Five weeks

In two days it will have been five weeks since my surgery.  I have found that if I keep my ankle elevated I do not need to take much for pain.  It's hard to be sure with this cast but I believe some of my discomfort is due to swelling.  When I see the doctor next week I should get a walking cast that I can take off.  That means I will be able to use ice to control swelling and not just elevation, allowing me a little more freedom to go out and do things, knowing that relief won't be as difficult to find.

I also hope that I will get some good physical therapy instruction and that permission to get in the pool will be granted as well. Two or three times a week in the pool will feel great!  It will also get me out of the house and outside.  Now that the weather is warming up I am excited about having the chance to enjoy it. I bought a quad chair with a built-in footrest.  The doctor says my ankle will swell for up to a year, so the chair will come in handy for outdoor concerts, soccer games, campimg, etc.  I can hardly wait to use it.

So, for now, I am feeling well.  I don't have any real pain - more like discomfort.  I can get around fairly well on my scooter or crutches and even do okay getting the scooter up and down the front steps if necessary. Being allowed to put weight on the foot will make all that even easier.  Bit by bit my life is getting back to normal.

Two Weeks

I'm living life in two week increments.  Every two weeks marks an important milestone.

Tomorrow it will be four weeks since my surgery and two weeks since having the stitches removed and the splint changed to a cast.  My next appointment is two weeks from today. At that time, hopefully, I will be put in a walking boot and be able to start putting weight on my foot!  How cool will that be?!  Hope I'm ready.

Before the surgery I was advised to "take the drugs."  So I did.  I took the Percocet for a week.  Then I took the Vicodin for a week. Then I switched to Tramadol.  I'd probably still be taking that if I hadn't developed a very stiff neck.  The Tramadol didn't seem to help the neck pain so I took some Extra Strength Tylenol instead, and I realized my ankle felt fine.  I'm down to two Tylenol in the morning and one every five or six hours the rest of the day.  So, my question is, how do you know when to stop taking the drugs?

Now that I have the drugs out of my system I feel so much better. When my neck is back to normal I will really feel great.  Getting out and about is still a challenge. The crutches make me nervous and take a lot out of me physically, and while the scooter is a fantastic device, I can't get it in and out of the house easily without assistance.  Also, I feel off balance when stationary on it for a while - such as when trying to do things in the kitchen - and my hip starts to hurt. Maybe a height adjustment will help.

I am so excited that spring is almost here!  By the time I get my walking boot the weather will hopefully have warmed up enough for me to start taking daily walks in my neighborhood. I'm also hoping for clearance to get in the pool where I will really be able to do some good whole body workouts.

What will the boot be like?  Will I be able to remove it so that I can bathe?  Will I have to sleep in it?

So, two more weeks and then...
    -walking
    -less need for crutches/scooter
    -a clean, non-itchy leg (even if just for the day)
    -good aquatic exercise.

Yay!!!

Stitches Out, New Cast

My first post op appointment was today.  I was attended by one of the PAs and a fleet of medical assistants and trainees.  Once again everyone was helpful and courteous.   The splint was removed, x-rays taken, stitches and staples (ouch!) removed and a cast put on.  The staples were in the bottom of my foot.

  

And here are the stitches.

Here is the bottom of the foot after the removal of 3 staples and the top of the incision site after being cleaned.  Looks pretty good.

And finally... the new cast!

The PA said everything looked perfect and that I can drive now. Yay!

More Questions

So far I haven't been really bored, thanks largely to the wonderful people who have spent time with me and helped me out.  I've really enjoyed my visitors.  When no one else is here I can read or play games on the tablet or watch videos.  When I don't feel like doing any of those things I just close my eyes and go to sleep.  Ahhh!  Better living through chemistry.

I wish I could be outdoors paddling or something like that while we are having such nice weather, but at least I have my sunroom and my window seat and can look out at the birds.  Tomorrow the weather will change and will become cool.  By the time it warms up again maybe I'll have a nice chair with a footrest that I can put in the yard.

Although I feel pretty well most of the time, I started running a fever yesterday afternoon and had a terrible headache.  I thought I was past that.  One reason I am writing this blog is so that others undergoing the same procedure will know what to expect.  Of course, there are so many variables that no two individuals will have identical experiences, but it would have helped me to have just a little more knowledge of the experiences of others.

Tomorrow I go for my first post op appointment.  I am eager to see what the incision looks like.  There is a good chance that I will feel a bit lightheaded when he starts taking off the bandage and removing stitches.  I know I have in the past under similar circumstances.

I started out taking Percocet for pain and switched to Vicodin.  I am taking one every 5 hours.  If I am up and about too much the ankle starts to ache, so I am spending a lot of my time flat on my back with my foot propped up on pillows.  One of the things I am uncertain about is the pain medication.   Would I be better off taking more or taking it more frequently?  Or would that just make me more wooly headed?  Where are the guidelines?

Looks as if I have some questions to write down before my appointment tomorrow.

Nice flowers from my neighbors Jessica, Michael and Elizabeth.

Hardware and Gadgets

The implant I have is the Wright Prophecy Inbone.  It's a very sophisticated device that is specifically designed for each recipient.  Hope these photos of the X-rays are clear.

 

On the left is a front view, and on the right is a side view.  Pretty serious stuff.

Here is a photo of my  cast/splint.  I will keep this until March 12 or perhaps longer.  At that time I will have a boot.  I will be non-weight bearing for 4-6 weeks.

Some of you may recognize Smokey's chin sticking out over the top  where he is helping pad my shin bone when I ride the scooter.  Ouch!

Now is the time when I am feeling pretty good, but only so long as I spend lots of time lying down with my foot above my heart.  I'm trying to take less pain medication, and that means being very quiet and still.  Boring!

Finally, here is a photo of some of the paraphernalia accumulated to assist me during my recovery.

4 days post op

Today is Sunday.  I think I am doing pretty well.  Of course there is pain, but if I keep my foot elevated it isn't bad at all.  There are about a million side effects to oxycodone, and I am experiencing about half of them.  My face is splotchy - oxycodone.  Headache - oxycodone.  Night sweats - oxycodone.  The list goes on.

I will include xrays of my implant in a later post, as well as a picture of my cast.