 So, like, elective leg amputation, does that mean you elected to have it like you wanted to have your leg cut off? No! The answer to that question is no. I wanted to tackle this question kind of once and for all because I've seen it come up a couple times both in real life and online. So elective leg amputation versus, I should probably look the term up, but I'm guessing it's probably traumatic leg amputation, is not that someone wants to have it versus they don't want to have it. I never wanted to have my leg amputated. That was never part of my life plan. It's been something that has been possible for a very long time and I made the decision this year because I was tired of living in pain. I was done with living kind of surgery to surgery and eating narcotics like it was my job just to make it through days. So an elective leg amputation is essentially when it is doctor approved, doctor recommended, there may be other options, maybe you can hold off, but your life is not on the line. It's not like you have an infection that is going straight to your heart and doctors or taking you into surgery immediately, taking your limb off because it's that or you're dying. An elective leg amputation is what I had where I had gone through 10 previous surgeries, I'd gone through 14 years of pain and I did not want to go through it anymore. I had the option of possibly looking at an ankle replacement, but with 10 previous surgeries, with so much damage there anyways, and with the kind of life that I live, I have a very, very low rate of that working and would have to leave a very inactive life, live a very inactive life, which is not something I'm interested in doing and tired of living in pain and tired of living surgery to surgery. And so I said no more, I was done. And so I did something I've never wanted to do and had my leg amputated. That did not mean that I wanted that to happen. That did not mean that it was easy. That didn't mean that I haven't had hard days or I'm not having hard days because absolutely I am and I do. It just means that given the situation, it was the best possible option. And I struggle with that word elective because I think of electives in like college, you know, I went to college and took elective classes and they were always like the fun ones, like the ones I wanted to do. The amputation course was not an elective course I ever wanted to take, but it is one that I am currently learning and it's an adventure and a journey and I am embracing it as much as I can. And honestly, there are parts of it that are cool and interesting and new. And I get to be a part of a new community and all of that. That doesn't dim the fact that like this was never in my life plan, you know? But there are so many things that are never in our life's plans. I've had my house burned down when I was 16 and then it did again in the Black Forest Fire here in Colorado. And we lost literally everything we owned in hours and life started over. And I've been a victim of sexual assault and domestic violence. Also things that were never in my life's plan. So things happen that we don't plan for and then you adjust and you move on. And so I don't want to say move on like it doesn't have an effect on us, but we figure out what life will now look like, what a new normal is. And so that's what I'm in the process of doing. I'm in the process of figuring out a new normal without a leg. And I'm at the beginning I think of that journey and doing my best to have a fun time with it and enjoy it because I'm going to have days where I break down and worth and I'm not going to have any fun. But hey, you know what? On the days when I can, I might as well have a fun time, you know? So that is what an elective leg amputation is. A lot of people face amputations that are the result of an accident or combat or medical condition like diabetes or blood issues or something like that. So there are a really wide variety of reasons for amputations. People often just come up to amputees and thank them for their service assuming that it must have come from some military injury. But that is actually not the highest percentage of why people have amputations. So that is a little information if you didn't know about amputations and elective amputations. I hope that cleared some things up now. Before you go, make sure that you hit subscribe. I think the button's right there. And like if you'd like this video or if it helped you at all. I would love to see you back on this channel. I release videos fairly often. I actually don't have a schedule yet, but I will figure out one eventually. I'd love to see you back. I hope you guys are doing well and I look forward to talking to you soon. Bye.