The last nurse….

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Noel

Had my last visit from the nurses yesterday! The Foot isn’t  completely healed yet, but the wound has scabbed over, and it’s now just a case of waiting for the scab to drop off. Yvette says that there’s no clinical need for them any more, and I can do the dressing-changes from now on. (No more waiting in for them to arrive – Yippee!) It’s actually a little scary to realise that I’m on my own again – but she did say that if I have any problems I could ring them for help, so at least I still have that back-up.

Sticky-plaster patches are now the order of the day – so no more bandages unless I do something stupid (who? Me? :) )

Next milestone – the doctor’s on Thursday next, when I see about trying to reduce the Gabapentin dosage. I seem to be able to go for longer than the 8 hours betwen doses on a regular basis now – but I suspect that what I really need to do is take smaller doses at the same interval, rather than move to 12-hourly, and that means a new prescription

A quick round-up of the situation as it is:-

It’s now nearly 5 months since the Operation.

The foot feels a lot less painful than it did – but that’s not to say that there’s no pain. There’s a constant nagging itch that can’t be described as pins-and-needles, but that’s about as close as I can get. Every now and then the Pixie sitting on the end of my big toe decides to remind me of his existence, by driving a needle (or a 4-inch nail) down the length of the toe – and I cringe, wince, or whatever.

 I now have to try and walk ‘properly’ – or as close as I can get. After nearly five months of only putting the left heel on the ground, it’s become a habit that I have to break consciously.

I find my knees are sore – particularly the left one – at times, or in certain positions (OK – that could just be age, but…).

The middle toe (which is now the biggest toe) has got stuck in a ‘claw’ position, presumably due to that stumble of mine 3 months ago. This is going to make wearing normal shoes very difficult unless it frees up.

I still sleep with the Foot out of the bed – it’s uncomforable for it to get too warm, and the toes tend to get caught in the covers – which is very painful.

New pictures going up today – when I get to them :)

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Had my wrist slapped today…

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Noel

Well, nearly :)

The nurse came round to do the dressings, and was very pleased with progress, but saw that the drissing was a little ‘ickie’, and decided that I had been using my foot too much. Told me to keep it up to reduce the exudate back down t othe pont where the dressings could cope with it.

No problems witht the dressing coming off – it just about fell off with the bandages, and the wound was scabbed over nicely – nothing came off. Strangely, there was almost no sensation from the wound itself when the nurse was wiping it clean – but the upper area of new skin was very sensitive.

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The End is Nigh!

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Noel

…well, at least as far as the dressings are concerned, anyhow :)

Nurse Yvette goes on holiday before I’m due to be redressed again – and she reckons that before she gets back, I’ll have seen the last of the District Nurses.

Yet another trainee/student came round with her today – and was suitably impressed by the difference between the early photos and the current ones :)

Some new pictures in The Sock for July – click on the cocoa-bean on the right for the entry-page, or look here to go straight to the album for July.

Still no need for Tramadol – but I can’t seem to drop the dosage on the Gabapentin yet, as the pins-and-needles turn into nails-and-corkscrews if I leave the doses much more than 10 hours apart…. thinking about which – it’s time for another one!

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I can sit!

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Noel

Finally, I can actually sit up for more than 5 minutes withut having to then lie down for half an hour to relieve the throbbing :)

I actually spent most of yesterday afternoon sat up, with my foot on the floor – it felt great! (then I had to lie down for 30 minutes – but who cares?)

Wound still progressing nicely, so the nurses say – and I’ve not had to take any Tramadol since I don’t know when. Still on the Paracetamol, more for the anti-inflammatory than anything else, since I’m pretty sure it does nothing for the pains I still get.

On the subject of pains…

there’s a permanent minor ‘pins-and-needles’ pain, which I can ignore most of the time, but does get worse on apparently random occasions.There’s also that little pixie who every now and then likes to drive a 6-inch nail through the wound in one direction or another, and may or may not wiggle it around for a bit of extra fun.  There’s the ‘restless foot’ – which is like restless legs but moreso :) . There’s also the cramps – and they can be a bitch! All that in addition to the usual itching and stuff that you associate with any wound, and it’s easy to see why some people get hooked on the painkillersif they’re not as lucky as I have been so far (where’s the wood?).

The only real setback I’ve had was that stumble coming out of the doctors a few weeks back – I’m sure that I’d have been dancing around by now if not for that. Must get the specialist to send me down for an x-ray just in case I did something nasty.  Wednesday is the appointment – so I’ll be back then, or maybe Thursday :)

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..and so far, so good

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Noel

The nurse arrived early this morning – 09:45…. and I hadn’t got dressed, so she caught me in my thobe, and not a lot else!

Measured the wound again, and it’s down to only 35mm x 10mm (or a little less) which is a BIG change from the original 85×45!!

New pictures are up in the June album.

