Week 1: ouch!!!
Ok, so week one was very up and down. The first day after surgery I was having a really bad pain on the inside of my leg (not by the incision.) I called the nurse and they told me to come right in. I was so dizzy from all the pain meds that it made using crutches almost impossible. But I made it. They cut off the plaster splint contraption and there wasn’t anything wrong, it was just rubbing. So the doctor said let’s just put the fiberglass cast on. So the cast was tye dye, fun. This first cast had my toes pointing down.
I was going to get a new cast once a week with a total of 4 casts, each time changing the position of my foot. He said 6 weeks after surgery he would have me walking…yay!!
However, later that day, the nerve block wore off. The pain was indescribable. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 10+. I of course called the doctor and they told me to add Advil and Tylenol into the regimen and take a higher dose of the narcotic. I can’t stress enough the importance of staying ahead of the pain! I did get lucky though, typically the block only lasts 12 hours, mine lasted around 30 hours.
That was the worst day. I progressively felt better everyday. The biggest problems I had were asking for help, and being bored. My family has been great helping me out. Overall, I am glad week one is over!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (7)Day 1: surgery day
The day of surgery I was very scared. I was finishing up getting the house cleaned and making sure my spot in the living room was all ready to go. When I got to the surgical center, I saw on the paperwork what exactly was going to be done. Tendon debridement, shaving down a bone spur on the heel, reattaching the tendon with anchors and a tendon graft from my big toe. Ahh! Sounded even scarier than I expected.
They brought me back to change into a gown and start prepping me for surgery. This included a nerve block. Seriously one of the most painful things I have EVER gone through. (later I was very grateful for it!) I said bye to my mother and husband and was wheeled into the OR, and the next thing I knew I was awake in recovery. My mom and husband told me that my tendon was 30-40% smaller than it should have been! What?! No wonder I was in so much pain!!
My husband drove me home, got me into my recliner with my foot on top of 4 pillows. Well, after I asked him to stop at white castle for cheese fries and a chocolate milkshake because I was starving from not eating for about 18 hours! Did I mention the plaster splint that they put on my leg was HUGE. The rest of the first day I just watched tv and napped.
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