A woman chose to have her leg amputated at just 20 after an agonizing condition left her unable to leave her home for eight months.<\/p>\n
Jess Burkinshaw had lived with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) since she was just 16 months old, when she developed swollen joints, fevers and severe pain and even stopped walking and crawling.<\/p>\n
But when she was 15, the pain in her right ankle suddenly became dramatically worse.<\/p>\n
Jess Burkinshaw poses for a photo before her amputation. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n
Jess is pictured in a hospital after undergoing an amputation. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n
Jess chose to have her leg amputated at just 20 after an agonizing condition left her unable to leave her home for eight months. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n
Jess initially believed she was suffering a particularly bad arthritis flare-up<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead, she was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a condition that causes severe and persistent pain and can develop following an injury or damage to the nervous system.<\/p>\n At its worst, Jess says the pain could feel as though she was \u201cburning alive\u201d one moment before being \u201cthrown into an ice bath\u201d the next.<\/p>\n Jess was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a condition that causes severe and persistent pain and can develop following an injury or damage to the nervous system. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never known a life without pain,\u201d Jess, from Leeds, West Yorks, told creatorzine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was around 14, I just couldn\u2019t ignore the pain anymore; it was taking over my life.<\/p>\n \u201cWe then learnt years later that the pain was due to my ankle and foot being severely damaged from my arthritis<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a daily basis, my pain level would never drop below a seven out of the one-to-10 pain scale.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like my whole foot was bruised and it was continuously being stabbed, burned and electrocuted.\u201d<\/p>\n The debilitating pain took a huge toll on Jess\u2019s education and social life.<\/p>\n The debilitating pain took a huge toll on Jess\u2019s education and social life. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n She said: \u201cIt has massively affected my life in terms of studying.<\/p>\n \u201cI sat my GCSEs at home as I was in too much pain to leave the house, and I missed over half of my last year of school due to the pain.<\/p>\n \u201cI had very few friends as I wasn\u2019t there seeing them in person to keep the friendship going.<\/p>\n \u201cLeaving the house has always been my biggest struggle, as I was unable to wear a sock or shoe due to my CRPS.<\/p>\n \u201cThis meant I was completely unable to go out in winter, as the cold was so intensely painful<\/p>\n \u201cI had very few friends as I wasn\u2019t there seeing them in person to keep the friendship going,\u201d Jess said. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n \u201cMy lowest point during my illness was a couple of years ago when I wasn\u2019t able to leave the house for eight months, and I was barely leaving my bedroom due to how severe my pain was.\u201d<\/p>\n Jess says years of crippling pain and medication also had a devastating impact on her mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI have been on so many different medications to try and combat the pain, but no one ever seems to warn you about the effect they can have on your mental health.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cI was depressed, anxious<\/a> and experiencing hallucinations due to the medication I was taking mixed with my severe lack of sleep due to the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Jess spent years trying different treatments in a desperate bid to regain control of her life.<\/p>\n These included an ankle fusion and a spinal cord stimulator trial, but nothing worked.<\/p>\n Eventually, after more than two years of discussions with surgeons, she decided to have her right leg amputated.<\/p>\n Jess underwent the life-changing operation in April this year.<\/p>\n Jess says years of crippling pain and medication also had a devastating impact on her mental health. Jam Press\/@rolling_with_jess<\/p>\n She said: \u201cAn amputation may seem like a worse outcome to most people, as they are used to their limbs being pain-free and functional.<\/p>\n \u201cI think if they felt what it\u2019s like to be in horrible pain 24\/7, even just for a day, they would be much more understanding and would beg for anything just to lessen the pain even a bit.<\/p>\n \u201cMy quality of life has improved so much, mainly because I\u2019m in less pain.<\/p>\n