Sorry- update

kimann · 09-11-2006, 07:10 PM

Hi, everyone. I'm really sorry I've been mostly offline. I don't know if it is the pc or the "high speed dsl", which was never, in my humble, faster than the old dial-up, but things rarely load. My e-mail is backed up, as well.
I've done a couple of shows - Broiler Fest and FoxTrotter Celebration, but haven't made any money. Spent twice what I made on booth rent, donations to raffles, and food. Geez. After rent and commission, my craft mall booth netted me a whopping $60 last month. I'm working hard on standing, needing to get back to work with a steady paycheck!!! I really wish I'd filed for disability. Word of warning to newbies: Find out how long you will be out, and file if it will be longer than 2 weeks!!! I thought 6 to 8 weeks, and would have been fine with that, but am only now, at almost 23 weeks, able to stand for more than a few moments, and the idea of doing it for 8 to 10 makes me sick. Four weeks ago I couldn't walk. This is costly!!!
Pt is going well, most exercises are done with ease. He does put me on treadmill (???) and it hurts like nobody's business. Anterior compartment. I think, if I recall the MRI report correctly, that it is due to scar tissue rubbing. I'm not sure, but something is definitely rubbing and painful. Less conspicuous with normal walking, done slowly and deliberately, but on treadmill, even at low speeds, it becomes more evident. Why?
Lateral (where the surgery was) aches, but doesn't really hurt. (I think an advantage to chronic foot trouble is that you do "get used to it" and are less affected by it.) Swelling is still pretty ugly, and I have no clue how long it will be before it doesn't look so gross.
He has taken me to the stairwell, and gets frustrated because I don't "walk through". I have always navigated stairs left down, right down, having both feet on the step before continuing. He keeps pushing me to walk through, and I can't. Anyone else do this? Does it really matter?
I don't go in again until Friday, and think he might discharge me then. I don't see my OS again until 2 Oct., and if I'm not back financially, I may postpone that.
I am much stronger now, and mostly fwb, only keeping a cane handy for the few odd, undpredictable moments when I simply can't go without support, and using it to get up and down our steep driveway. The shows I've done in the last two weeks were on grass and gravel, uneven, but as long as I was deliberate, slow, I was fine. (Broiler Fest had porta potties, and I had to use the crutches to climb up into them, otherwise I didn't need them, though I get a bit gimpy when I tire.)
I wear the wrap always when out, and at home, remove it when I'm sitting for a while, and at bedtime. The lubricating with bagbalm and/or zinc oxide worked really well until this weekend, but the rash, horridly itching, (Unbelievable that it doesn't hurt, but the itch is deep and worse than pain)weeping, scaling skin, and bleeding, is now back with a vengeance.
Mostly, I am doing very well. I'm getting caught up on the reading, and will get some replies done soon. I do think of you all daily, miss my daily "Foot Friend Fix", and pray for your continued progress. Keep on keeping on! Kim

jprinz99 · 09-12-2006, 11:57 AM

Hmm, I developed an ugly, itching, red area too. It turns out it gone fungal. OS gave me ointment Rx that is a combo itch/anti fungal. Working great (when I remember to apply it). Might want to ask as it sounds like your might have turned fungal too. Just a thought.

Glad PT went relatively well. You could probably do well on your own at home right now and save some bucks to boot. Why can't you file for disability now?

My computer is loading the boards and other stuff slow too. Trying to figure it out - might be a bad program got loaded w/out me knowing. Internet nasties as I call it.
jane

kimann · 09-13-2006, 11:39 PM

Jane,
It is slow today, but a little better than it has been. I give up and do other things while I wait.
You might be right about the fungus... Ewww... I know this is weird, but, don't fungals smell? There's no odor really except a little bloody. I know it isn't a bacterial infection as I've been checking my temp and it's running like 97.5 to 97.7, as much area as this covers, I'd be flaming if it were bacterial. I have a tube of Mycolog, (Nystatin and Triamcinolone), and will use it a couple of times a day, see if it works. At the very least, I know it will help lube against further friction.
I don't know what is happening to me. My entire skin itches nowadays, and I've been getting welts at night, crawl up my back and down my chest and belly. The itching and welts disappear in the morning. I'm going nuts.
Well, I'm gong to get off. Thanks for the tip, I will use the mycolog.

lostmary · 09-14-2006, 09:23 AM

Wow..that does sound painful. It almost sounds like you are having an allergic reaction to something in the bed. Have you changed the detergent or softnerl Ususally the hives and all come out when you are in contact with something, or you have eated something recently. Just a suggestion. You should still check with your doc about it. your foot sounds a little like mine did when the infection broke out. I never had a fever, just ozzing, blood, pain, and redness. Please take care, we don't want you backsliding.
Mary

kimann · 09-14-2006, 01:20 PM

Mary,
I'm ok, and I keep this puppy well-lubed, usually with bag-balm, which in addition to soothing the broken skin, has antiseptic properties. I'd be worried if I had more indication of infection, like heat or fever. A few weeks ago, the UC Doc said the red indicated infection, and without swabbing, rx'd Keflex and Prednisone. I wonder. Friction, irritation produce redness, too. I'm pretty convinced my sweat and the friction are irritating the skin. The joint swelling, present because I'm becoming more active and not sitting around so much, makes it look a lot worse than it really is, if you can imagine. I found my Mycolog, and used it last night and this am, just in case it's a fungal, which is more likely than bacterial. My temp this am was 96.6, hardly indicative of bacterial infection!
I haven't changed laundry detergent or bathing products, and the washer is always set on a second rinse as my Dad is sensitive, and I leave it there because I will forget to reset it. It doesn't matter if I am on the sofa, at my sewing machine, or in bed, and it isn't, well, wasn't until a few days ago, a daily response. Twice last week, and 3 nights in a row this week.
My diet is the same, primarily beans and rice, vegies, the odd piece of meat when I think I need it. I have eaten in this manner for almost a year.
A friend has suggested some autoimmune thing, I don't know, but will, if this pc cooperates, check into it today, see if I can find anything that fits. I still think allergy, because 2 benadryl at 10:30 and another at midnight finally got me to sleep, but maybe it wasn't reducing the itching, maybe it simply knocked me out so I didn't notice the itching?
Regardless, it is gone by morning, and during the day, I only have to worry about my foot. I lube it up and wrap it, so while the itching drives me to distraction, it is simply too much of a pain to get to it! LOL