Making the Most of Life with One Leg

In April 2004, Dr. Charles Webb's right leg had to be amputated below the knee due to peripheral arterial disease (PAD). While some individuals facing these circumstances may become depressed and seek to limit their activities, Dr. Webb decided to keep a positive outlook and not let the loss of his leg get him down. He likes to keep things light by smiling, laughing, and joking with his patients.

Sixty-six-year-old Dr. Webb is a family practice physician and chief of staff for South Point Hospital in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, where he has a busy practice and sees an average of 40 patients a day. Despite the loss of his leg, he keeps active and stays fit by playing golf and working with a personal trainer regularly. He uses his prosthesis as a teaching tool, deliberately taking it off in front of his patients to educate them about vascular disease and helping them learn how to take better care of themselves.

Dr. Webb's circulation challenges started in 1985 with claudication (symptoms that occur when the leg muscles do not receive the oxygen-rich blood required during exercise, causing cramping in the hips, thighs, or calves). He noticed pain and cramping in the leg when he played tennis, but paid little or no attention to his symptoms. "As a doctor, I knew better, yet I ignored it," said Dr. Webb. "Had I gone to the doctor when I noticed the pain right away, I might have been able to save my leg."

This is the loudest message Dr. Webb can send to anyone experiencing claudication or any type of leg pain or cramping: Get to the doctor, preferably a vascular specialist, right away. In Dr. Webb's opinion, there are many things that can be done to prevent worsening of the disease through the use of medications or a stent to improve circulation or delay amputation.

Dr. Webb's journey began when he moved to Ohio from California. He was having trouble with his right leg and foot, including numbness and pain that kept him up at night. It was that pain that drove him to the doctor, who did not recommend anything other than circulation medicine. The only effect Dr. Webb noticed from the drug was terrible headaches, so he stopped taking the medication.

Finally, in 1999, Dr. Webb was diagnosed with PAD. If he had been diagnosed with diabetes, which he was not, the progression of PAD could have been much faster. Eventually his doctors performed a full knee-replacement surgery in 2001 to help alleviate his arthritis pain.

In 2003, Dr. Webb found himself in the emergency room with severe chest pains, discomfort, and burning. Fortunately, he did not have a full-blown heart attack, but he did have ischemia (a condition indicating that an organ is not getting adequate blood flow and lacks vital oxygen and nutrients). As a result of this episode, a coronary stent was placed in his right coronary artery, followed by a prescription of anti-platelet medication. After his ischemia attack, he began an exercise regimen of playing golf on a regular basis.

When Dr. Webb noticed that the pain in his leg was getting worse in 2003, his doctor performed a femoral-popliteal bypass (a procedure to help improve circulation and blood supply by routing the blood from the groin around the blockages to arteries). Unfortunately, in Dr. Webb's case, his PAD had progressed to a more severe form called critical limb ischemia. The bypass procedure was not successful and the pain in his leg continued. The doctors then recommended "step procedures," which start by removing the patient's toes, and then several months later half of the foot and so on. Being a physician, Dr. Webb was familiar with the procedure and felt that, in his case, it was better to have an amputation below the knee.

After his knee amputation, he started working with a personal trainer three times a week for 35-40 minutes a session. "This has made a world of difference for me," said Dr. Webb. "It took about a year and a half to two years before I noticed improvement, but now I feel great!"

Even his doctor agreed that exercise is making a difference in Dr. Webb's health. He started to notice pain in his left leg, and the regular exercise has improved his circulation and pain in that limb. When his doctor examined him just a few months ago, he was surprised and pleased at the reduction of pain in Dr. Webb's left leg just from exercising.

"I tolerate the prosthesis very well and keep a positive outlook about the loss of my leg," said Dr. Webb.