Cast on and good news!

So, yesterday was probably the most uncomfortable I have been...much more swelling than before. Duly noted: keep the leg up as much as possible.

This morning was my doc visit to remove the surgical dressing, look at the incision and remove stitches (no staples...I thought there would be staples, but no, thank goodness!!) and get my new cast on. There were a couple of very pleasant surprises and one not so fun thing...

The med tech, who is very, very nice, removed the surgical dressing and cleaned everything up. My leg felt like leather to me and is pretty atrophied already. My ankle was not that swollen at all, though my toes were. The ankle and foot were also pretty red, not "bruised", just very red. She and Dr Cullen said it was ok, though. MAN if felt good to rub (and even scratch just a little, though I tried not to) the skin that I had not been able to get to! There were definite indentations in my skin where folds of padding had been, and that is where the worst itching had been.

Dr. Cullen himself put the new cast on...a spiffy black one. My kids will be able to sign it with a silver marker. Given the choices of white (would look awful pretty fast, I think) , "cammo", hot pink, day-glo orange, and navy blue, black seemed the best option. The warmth from the fiberglass curing actually felt great on my poor skin! And the best news ever: Dr. Cullen said that after just 24 hours, I can start WALKING WITHOUT CRUTCHES!!!!!!!! Not that I need to be up very much, but I feel much, much better about being able to deal with Doug being gone without having to use crutches. Wahoo!!

The one bad thing was when he extended (not that bad) and then bent my knee. The bending hurt like hell and I cried a little. I am going to be doing leg extensions (using the cast as a leg weight) a LOT to try and work that knee out. MAN, that hurt!! Generally, all was good, though. I think taking this Sunday off leading is a must, and then hopefully I will be good with the walking and can lead next week, though I will probably sit in the choir loft with my leg up in between all songs (instead of in a chair with my leg down). No big deal!

Now my goal is to get someone to drive to get a pedicure....I will pay for them to have one too!!! Hmmmmm....  Oh, and don't look at the pics if you are hinky about a little blood and stuff. It's not too bad, though.

So, here are pics of the process. Thanks, Doug, for taking them even though I know you would have preferred not to even really watch! :)