It looks as if we’ll be changing the type of dressing used next time – there’s very little exudate now, so never a drip to be seen :) – because the Actiform Cool we’ve been using is starting to stick not only to the surrounding new skin, but also to the wound itelf. Changing to a less absorbent dressing should reduce the sticking problem – even if it means that I may have to go back to slightly more frequent dressing changes.  The last two changes have been at 3 and 4-day intervals, and the next is scheduled for Friday (another 4-day interval). Hopefully for all concerned (i.e. me and the nurses), I’ll be able to last until the following Tuesday before needing another one.

I’m beginnning to think I might miss the visits from my nurses :)

I’ve pretty much stopped taking the Tramadol now – just carrying on with the Gabapentin and Paracetamol.  I’ll wait until the wound has healed over before stopping the paracetamol, more because of the anti-inflammatory effects than the painkilling ones. Time to phone the doctor and see what he says about the Gabapentin.

Back soon

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Ooooh!

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Noel

A New Look in 30 seconds – I like it!

Question is – do you?

Any suggestions for the header image? – I rather like this one, as it embodies the idea of a journey,  (and it happened to be the default!) – but maybe you’ve seen a better one, or have an idea for one that I can use?

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Good Grief!

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Noel

Has it really been that long since I last posted in here? – it seems like only last week!

Anyway – how’s The Foot?

Progressing nicely, according to the nurses at least – who have now extended the time between dressing-changes to every third day, rather than every other day – which mean I get a little more freedom as well. :)

Painkillers aren’t needed as much any more  – I’m down to two a day unless I overdo it – and I’m working on that, as I’m pretty sure I don’t really need the morning one, so that’s next to go.

Got to see the doctor about reducing the level of Gabapentin I’m on – I don’t think just dropping one of the three doses a day is going to work, so I’ll have to see about getting lower-dose pills for my next scrip.

I can get around the flat easily enough if I’m careful, without using crutches at all, but trips out are a lot easier if I use at least one crutch. The ankle is getting to be sore from having to support all the weight on the heel rather than the whole foot – I’m going to have to watch that.  I’m *really* looking forward to being able to put my foot flat on the floor again for the first time since March!

NEW PHOTOS are up for June – click on the Chocolate Fred on the right of the index page for the albums. :) <note to self – get the blasted threading sorted for posts!>

Finally got my appointment through for a checkup by the surgeon – First full week in July!…. which means that it’s going to be a full 5 weeks late, as he wanted to see me 5-6 weeks after discharge from Glan Clwyd, and that’ll be more like 12. The wonders of computer-operated appointment systems never cease to amaze me!

OK – that’s about it for now. Back soon with another update – I’ll try and be a little sooner this time than last :)

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Another Sunday Night

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Noel

…and I’m sat here playing with a computer with a knackered hard drive trying to get the data backed up before the drive dies completely. The Foot’s been well-behave today, and I can walk reasonably painlessly.
Talking of pain, I suppose that I’d better try and describe some of the aches and pains that are my lot at the moment – but that’ll have to wait for tomorrow so I can sit and think about it. Suffice it to say for the moment that anyone who says ‘You get used to it’ has never known pain! It’s not the fact of hurting – it’s that the pain drifts around The Foot, and waxes and wanes – and then all of a sudden hits like a javelin in the non-existent toe, or the arch of The Foot. I swear that it never remains constant for more than 5 seconds, it’s either changing type or intensity.
Doctors always ask ‘what sort of pain is it?’ I wish I knew – there aren’t really words in the English language to accurately describe pain, but I expect a fellow-sufferer would instantly recognise a description.
Take for example one common one – The Sock. Have you ever been wearing socks, and worn a hole in them with the big toe – the toe pokes through, and it feels like someone has cut a slice around the toe? – that is one I get a lot of the time, and sometimes for hours. It may or may not be accompanied by sundry other pains, just to make life interesting :) – Shame the toe’s not there, or I’d end up hacking it off!

Enough for now – another batch of files needs copying.

Look after yourselves!

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Finally..

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Noel

We got the photographs sorted now:)

There’s a page you can get to by clicking on the  Chocolate Cocoa Bean on the right of the Pages (not the posts – yet).

Nursey Yvette came round earlier to do the dressing – measured the wound at 55mm x 23mm – which is quite a change from the initial 86mm x 45mm (if I remember the numbers right – I was under the influence of Oromorph at the time!)

I wish I could say the pain had diminished as much!

it feels as if I’m wearing badly-fitted thing sandals, with a pixie sitting on the big toe beating it with a hammer, at the moment – I swear I’m going to get that pixie, if  it’s the last thing I do!

Hopefully a chat with the doc may help that – see if we can work out some kind of medication to fix it, between us.

That’s all for now – putting my geek hat back on to design a new website.

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Somewhere…..

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Noel

….around here, there’s a Photo Album……

<hunt><rummage>

Ah! I might have found it.. ummm#

Home » Somewhere….. » The Sock

The Sock

DO NOT ENTER if you are of a nervous disposition!. The contents are real, rather than chocolate :)

 
View 3 albums

errrr

</rummage>

</hunt>

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