An unexpected question

One day in the hospital we watched a film. Natalia was riveted by the story. Myself not so much. All the time my thoughts were occupied with how I would tell what could be possibly be in store for her in the future.


My thoughts drifted back to the film. It was the story of a young boy, an adolescent whose life is turned upside down by an automobile accident.

The doctors manage to save his life but they are forced to amputate one of his legs. The boy had been an outstanding athlete harboring the hope of one day becoming a professional athlete. I cannot not recall the details but I do remember how this boy was shown undergoing an internal struggle. It was a virtuous coincidence which would make it easier to broach the subject I had in mind – or so I thought.

The subject of amputated limbs was an ever present one in this hospital. There were children who were going through the various stages of grief at the loss of a hand or a leg. Some would find it easier to accept the loss, others fared worse. I spoke with some of those children and their parents and they told me that it felt like losing a vital part of themselves.

Anna a young girl who had all but 20 cm of her leg amputated would complain of the itching in her leg. Seeing no limb there I looked in bewilderment until I came to understand the concept of ” phantom limb pain”. The nerves in what remained of her leg projected and carried the signals of the lost leg so that it felt it was always there.

In Natalia’s case, though she was to be fitted with an endoprosthesis there remained a significant chance that it would not hold and that she would have to have her leg amputated. The young boy in the film had struggled with his loss. Perhaps this would resonate with Natalia on some level. Like the boy in the film she had been a gifted athlete and lived for sport. I wondered how she would deal with it.

The boy’s story was inspirational. Though he would lose a leg he would continue to achieve athletic excellence. It was something that I believed, in my own heart, that if you wanted something bad enough nothing would stand in your way.

When the film finished it was quiet and Natalia was basking in the afterglow of its inspirational message. I told her that there was a possibility that she would lose her leg. Natalia was silent. I could see her considering what I had said to her. Then she asked me,

” what will the doctors do with my leg after they amputate it”


I paused for a moment, then I started to laugh and she smiled. I had prepared for every possible question she might pose, at least I thought. I told her that I would speak to the doctors and ask them what they did with the amputated limbs and return with an answer.