*Right: 2 week surgery anniversary*
*Left: 22 week surgery anniversary*
Last night was my first time sleeping in the boot. I thought that it was going to be really uncomfortable since it generally bothers me during the day, but surprisingly I slept much better than I ever did in the surgical splint or when I was in a hard cast with the last surgery.
With the last surgery, I started weening off my drugs after two weeks. I have given myself the same challenge this time. I have already cut down from 8 Percocet per day (2 every 6 hours), to 4 per day (1 every 6 hours), to 3 per day (1 every 8 hours). The next challenge is taking only 2 per day. I took 1 Percocet before bed, and today I took one at noon, and will take one more at 8 pm. I also quit taking my blood thinner yesterday. This means that I have to make sure to move around a lot more to make sure I don't get a blood clot. My foot is much more achy and bothersome with less drugs, but I would much rather tough it out to be able to stop putting chemicals in my body.
First Shower
Around 1 pm, I decided to try taking a shower. I took my boot and sock off, and unwrapped my foot. I was happy to see that there were only small bleeding spots on my gauze pads, nothing major. Next, I had to figure out how to get into the shower. My shower is a stand alone glass shower, so at least I don't have to climb in a tub, but it still has an almost 1 foot ledge to step over. I had figured out how to get over all these obstacles with my left foot surgery, but it is totally different with the support foot switching sides. It is amazing how talented I became at getting around on my right foot for so long, now I am teaching my left to do things. I still used a chair that I have in the bathroom to help me transfer to the shower chair, I just had to adjust my technique.
After about 10 mins, I finally figured out how to get in. The advantage of my right foot being the surgery foot now is that it is closest to the door when I am inside the shower. It is really easy for me to hold it out of the main stream of water. My left leg was very sensitive when I returned to the shower after 6 weeks. I learned that my right is much better off. The two weeks away from the shower wasn't long enough for it to lose its tolerance for the heat or pressure of the water hitting it. My left leg skin was so raw that it took weeks for it to feel comfortable. Two weeks was long enough for an entire layer of skin to peel off my right leg and foot today.
When I got out, I let my foot air out some, and rewrapped it, iced it, and put it back in the boot.
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Reflection
2 weeks down. In a boot. First shower done. Almost pain free. Almost drug free.
Really happy with my status at this point. Gotta keep swimming...
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