Just Another Not So Ordinary Day…..

Went to my doc appt. this morning with a list of things to ask about.  I was feeling guilty just because I had been in the camwalker for the past 2 weeks and had only started making progress a few days ago…..couldn’t wear that thing much because of the pain it caused the incision.  But, I got my butt in gear last Thursday, after having the boot for a week and a half and wore it full-time around the house — no more wheel chair….Couldn’t get my heel to 90 degrees in boot, so added some gel lifts and heel cup which really helped.

I was actually scared to tell the doc, about all of the above, because two weeks ago, when I got the boot, he expected me to be walking sans crutches by today…ha, ha, ha!!!!  Well, in he comes, asks me to push against his hand with my toes and front half of foot as hard as I can, and he was impressed….yay! 

He said to ditch the crutches and continue walking in camwalker, and that’s when I  told him that I am way to wobbly on the camwalker and that it really irritates my incision (scabs all off).  So, then he said, “Well, I guess you can go ahead and use shoes instead and slowly wean off crutches.  Wow!!!!  That was the good news……

Now for the bad, I admitted I added lifts to the camwalker and he told me that he had me past neutral in the cast and I’m going backwards by adding lifts….and if I can’t get back to neutral, he will have to recast me and keep changing the cast until I’m back to neutral…. :(  That scared the crap out of me…which I guess was his intention; 

He gave me perscrip. for PT which I need to wait for authorization in the mail.  So, went home and immediately tried on all my running/walking shoes to see if any would work…..not so much…Found a place in town where I bought stable/comfortable shoes……here’s the link if you are interested in them onlineAetrex Shoes Buy Womens Diabetic Theraputic Fashions Free Ship! I am very happy with the way they keep my heel very stable and support the whole foot really well.  They come in wide for the swelling :) 

Things are looking up, but I will continue to take it slow and will not be afraid to put the boot back on if need be.  Can’t wait for the pain of PT…..at least I will be getting some direction and moving on to the next healing phase.

Well, that’s all for now.  Happy healing to all!!!!!

Here’s a pic of my scar/scabs at 7 wks.  It looks pretty red to me and am not sure if at this stage this is normal…..I know Jenni is the dermo, but I’d appreciate any input as to how you all think it looks at this stage.  I got out of cast one week ago (6weeks).  Everyday, more of the scab/dead skin is coming off….Just wondering because don’t have doc appointment until Tuesday.

Should I be putting anything on the red sections at this point or just leave it alone?

Thanks to all in advance for input!!!!!!

Marianne

Got my boot on Tuesday, July 15th with no instruction…..it’s a camwalker and doc just said to add little weight everyday until no crutches by two weeks.

The scabs from the incision are very painful in the boot, even though I put gauze and sock on …..

I also can’t get my heel down all the way into the boot yet 6 weeks post-op.  Is that okay..will it loosen up on it’s own with no PT?

I can’t move my foot around either, only my toes….should I be trying to move the foot around or wait and just practice walking in the camwalker…….what if I can’t move my foot around….  is that okay?  As you can tell I am extremely anxious, but don’t want to worry…..

I don’t work, so am at home and put on camwalker for only couple hours a day…..resting elevated still most of the time.  Went out with husband yesterday to run a few errands, and when got home to take boot off was in tears because of the pain……any advice …….I don’t have the energy to run back through the posts that might be helpful although I have tried typing in some of these issues into the search.

One last question — if at home do you take camwalker as much as possible or leave it on to try to keep foot close to 90 degrees?  Anybody with camwalker just wear the liner while at home without the plastic?

Day 4 in the boot and don’t feel like I’m progressing :(  

Need some advice on what to do with myself……now that i’m not in a cast and am in a cam-walker, all I was told by the doc was to use the crutches walking with it adding a little weight everyday until 2 weeks from now when I should be walking without the crutches.

Should I protect the incision area with anything while in the boot—tape, or gauze, a sock, etc.?  I’ve been wearing an ace bandage, while not in the boot, and that seems to help with the naked feeling and some of the pain.  While I am at home, would it be okay to not wear the boot if all I’m doing is laying around watching TV, etc.? 

Am also wondering, at week 6, if I should put a heel lift in the boot….I was almost at 90 degrees, in the cast, but now that I’m out my toes are pointing down again.

I haven’t posted in awhile as I had a very bad experience coming off of the Darvocet.  I had been taking it for two months and then the doc told me to stop them.  I wound up having opiate withdrawls and had to be hospitalized for the anxiety, etc.  I’m doing better, but now with the new change of “no cast” and the getting use to “the boot”, I feel I need all the advice to get through this next phase.

I’d also appreciate hearing what is “normal” to feel when transitioning from the cast to the boot……

Thanking you all in advance for any advice you are willing to share. 

Marianne

P.S.  Have you heard of using Neosporin on the scar/scab site to ease the pain…….would that be okay to do?

Went to see the doc today, and i was a blubbering mess….last few days have been mentally and physically painful for me to deal with…..knowing my history with depression and anxiety, i have been really trying to stay positive, but the constant evening swelling has got me psyched out ….icing the cast worked  for a couple days, but no luck lately…..anyway, needless to say, when the doc came in and said, ‘not having a very good day, huh?’ , my husband had to answer for me…. I finally composed myself and was able to express the burning, stabbing, pain was really getting to me after a month…not a whole lot of sleep happening here.  He was vaguely sympathetic and proceded to saw the cast off…..

My husband took pics and doc said healing was going well which was a big relief!  He had me set my cast-Free foot on a metal device that I was suppose to stretch my foot out on…..he came back in after about 5 minutes and pushed on my foot some more and was able to get it pretty flat– anyway I can now put my toes on the floor for the first time in 4 weeks— woo, hoo!  I also can see my toes more in this cast, and it is lighter and shorter too.  It does feel really tight tonight, though…..i’m sure it will be stretched out in no time with all the swelling though. 

