The first two weeks were nice because Christmas and New Years Eve/Day happened. My boyfriend took some extra time off of work, and my sister was on Winter Break (she is a high school teacher). I knew everyone was getting me recovery stuff for Christmas. My family had been hounding me for weeks about what I wanted for Christmas. I didn't want them spending money on stupid shit. Plus, I was just happy to spend my first christmas home in two years. So I finally asked for practical things. Cheap sweat pants that I could cut, sudoku/word search/puzzle books, and socks. I asked, and I received! My fam got me different kinds of pants including a pair of Red Sox yoga pants that I REFUSE to cut. My sister got me socks with rubber grips on them and an iTunes gift card for time-consuming apps for my phone. My best friend Bobbie Ann crocheted me a headband that I wear almost every day to keep my hair out of my face.
My mom really got some bonus points when she went out on Christmas day to Walgreens to get me a detachable shower head. I know this was something we should have done before I even had the surgery, but it kind of slipped my mind that I would not be able to shower like a normal person. She also got me a long handled sponge and my walker basket. Best gifts ever. Thanks mom!!
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| Clearly I am super excited |
Showering for the first time since before my surgery was....interesting....and wet. I had towels all over the place. I wasn't allowed to get my foot wet until my doctor unwrapped it on Jan 2nd (or so I was told) so I experimented with different ways to sit in the tub with my leg as far out as possible. I settled on sitting on the ledge so I wouldn't fall. Mind you, I was still on the Norco every four hours so I was a little tipsy doing this. I did my best to hose myself off, and I finally felt clean. In hindsight, I should have gotten a shower chair or bench before I even attempted this. So, my advice to anyone having this done is to get a shower system in place BEFORE you have surgery.
New Years Eve came and went, and pretty soon it was time for my post-op visit. This was the appointment to have my leg unwrapped and checked. I was very nervous to see it for the first time. I had caught a glimpse of a few of the pins earlier in the week, and it made me a little queasy. You will see in the picture that I have these little plunger things on each of the pins. I honestly think that if it weren't for them, I would have barfed after looking at my leg. With these, I can't actually SEE the pin going through my skin.
Anna is my doctor's assistant. She is awesome. She answers all of my emails and all of my phone calls almost immediately. She was the one who got to unwrap the ace badges and cut all the gauze off. She made me lay down just in case I passed out. It was like 10 pounds were lifted off my leg. It was nice to feel some air on my leg. I finally got the courage to sit up and look at it.
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| The fake tan is just the betadine. |
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| A few different views. Still a little swollen too. |
HOLY SHIT!
Those were my exact words. I had no clue I'd have as many pin sites as I did. Honesty, I couldn't even feel them all. Good job, doc! I snapped that first picture and sent it out to a few friends/family member that wanted to see it before the doctor came in. He walked in the room with some other guy I had never seen before. Dr. Arndt and this guy had the biggest shit-eating grins on their faces. Turns out the other guy was the rep who sells the ex-fix. Apparently a 29 year old with this much degeneration is cool in the medical world. I thanked Dr. A for doing a good job. I told him that aside from the ones in my heel that I saw earlier that week and 2 out of 4 at the top that I could feel, I really couldn't tell that there were SIXTEEN pin sites in my leg. He said that meant he distracted it the right amount. I believe 6mm was the magic number. Kind of crazy that all this nonsense was for 6mm of joint space.
It look a lot of scrubbing to get that ugly purple pen off. Also, my leg will be getting progressively hairier. Sorry, but clearly I can't shave with this on. And contrary to what my sister thinks, I can't use Nair either!
Thanks for reading!
- Vanna
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