mkl

Remember those old movies where Frankenstein would be lurching around, his face all covered in black stitches and lumpy and swollen? When I went this morning for the first check-up after the 7/5 surgery, that is what I was reminded of. The doc said I might not want to watch as the layers of bloody bandages were cut off, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Looks weird with all the many lines of black stitches and the pins sticking out of the toes, but I guess I have to think of it as a "work in progress". At least the toes are straight and the bunion that was sticking out two inches is gone. I was told all the blood I had been worrying about was mainly due to their having to remove the pin from the second toe after it had been inserted. That was the worst toe, crossing the others at a 90 degree angle. It started to turn white and that meant there were circulation problems, so they decided it was best to remove the pin. That left a hole that most of the blood flowed out of. Said it will heal fine even without the pin......hope they are right. The whole mess was definitely starting to smell funky but that was only the odor of dried blood, not infection. The bleeding had been so intense it stained the entire inside of the surgical boot, so they gave me a new replacement one.

Asked the doc if I could take a picture of the unbandaged foot for my "journal", explaining it had nothing to do with any future malpractice lawsuit...I just wanted it for the memory. I suppose it was an unusual request because the doc raised an eyebrow and politely left the room for a minute so that I could take a photo or two without having to give me explicit permission.

Still in pain, especially since I had a friend with a car to help and we did a few other errands, like picking up my mail, getting groceries, picking up a new prescription, etc....more activity than I have engaged in for the entire week. And oh yes, I talked the doc into drawing another smiley face on the new bandages. Next post-op check-up is Tuesday, next surgery on the other foot is 2 weeks from now. If nothing else, this whole thing has been a most interesting experience and maybe after everything is done and healed, I'll even be able to walk like a normal person. What a thought!