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My mother had a stroke several years ago.
Her cognative abilities were only slightly altered; almost exclusively restricted to short-term memory abilities. The affected leg suffered a 50% reduction in strength/coordination which affected her ability to walk accordingly.
The most traumatic result of the stroke was the loss of 95% of the use in her left arm. She counts her blessings because she is right-handed. She says her biggest curse now is having that useless left arm always in her way. While awake, she suffers the 'phantom pain' of any amputee - with the added annoyance of having a 15-lb dead weight to keep out of the way.
It's worse at night. Every move she makes at night involves dealing with that same dead weight. It reduces her quality of sleep and in doing so, also reduces her ability to maintain the upbeat state of mind she needs in order to deal with the reality of having her formerly active lifesyle reduced by over 50%.
She has begged physicians to amputate the arm. The majority say they would do so in a heartbeat - were it not that the wrong combination of heartbeats during that surgery carry serious, indeed, fatal risk of another stroke.
I also have a paraplegic sister who would rid herself of half of both legs if the risks were not so great.
These are only 2 adults I will quote (able to think, reason and argue for themselves) who would, if able, undergo huge physical alterations for the sake of larger benefits. I haven't walked a single step in their mocassins but I stride alongside them every day.
