4 Weeks Post Surgery

Woot! A Month out -- things are going well. I went in this afternoon to have the stitches taken out (finally!)

OW OW OW OW OW! Seriously, that HURT. I wasn't expecting it to; the only other time I've had stitches that needed to be removed, they were old-fashioned, single-stitch silk. Taking those out was simple: clip the stitch and tug the 1/4" or so of thread out.

Not so much with my heel. I hadn't taken a really good look at it (since stitches in general make me a bit queasy), but it was stitched subcutaneously with one long length of prolene (a sort of non-absorbable polypropolene thread). So, pulling out the stitches was really pulling out this really long length of fishing line that was spiralled into the incision. Hurt like hell and lit up all the nerve endings in my foot.  I only cried a little bit.

But everything looks good (although my left calf is skinny and atrophied because I'm 100% non-weight-bearing. It's going to be funny looking when I finally take off the boot. I have another follow-up in two weeks -- and still no walking on my left foot. Hopefully I'll get the go-ahead to start toe-touching and putting a bit of weight on the foot and starting the process to work my way down from the four wedges in the boot (to keep my foot at a neutral, to-pointing angle) to a normal flat-footed step.

Slow progress, but progress! That is good!

I am really getting tired of the view of my living room from the recliner. Poor Mark is met at the door with "where are we going OUT OUT OUT tonight? Get me OUT of the house!"