleeding, that I'm making it up when I'm vomiting my stomach out and coughing out my lungs. And that's the physical. At least most of that they can see. The mental health that they can't see? Its never, ever taken seriously. Even what little is diagnosed. Its often shrugged off. "Every teen is depressed" "just stop being anxious" "just get out of bed and go outside more" etc. And fail to realize the physical part greatly impacts the mental, and both make each other worse.
So tell me, What is so cool about others debating you health? Having it be the controversial topic in the house? Having doctors tell you you painted your leg when its purple, or that for 6+ years you've had growing pains when you've stayed 5'8. How is never being able to talk about your health in fear it will be to much, how your body working against you, how the world never understanding cool? Tell me that.
I have multiple undiagnosed health conditions. Because I'm not paralyzed 24/7, and it happens randomly, I'm lieing to everyone
When I'm stuck in bed, all I can do is say I'm lieing and need to get up. I'm never believed. And for so many, it gets to the point they've been told they aren't sick for so long they are getting worse and worse and break. It takes a breaking point to get help. When the red flags had been up and there for years. The 4+ years diagnosis time is sad. The marginalized communities not being believed is sad. The fact you have doctors Calling you a lier is sad.
Im mentally ill, I'm physically ill. And the diagnosis process for me will be years upon years and very, very pricy.
Don't ever say you want to be disabled. But don't say you'd want to die if you were disabled. Just validate the ones with disabilities and say if it were to happen to you you would make the most of life.
Sorry to go off. But the amount of times I've heard shit that romanized my life that is constantly being worsened by others opinions, to be told my suffering is a cute aesthetic.
Your the reason doctors don't believe me.
If you think you truly, and I mean truly, have a problem like your passing out or been really down and lost interest in things for a while, go see a doctor. But don't go "I've been sad for a hour guess I'm depressed". Illnesses are not adjectives.
And I'll end this here. Running out of energy and my hot water bottle is getting cold lol.
I Know You Did The Right Positive Moral Judgment In Your Current Video About Romanticizing. Your Are AMAZING
I can relate heavily to this in kind of a different way though. My disability, though I'm not missing limbs, they do give me a hard time, I'm not able to be very mobile for long stretches at a time... And I've heard many times over the years how nice it must be to "not have to work that much" or "be exempt from (blank) in school" among many others. But I'm just like no, you're not jealous of me at all. Yes you have to work but you also have all of your mobility and can do so many things without even thinking about them. I have to think about everything in terms of "if I do thing A today I won't be able to do thing B tomorrow, which is more important" no one wants that. Some envy my disability support, but I'd so much rather be able to fully support myself like a normal person... The grass always looks greener I guess?
Mild mild MILD rebuttal to your point at around 8:10 ish - where you said that when you were younger you almost wished that you would have that something difficult to deal with: I was the same; but then i grew up, i found out I have a very painful condition that, in retrospect, i've been dealing with my whole life, but nobody recognized the symptoms of. I wonder if it was less "wishing that I was also in pain" and more "I wish that someone would recognize and acknowledge the pain I'm in and how hard it is for me" with a little bit of "I wish I could have that storybook arc of feeling better about myself". Frankly, I'm pretty sure that's what it was for me. And while I might be projecting here - it's not like I know what's going on in your head (hopefully good things) - I know you dealt with a lot of physical pain growing up, which culminated in where you are today. Maybe we're similar in this? (but, note, i still have all my limbs, i just have a lot of chronic pain and a questionable fibromyalgia diagnosis)
Which isn't to say that all of these comments come from this place, but they could explain a handful.
ps: I love this video and I think what you said was so important, and I'm so sorry that you even had to handle these comments in the first place - it's a very tricky situation. I hope that the people who do feel that way can recognize why they feel that way and work towards a solution for it, like I did - even if that solution is just acknowledging your own struggles, and allowing yourself to be okay with what your own body feels.
People will fetishize anything.
That is very accurate. Lol.
If there's a thing. Someone will fetishise it
Well there are what, 7 billion of us out there? So yeah, probability is that any conceivable fetishes there's someone with it.
