Two weeks since surgery

Well I had THOUGHT I was supposed to go to the Dr on the 12th to get the surgical bandage (pic 1) removed and to see if I was getting a cast or back to Das Boot.  Went to the clinic, dealt with crappy parking, when you are on crutches you ALWAYS want to get as close to the door as possible, went to check in and was promptly told that my appt was on the 11th and that my Dr is never there on Tuesdays, but they could squeeze me in on the 13th.  So fine, set the appt and was growly because the receptionist was really snarky, like I'm supposed to KNOW he's not there on Tuesdays, whatever!  So I went home and checked ALL my paperwork from the hospital and it ALL said my appt was on the 12th...so :P to that chick behind the counter.

Onto the 13th, went to the clinic, had to park in SIBERIA thank goodness Vincent was with me to carry my backpack and the boot.  Checked in with same receptionist, and told her all my paperwork said the 12th, and sat down to wait.  The appt was at 9:15am, we got in at 10:15 - ugh.  They took off the surgical bandage and I scratched the living hell out of my leg, you have NO IDEA how maddening it is to have an itch you cannot scratch at ALL!  Dr said everything looks good so far and that stitches will dissolve.  I was really impressed with the fact that he tried to stay with the contour of my tattoo.  It makes the scar a little more jagged, but it was really cool that he made that effort.  I had even told him not to worry about it.  I'm not sure how big the scar is going to be as I still have the steri-strips on, and I'm supposed to leave them until they fall off. (pic 2)

I cannot get over how much my leg shrank, it's hard to tell in the picture (pic 3 and 4) but I really is significantly smaller than the other now.  I can flex my ankle a little right now, and the Dr. says I should but only up and down, not side to side or try rolling it at all yet.  I can feel the plate when I touch my ankle which is also odd, it just feels really solid.  The kids put magnets on it to see if they'd stick, their logic was it's METAL so the magnets SHOULD stick, they don't har har har!

It's pretty sore now and I'm getting used to the boot again, I'm glad that was what we went with, where the kids wanted to draw on a cast, I like that I can shower without a garbage bag duct taped to my leg! And it's nice because I can take the boot off every now and then when it gets really hot.

So I'm off work until at least the 5th of July which is my next appt with an x-ray, I'm just trying to not over do it, but it's hard trying to keep up with 3 kids and try to keep a house in order.  And I miss working, my coworkers, etc.  but we had a big conversion happen at work and it was apparently much hairier than anticipated, so I've missed the worst of that.  I'm not bummed that I missed it but I feel bad because I know they could have used the help.  And short term disability is OK, but it's not my regular check and so I don't see squat going into the bank like before.  But I'll make up for it when I go back and get some big overtime checks in.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell...hope life is good with you!

Post Surgery

It's late, and my leg is throbbing, so I should do an update.  I had my surgery on May 29th, they put a plate and some screws on m, y left ankle, I'm not sure exactly how many screws. 

The surgery was supposed to be at 12ish, but there was some sort of delay and so I didn't even get into surgery until after 2:30ish, but I did get a $10.00 gift card from HyVee for the inconvenience.   Then the anesthesiologist came in to discuss how I was going to "go under".  After looking at all of the options, I chose a spinal block and sedative, so I was not awake at all.  When I came to, I was feeling groggy, but ok. Everything went well with the surgery too...so yay.

They were going to let me go home that same day as long as I went to the bathroom and I could get around after the spinal block wore off.  Well the time came to go to the bathroom and wow was I wobbly, and I couldn't go even though I felt like I was going to wet my pants! *TMI I'm sure but it's part of the tale*  I got back into bed and my leg began to throb a little, then more, then more...then to the point where I wanted to saw off my own leg!  I have a high tolerance for pain and I was just in tears, I had asked for something for pain a couple of times, and was given meds, but they didn't even put a dent into the pain. 

I was really upset about the possibility of going home in that much pain as I didn't want my kids to see me in tears.  Not to mention I could barely get to the bathroom in my room by myself and the thought of  trying to get down to our bathroom  in the basement was horrifying.  So basically I was begging to spend the night in the hospital.  I called Greg in tears and asked him to come sit with me for a while, he said "I'm coming to raise some hell about this, you can't come home like this!"  Now normally I would do everything I could to NOT have Greg loose his cool with people who are just doing their jobs, but I was hurting so bad I didn't even care.  That's when I think he realized how much pain I was in too. 

By this time the nurses had changed shifts, and the new nurse I had called the Doctor and told him there was no way I could go home with the amount of pain I was in.  Then they ordered morphine through my IV, it still took 3/4 of the night but they FINALLY got my pain under control.  The Dr also changed my meds to come home with, so now I'm on a "cocktail" of Oxycodone, Tramadol, and Hydrocodone.  And if I get even a little off with taking them my leg makes me well aware of it! 

I'm home now, and able to get around well.  The kids and Greg are being really helpful and I can't thank them enough for that! 

Tomorrow I'm going to SHOWER since the surgery.  Break out the garbage bags and duct tape!  Oh happy day.  But I feel so slimy and I would like to get my hair washed.  I have the shower bench so that isn't something I have to get used to or figure out how to use.  It's a slight pain, but really not too bad and I'm just happy to be able to shower as are those who must be around me...lol!

So that's pretty much it in a nutshell...hope the days are treating you fabulous!

SPARKLY!!!!!!!

The kids helped me decorated Das Boot.   We picked out bling and stickers...we might add more later but it's a good start and it certainly improves it's look!  Enjoy!