July 21, 2010

Leg Claustrophobia

So I'm ace bandage wrapped from above my knee to my toes and last night, I thought I was going to go INSANE! I understand my surgeon wants compression, but a whole week of it? In this heat? On my foot? On a person who can't even stand to wear socks at night?

When my two toes started going numb, I asked Mr. BBM to loosen the lower wrap. That helped a little, but my leg is a hot mess right now. It's dressed for winter and it's 90+ degrees outside.

Needless to say, I had a very rough night last night. Mr. BBM almost made me pee my pants laughing this morning. He said, "isn't bone pain more of a dull ache?" Um, no, more like hot poker stabbing through my leg pain. Yeah, that fits a lot better.

Today I decided that a bath would feel great. Plus, I wanted to get this orange crap off of me. Why do surgeons feel the need to coat your toenails in orange crap when they're operating near the knee? I swear it will never come off. Plus, it's not exactly easy to wash it off by yourself when you're not allowed to bend your leg at all. My arms are pretty long but my legs are even longer. I spent 10 minutes having Lil C grab various soaps and wash cloths and towels to put them within my reach and then another 10 minutes figuring out how to do this without drowning myself. I ended up lowering myself into the jacuzzi tub backwards with my leg propped up on the back wall of the tub. It wasn't fun or comfortable but I'm a bit less fake-baked looking and my hair is washed. That's an improvement.

I'm still having a lot of pain today, but when I hit the vicodin/ibuprofen loop thing just right, it seems to help. Elevation is key. If I could just move around without jarring my leg and while holding it up in the air, I'd be fine. . . which explains why I pretty much don't leave my bed.

I'm taking advantage of this time to catch up on Food network shows, which is sort of cruel and unusual punishment for yourself when you can't even get up and cook anything. Hopefully, my exile to the bedroom will end within the next day or two. I'm not a hang out and do nothing type of gal.

In the back of my head is this crazy kid desire to unwrap my whole leg and see what it looks like. I can't believe I have to wait until Tuesday. I'm hoping the big reveal isn't disappointing. I don't want to go from Franken-knee to Crater-knee. Here's hoping that the alloderm is worth the money and doing its thing under my winter-esque bandages.