I'm already left scratching my head in confusion at some of the less extreme stuff I've heard of. 🤨🤷♂️
daivahataka furry rat porn lmao
@@ncrtrooper8786 there are those that do nasty things with maggots. 🤮
Then there's the whole 2 girls and a cup type stuff where it seems they are just begging to catch a disease.
I'm not going to lie, since I started watching your videos a few months ago, I have had the realization that life would be difficult but still very much doable (excuse my phrasing) if something ever happened and I lost a foot. But to watch your videos and think that losing a foot would be "cool" (BIID aside) is something I cannot understand.
I think this is the same type of effect like when you read a YA novel and empathise with the characters so much you do occasionally find yourself thinking "I want to be in a post-apocalyptic dystopia and lose everything I take for granted and fight for my life every day." I think it's a combination of admiration of a specific person/binging their content and being surrounded by them and the fascination of the unknown/fantastical. Most people, however, know not to voice these thoughts out loud because they realise how bad that actually sounds and how disrespectful it is to people actually struggling. In the end, my hope is that these people will get over these fleeting thoughts and, should they ever actually be in a situation where they actually face losing a limb, be a little less scared during this very tough time.
As someone who, while not having this particular thing to this extent, did hope that there was something *wrong* with me or that there would be so at least I'd have an excuse for how much I struggled with so many things...I think a part of it can also be actually having an invisible and undiagnosed disability where everything that's hard for you due to being disabled is put down to personal failure by others and, because you've always been taught that that was the case, yourself so you kind of wish that at least you had some "excuse" for failing again and again at seemingly simple things nobody else struggles with.
Not even just in the way of having it as an excuse, but just of not constantly "failing" because "you're not good enough" which can really, really drag your self-esteem down.
So, I guess...if anyone out there has those experiences, if you make that kind of experience over and over again, really focus on wheather it's *actually* due to a lack of trying or wheather that's just what the world wants you to believe. If you keep trying and keep failing, wheather you have something that can be diagnosed or wheather you are diagnosed, you shouldn't beat yourself up for things that you really can't do or that you can't do without a huge personal cost.
When I was 1/2 way through rehab, the therapist said to me, “We SHOULD be able to have you running marathons again!” I looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. “Ok...? I never ran anything or anywhere before...” pointing to my newly prosthetized leg. “Oh...weren’t you the marathon runner?” I burst out laughing. Athlete I have NEVER been. Between my left BKA and an AFO brace on my right for drop foot...some days I still use a wheelchair (4 yrs after amputation) for anything that’s longer than to the car and back kind of distances.
I would definitely NEVER have chosen this route in life, though I do, like you said, the best I can with what I have. There’s not a day that goes by that wishes I hadn’t got those 3rd degree burns to the bottoms of my feet...not a day that I don’t wish I had taken a few moments of packing the family stuff for the water park and put my pool shoes in. When little kids talk to me about me “cool robot leg” I tell them enough to let them know, “I’m ok, but it was an accident and a real leg and your own super strong bones are WAY more strong and powerful, and cool! So take care of them and be safe!.” I don’t want to scare them, but also not to promote that a prosthetic/robot leg is something to strive or wish for. Parents always look horrified when kids ask. I don’t mind, they are curious, they think it’s a cool robot leg cause of tv and movies. The odd child understands it’s cause I got hurt.
But as you say Jo....NO ONE WANTS THIS!! Thanks for sharing. 😊
Hey Jo I have Cerebral Palsy I have a hip the is hurting I was thinking of doing that same thing but after listening to my parents telling me the exact thing you just said “keep all you limbs” as long as you can. Thank you. I love watching you you are awesome I have family in Colorado.
As an amputatee, I find those comments insulting. We all wish we have the body parts we lost! You have not romanticized anything. You are just real. BTW I have balance issues and my BK prosthetic leg helps me balance better.
This is a little different, but kind of similar:
I used to feel really disconnected and uncomfortable with my left arm. I had fantasized about just getting rid of it. Sometimes even joking about having a robot arm.
Now that I use a cane, I am so grateful I have two arms. Trying to do anything without my “good” arm is so difficult, and if I only had the one it would be so much worse.
