Recovery Week 7 - STITCHES ARE OUT!!!

Oh my goodness! It has been a busy week! But on to the important things...

I GOT MY STITCHES OUT!!! 

So I went to the doctor on Friday morning and went in. My foot was so gross! I still had an old lady foot, so I was excited to hopefully be able to wash my foot! As you can see, you can totally tell where Katie scrubbed my heel. My foot was so gross like skin was flaking off... bleh! 

Anyways, my doctor came in and was looking at my foot and was pushing really hard on it to double check to make sure it would hold. He then told me that he thought he could take the stitches out. He started out slowly to make sure it wouldn't open again. He then started pushing really hard on it again, once the stitches were out, to see if it would open again. It held. He then started to scrape some of the dead skin off. As he did that he pulled off the big piece that was the outer layer. He then said, "You are the slowest healer, who is not diabetic, that I have ever seen." It started bleeding lightly, but not much. He put Steri-Strips on it and then a bandage, so my sock wouldn't get bloody. Not much blood, but enough to put a bandaid on it. He told me not to put any weight on it until after our next visit, which was to be in 2 weeks. He said the part he dislikes the most about it is that it is gonna scar. 

I then went to work all day and went home. My doctor told me I could wash my foot so as soon as I got home, that's exactly what I did! It was such an exciting experience! I was able to scrub a ton of dead skin off and oh my gosh it was disgusting but so exciting at the same time! The area around the incision hurt so I tried to keep the water off that area. I scrubbed all the dead skin off except for right around the incision area. The Steri-Strips were attached to the skin around the incision area so to keep them on for as long as possible, I left the skin in that area. Its gross looking, but it could be worse right?

Its been an adventure. The first night it hurt so so so bad! The following days haven't been too too bad... but still sore. I can't put weight on it yet so I'm just waiting... 

Recovery Week 5-6 and The Dream

Sorry I've been slacking. I haven't had much to say so instead of just talking your ear off about nothing, I just haven't been writing like at all. But these weeks were pretty uneventful, except for my awful dream!

Awful Dream
So my dream started out with me waking up and getting in the shower. I accidentally got my bandage wet and it disintegrated. So I got scared and went to the doctor so he could check it out. When he looked at my foot it was completely healed except for one little spot. So he stuck a bandaid on it and told me that I could start walking, but to take it easy. So I left so excited to be walking again!

Raw Chicken Foot!!!! 

Somehow I all of a sudden was home with my family in Colorado and my dad asked me to go help my mom (since she is in a wheelchair), So I went and helped my mom inside up the three steps we have from the driveway to inside the house. I looked down cause my foot was sore and I looked at it and it had split from one end to the other. However, it wasn't bloody. It looked like raw chicken. I was scared and went right back to the doctor's office. He walked in looked at it and said, "I don't know why this isn't healing, but you're going to have to get used to it cause that is what your foot is going to look like forever." Then I woke up.

OLD LADY FOOT!!!!

I was so out of sorts and just worried. It was so bad! I was so nervous. I know that's silly but it was just so crazy and bleh... I don't want a raw chicken foot!

My next appointment with the doctor was the next day and when they took the wrapping off my foot looked so gross! Its all dry-skin covered. GROSS! I was complaining about having an old lady foot before I told him about the dream. He laughed and told me that he will do his best to not let me get a raw chicken foot. He also checked my incision area and scraped some dead skin that had formed a callus off and told me that he was going to wait a week to take the stitches out just in case. He asked about my diet and I told him that I had been eating a lot of cereal because its easy and I don't like cooking on one leg. Its tiring. He told me to eat more protein, so goodbye cereal dinners. Then he wrapped it again and I asked about the post-op shoe he had mentioned during my previous appointment. We talked about it and I decided I wanted to get it. I really really really dislike my boot that I got after the surgery. I actually blame it for putting pressure on my incision area and causing the incision to open up again. Silly I know but that's the only possibility I can come up with. It also is super uncomfortable. The only upside is, it keeps my foot left warm.

Look how gross all the dead skin is! I want to scrub it off!

So I got the shoe and I have been using it for the last couple days. Its not super comfortable either but it is SOOOOOO much better than the boot cause it doesn't put pressure on my cut.

On Saturday night, my roommate came home and told me she had always wanted to buy a pedicure set thing with the dead skin scraper thing (not sure what they are called). So she did cause she had heard me talking about how gross my foot is. She asked if she could use it to scrape the dead skin off my heal, since that is the only part of my foot that is visible. I told her... YES PLEASE!!! She then scraped all the dead skin off my heal. It was gross. Pretty sure there was pretty close to 1/8 cup of dead skin in that thing! I have the best roommate to offering and then scraping dead skin off my foot. She made my day and not I'm not as embarrassed by my heel. It feels so nice to have at least my heel back to normal-ish-ness. Now if only everything would return to normal?

Well hopefully the next post will be about me getting my stitches out, and keeping them out. I think I am just a slow healer, or maybe the cereal diet has slowed my healing. Who knows.... I am going to eat protein like there is no tomorrow so I can heal this thing so I can start walking again, someday... My calves are different sizes so I may start walking in circles if that day ever comes....

Until next time! :)

Recovery Week 4 - Happy Halloween!!!

Well... its been a pretty uneventful week. Since the weather changed I've been feeling a cold coming on, but now my symptoms are gone. My cut has started to itch so bad! Its so hard not to scratch it. Its a good thing its still wrapped!
This week was also Halloween! I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I should be for Halloween. I considered being Crutchy from Newsies, Mr. McNeally from Mr. Rogers, a pirate with my scooter being my ship. Last year I was a Newsie, and I didn't want to use my crutches. Since I can't drive, I scooter 5 blocks to the trax station. I didn't want to walk using my crutches all 5 blocks... so a Newsie was out. I just wasn't feeling Mr. McNeally so nope. I thought it would be fun to be a pirate, but I didn't have the time to build a pirate ship for my scooter. Also, I didn't have time to buy a costume. Its hard depending on others for rides and stuff.
I decided to be an injured hockey player! I did my own makeup and everything! My co-worker stated that I would be a perfect advocate for domestic violence. Oops! But it was fun! I had to keep telling people that it was just makeup not real. Even my friends, whom I had told of what I was gonna be, thought something had happened to me. It was funny!
So for Halloween night, I stayed at home and sat at the bottom of my stairs and waited for the little kids. It was super fun to give them candy and see the excitement on their faces. Two friends were over and we just hung out. It was fun!
Saturday I just chillaxed and it was great! On Sunday, Gabriel came up and we went to church, had dinner, watched a great fireside and just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice. I have two of the bestest friends who take such good care of me and I am just so grateful for them. Kayla is always willing to take me wherever I need to go and make sure I get to where I'm going. Gabriel calls me frequently to make sure I am doing okay and comes up whenever he can.
On Monday morning, I went to the doctor to get my foot checked out. There was no infection and it seemed to be doing well. He said he was going to leave the stitches in for one more week, just to be sure. Not sure when I can start walking, my guess is another two weeks. It looked good. There was dried blood from when they cleaned it and stitched it all up after. Thankfully it seems good so far, Hopefully, I can walk again soon and that everything will continue to heal correctly.