Post-Op Update *** ICK WARNING ***

The follow-up appointment was short and sweet.

They took the bandages off first and, as expected, they were caked with blood. A little saline soak and they came off no problem. Then they whisked me off to get a couple of x-rays which I did not see. While waaiting for Doc D to pop in, J grabbed a lovely shot...




*** ICK MODE ON ***








As you can see there are quite a few staples gong down along the back of my foot and on around the bottom edge. There are also some on the point of my heel. He used the same incision lines that he used when he did the original reconstructive surgery. It was also mentioned that during the procedure he found a hematoma (sp?) and removed it. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a good thing!



*** ICK MODE OFF ***

Then Doc D popped in, took a good look, decided to wait another week to take out the staples, and proclaimed everything as healing up well. Then he said I can start putting weight on it as much as I can tolerate and can let it get wet in the shower. Then we put a stockinette over it, slapped my boot on it (again...ugh), and
out the door we went.

So next Thursday we go to get the staples out and get the orders for yet more PT. Oh boy.

It's nice to get those bandages off, but this dang boot STILL sucks and no padding on the staples or swelling is just a BIT on the uncomfy side. Oh well. It should be better pretty quickly this time.

See ya!

Surgical Update

Hi all.

Sorry this has taken so long, but here's the skinny on the latest round of surgery.

I got checked into Brackenridge at 8:30 AM on 11/17 as scheduled. J was with me and "C" showed up soon after and stayed with us the whole time.

I was supposed to be taken back for prep at 9:30 then surgery was to start at 10:30. Well, things got thrown back about 45 minutes or so, but beyond that everything went well.

The staff were as nice as could be and many remembered us from the original surgery back in January.

In prep they got my IV started, did more paperwork, and just kinda waited around. Then we headed into the OR. We chatted a bit while they were getting me set up. Then they said they were gonna put the mask on me and before that happened I was out. Next thing I remember I was in recovery, waking up and feeling pretty good. I was there for a while because there were 8 or 9 of us waiting for rooms. They finally got one for me and up we went.

In the room they hooked me up with diloted on demand for pain and started giving me tylenol #3 by mouth for pain. Well, I never touched the diloted and the only thing that happened while I was there was my foot did a good bit of bleeding at first. But that settled down pretty quickly and everything went great from there.

Next morning rolled around and I still had not touched the diloted so when Doc D came in, he told me I could go home. So we did.

At home I'd been taking 1/2 the dose of Tylenol #3 that I had been in the hospital and now I only take at night as a precaution. That's not to say my foot feels GREAT, but it is all more of the discomfort of the wrapping it is in more than anything else.

Apparently, besides jsut removing the hardware, Doc D also went in and cleaned out a lot of the scar tissue frm the first go-round and he also broke loose my big toe. It has been pretty limited in its movement and he tried to remedy that. The jury is out on the results of that since I can't hardly move my toes in all this bandaging.

So all that being said, here's a couple of pics. They've also been added to the slideshow.





This just shows how my foot is bandaged. No splint or cast this time. Just gauze, some kind of fluffy padding stuff, and an ace wrap.

We go in to see Doc D tomorrow to at least take a look at the healing progress. I don't know if the stitches come out or not or if I can start using it after tomorrow.







This is most of the hardware they took out of my right foot. They could not let me keep it all due to some kind of rules, but this is the big stuff. The pic shows its size, but this is some heavy stuff. The plate and the little screws all came in from the outside. The 2 big bolts came in from the point of the heel up into the fused ankle bones. The left is pretty similar as you can see in the x-rays in the slideshow, with the exception of no big screws coming in from the back.

This right foot should be healed up in another week so I can start using it and getting it strengthened back up. When it is strong enough, we'll start planning the extraction on the left foot. That'll probably be in January or February.

I don't know if this will resolve all the problems I'd started having, but I can already feel a difference in some ways so it should let me get back to doing more than I have been for the past couple of months. I sure hope so anyway! But all I can do is keep working at it and wait and see what happens.

I guess that's it for now!

Gettin' Ready for Round 2

Well, it's set.

I go back into Brack (Brackenridge Hospital where I got put back together before) for surgery on Monday, 11/17, at which time all the metal will be removed form my right foot. Hopefully, that will relieve all the pain that is slowing me down now.

We don't have a time yet, but the plan is that I'll go in there some time in the morning for prep. The procedure should not take long...under an hour. After that I am scheduled to stay for 23 hours of observation. The trick is pain management. They want me in Brack so I can have access to IV pain meds if I need them. However, if I can manage with regular pain meds, then I could go home Monday evening or Tuesday.

In any case, there will be some bleeding to deal with, but my right foot will be back in a splint for about 2 weeks, then it should be good to get back into PT and start using it again. Get it all strengthened back up and we'll decide whether to do the left foot. But Doc D says no way it'll get done this year.

Between now and then I've got a sleep study to do, I've got to see the pain folks to come up with a primary and backup pain management plan, and we have some pre-surgical stuff to do.

Yes, I am terrified of going back into Brack and just a little less so of getting carved up again. But I know this has to be done if I'm going to do any better and by hook or by crook I'm going to do better. I'm not going to hobble around like this the rest of my life if I still have reasonable options. Besides, I've got J, some great friends, supporting family, and the best surgeon available whom I trust completely.

So let's get it on, get it done, and get back on the road.

Cheers!

Preview of Coming Events

Just thought some of you may like to know that today I'll be seeing Doc D to discuss getting at least some of the metal out of my right heel. If you have seen the X-Rays (and who could resist?) you saw 2 BIG bolts coming up from the lower point of my heel. Well, they are causing me a good deal of pain most of the time to the point that I stand no chance of driving, I can walk properly VERY little, and my PT is going almost nowhere. So it's time we gotta do something. We may just remove those, but more likely we'll just go ahead and take out everything and be done with it.

We got my sleep study moved up to this Sunday night, so we may learn something from that, we may not, but at least it will be done.

On that note, I gotta go get ready to see the sawbones. Updates as they happen.

TTFN