I still am not a fan of my left arm. But my god is it a lifesaver at times.
You know.. I've been following you from the start.
The reason that I keep coming back is not because I want to be like you.. as in lose a limb.
But because I admire your drive and your look on life.. That you try to keep the positive in things although sometimes its hard!
keep it up Jo!
I have an invisible disability and I would not wish it on anyone. It's horrible. I recently switched to working remotely even after lockdown because I got lucky with my workplace, but it's still not fun. The strain on family and friends is real even if they don't cut you off, the way people make me a fetish is bizarre, the extra expenses are so draining. Great video Jo, you put it so well. I always love your videos.
But I might actually need amputation,
Long story short, bad accident, nerve damage , like 2 thirds of my left foot zero feeling and little to no function (lucky to have any ankle function at all)
Hi Benjamin! I'm so sorry that that is something you're facing and that you had to go through that accident! I hope I made it clear, but this video is really just for people who have no medical reason whatsoever to have an amputation but still "want" one. All the best to you friend, I hope that you have a great medical team and support going forward! 💜
Cases are always different still I had a massive reconstruction 20 odd years ago to save my leg after a motorcycle accident my foot is paralysed with little feelings and my ankle is almost blocked and I can tell you i live pretty well with that. Far much better anyway than my passenger who elected to become a BkA and never got over it ! Amputation was not an option for me and i never regretted to take this path! Adapt adapt adapt! Life with a prosthetic is not fun or glamour as some people might think .and in my opinion better a bad foot than a good prosthetic!
Try to be the person in the commercial doing cool things in general. We all have struggles yours are valid! You can overcome them and feel like a super hero.
I tore my ACL and had a leg brace until it got fixed. It was so frustrating to put on. I couldn't sit in it. It moved out of place when I walked. I'm so thankful my surgery was pretty successful. I don't know what I would do if I faced the decision you did but I'm thankful for you and your educational videos.
Thank you so much for this video! I personally think it´s mostly kids writing these comments. I can totally see a kid seeing you on the screen doing amazing things and handling it all so well (at least on camera) and having this cool prosthetic and thinking "omg, this is so cool! I want it too, the cool prosthetic, and all the attention she surely gets!" Like when a kid in their class has a broken arm and has a cast on it and everyone wants to sign it and pities them for it.
While I think it´s amazing how you handle it all and how you don´t seem to think any challenge is too big, I in no way envy you and I think more people should realise that.
Not an amputee but have multiple chronic illnesses and chronic ankle pain, and the romanticized idea of disabilities and chronic illnesses can be so frustrating. The amount of times I’ve heard “I wish I had what you do so I could get better parking/get out of gym class” (I have a handicap parking pass), while I’m here begging to not have this life anymore. Wouldn’t wish any of this on my worst enemy.
I feel this video so much. I have a disability that can wildly vary in its impact on my mobility. I spent two years on forearm crutches unable to walk on my own. I recently regained independent mobility and no longer use them daily. I still need the crutches past a certain exertion point (so like, I hike with them) there is no guarantee of how long I will keep independent mobility. While I was on the crutches for any and all walking, I had so many people be like "omg those are so cool I wish I needed crutches!" Like, wtf? Sure, after a while I developed a symbiotic relationship with them, and they are pretty neat looking (plug for SideStix) especially to people not used to seeing that style but to WISH for the NEED of their use? *No please stop.* They see the crutches and they imagine them in addition to their perfectly functioning body. Not in addition to the inability to move through the world without them. I am doing literally everything in my power to stay where I am now.
Being disabled in general is very difficult. Finding dr's who specialize in the illnesses you have, getting them to believe you... it took 46 years to get my first major diagnosis for conditions that have plagued me since infancy. I don't go to the ER for emergencies because I'm a pain management patient, thus I'm labeled a "drug seeker"... which is idiotic as I have pain meds! If I go to the ER, it's because I have a medical emergency. I've been laughed at, thrown out, misdiagnosed, given a pregnancy test(after giving my med history of a historectomy), and asked "what do you expect ME to do?", by an ER Dr. If I can't get into my primary Dr, I suffer and wait.
