Surgery is over... the work is done by the surgeon and his staff. Now my part of the work comes in. Which is the hard part. I mean after all, I'm asleep during the surgery and I pretty much have nothing to do but lay there and be anesthetized.
Surgery went okay... whatever that means. I didn't die. Which I was never worried about. It was a long day, but I'm sure it was even longer for my parents who made the trip with me. That's what I hate the most about my surgeries, knowing that my family will be worried and stressed about me. It breaks my heart. In that respect, I' m so glad the day is over. We headed down to the surgery center in Carmel that day and had a nice trip down with views of a beautiful sunrise. I was extremely nervous and was ready to get this over with. Once we got to the center, I got checked in and everything started happening quickly. I went over my history, got my IV started and talked with my anesthesiologist. I was thankful it was the same lady I had before and she went over the anesthesia plan with me. She was great. Dr Porter was actually right on time with his surgery times and before I knew it; myself, him and my parents were saying a prayer together and I was heading back to the surgery room. It always seems odd walking into a OR as a patient and laying on the table. I always feel like I'm in the wrong spot and dressed all wrong... but this time I was the patient so I closed my eyes, said a personal prayer, and faded off to the unknown state of anesthesia....
(Dorsal incision to fix the fracture... and other things)
During surgery Dr Porter did as planned. He first excised the nerve on the side of my ankle that was damaged during the first surgery. He said it was so badly damaged and scarred that it didn't even look like a nerve anymore. It had no chance of ever really resuming normal nerve function again. No wander it caused so much trouble this past year! After that, he repaired the fracture of the navicular bone. He told the nurse to inform my parents he was done, but after a closer look he wasn't. He found a large bone spur forming at the base of that bone. That was complicated more because it was entrapping the nerve that crossed the top of the foot. He had to be extra careful not to damage or cut this nerve while drilling and sawing off the bone spur. This explains even more why the top of my foot hurt as much as it did this fall. He said it was an unusual finding, but leave it up to me to have some rare issue! After 2 hours of surgery, he was done and I was sutured up and taken to the recovery room.
(Lateral incisions made to work on the nerve)
That's really the basics of the surgery. I've been home now for a few days and I don't really remember much about what all has happened in that time. I'm keeping the blog short since I'm jacked out on vicoden. I even had a trip that the Irish won a bowel game! So sorry if this doesn't make any sense at all.
I dread surgery always, but it is always is a quick reminder how much I hate it when the anesthesia wears off for ortho work. It's a humbling experience to be completely brought to silence from pain. I know that it is bad right now, but it will be better some day if I can just hang in there for a little longer. Right now, I'm on orders for bed rest. I am only allowed to be up 5 minutes at a time and I have no problem following that rule since I can feel the swelling pool up in my ankle when I'm up.
(Out of the cast ready to get that bloody dressing changed)
Yesterday I had my first dressing change and was able to be out of the cast to do it. I had my sister help me and she about throw up on me... it kinda didn't look so nice in person. I was a little surprised how filet-o-fish it looked especially since I was expecting much smaller incisions for some reason. I'm feeling pretty cut up right now and it helped explain why it hurt so much in the cast the first couple days. I have some healing to focus on! As for now, its back in the cast and will stay out of sight until I go see Dr P again in a couple weeks... which is just fine with my caretaker sister. I'll be on crutches a while and I am not even pushing Dr P right now as to when I can get back to normal activity. I trust his judgement and will just do as he says right now and not get too stressed about getting back on the bike.
I know I've been through a lot of surgery, but it NEVER is something I get used to. Actually, each one seems to compound the previous one and its a big deal. It's a huge disruption to me and my families lives, and that's why I am so thankful for everyone's prayers, thoughts, and kind words to help us through this.
I couldn't do it alone.
I'm so thankful I don't have to.
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