Came Home With Another Soft Cast

Saw the Doctor today and everything was going well unit he said they would be putting on another soft  cast. It seems there is some red and tender skin around the incision. They want to be sure it's not an infection, so I'm on a dose of antibiotics four times a day. I took an antibiotic once a day right after the surgery. They will check my foot again on Feb 5th. A bit of a set back I guess, but then I want the infection gone before I'm closed up in a cast for 6-8 weeks.
I was also able to see the exray of the screws they put in. They are long. I am including two pictures here. You may or may not want to take a look. Hopefully, the next pictures I post will look much better.

Day Before Hard Cast

We have our first snow on the ground today about five inches and it's cold.
I've been enjoying my chats with Mom and Dad on FaceTime and with Steph and family on Skype. It's really nice to see them.
Many of my friends are visiting and bringing food, flowers and fun. I'm working on a couple of yarn projects and generally feeling good.
Tomorrow I will get a hard cast put on. I am anxious and leery at the same time. I want to see what my incisions looks like and then again I'm hoping I won't be too freaked out.
Bob has been great. Probably the hardest thing I have to do is take a shower. We have a shower with a bench, but no handles to hang on to. I purchased one of those suction cup handles and it's been a life saver. Bob puts the plastic cover over my cast and helps me get in and out of the shower. Water is not your friend when you are using crutches. I am glad I have Bob to lean on.
My pain is manageable now and three oxycodon a day seem to take care of everything. Last night, I was even able to lay on my left side with my left leg propped up on a pillow and my right leg across that. I've been sleeping on my back, not my usual position or on my right side. My right shoulder is paying the price.
I sat at the table today and was able to watch the birds at the feeder. This is one of my favorite things to do. The snow is beautiful and the ice cycles on the garage sparkle in the sun. I watched them change from large on the roof to nothing on the roof to long ones on the porch roof. I should take a picture.
Her is a little guy who says it all. His name is Padre Patience. He's watching over me.

My OxyContin Experience

As you may remember I came home with a nerve block that caused no initial pain, until 2 am when the block wore off. I had started the OxyContin --twice a day--a few hours earlier being advised to stay on top of the pain. On Sunday, the third day I was having really strange twitches, one at a time in different parts of my body. I layed down to take a nap and was startled awake when I jerked my foot as if trying to pull it out of the cast. OMG! It was awful. The drowsiness and dizziness was a problem when trying to use the crutches. My pain is manageable with the oxy codon, so I've been using that ever since. On occasion I get sharp stabbing pains, but mostly there is just a tightness. It feels like I need to have some one pull and get everything back into place.
On Friday they will remove the temporary cast and put on a hard one. This soft cast, the gauze and ace bandage need to be removed. I'm anxious and leery to see what the incisions look like, but I'll feel much more comfortable then I do now. I should say secure, not comfortable. I'm afraid the comfortable feeling is going to take awhile.

Knee Cart

On day 4. I am using my knee cart. For those of you unfamiliar with a knee cart here is a picture. It is a godsend. Much easier to use then crutches. It just doesn't like to go very fast and won't take tight turns. I'm sure I can live with that.
Elcy brought meat loaf, Steve brought Wisconsin chili and John brought cookies. Nice chat with them all.
Taking only oxicodon now as oxycontin made me feel really strange. Pain is slight, I'm fine.

There's Got To Be a Morning After

Day after my surgery and the nerve blocker has worn off. About 2 am I woke with a burning stinging pain. I took some meds and called Dr. Bob out of a deep sleep. I know this because he thought he shut off his alarm until he heard me calling his name. Bless his heart, he rose and come down to give me an ice pack and some more water.

So far no nausea. I'm wearing a patch behind my ear to help with this. So far so good. I do not like the way the pain meds make me feel groggy, but that goes with the territory.

It's a beautiful sunny day today. Makes me feel better already. We have food for three dinners. We have the best friends ever.

We arrived at the hospital yesterday around 6 am. We drove by the child care center where I worked and I noticed the two crepe myrtles we planted are still there. It made me smile. They are building a cancer center so lots of construction going on. I must say the staff was wonderful. Smiles and good explanations about everything they would do. I especially enjoyed Allan my post op nurse. He was easy to talk to and very conscientious. I was freezing when I came out of the operating room and he quickly got me some very warm blankets. As he was working he notice I was still cold and said I know you are too polite to ask, but Im going to get you another warm blanket. What a guy.

I was happy to have the blocker for the 2 hour drive home. It made traveling much easier.

When I used my crutches I lost my balance. Luckily Bob was there to catch me, AHW. I did it a couple of times in the house too and must remember to slow down and get my footing. At least my right footing!

Steph said something very interesting yesterday when we were Skyping. She said Vincent spoke my name when he woke yesterday, and then again at breakfast. He must have known I'd need his loving thoughts. Such a cutie. Sam and Bella wanted to Skype, so at 7pm we did so. Sam suggested we do it every day at four. She also said she'd made me something. They will visit next weekend and I can't wait.

So, it's two days before my surgery. As you may remember I didn't have surgery the first go round because they didn't know my heel, was broken until a month into its healing. That being said it didn't heal well. Arthur Itis decided to pay me a visit and he is staying in that joint.  I have daily pain at varying degrees depending on how much I'm on my feet and over the holidays with all the baking you can imagine.

On Friday, January 18 at 7:30 am I will go to Fair Oaks Hospital and have subtalar fashion. Basically they'll fuse my calchaneous and talas this is my heal and the bone above. Look it up if you are brave of heart. I'll have bone marrow removed from my hip to help with the fusion and two screws to hold everything in place. No screws loose jokes please. They will be secure. General anesthesia, yay!

This scares the crap out of me and I'm having good days and bad. I just want it to be over.

I have all my prescriptions filled-- seven total--and am finishing the set up in the downstairs room I'll be sleeping in for awhile. My crutches are out and my knee cart will be ready to go. I am thankful I know how to use both and hope I won't slip on my crutches this time.

A couple of extra notes. I worked to help set up the Fair Oaks Hospital Child Care Center and worked there for several years. I'm looking forward to going back and wondering if I'll know anyone.

I would also ask if you know how to say The Hail Mary you do so daily for my recovery. Our pastor asks us to do that for him and I figure if he can so can I. If you don't know The Hail Mary, just send your good vibrations. I believe in the power of prayer!

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