Hi,Joe
I completelly agree with you.I became a bellow knee amputee two months ago due to horrific motorcycle accident.Your videos are helping me to see what I will experience in the future,how my life is going to be from now on,how to be positive and how to struggle with stump pain,depression,bad days,prostetic leg,financial impact,etc.
I think such coments are coming from inmature people thinking that having a "terminator" leg is a "cool" thing.I am on the half way getting a prostetic leg and I am already in hell.
I did not trully accept that I lost a limb.These comments are very dangerous as you said.Wish you all the best,jo
Greetings from Montenegro
Yikes, I mean, I just don't get it. I mean, I love your channel Jo, but I draw the line at wanting to lose a limb! Being diabetic, it's one of the things that terrifies me, knowing that I'm at increased risk of having an amputation during my lifetime, but it's something I try not to dwell on and certainly don't aspire to. However, your channel has maybe made me see that it's not the worst thing that could happen, and I hope that's ok too. In the meantime, I'll appreciate and look after my 2 meat legs :)
~~~ A nice hello my internet friend. It is a JOY to view your videos. You uplift us out here and a wise young lady . I hit your like bell and leave a comment when I am here. You and your husband enjoy everything you can
and I care about you...
All I got out of becoming disabled was being unable to work, living in a hotel and losing contact with people i thought were friends. I used to have a good attitude until I found myself all alone. Last night I fell out of a chair while making dinner. After fighting to get back up for 30 minutes I finally had to crawl into another part of my room and call 911. That included crawling into the bathroom to use the support bars to try to pull myself up. What's so glamorous about that?
Wow, how can anyone see a disability as 'cool' or 'trendy'? That seems so weird!
Thank you for this Jo 🤗🥰🤗
What people don't know what people who live with disabilities face is the amount of discrimination we face everyday.
As glad as I am that prosthetics are available they are still harder to use than a regular foot. Not to mention pain, chronic pain is the worst.
I have several disabilities that can cause me to have to be sent home on occasion and recently a coworker told me i was too disabled to work and should just quit so our boss can hire someone better. Note that she isnt on the same shift as me and my boss has no complaints about my work nor do any of my coworkers since they know i work my ass off. This was legit 2 days after i literally worked for 4 hours on my day off showing signs of building up to a migrane siezure till i called myself an ambulance
While my prosthetic leg may look cool to some as you said, if you do not need it please do not think amputation is cool. Omg there is so much that people do not see or know about, like starting with the cost. And not just for the leg either. I am on SSI and have spent a lot in the last year for cleaning stuff for my leg, new pants/shorts etc...the list goes on. Then you got the healing time, trips to the doctor and prosthetist...its never ending! I am getting cast for my 3rd leg on Tuesday and my 1yr ampuversary is the 6th. Btw.....HAPPY 1 AMPUVERSARY FOR YOUR SECOND CHOP YESTERDAY JO! Sorry...lol. Love ya! 💜💜💜 Say hi to Brian!
I think it is a medical marvel that an artificial limb as such can be developed for those who have either lost a limb or born without one. But for one to wish for an artificial limb would be disillusioned into thinking it is cool to have in place of a real limb. The pain, the adjustments, the being without, the expense, and the life changing that is not what was dreamed of. I nearly lost my right arm in a car accident, but thanks to bone replacement I was able to receive an artificial ball in my upper arm. It will never be the same as a real bone, but thankfully I can keep my right arm and it is working very well!
I just love her content and it is enjoyable to watch. Yes I did at first thank she is very beautiful then I came to the realization that I would never have a chance with her so I just watch her videos 😊
Sometimes I really have to admire how this world works, so that YOU are the one producing RUclips- videos and I don’t, because I know I wouldn’t have the calmness of yours.
It’s just unimaginable to me how anybody with a normal, healthy and functioning body would want to willingly make life even harder than it already is (people suffering from BIID are excluded from that of course, because that’s something different).
Love the 'HOPE" on the bookcase behind you.
