Casting, and Ouch

This post is a long time coming.  Now that I'm up, I'm finally getting around to it.  It might be kinda long, so.... sorry!

Somehow, my post op appointment ended up being scheduled one week after surgery.  In the pre-op the surgeon told me that I'd be in this particular splint for two weeks before getting my cast.  Because it was on only as a splint, not meant for support, I would have been on bed rest for those two weeks. However, since it was scheduled one week out, and my incision looked good, they went ahead and took it off to prep me for the cast.

It was a hard plaster splint that covered the sides, and back of my leg, and supported my foot.  The middle on the top of my leg was free, so they could cut it off.  The bandages were practically glued onto the splint.

I didn't know what to expect my foot to look like, I wasn't sure if it would be swollen, or bruised, but it looked pretty normal.

 It looks a lot worse than it actually is.  They used dissolve-able stitches on the ligaments, but then glued the wound shut on top.  When it's totally healed, I should have a very small scar.  The glue was an awesome idea, except that the bandages stuck to it, so when they took everything off.... well, it hurt!

They added some strips for extra support on the foot, then it was time to cast.  Because of this particular surgery, they had to do what's called an everted cast, so I had to lay on my stomach.  Then they flex the foot, and angle it in such a way that the ligaments can continue to heal in the shortest possible stretch.  The cast tech said it was his least favorite way to put on a cast........

The young man behind the tech just happens to be the son of our Stake president, he's doing a sort of internship here from the high school.  It was fun talking to him

All finished....

The day after the cast was put on was really really hard.  There was a lot of pain.  I had mentioned to the doc that I hadn't taken any pain meds since I had gotten sick (and he seemed completely blown away that I could have stopped so soon) so he made me a new prescription which also made me sick to my stomach.  So I bore the pain, and it was hard.  I eventually found out that if I halved the dose, then I was fine.... which came in handy.  The rest of the week was fine.  I made it to church on scout/A-days night.....

Where this happened....

And this.....

And then it was bad.  Every time I would stand up my entire foot would start to burn.  My leg would ache, and then when I'd put it up, there'd be a little relief, then hours of throbbing and burning.  I asked around, and people seemed to think it was fairly normal after moving it around so much to get the cast on.  Then I started to lose feeling in my toe.  I tried calling the cast shop, but could never get through.  Then I'd have a day where I was okay, but then the next day it would be bad.  I had so many wonderful people coming to help out, but still, there was a day where I had to force Lissa to stay home because I knew I couldn't take care of Davin that day, and another day I made Tim stay home for the same reason.  After two weeks, the pain hit an all time high.  I hadn't been able to be out of bed for the majority of that time, which makes a grand total of 4 weeks, and I was so stir crazy, I went out of the house for an hour, and my foot was up the whole time.  By the time I got home I was in so much pain we contemplated going to the ER.  I muddled through the night, called the surgeon, and was able to get an appointment for the next day.  Even getting there was hard.  It hurt so bad, and when he saw me, and heard what I was feeling, he said it was most definitely not normal.  So.... they took the cast off!

Now, I've never had a cast before, so when that saw would jump through the layers of cast and hit my leg, I would jump.  It was after I freaked for the umpteenth time that they let me in on the secret... it won't cut you, because it doesn't oscillate.  That would have been nice to know up front!  They cut down each side so they could lift it off.... except it wouldn't come off.  It kept getting caught on something.  they kept cutting, and prying, and eventually it was pried off..... it hurt because t was caught on my ankle.  Turns out that the cast was put on too tightly around the ankle.  Everything else was fine, but in the ankle area it was too tight.  Every time my ankle would swell, well, it couldn't, and it would cause all that awful pain.  They took it off...... and it was amazing.  The pain I was feeling right then, started to dissipate.

They said the incision was healed, so I could go ahead and put the walking boot on, and start putting a little weight on it, and within a week, I should be able to walk sans crutches!!!!

All that redness on my ankle has turned into a nice bruise, and it's very very tender.  My poor foot. I'm just happy that I don't have another two weeks, like I was supposed to have, with that cast!