GP’s crisis: ‘I lost my leg but I’m happy to be alive’
Dr Craig Lilienthal didn't think heart surgery would lead to his leg being amputated, but says he's a better doctor for the experience
It’s a long story, but in short Dr Craig Lilienthal went to hospital in March 2016 to sort out his atrial fibrillation.
He left four months later, lucky to be alive, with one leg amputated below the knee, needing a prosthetic leg and in line for a disabled parking sticker.
The hospital trip started badly with abnormal bleeding and a haemopericardium before spinning down the dark lane of DVTs, lower leg compartment syndrome, emergency fasciotomies, surgical debridement and vacuum-assisted closure dressings.
If life was halfway fair, it would have pulled up with the below-knee amputation. But it slammed straight on into a wound infection, weeks of intravenous antibiotics and the opioid-inspired “malevolent hallucinations”.