As I am a left BKA and also I have no toes on my right foot. Amen Jo
Lol, I've went the polar opposite. After the second time I broke my right leg, thanks to a very good surgeon, I managed to keep it. Been 4 years now and it can hurt quite a bit sometimes, but I'm glad it's there and I have no desire for it to be gone..
I relate to this in a weird way! As someone who spend the latter part of my childhood in the care system I’ve had people say to me “wow I wish I was in care, it sounds so fun” because they’ve watched Tracy Beaker or some similar programme. I don’t think it comes from a bad place, I think people just want to experience things they don’t get to. The grass is always greener on the other side I guess.
That's the exact adage I was thinking of with this. 😊
How are you doing on the bike? I have a lack of balance due to Parkinson's but ride a three-wheel recumbent (Catrike is well known). One of the oddest comments I ever had was "boy it must being nice being disabled?" Sigh, they thought it meant automatic SSDI in the USA. Nope, it doesn't it just means we keep going as long as possible. Accept, Adapt, Adjust. I may not be able to ride a bicycle, but love getting out on my three-wheel recumbent! Someone asked if I was disabled, but I just quipped I like taking a nap when cycling. :)
Now I feel a bit guilty.
I think I have commented that you make having an artificial leg look cool.
I understand completely that it entails all sorts of hardships that I cannot understand and hopefully never will have to.
My comment was intended as a compliment to underline that you make it seem more effortless that I'm sure it actually is.
Life is complicated enough as is. Unnecessary amputation is absolutely not something to add to the pile
Oh please don't feel guilty or anything, Jógvan! I meant this video specifically for people who are actually hoping/wanting to have a disability or amputation for no real reason. I wanted to encourage people to think a little bit deeper about it - I really appreciate your encouragement towards me that you think I make it look cool! 😊
@@FootlessJo Personal reply, nice. I know, but it still hit home to some degree
I have a psychiatric disability. It can be as debilitating as a missing limb or a sense. I won't say I want to lose a limb persay. However I would exchange my invisible disability for a fully able mind. I'm also legally blind in my left eye. I don't think any other disability would mean my challenges would go away. My greatest fear is my disability will be unmanageable before my death. I will be 65 this year. I never thought what you went through learning to adjust was easy.
I had my leg amputated below the knee on November 5 2019. and I still need a wheelchair to get around because my other foot was torn off in a farm accident when I was 17. Now this thursday they are testing me for infection in the only foot I have left and if it is I will lose that foot also leaving me with no feet. So go ahead and fantasize and maybe it will happen and you can experiance all the pain and all the things you wont be able to do anymore. Life sucks for me now.
I have wanted to get a double above the knee amputation because I have chronic knee pain for over 7 years. I know that having an amputation is hard but since I already struggle to get up and do normal activities like walking, sitting, or literally anything I do dream of them just going away. I don’t want to be an amputee because I want a disability, I already have that, I just want to be free from the pain.
I'll keep my limbs. Thank you very much. But if there's one limb I don't mind removing, it's my left leg above the knee. It's like I sprained it a couple of years ago and it has never fully recovered. I keep cracking my knee just for a little comfort. 😩😩😩
I’m a left foot btk amputee and I’m not a year into it yet. Trust what she’s says it’s not all rainbows and sunshine but you can still have a somewhat new normal life. It’s hard! Some days pain is horrible and some days are good. You also have to remember the depression that sometimes is horrible. I’m just curious I only have one prostetic and it looks really different from yours. My kids say my prostetic guy is making mine cheap! I sure hope not! Love and light to everyone❣️
Can Sophie be a regular co-host? Or... I think your other dog is Monkey and... there’s others whose names escape me but any of your furballs should be co-hosts :) Anyways, I will admit there’s been moments where I wished I could remove part of my leg but it’s because I have a knee injury that’s only getting worse to the point I literally can’t trust my leg to hold me up while I walk anymore and I’ve tried all kinds of braces and physical therapies and pain management, nothing helps. There’s been days that I physically can’t walk on my knee because the pain is so intense. So yeah, sometimes I wish I could just make it go away and get a new leg, but it’s not that I want to be an amputee or have a prosthetic leg, I just want this torture to stop...
People are crazy. And I am crazy, but they are crazier (?).
