I'm finding it very difficult to find anything to blog about lately. Could it be because... oh, I don't know... I HAVE NO LIFE??!!??
My days consist of reclining in a recliner (duh!) with three pillows under my injured leg which, by the way, has a dressing in the open wound, then is wrapped in gauze from ankle to mid-calf, then wrapped again with an ace bandage from foot to mid-calf. The ace bandage is to keep the swelling down when I get up for a call of nature, or to get a drink, or something to eat, etc..
In the evening Linda changes my dressings (she's my Florence Nightingale). Then at bedtime I get to lay flat on my back with my bad leg propped up on four pillows. All night. No turning on my left side, or my right side. Just flat on my back. It gets OLD, people!!
At first I watched the Today show, sometimes Regis and Kelly, and Ellen DeGeneres, but after a bit even TV gets really old. I'm trying to read some, now, to break up the day.
A few days ago I began logging in to the webmail version of my work email. I had only 360+ emails unread. So I've begun wading through them to try and not fall too far behind at work. Unfortunately, when I tried to answer some of the emails I got the old "Your mailbox is too full" message and can't send any emails from my work account. Crrraaaaappppp!!! I HATE NMCI!!
Wednesday and Thursday were spent going to doctor appointments. Wednesday I went to my primary care physician (PCP) for the first time since going into the hospital. Boy was SHE surprised to see me! As we (Linda and I) related what had transpired in the past month the doctor took down 3 pages of notes for my chart. That must be some kind of record for a follow-up visit. She wants me to go for hyperbaric (sp.?) treatments to try and speed up the healing process.
Thursday we went to the IDD at Oschner hospital. Good guy. I like him much better than H2's IDD. He looked at the open wound, said it looked very good, told me to stop taking antibiotics and to not go for hyperbaric (sp.?) treatments. Cool, dueling doctors!
Next week we go, again, to see the PCP, and also go to Oschner's surgery clinic for the surgeons to check their handiwork. Yay! (Just kidding. NOT yay!)
About the only good news out of all this is that I lost 30 lbs in the hospital, and having this illness has strengthened my resolve to continue to try to lose weight. Hopefully I can stay with it and be more successful than in the past. This doesn't bode well for my lunch bunch at work.
I'm done. I've run out of thoughts. Take care and God bless you!
5 comments:
I don't understand why you can't turn on your side with your affected leg, incision side upward toward ceiling. Lying on your back all night is not good for the circulation to your sacrum (rump). What was their rationale? Also the hyperbaric chamber does sound like a good idea for healing. What was the IDD rationale for not going?
See you Friday. We will be arriving in the evening. Get well so we can all go out to dinner, you included!
I know what it's like to not be able to turn over in your sleep (shingles anyone?) - it SUCKS!!! Glad you're improving, though. Luv ya!!!
I think PCP's rationale FOR the hyperbaric chamber was that the healing needed speeding up. The IDD who has followed the wounded area from the beginning feels that it is healing quickly enough, and that hyperbaric treatment would be "overkill" (not his words). I think he said something like an unnecessary use of extra resources. I'm going with his recommendation since he's been watching the healing all along, while PCP has only seen the wounded area once.
I haven't been told to NOT lie differently, it's just very uncomfortable to try to lie on my side with one leg high and to the rear and the other low and to the front if I turn to the left. If I try to turn to the right, then I have to put my left leg above the right one which is painful to put pressure on the right one.
Don't worry about your lunch bunch at work...they could all stand to lose a few pounds. Looks like more trips to Subway and fewer trips to NOFS!
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