{"id":449182,"date":"2023-12-16T14:40:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T14:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/?p=449182"},"modified":"2023-12-16T14:40:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T14:40:15","slug":"suicide-disease-held-me-prisoner-in-my-own-home-for-5-years-until-i-begged-doctors-to-cut-off-my-leg-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/suicide-disease-held-me-prisoner-in-my-own-home-for-5-years-until-i-begged-doctors-to-cut-off-my-leg-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"'Suicide disease' held me prisoner in my own home for 5 years – until I begged doctors to cut off my leg | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

A MUM living with a condition so painful it\u2019s dubbed \u201csuicide disease\u201d begged doctors to amputtate her leg – and now has her life back.<\/p>\n

Nicky Neil, 29, became a prisoner in her own home, unable to leave due to the pain in her leg caused by complex regional pain syndrome.<\/p>\n


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CRPS is long-term pain, usually confined to one limb, that is so intense that it is scored as being worse than the pain of childbirth in some instances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It can be triggered by an injury or post-operation, but sometimes, as in Nicky\u2019s case, there is no clear cause.<\/p>\n

Nicky, who lives in Caerleon, South Wales, says: \u201cI\u2019ve been bed bound for five years and left me unable to drive my car, or do all the things I wanted to do with my son Robbie, who is nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsking them to amputate my leg was the best decision I ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nicky was diagnosed at the age of 16 after waking up one morning with sudden pain in her left leg.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cI\u2019d been perfectly fine before that. But this particular morning I woke up with pain all down my leg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMum thought I\u2019d been sleepwalking and had knocked it, so we waited a few weeks but it didn\u2019t get any better so I went to the doctors to get it looked at.\u201d<\/p>\n

My leg doubled in size<\/h2>\n

Nicky was told she had CRPS, which the NHS says can often be misdiagnosed or not recognised. It is a poorly understood condition for which prevalence is unknown.<\/p>\n

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Nicky says: \u201cI was in agony with it. Over the next six months it didn\u2019t get any better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy leg and ankle had doubled in size, it had gone blue and purple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was to stand on it and put my full weight on it, it felt like my foot was going to burst.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was mostly in my left leg, although it was sometimes mirrored in my right too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicky says she was on crutches from the ages of 16 to 19, before her symptoms settled for a couple of years. Then, they came back with a vengeance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I slept in the car for the night because it was too painful for me to walk to my door<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cI was taking nerve pain medications, morphine too, and I was taught breathing techniques to try and deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it stopped me doing anything, it took over my whole life. I could only leave the house a couple of times a week, as it took me days to recover from going anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was bedbound five years and I couldn\u2019t do anything with Robbie, which I felt so guilty about. I had to stop working too, from my job in project management.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was spring 2022 when Nicky finally decided to take action after a night out with friends ended disastrously.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cI couldn\u2019t get out of the car and walk up to my front door as I was in so much pain. So I had to sleep in my car for the night, and then get help in the morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, I just couldn\u2019t take it anymore and knew that I had to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicky had previously been offered a spinal cord stimulator, which may be recommended if painkillers fail to work.<\/p>\n

A device is surgically implanted under the skin, sending mild electrical pulses to the spinal cord and helping to reduce pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But then Covid hit, and the appointment was postponed. During Covid, Nicky\u2019s leg became so useless that it was decided the surgery wouldn\u2019t be any help, Nicky says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So instead, Nicky begged doctors to amputate her leg.<\/p>\n

I got my life back<\/h2>\n

Amputation is considered controversial and a last resort for CRPS because of the lack of evidence to support that it is a cure, and because the conditio can spread to other parts of the body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But doctors agreed, and Nicky had the operation in July last year at the Royal Gwent Hospital.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cI wasn\u2019t nervous about having the operation at all, as I had so much to gain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t focusing on losing my leg, it was more that I was going to get my life back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The operation went well and Nicky was allowed home after three days in hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cIt was the best decision I\u2019ve ever made. There hasn\u2019t been a single second where I questioned what I\u2019d done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came off all my pain medications straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicky feels like she can finally be a proper mum to Robbie, doing the school run and taking him to hobbies.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is just beginning for me,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve missed out on so much with Robbie. I feel like I can be a mum – and a person – again. I\u2019m back working full time and I go to the gym six days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicky has had a prosthetic fitted and has also attended Amp Camp in Tenerife, a fitness retreat set up by amputee Ben Lovell to help other amputees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ben lost his leg in 2017 through an undiagnosed blood clot and since then has been determined to try and help other amputees.<\/p>\n

Nicky said: \u201cAmp Camp is fantastic. It\u2019s so much fun and great to meet other amputees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cI now lead a full and active life – compared to being bed-bound for five years. I volunteer for our local church too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI may have lost my leg, but I now have my life back.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A MUM living with a condition so painful it\u2019s dubbed \u201csuicide disease\u201d begged doctors to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'Suicide disease' held me prisoner in my own home for 5 years - until I begged doctors to cut off my leg | The Sun - Totalcelnews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/suicide-disease-held-me-prisoner-in-my-own-home-for-5-years-until-i-begged-doctors-to-cut-off-my-leg-the-sun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Suicide disease' held me prisoner in my own home for 5 years - until I begged doctors to cut off my leg | The Sun - 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