Oct 15 2009
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Has anyone ever had problems with condensation on your cast? The doctor said that I should keep water away from the cast; that if I got water on the cast, then I would need to go in for another cast.
I was wondering if anyone had any problems using ice on the cast, given that the ice packs could lead to condensation on the cooled cast.
New Cast
Oct 13 2009
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Today was my first post-op visit to see the doctor. The overall visit is took about 1 hour. They took off the prior surgery cast by cutting off the lining and then removing the cast. It hurt a little bit taking off the hard part of the cast as, they need to squeeze the leg out from the hard part of the cast.
Post Op First Visit
The doctor looked at the wound to see if it healed properly and the nurse cleaned the wound with alcohol — no pain — so the wound should be sealed well. Then the doctor flexed the foot to see the range of motion on the tendon, he was able to nearly put the foot at 90 degrees for the new cast. Doctor appeared pleased with the wound healing and the movement of the foot at this stage.
The next visit will be in 2 weeks, when the cast gets taken off and I get a boot. It’ll be NWB for a week or so … and PT will start right when I get the new boot.
Nurse inspecting the wound
Tags: Post Op First Visit
Oct 09 2009
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Yesterday, we got a good backpack to carry around all the things that I can’t carry with my hands … cellphone, pens, books, writing pads … even laptop. The one I got is shown in the picture. Anyone else find anything else helpful in carrying and moving things around? The worst thing is to spend 15 mins climbing up the stairs, only to find out that I forgot a book or water.
I have been taking xtra strength tylenol at night for a pain killing. It seems to work, though sometimes I wake up at night and can feel a bit of pain.
I think I may have stretched something in my right shoulder a bit, could have been from the crutches or from leaning too much on the right shoulder when trying to get up.
Backpack to help me out
Tags: backpack, pain killer, shoulder
Oct 07 2009
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I’ll try to use Tylenol tonight instead of Norco. I have only needed the pain killers at night, so hopefully I can go through the night with just OTC painkillers. During the day the pain only comes, when I stand up and the pain rushes to the foot and the feeling of throbbing occurs. Not sure if there’s away around that.
Tree on a sunny fall day
Today was a sunny fall day, it was beautiful outside with the sun and the fall leaves on the ground. Last night I went out for the first time since the surgery to the library to get new dvds and today, a friend came over for lunch — a nice way to break up the week.
Thanks for the advice on the crutches, I’ll look into cycle gloves. For now I’ve wrapped towels around the handles to at least spread out the weight over a broader surface area — seems to help. Anyone ever use a roll-a-bout?
Tags: crutches, pain killers, roll-a-bout
Oct 06 2009
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Second day at home alone, and today it is very dreary with rain off and on all day. Hopefully, I’ll be off the painkillers soon.
Does anyone know how to use the crutches so that they don’t hurt your palms as much? They tell you not to lean on the crutches with your arm pits, however, when you put all your weight on your hands, your palms end up hurting alot after a few minutes of hopping around.
Oct 05 2009
Filed under Uncategorized
Trusty crutches
Last night was one of those times when I have slow digestion — in other words my stomach feels full all the time. It could be partly from the pain killers, but it does happen to me occasionally.
The problem with the ATR is that I need to keep my right foot elevated (RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation) , which means that the most comfortable position usually is to lay down. However, laying down makes digestion slower (without the help of gravity) … thus the problem yesterday. However, by morning, I felt alot better. I guess I need to be more careful with what and how much I eat.
Oct 04 2009
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Today is the first day that I went outside after surgery. In the late morning, my wife and I went out our front door and then walked around our front, and then up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. It was refreshing to be outside, especially today as the it was a beautiful sunny fall day. The leaves are turning colors where half the leaves on a given tree are no longer green.
Had the first chance in probably a few years to watch a whole football game (well at least until it was clear who the winner was) the Bears beat the Lions!
Question: Do other people have back problems as a result of laying down on all the time? What do you do to prevent those problems? I find that my back is getting sore after a night of sleep. I have temporarily tried to lay on the floor where there should be more support for my back.
Tags: back problems
Oct 03 2009
Filed under Uncategorized
Today is the 2nd day after the surgery and I am getting adjusted to somethings, but there is still some adjustment …
1) I think I may have the pain meds figured out, if I take the meds and then take a nap for 1-2 hours and not eat, then the nausea seems to pass while I am sleeping. I have been able to eat alot better today.
2) Its hard to find the perfect position for my right foot, when I am sleeping or sitting on the couch. I find I am always switching positions with my foot whenever I am laying down or sitting down. This especially occurs when I sleep … no matter what position, there is always some part of the cast that seems to be pushing on the wound (which I believe is on the outside right side of my right foot).
3) Took my first post-surgery bath. We bought these cast covers from Curad @ Walgreens and they seem to work pretty good. It also helps to have the chair and now a shower head that is more portable.
http://www.curadusa.com/products/specialty/castprotectors.asp
Post-surgery half cast
Oct 02 2009
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First day after surgery, woke up around 10 am. Woke up earlier but after I took the pain medication, I felt sleepy and woke up later. Wife was home and helping out. I threw up a few times, every time I tried to get up to move and / or eat. The medicine makes me nauseated. So its a choice between pain or upset stomach. As a result, I ate a very light lunch. I’ll try to stretch out the pain medication to minimize what I need and the upset stomach.
Uncle came by to install a shower head that could be held from a shower chair and nephews came by in the afternoon to watch the Cubs get blown out by the Diamondbacks.
Oct 02 2009
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Thanks to everyone for there advice, encouragements and prayers. I went in for the surgery around 1 PM with my aunt and wife. We sat around in one of those post-post-recovery rooms. I got a gown and one of those compression socks for my other foot. About 10 people came by asking my name and birthday. Finally around 3, they wheeled me into the pre-op room. Shortly after, I was wheeled into the operation room. The operation room was a bit more busy than I expected with different equipment everywhere, they gave me the spinal and I was asleep after flipping over on my stomach.
I woke up at the end of the surgery (I heard the nurses and doctors talking) and they wheeled me into the post-op room around 4:20 pm (I checked my charts). Doctor came by and told me that the tendon was more or less torn with barely a strand still remaining. I was in there until 6 something as they monitored my vitals. Then I was put in the post-post op room where my wife, aunt and cousin came and waited around with me. It took forever for feeling to return to my legs … especially the left leg that would be needed to support me. The doctor also probably gave me some local anesthesia as my right leg did not feel anything. We left around 10 pm and I went to sleep — they basically wait until you can go to the bathroom before they let you go.
Surgery appears successful, thanks for the prayers.
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