|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You are welcome to apply any part of this article to your own personal use. Please do NOT publish any part of the article or apply any part of it to any non-personal use without the express written concent of the author.
Hi all,
Thanks to those of you who sent those lovely emails while I was in the hospital. I was moved.
Most of you, if not all, received notes from my lovely partner in life regarding how successful the surgery went, so I won't repeat it here. Suffice to say, even the doctors were impressed with how well everything went.
Yesterday I was discharged from the hospital, and am at the Rush Lake Motel (phone: 352.373.5000), room 137, until the doctors say I can go home. I could go home as early as next Tuesday. In the meantime I can receive phone calls, but short ones only so that I don't get overly tired. Sometimes the room phone will be used by the computer, so you may want to try our cell phones (954.465.8556, and 954.465.8552) this weekend. Our per-minute rate is much lower on weekends.
For more details, read on....
I'm in a leg brace, locking my knee at a 30 degree bend. I will be wearing the brace on my left leg 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for some weeks. We'll know more next Tuesday how long that could be. I'm not allowed to use that leg for any weight-bearing, but I can rest it by touching the floor with my toes. I have crutches for mobility for short distances, but likely would need a wheelchair for going very far. Just going to the bathroom is a big production. I'm not allowed to drive. The stitches are dissolvable, so they won't have to be removed. But that means no showers for a while, only spitbaths. And, says the doctor, absolutely no bungy jumping or skydiving!
What a killjoy!
The leg brace adds enough thickness to my leg that it's difficult to wear anything but my normal shorts. In Ft. Lauderdale weather is usually warm enough that shorts are okay. But here in Gainsville this morning it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit (about -6 degrees Celsius). I think I'll probably be spending a lot of time indoors for a while.
The wound dressing is changed once a day. Today and for the next few days a home care nurse will be coming to the motel room to change it and make sure I'm still breathing. She'll be also teaching K how to change the dressing and how to remove the brace to gain access to the surgery site. We'll have a daily home care nurse until K feels comfortable in doing the change herself. The nurse came this morning and commented on how good the incision looked.
Painwise, I'm in pretty good shape. On a scale of 1-10 where 0 is no pain, I'm usually around 1-2. I have pain control medication which I can take if the pain gets much higher, as long as I don't take it more frequently than every 4 hours. For now I'm taking a pill only 2-3 times a day.
Which brings me to the subject of the nerve that was involved with the mass. Yes, they did have to take a small part of the nerve. Fortunately, it definitely was the sural nerve that was cut. The sural nerve is sensory only, which means that the outside of my left foot and part of my shin has no feeling. I have FULL use of my foot! But it's a bit "unnerving" (pardon the pun) to have no direct sensation in those few spots. The doctors said that it would be a permanent condition, which I am fully prepared to live with -- given the alternatives. But I've surprised doctors before, and expect that a few years from now other nerves will take over the sensory function for those spots.
I'm spending most of the time lying on the bed with pillows under the leg to keep it elevated. We're trying to spend most of the day with my knee at about the level as my heart to minimize swelling and to minimize stress on the incision. As K mentioned, a patch of skin was removed. Rather than doing a (painful) skin graft, they made an extra long incision down the inside of my leg, then stretched the skin until everything was covered. I should heal faster than with a graft, but will be laid up slightly longer to allow for the stretched skin to mold itself to the new contours.
Sleeping is a challenge with the leg brace. When I'm on my back I have 2 pillows to support the leg. When I'm on my right side I have 3. On my left side I need only 1. So every time I roll over I have to be awake enough to rearrange the pillows and blankets. It also means that I get the entire bed to myself and K has to sleep in the other bed. Bummers!
I'm still listening to my Guided Imagery tape on Surgery several times a day, and still haven't remained conscious enough to hear the entire side.
We've also arranged the bed to make room for the computer. Thus, this message. I was beginning to go a bit crazy without a keyboard in my hands. But K insists that I take the computer off the bed when I take my naps.
I guess that's all for now. We'll probably be sending out another update Tuesday afternoon when we know more. Thanks again for all your kind thoughts and warm fuzzies. They've worked!
Fair winds,
Capt. Edmund "Bear" Downing.
|
|
|
|