This sounds like a friend of mine who was jealous of me and kinda wished she was me. She was jealous of a lot of the things in life (mainly academic stuff) I've been able to do despite issues with my joints and a spinal cord injury. She told me that she wished she could have that sort of life. After going into the nitty-gritty with her she changed her mind pretty quick. Turns out freaking yourself out because you unknowingly left a trail of blood in the hallway is not what people think of when thinking of the "glamor" of disabilities.
Definitely one of your best videos. Reality check.
i feel like many people think of cool cyberpunk prosthetic super power things. and yes, these are super cool, but they're also not reality, they're just a fantasy, or an aesthetic.
There are a lot of new films that don't fall in either trap. The first of this category was Notting Hill. But now there are many more, treating "disabled" people as people - who just happen to have a missing limb, being paralysed or blind or ... . Avatar Pandora, Avatar - the last airbender (inspite of the titles not at all connected to one another), if you want: Dr House, and so on. I think this world is still changing rapidly and neither the Nazi approach (unworth to live) nor the romanticising will win in the end. And you and your videos are part of the process, because what you share of your life (as well the "overcoming" as the "tragedy") help people who have almost no contact to people living with those challenges to understand both parts and to establish a better, more realistic view of what this is: you are a wonderful person - and you lost a part of your lower leg. It sucks and it is something you live with. Both. Neither. Whatever.
I have a super fucked up knee, and due to the genetic disorder I have surgery on it is useless for the most part. The same goes for my ankles they're not fused but they are useless. I regularly joke about just cut them all off but the reality of that no I have bracing that helps compensate for them I have crutches I can use I have my wheelchair. Although the technology is amazing the human body's been figuring it out for a lot longer. Also I really think people just don't grasp how much it costs to be disabled. I spent over four grand on my wheelchair I have spent several thousand in bracing so far. The hip brace I'm supposed to get is another $4,000 that I can't afford currently. The push assist I'm supposed to have for my wheelchair is six grand. Being disabled costs a lot of money.
I know it’s totally different but I get loads of people saying “you’re so lucky working part time”. I only work part time because I’m disabled...! I would do anything to swap being well and work full time then to be disabled and work part time... people just don’t get it!
I’ve had this before where someone said they wish they were an amputee because we get far more opportunities (sports related)!!! This is utter craziness, if they knew I’ve not been able to wear a leg for 3 years now!!
I can kinda relate. Not fully but hear me out.
Im Y11 2020 at the end when told we are leav8ng meand friends wemt roundsaying bye to friends and teachers, a Y7 said to me "ohh i wish i didnt have to do my exams" i said
"Don't say that. For years we are told revise revise and revise, exams are round the corner. For years we worked sre way up and tried so so so hard and then to be told we are not sitting our exams, yeah its basically a stab kn the back, teeth kicked etc its betrayel. We've lost so much as well, you don't want this, this is horrible" she got the hint haha
Point is, I kinda know what its like to have someone want something that's not good. Its annoying
Footless Jo you have given me so much good info... I had 27 surgeries on my right foot! Since 2012 my foot bones started to crumble and the Drs had to keep cutting pieces off. I bot the iwalk 2.0 and my physical therapist had been making me practice walking with it but, I'm tall and I just can't seem to walk by myself with it.... How did you do it?
Me- currently curled up in bed in tears because of fibromyalgia pain "people think this is fun?!"
I GET THE SAME THING.
@@ellaelliott4415 so annoying right?!
Interested in your thoughts on the Dr Phil episode about the women who blinded herself to be part of the blind community
Hi Jo, I am still here lurking when I can from France and following and appreciating your content. A thought crossed my mind while I watched this video... would you be who you are today without limb loss.. and maybe people want to be like you and think that overcoming life changing adversity is the only way...just a thought possibly worth reflecting. How do ordinary people become extraordinary? Love and gratitude from France ...
If you have an interest in cool prosthetics, go to school at become a technician. Turn your interest into good use instead of fantasizing a disability.
