Post Op Appointment 3

Today was the third post-surgery doctor appointment, an important one because it marked the end of my being in a cast. I learned a trick that I hopefully won't have to use anymore- if I breathe in really deep when they lift my foot out of the cast, I don't pass out. Good to know.

Since my pain levels have been so low I didn't need any xrays- the doctor did a few bending tests to make sure the tendon worked and then wrapped it up in an ace bandage and stuck it right back in the walking boot I had been in pre-surgery (it actually still has the hospital sticker on it from where I had it on last).

I am still not supposed to walk on that leg all, and keep using my crutches for another four weeks. I can have the boot off when I'm in the bath or just sitting around, but if I'm up and about or sleeping, since I'm a rough sleeper, I need to keep it on. I was also given two exercises to do: an up-down motion, and a circling motion. I'm supposed to do them for ten minutes or so every day. If I feel ambitious I can do figure eights as well.

In four weeks, at my next appointment, my crutches will be taken away and I'll have to learn to walk again with the boot. At that point physical therapy may or may not be prescribed, depending on my progress. And in six weeks I should in theory be back in normal shoes and walking unaided and without pain.

As far as the appearance of my foot...it's still gross. There's still bruising, but it's mostly on the bottom of my foot and around my ankles. There's still a lot of swelling- my toes look much meatier than normal, and the inner and outer sides of my ankle don't stick out at all because of the swelling. At first I thought something was horribly wrong with the scar, but it turns out upon examination that it's the remains of the pen markings from the surgery and will wash off sooner or later. Another problem I probably should have forseen: dead skin. It's everywhere. There's lots of it. I may have gotten the last of the orange dye off as well.

Pain is pretty consistently gone as well. I don't feel any pain in my ankle. When I was shaving my leg in the tub after I got home from the appointment the only thing that gave any twinge of pain at all was actually my heel, and once I folded up a washcloth under it so it wasn't on the hard tub floor, it stopped whining. When I was showing my dad the scar I accidently caught my toes on the coffee table and made my ankle twist suddenly, and it stopped hurting completely within minutes, which is encouraging. Sometimes the scar gets really tender, especially down by the bottom of my foot on the bottom end where the skin is more likely to move.

I'm not sure if I'll update much between now and my next appointment. So I'll see you at the end of August, most likely.