As I sit at the computer, 74 days after my Ertl amputation I struggle with where to begin my story. My life changing story began nine years ago, when I was a dare devil athlete without a care in the world. I had my sports (Mountain Biking, Snowboarding, Softball and anything else I could find) to challenge me, a great career, a great family and not a care in the world. My life revolved around working and riding my bike.

On September 6, 1996, sports would become my worst enemy. On a soccer field in Northern California you could hear the bones snap, you could feel the pain at the other end of the field. As an athlete you experience injuries. I had broken most of the bones in my body before this day. But I had never experienced pain like this. I am not sure exactly what happened on the field. Did I step on the ball or another player’s foot? No one knows for sure, except that whatever happened caused my left ankle to become dislocated. In the process of dislocating my ankle, I damaged three nerves beyond repair, all of the ligaments and tendons and crushed my fifth metatarsal bone. Eighteen surgeries later, I was still left with major pain and struggling to regain function. I sought out a surgeon that specialized in orthopedic nerve injuries. This search led me to Dr. Schon in Baltimore, Maryland. He implanted a peripheral nerve stimulator to relieve my pain. It was a great success. I spent six months recovering from this operation with the hopes of returning to sports and getting on with my life.

My dreams of returning to sports and an active lifestyle were broken on November 26th, 2001. When I woke up that day at 5am I decided I was going to work from home and not go into the office. At 5:30 am I remembered that I had a meeting that I needed to be at. I set out for my 1 ½ hour commute with my Starbucks coffee and the radio on my favorite station. I took my usual route to the freeway. In a split second my life changed forever and I did not even know it. As I stopped for the traffic, a car slammed into my truck. It was considered a low impact accident, but it would have high impact on my body and my future.

I knew right away that my nerve stimulator was no longer functioning, my stomach hurt and my head felt like it was going to spin out of control.

At the hospital I would learn that my stimulator had been ripped off the nerves, I had a severe head injury and a bladder injury.

I was flown to Baltimore, Maryland to undergo surgery to repair my stimulator. All of my doctors thought with time I would heal from my injures and go on with my life.

Little did I know that this was just the beginning of a three year struggle to save my life and my left foot and ankle. For the next three years, I would be hospitalized 63 times and undergo 10 surgeries. During this time I suffered from VRE, MRSA, STAPH and any other infection that could invade my body. I suffered from seizures that rendered me lifeless for days. I also learned during this time that my bladder had been paralyzed by the seatbelt tightening on my abdomen.

The next three years would be the lowest point in my 36 years of life. I struggled with the fact that I would probably spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, that my brain was turning on me daily with seizures and my bladder would no longer function.

My life had turned into one big medical drama. If I was not in the hospital, I was spending all of my time going to doctors or living in my bedroom hooked up to home IV therapy. The body that carried me to many sports titles was now reduced to an out of shape shell that was attacking itself. Several attempts were made to replant my nerve stimulator but rejection and infection set in within days. I was losing the battle…………..

November 24th, 2004 will be a day that I will never forget. I had flown to Baltimore, Maryland to have my infected stimulator removed. After surgery, Dr. Schon would tell me the news no one wants to hear. My left foot and ankle was dying and harboring the infection that had plagued me for three years and it should be amputated. I did not cry, or feel sad. I looked at it as an opportunity to start a new life, infection and pain free.

November 29th 2004 is the day that changed my life for the better. At 1:00 p.m. Dr. Schon and his staff amputated my left foot, ankle and five inches of my calf using the ERTL Procedure. To tell you the truth I did not know that this procedure would change my life as much as it has in the last 74 days.

After I woke up from surgery, I felt as if a dead weight had been lifted from my body. I did not feel lifeless anymore. Just 8 hours after my operation I was up on an IPOP going to the bathroom by myself. I spent the next nine days recovering and rehabbing at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore Maryland. I was infection free, seizure free and leg free.

The ERTL amputation has given me a new life. One that is free from hospitals, seizures, infections and pain.. I have been given a new outlook.

If you asked me 74 days ago would I ever walk, return to sports or live a life with out pain and infection, I would have told you NO.

But today I can tell you YES. I can walk. I am pain free. Infection free and will return to my athletic lifestyle. I have more energy now than I had nine years ago.

Just 31 days after my operation I received my prepatory artificial leg. Because I have the ERTL procedure I was able to start walking right away.

Walking was great – no more wheelchair but I had to know if I could ride my mountain bike again. I needed to know if I could return to the things that fulfilled my life nine years ago.

I put my mountain bike up on a trainer, modified the pedals, seat, and handlebars and put a step so I could hoist myself up.

On day 32, I hoisted myself up on my bike in front of the TV and took off for a three minute spin in the living room. This would be the first time I rode a bike in seven years. The smile on my face told the whole story. At that moment I knew I was back…..

As I write this, it is day 74 and I am on my way back to becoming the competitive biker I used to be. The ERTL procedure is allowing me to workout daily on my bike and in the gym. I am determined to get back into peek shape and ride with my family and friends this spring down the bike trail. I am also looking at making a comeback at competitive mountain biking.

Having my leg amputated on November 29th, 2004 is the best decision I have ever made.

Please feel free to contact me at mudgirl30@notwires.com