When I was around 14, I was so sick of the pain caused by my disability that I begged my parents to speak to a surgeon about amputating my left foot. Thankfully, they refused. Thirty-some years on, I'm still in pain (and it's getting worse), but I know that amputation would not have prevented that pain. My leg hurts, my back hurts, my head hurts... As well as spinabifida and hydrocephalus, I now have RA. So where would I stop? How would amputation have improved things? It wouldn't have. You made a choice that was right for you after years of pain, and you cope with the new challenges that choice has brought, but people need to realise that irreversible surgery should never be a goal.
No matter what you say, you will tap the fringe out there.
I’m actually worried and a little scared one day I will have my right leg amputated because of all the issues that I have had with my ankle for a long time.
I need to meet with a ligament specialist but I keep putting it off (which I know I shouldn’t because the problems are going to continue to get worse if I don’t.)
It might be an actual future for me that I really don’t want, I don’t understand being from the outside looking in why someone would want to. I understand BIID and why people affected with that do but other people it just doesn’t make any sense.
No one in their right mind wants to have surgery for anything unless you have NO OTHER CHOICE. And the same goes for having surgery for Amputation. Whilst medical science has "made leaps and bounds " and has become a lot more safer these days, people can still suffer from complications due to surgery. And if not complications, people can still die from surgical procedures. People need to explore all other options before contemplating any surgery. And that means Amputation Surgery too......
And only if you have No Other Choice but Amputation, then listen to your doctor and have the procedure then.......
I suffer from Arthritis in my right knee. And I'd never would have any surgical procedure done on it unless I had to. Cause rehabilitation can be such a b.... Rehab can impact your whole life so much.
And there's always the question "will the cure be worse than the disease?"............ ☮️⚛️🌏
Living with a disability is not a beautiful wonderful thing.... ALL we want is to live as normal as we can just like everyone else does and to NOT be noticed or brought out in the the light as being a hero or being cool.... We didnt CHOOSE our disability it chose us for whatever messed up reason it did... ALL we want is to be happy and be normal... BTW I have been disabled for 29 years & I dont seen myself any different then I was when I was able bodied... I do almost everything I did before just a bit differently now
I would never actually comment that I would want to be an amputee but my ankle is always in pain not to much but it's there and seeing you go on a short hike sometimes gets me thinking about it not seriously but it's a thought that comes up
These days, people even romanticise lethal illnesses. Just look at all those movies about two teenagers who fall in love but one of them is dying.
Don't even know why I clicked on Your videos for the first time, but I somehow like listening to You.
I hope most people who want to be like You mean that they want to be a really cool person, not that they want to chop off their foot.
Love your videos!
*At one point I wanted so badly to have a more serious leg injury so my family and doctors would take me seriously when I was saying it was hard to walk
*Seeing a physiotherapist has worked great so far! But it took over a year to get one- almost two.
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on body integrity dysphoria - those people who truly feel like a part of their body doesn't belong, and for whom removing that part can actually be therapeutic? I'm sure that's not the only thing going on here, but may be worth considering. :)
I am not much on feet, kind of like my peg, haven't worn a foot much in the last 35 years. A foot back then was more cosmetic than functional.
For those that want to be amps, it is a Damn tough row to hoe.
An issue you could cover is skin health of your stump, even after almost 40 years, it is still an issue. Good luck Jo
Hey hope all is well and even tho we don't know eachother have a great day and much love and inspirational you are
Either those cyborg fetishists are oblivious to the issues and severe drawbacks to prosthetics, of the current time, and what it actually means to be missing limbs, or perhaps they just dream about having the vastly more complex robotic limbs like those in the Deus Ex reboots or Cyberpunk 2077. I can kinda follow the last one, because those sci-fi prosthetics look cool, and in their respective settings often don't only emulate the function of a biological limb, but enhances it greatly, but it would still have it's drawbacks.
Jo i had a doctor suggest that I should amputate my left arm because im not able to use it . Which at first i thought he was kidding but he wasn't so after i told him where he could stick his ideas. You showed how difficult and challenging your day to day tasks are . I like your channel because your more fucked up than me . Lol
AMEN!!!
Some people are just weird, why would you ever cut a part of your body off unless you had an extremely good reason to do so.