Your life did not end when everything changed.
There is a moment after limb loss when the world can feel divided into two parts: the life you had before, and whatever comes next. Before, you may have moved without thinking about it. You got out of bed, walked across a room, climbed into a truck, went to work, took a shower, carried groceries, played with your kids, or stood in line at the store without giving any of it much thought. Then something happened. An accident. An illness. An infection. A circulation problem. Cancer. A military injury. A surgery that could not be avoided.
And suddenly, ordinary things were no longer ordinary. The world did not stop. Bills still arrived. People still expected answers. The dog still needed to go outside. Somebody still needed dinner. Your friends kept talking about their problems. Traffic still backed up at five o'clock. Life continued moving even while yours seemed to have slammed into a wall. That can be one of the hardest parts of becoming an amputee. Everything changes, but...