Six Days Post Op

I am six days post op and still sore. I have found that I'm getting sore all over just from laying around and not doing much. I'm especially sore in my arms (from the crutches) and my upper body. I figure that is because I'm using more of my upper body to pull myself up in bed and to get in and out of my wheel chair.

Good news is, last night I slept all the way through the night.....bad news is I slept all the way through the night and didn't take my pain medicine. I was hurting so badly when I woke up this morning that I didn't think I would be able to control my pain for a while. I took two oxycodones and a phenergan at 6:00am and then another oxycodone (no phenergan this time) at 10:24 am and I'm feeling OK right now. I'm really tired of being so tired, but I guess as long as I'm not doing anything fatigue is what I'll be feeling.

We are supposed to be going to Kentucky this weekend to be with my husbands family. I'm hoping that I will feel like going. I made sure I had all of my pain meds and phenergan filled just in case. My nurse told me as long as I can keep my foot elevated in the car I should be fine. I get car sick and since the only way to keep my foot elevated is by sitting in the back I'm not looking forward to the ride, but hopefully the phenergan will help me with the motion sickness. I'm still trying to gauge my pain like the nurse told me to, but I've found that there are times I'm feeling more pain than others. I'm not sure why, because I'm not doing anything different except that some times I may be sitting up in bed and others I'm laying down. I guess it does make a difference if my foot is above my heart or below it.

I seem to be feeling a little more nauseous now than I was in the beginning. I have wondered if it could be that the medicine is building up in my system. Not sure if that is possible, but I seem to not be able to eat much now (not to say that will hurt my weight loss efforts) hahaha I feel like I'm living on these little mini saltine crackers my mom got me and Canada Dry ginger ale. I'm persnickety about my ginger ale...it has to be Canada Dry. LOL Michael fixed me dinner last night, but after about three bites I couldn't eat any more. I did have some cheese toast and bran flakes this morning, but I ended up feeling a little nauseous after that too. I'm sitting here wondering how lunch will go today. I'm kinda craving KFC mashed potatoes....that's what I like when I get nauseous.

I'm still trying to space out my bathroom breaks since it takes me about 45 minutes to get over the pain from having my foot down when I go. I was hoping to be more mobile by now. My goal was to be able to go down stairs for a while by yesterday. I didn't quite meet that goal. LOL They put in my new counter tops yesterday morning and I still haven't been down there to see them. Kinlie did make me a video but I can't tell much from that. I did go to the front door yesterday afternoon and stuck my feet out the door for about five minutes. That was all I could take at the time so we will see what will happen today. A NICE LONG SHOWER would be GREAT!!!! My mom brought me some of the ready bath clothes that my granny got when she was in the hospital. They are good, but not as good as a full blown shower.

My medicine is making me itch. I can handle it anywhere but under my cast. LOL I sometimes get an itch on the bottom of my foot. Michael has been scratching behind my toes and it's one of those...hurt but just do it anyway type feelings...LOL It's like it sends tingles down my foot. My nurse said that would happen because of all the trauma my foot has been through. She also said there were a lot of nerves that got messed with during my surgery.

I have been very surprised that I haven't had that much swelling. I'm sure I would have more swelling if I were not keeping my foot elevated, but I really thought I would have more swelling with all the work they did. We have ALMOST got all of the orange medicine off of toes. I can only take them moving my toes around a little at a time for them to clean it off. My mom tried to get most of it off before my block wore off...THANK GOODNESS....but she has tried a couple of times since then and every time I twinge she stops because she doesn't want to hurt me. I keep telling her to just go ahead and do it but when I tense up she stops. Kinlie told me she would polish my toes with a french pedicure but I want all that orange stuff off first. I try to wiggle my toes as much as I can just to have movement. It feels weird to move them, but again it's one of those....hurts but gotta do it anyway...type things. hahaha

One thing that has helped me keep things at my finger tips is a little plastic basket that my mom bought me at the dollar tree. It's just big enough to fit my bath cloths, my crackers, my TV remote, cell phone and a few other small snacks and a few other things I've wanted at my finger tips. My bed side table is just close enough to my bed that the little basket just hangs there between my table and my bed so I can get to it easily. Kinlie also got me an Easter basket that has my puzzle book, a couple of magazines, a coloring book and crayons (yes I'm like a kid I like to color LOL) my pens, and a small box of thank you notes in it. I'm trying to keep up with my thank you notes as people come to visit or bring me things. It has really helped me feel a little self sufficient to be able to reach these things without having to ask someone to help me. I've also been using Kinlies lap top tray and bed tray. those things have really come in handy. Just a few things to make sure you have before surgery.