Two Actions a Diabetic Should Take After Having a Toe Amputated
Posted on: 23 February 2021
If, as a result of being diabetic and struggling with high blood glucose for a long time, you have developed complications and have had to have a toe amputated, here are two actions you should try to take.
Get counselling
In this situation, you should set up a counselling appointment via a health clinic. Firstly, whilst due to its small size and location, losing a toe might seem like one of the least traumatising forms of amputation. However, it can still be a huge psychological and physical shock that can send you into a tailspin. The effect that the loss of your toe will have on your gait and balance may also be tough for you to cope with initially. Making use of a counselling service in the aftermath of the surgery will mean you can unburden yourself and share all of the big or small struggles that the amputation has created in your daily life with someone who will make you feel truly heard. You can get some sound, constructive advice on how to navigate the emotions that these struggles make you feel.
Secondly, if your inability to control your diabetes was due to comfort eating or having an eating disorder, you could also use these counselling sessions at the clinic to unpack the reason behind your use of, for example, junk food as an emotional crutch. This could be helpful in moving forward, as it might enable you to find better alternatives to this unhealthy activity. As a result, this could then make it that much easier to control your diabetes.
Prioritise your podiatric appointments whilst you heal
After the amputation, you will probably find that the foot on which the surgery was performed hurts a lot and that standing and walking around is painful. Additionally, whilst your counselling sessions will undoubtedly help you, you may feel slightly drained after talking at length about your struggles. Because of these things, the idea of postponing or cancelling your appointments at the podiatric clinic could seem tempting.
However, ensuring that you go to a podiatric health clinic regularly whilst your foot is healing will mean that the podiatrist will be able to resolve any diabetic ulcers that might form on or near the surgical wound that would otherwise prevent it from fully healing. This, in turn, will enable you to move onto the next part of the recovery (such as rehabilitation with a physiotherapist) as soon as possible. For more information, contact a podiatrist counselling service.
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