Amputation
Thanks for dropping in! I'm a 38 year old male and a LAK amputee. That means Left Above Knee amputee. The reason for my amputation was bone cancer. I had to amputate my left leg at the middle of my thigh bone, to survive. My cancer also spread to both my lungs. Which resulted in an operation in my left lung to take out the tumour. The tumour in my right lung was "killed" with cell poison.I regard myself as a disabled person but my friends don't think of me as one.
Handicapped people have nothing to be ashamed of. We have experienced something that changed us as persons. I myself became quite another person after I had to have the amputation because of bone cancer in my left knee. Regarding my statement that I became another person : I feel that I'm a new person because I've seen death in its eyes. I was told by doctors that I had cancer. I just said ; "Oh is it cancer? OK But you just have to fix it". At that time I thought they could cure almost any cancer. It never occurred to me that I could die from cancer. After a while I found out that I've gotten a very rare cancer type called bone cancer. Only about two persons in Norway get it in one year. I knew I was special but I did not have to be that special! Being one of two persons in the whole of Norway, I mean.
When this started I had just been accepted to train to be a fighter pilot in the Norwegian Air Force. I thought I had it all figured out. Job, family and everything was planned. But no, I was not supposed to be a fighter pilot. I wonder what I will turn out to be finally?.
Anyway, after I realized that this was quite serious and that I had to amputate my leg, my whole world tumbled around me. This and the fact that I had to get cell poison for one whole year, and that the cancer spread to both lungs and I had to operate on my left lung too, besides having to amputate, made me realize that life can be very short.
After this I've been at the hospital three times a year in the beginning and once a year after some years, just to check that the cancer isn't coming back. These controls continues over ten years so that they can be used for statistics. Then they can see how many of the treated persons who get cancer again in this ten year period. My last control was in 1998 and I'm now declared free of cancer.
The life experience, this illness has given me, has made me look at life with other eyes. You really have to live life at full each day. Remembering to enjoy every minute of what you experience. Even if you are yelled at by your boss or you and your friends have a quarrel, you must remember that this is just a small bit of life and it's really just a trifle.
After my "cancer battle" I've started to have a real look around me. When I come home at nights I stop outside my door looking at the skies. I take a deep breath and look at the stars shining bright up there. This makes me feel alive.
I mean : I take the time in a busy day to enjoy that I'm still breathing. Life is wonderful and we should appreciate it much more than we do!
I hope this gives you an idea of what I mean by becoming a different person after my battle against cancer and death.
I won!!!
I wish you readers a great day. Remember to enjoy every minute of it!
Best regards
Tor-André Skogland
Founder