The second day post surgery was much like the first, but Z's mom came to visit and brought soup and some yummy rubarb dessert! It was nice to have someone come to visit, and I think Z liked seeing someone other than my smelly self! The doctor called (or was that Saturday?) and said that my toe still being numb was ok, sometimes it takes up to 36 hours. Well, right around 36 hours I started feeling it, and it hurt!
Oh yeah, and Zach had a lesson, which meant I decided I needed to move up stairs for the first time to avoid being an ugly smelly piece of furniture during his lesson. Moving upstairs meant my smarty pants decided to hop all the way upstairs, which was a stupid idea that really hurt my foot. Since then I've been scooting up the stairs, which is a much better option.
We finally decided to move up to the bedroom to sleep tonight as well. I'm not certain if I slept better or not, but Zach definitely slept better! I am still waking up at 3 to take my anti-inflammatory meds and pain meds.
Post Surgery Day 3 - First Follow-Up!
Monday was my first follow-up day with the doctor! In honor of leaving the house, I decided I should be cleaned. Zach helped me upstairs, we wrapped my foot/wrapping up in a garbage bag and lowered my stinky self into the tub. It was an odd way to bathe, with one leg stuck out of the tub, but it felt good to feel a little cleaner! It was pretty exhausting though.
We headed to the doctors in the afternoon and got to see my foot for the first time! It looks pretty crazy! The whole thing was pretty swollen, and there was quite the line of staples down the two incisions. I got some x-rays of my foot and the doc said all was well. After taking all the bandages off, my poor foot got a few minutes of fresh air before it got wrapped back up. And then it was a full cast! This is my first full cast (it goes up to under my knee) and it is HEAVY! It definitely is very warm as well, which means I have a constantly HOT foot, something I HATE. I still haven't tested the cast with pants, I'm terrified I won't be able to fit pants over my casted foot (The cast is BIG on my foot). Although skirts are always an option (without nylons though, given that I could only nylon up one leg!) I'm a little nervous about the skirt/scooter option. That and the reality that I need my leg up whenever possible, and that and a skirt could mean flashing people unnecessarily!
Post-Surgery Day 4 - Relax/Light Work
I let my work know I'd do my best to make it in to the office on Wednesday, and that I'd be at home trying to work a little on Tuesday. I've started a little work so far, and it is very difficult to concentrate.
The pain today isn't too bad... I took my last 1/2 pain pill some time this morning, I think something like 8:00 or so this morning. I guess it's only 10:30, so that doesn't really mean much hey? :) I'm loosing track of when I took what, which I guess is ok, given that I'm not in sooo much pain that I can't wait for the next one!
Overall I'm most surprised about how difficult it really is to get around. I knew it would be a pain, but I didn't realize how much energy it would take to lug around this cast and wheel around the house. The scooter is definitely better than crutches. My arms hurt from just scooting my butt up and down the stairs a few times yesterday, I can't even imagine how bad they'd hurt if I was using crutches! Still though, maneuvering around with the scooter is tough. Just getting up a few times is pretty exhausting, and having my foot below my heart still hurts and is very distracting. I'm not sure that driving right now is the best idea, and I'm a little scared that tomorrow might be rough still too! Hopefully I can try out a little driving this evening or something, and see how it feels.
3 comments:
Hi there, how are you feeling? I had surgery on my ankle, a plate and 5 screws put in and going to the doctor today to get this huge,uncomfortable and bulky splint off and a regular cast put on. Is that what you have now? Please tell me it's more comfortable than the splint! When does the pain and swelling go away? The crutches are killing me and besides being nervous about today I am terrified about riding the NYC subway system with a cast and crutches! Anyway I hope you aren't in too much pain and write back or email me,Dave.
Hi Dave!
I did go from the splint to the full cast on Monday. For me, the cast is more comfortable because the weight is evenly distributed around my foot. With the splint, the majority of the weight was on the bottom, which made it a little ackward. It's still HOT and heavy, but it could be worse.
If you're really struggling with the crutches check out a "Turning Leg Caddie" (google it!). I have one, it basically looks like a scooter but the part where you'd put your foot is higher so you can rest your knee on it. It looks a little odd but it is 100% better than crutches for me!
I can't speak for the NYC subway system, but I imagine it isn't super handicap accessible. The Leg Caddie can basically go anywhere a wheel chair could, but I'm not sure that the subway would qualify there!
I wish you the best as well! I would e-mail you back, but since the comment was anonymous it didn't leave me an e-mail address!!
Hey Ashley, thanks for writing back. I hope the journey to work today wasn't too bad for you and no swelling. My appointment is at 1:00 and I am nervous about it, does it hurt when they put the cast on? Is it true you get to pick a color? Well as long as it's a little more comfortable than this splint I think I can deal with it.
I will google it now, thank you and it sounds much better than the crutches! At this point I think I look odd enough it's not going to make much of a difference,lol.
this leg caddie thing sounds like the way to go because getting up and down steps with the crutches doesn't sound like much fun and can't scoot on my butt like I do at home,ha.
Thank you so much and stupid me, sorry. My email is tippytop100@gmail.com
Post a Comment