KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
My feet remained a constant problem throughout my life. My left foot developed carcinoma and had to be amputated in 1973, in the days before micro-surgery became available, to save my life. I now wear a prosthetic below the knee, so I am able to bend my leg. Walking with a prosthetic is not easy, but my lifelong agility stands me in good stead. My right foot was also in bad shape. Because my toes were am- putated by my aunt in the forest and the metatarsals were removed in Israel, the foot is now very small. In the mid-1990s, my right heel developed an oozing ulcer and the tissues started to deteriorate. I had been living in fear of this happening. I went to every conceiv- able doctor and endured painful procedures, trying to find a solution to save my remaining foot. Finally, in 1999, we went to Columbia Presbyterian and consulted a plastic surgeon. We did not see eye to eye on my first visit, but Cindy, my daughter-in-law, came with us on the next visit and charmed him. The doctor and I became friendly. He insisted on doing a biopsy of my heel. Reluctantly, I let him do the painful procedure. To my great sor- row, the results showed malignancy in the area, including the heel bone. The doctor recommended surgery to save the leg, though he was uncertain as to whether the foot could be saved. He explained in detail how he planned to proceed with the microsurgery to try to save my foot. He would remove the malignant tissue and shave off the infected part of the heel bone. He would then graft a mus - cle from the side of my chest, under my arm, to the heel. Then, he would graft a large piece of skin from my thigh onto the muscle graft, to protect it. In order for the graft to succeed, circulation would have to be established by connecting an artery and vein from the muscle to an artery and vein in the leg. The doctor emphasized that this procedure depended on his ability to locate a viable vein and artery in my leg. Many tests were performed that were inconclusive, and no suit- able vein could be located. The doctor was willing to perform the surgery, hoping to locate a vein during surgery. He told me that I had nothing to lose because if a vein was not found, my leg would
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