Hi, if anyone has knowledge of or experience with using dry ice please let me know. Upper extremity. Trying to best prepare for this & seeking as much information as I can before I proceed as I only get 1 chance to do this right the first time, thanks
Don't do it! It takes you more than 8 hours. And it's painfull!
I have read reports of 6-8 hours for an unwanted leg, but my situation is my hands, both at wrist level, should not take even 1/3 the time. I know there will be pain and discomfort, I don't expect this to be easy. I will be numbing the sensation in my hands as much as possible in the snow in sub zero temperatures before I introduce them to the dry ice, and I will be wearing thin non-insulating nitrile gloves to prevent direct skin contact. I will otherwise be wearing my extreme cold weather backcountry gear so the rest of my will be plenty warm, even sweating while I freeze my hands. I'll gladly sit there for 8 hours, but my fear is doing more damage than I intend and having a much higher level of amputation. I have a few months to finish fine tuning this as it will be happening this winter. Thanks.
Just do it with only one hand, please don't do it with both hands, if you still feel the same later do it with the other one
You need a hand to touch in the darkness, remember this
I've studied the lifestyle of bilateral arm/hand amputees for years, they adapt just fine. I also have been 'training' with my own pair of prosthetic arms I had made by a prosthesist. I try to wear them for awhile everyday to cook, clean, eat, personal care...do everything with them on to be independent. I'm more than prepared to be bilateral hand now. I've figured out how to make my career work with the use of prosthetics. I've wanted this since the youngest age I can remember, I want to do it right the first time, not in stages. I'm at the do or die trying point of desperation. The new physical challenges will be nothing compared to the psycological burdon I'm fighting now. I'm done fighting this, I've made the decision to just to it and finally be happy and at peace with myself.
What kind of prosthetics you think that you will use?, take good care of the amputation level, more residual, more easily will come!
Right now I have hooks which are amazingly functional and that will likely be my preferred choice for daily activity as there isn't much that I can't do with them, they have become 2nd nature for me to work with. I would like to try hand attachments sometime just to see what they are like. I have no interest in the fancy electronic stuff. I need to fabricate a couple special pieces so I can replace the right hook with something that will make my job a breeze. Like I said, my main focus in my initial question hoping anybody had any experience with the dry ice. I just don't want to loose too much residual. I don't expect this to be a perfect science, ideally my arms need to end just above the wrists, but if I loose up to mid forearm I'd be ok with that, but I don't want to go any higher than that, and I especially don't want to risk becoming bilateral above elbow.
Wow I looked right past that thank you that's a fantastic write-up! I figured I can achieve what I want just a couple hours of time with my hands but I'm quite surprised that he just used ice packs for 1 hour. This is very encouraging to know because that was my other concern is not doing it long enough and they managed to save at least parts of my hands and rather than a clean cut and prosthetics that I can easily function with I end up with deformed hands that barely work.
Ok tell me how it was and what you feel, I'm behind you with a hand! one year or two, cause i still need to work
I'll stay in touch. Im well established with my employer in an industry where I work with heavy equipment, I'm going to use my current prosthetic arms to start fabricating a custom attachment I can replace the hook with so I will easily be able to work the levers on the machines. I already pretty much just use my forearms as it is & am pretty good with it so I know I will be able to do the job without a right prosthetic, will need to wear at least a left prosthetic arm for other functions though. Only thing thats holding me back at this point (other than waiting for winter to make my story work) is getting myself in a good position financially to be ready to be out of work comfortably for a few months until I can return to work post surgery.
are you still a member to this forum? I would love to hear about your idea of losing both hands. This is marvelous! If we could meet each other and you live not so far away, it would be a pleasure to assist you!
