Surgery Followup
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 5:03 pm
Well, they released me from hospital on Monday, 14 May. The surgeon chiseled 0.5" from the bottom of the cuboid bone to reduce a pressure point which cause (or contributed to) an ulcer on my foot.
When I arrived on 9 May, prior to the operation, the doctors said that the ulcer was healing nicely. It went from "healing nicely" to full thickness almost overnight. Instead of using a general anesthetic, they used a spinal block. When the surgery was done, I was lucid in no time at all. However, it is most disconcerting to think "move the legs" and the signal doesn't get through. A drainage tube about 0.25" in diameter was installed to try to drain the infection away. I was also on some serious antibiotics. I went back under the knife on Thursday to remove the drainage tube and to suture the ulcer shut.
The hospital food, believe it or not, was actually quite good. The bed, on the other hand, was not. Any position but horizontal left a cross-bed bar bearing into my tail bone. And being awakened by the vampires from the lab at 3 am to draw blood, followed by a 4 am visit by the CNA for vitals left almost no time for rest. Gotta love hospitals -- NOT!
I'm on home health care now for about the next 25 days with orders to remain flat on my back for 20 hours a day. Yeah, right! The dressing gets changed daily, M-F at the VA and weekends by Home Health nurses. I still can't walk without the walker and crutches and will ultimately be fitted with custom orthotics and a custom shoe made.
When I arrived on 9 May, prior to the operation, the doctors said that the ulcer was healing nicely. It went from "healing nicely" to full thickness almost overnight. Instead of using a general anesthetic, they used a spinal block. When the surgery was done, I was lucid in no time at all. However, it is most disconcerting to think "move the legs" and the signal doesn't get through. A drainage tube about 0.25" in diameter was installed to try to drain the infection away. I was also on some serious antibiotics. I went back under the knife on Thursday to remove the drainage tube and to suture the ulcer shut.
The hospital food, believe it or not, was actually quite good. The bed, on the other hand, was not. Any position but horizontal left a cross-bed bar bearing into my tail bone. And being awakened by the vampires from the lab at 3 am to draw blood, followed by a 4 am visit by the CNA for vitals left almost no time for rest. Gotta love hospitals -- NOT!
I'm on home health care now for about the next 25 days with orders to remain flat on my back for 20 hours a day. Yeah, right! The dressing gets changed daily, M-F at the VA and weekends by Home Health nurses. I still can't walk without the walker and crutches and will ultimately be fitted with custom orthotics and a custom shoe made.