I had a rough 2024, health issues for almost 3 years that doctors couldn't figure out lead to a hospital stay on April 3 to discover I have had an infection running through my body that settled in the tendons and ligaments near my lower fibula. 3 surgeries in 5 days to clear it out, gaping hole in my left ankle, covered and treated with a wound vac, barely mobile for weeks, 19 days in the hospital. Come home, pretty much never left the upstairs of my home until late June.

July 5 I get the wound vac off, July 11th I am back in the hospital, the infection that was removed had been coming back this entire time but was getting sucked out by the wound vac is the belief. Back in surgery after discovering the infection was now twice as big and in the bone of my fibula and possibly in my heel. Surgery removed 10" of my fibula, 2 rods placed from a little below the knee and 4 other ones in my foot through the bone to eventually replace the removed fibula until we look at rebuilding in 60 days or so, pending the results of the tests on the bone fragments.

9 agonizing days later I find out that the infection is also in my foot (3 different strands). Can keep trying to hope these antibiotics that are sabotaging my internal organs longevity will kill the infection in the next 60 days and have surgery and rehab for months to try and rebuild the foot, or amputate. I decided to amputate. Released from the hospital after 16 days, waited for a surgeon to be available and on August 14th I had my left leg amputated below the knee. By this date one of the rods in my foot by my toe just fell out (wonderful sign) and the surgeon said the others all but the one just below where he removed the bone slid out like butter, the last one was solid, the only part of the bone that was not infected by this time.

5 days in the recovery adjusting and healing. Went to rehab where they told be it would be 14-21 days, mind you all this time i have been positive, motivated and pushing to just find normal. 7 days into rehab i was doing everything I was suppose to and more, proved that i was capable to do things on my own and was sent home.

Today, January 4th I have had my prosthetic for just over 3 weeks, I'm not working with rehab, I am doing all the advances with relearning to walk, balance, drive, be normal all on my own.

Moving away from the toxic environment that has been my caretakers throughout this whole ordeal. While there were pluses having someone to help I was always made to feel like I was a burden even though I respected everyone through the whole process, I stayed employed, I paid for everything under the roof, didn't ask for anything financially from anyone.

This coming January 17 I am moving away from everything and anything toxic, just me and my cat and trying to enter the dating scene at 53. I am back standing tall at 6'4", i am after all this a more muscular 212 pounds with a little dad body still happening (in 2011 I was over 525 lbs, which you cannot tell now I was every that heavy).

I am financially stable and capable, still working a job i love in central Iowa and struggling to find normal people to have a friendship/relationship with.

This whole infection thing the only other major hit was my mouth it attacked it where I couldn't keep up with trying to fix teeth so I just let them go. Dental pull is expensive and finally had my primary doc give a recommendation to an oral surgeon (health insurance) to pull them all and I'll go to dentures (which were already arranged through the dentist and affordable.)

Had to wait until my primary gave clearance to not have any infection risk and unfortunately my work changed health insurers so now that process has to restart but it is the early goal for 2025.

Anyways, long story short. Just looking for that someone that isn't all 100% about the cosmetic side but the heart side, because I am one of the calmest, biggest heart and caring man out there that respects people fully without judgement until I am disrespected. (Seems to be trend of what I find).

After just initially starting to post a small comment turned into a novel, I am actually going to post this elsewhere just to see what happens.