I’m a little worried about my toes though……my big toe, in particular, is very numb although I try to wiggle it as much I can.  Anybody have that numb feeling after new cast or in any cast? 

Also, any ideas on how to deal with the “ansy” feeling I get from around 6PM-10:00PM when the cast is so hot and tight?  The claustrophobia is crazy-making. 

Another thing i was wondering about was does elevating the leg help numbness or is it better to put the leg down more often?  Maybe it’s just this new cast……Will it get better after today…..maybe the doc puts the 3 cast on tighter for a good reason…..Any advice would be really appreciated ……thanks you guys.

Marianne

Thanks to all who posted regarding my question on icing the cast.  You guys are awesome and because of you, yesterday was a GREAT day!  The relief I felt from the bags of peas (Damacar :)), ice wrap in front of knee (Bri :)), and ice behind the knee (Doc Ross :)) was so relaxing and reduced the swelling, during the day, immensely……..I did alternate these icings, and left my leg free of ice for 1/2 hr. breaks as suggested……..

Now for my next question…..common guys, I know you can do this………After a very comfortable day “on ice”, when it was time to turn in, around 11 pm, with no ice, the swelling returned, with gusto…..no pain…..just felt like my foot/ankle was the size of a grapefruit, or maybe a small pumpkin and very hot….to say the least very uncomfortable and claustrophobic.  I didn’t expect my foot to swell so quickly after the icing wore off…….I was wondering if the fiberglass cast helps to conduct cooling so well, can it also act as an heat insulator once that cooling is removed, making the foot swell even more than usual once removed?     I don’t know if i explained my theory very well, but basically i’m asking if anyone can help me with the extreme swelling i feel once i stop the icing………maybe i should stick to just icing the knee area, or would the swelling in the ankle area have occurred regardless of icing or not late at night?   The questions that have plagued mankind for centuries……… :)    any thoughts or advice, if you understand my question, would be greatly appreciated……Thanks again in advance!!!!!!!!!  Oh, almost forgot I also ate my watermelon and popped those B vits.

Marianne

Was wondering if anyone had any luck icing their leg while in the cast?  It would be awesome if I could learn of some way to do this.  Is this a stupid question?  Oh, well…..i’m desperate.  Any advice would be appreciated as I have swelling issues although am laying around with leg elevated.  Thanks in advance.

Need some input here…..I’m 3 wks post-op in cast, had stitches/staples out a week ago, and last night as I was making my regular trip to the bathroom using wheelchair and crutches combo, I developed stabbing pains in my whole foot.  The pain was the worst I have experienced so far to the point of me weeping hysterically for an hour….popped more ibuprofen and darvocet although my husband said, “take the vicodine”, but because of the loopiness factor/panic attack stuff I said, “i can’t”…..

Well, this experience has me really afraid of the reality of horrific pain.  I don’t know if this is to be expected, because even though I understand this to be a very long road to recovery, I was assuming being 3 wks post-op, the worst of the pain was over…..Anyone else have this experience with the extreme pain this far after surgery? 

I am stressed to say the least and afraid of that pain coming back….I’ve been following all advice regarding keeping leg elevated and doing nothing but resting, but come on…..I do have to occasionally use the bathroom…..Any words of wisdom would be appreciated :)  Thanks, Your blogging buddy, Marianne

Well, Wednesday, June 18th was my first visit back to the doctor’s office since surgery.  I was 2 weeks post-op and fortuneately everything went as they had explained.  I saw the Physician’s Assistant, in the cast room.  I was anxious just hoping everything would look good.  I just wanted to hear the words, “Everything looks great”.  Dave, has a super bubbly personality and is very up-beat– very funny guy….well, anyway he started sawing away at the cast, which was a wierd feeling, and off it came.  As he pulled the cast away from my leg I could see a dark coloring inside the back portion of the cast….it was black.  The first thought I had was, “uh - oh, is that normal?”  So I immediately asked Dave, “how does it look?”  His reply was, “I don’t know; I haven’t seen it yet.”  I was just so anxious, but my dear husband who immediately bent down to check out the leg said,  “It looks really good!”, and he was smiling.  I felt relieved, as I couldn’t bring myself to trying to look…It just felt very, very tight.  Dave had me lay on the table, face-down, to take out the staples and stiches.  He had me taking deep breaths, and boy did I need them.  11 staples and 8 stiches hurt like hell while he was taking them out!!!!  I know I have a very low tolerance for pain, but I had been hoping for less pain :)  Yeah, right…..  Then some hydrogen peroxide and back on with another cast after moving the foot up a little bit.  Dave said that everything was looking good. …. Yay!!!!  I was sooooooo relieved.  I then asked him “since the incision is closed, does that mean it won’t get infected?”  PA’s reply, “Anything can still get infected…sorry I don’t have a magic wand.”  I guess I asked a stupid question, but I felt it couldn’t hurt to ask…..:)  Dave wants me moving my toes alot for the next couple weeks and my next visit will be July 1st….My husband took a picture of my incision before Dave took out the staples/stiches, I just haven’t been able to post as I’m getting error message when I try…..It’s about 6 inches long.  Dave’s parting words to me were, “Stay out of trouble….”  I thought to myself, “how much trouble could I get in laying around all day?”

Well, as I continue on this slow road to recovery, I am so grateful for all of you and your stories and comments.  I read everything on this site and feel like we are family, although we haven’t met….This situation we are all in doesn’t seem so lonely…. thanks dennis and thanks to all of you for sharing and for your support.

Marianne

I am just waiting for surgery on Wed., but was wondering how long it will be before I will be able to drive again with my right foot having the ATR? Anyone with a time-table?