Cast Saw

I took a picture of this but didn't realize it's function. It's an orthopedic cast dust vacuum to suck up the debris as the cast is being cut off. Makes sense. The cast cutter is hanging on the handle.

7th Week

I'm in my 7th week and have had done much more outside of work and staying at home. This week I got my new cast the same day as my 6 week mark (on a Tuesday). The bone stimulation is working out fine. I usually have 20 minutes I'm more than willing to sit in the recliner and do some flipping with the TV remote. I don't feel anything during the stimulation but after I've felt some tingling, slight painfulness in that area. I don't know if it's just a coincidence. The soreness in my foot is worse at the end of the day anyway so it may not have anything to do with stimulation.

Wednesday I went out to eat with some women at work. I propped my foot up on an extra chair and stayed pretty comfortable the whole time.

I drove three times to meet with my carpool ride, once to her house, and two times to the pool. Friday I went to the grocery store before I headed up the hill, first time all by myself to do a grocery store trip. Friday night I drove to a restaurant to eat out with my son so I had a few traffic lights and more cars to deal with. Again, my foot was propped on a chair and that seemed fine. The whole thing with driving is fine with the left foot. It's the discomfort with my leg that is the main obstacle. I can't seem to get the leg in a comfortable enough position to just relax, so it gets tired. For now, I think I'll need to keep the trips short.

Also, soccer games started this week. I'd like to make most the home games. I walked around our building to talk to some of the folks I used to work with so I could ask them for rides to Grissom. One man lives really close to Grissom so he gave me a ride on Thursday. He got me there early for the varsity girl's game so I watched some of the JV game. I was out there for 3+ hours sitting on the bleachers. It was about 45 degrees after the sun went down but I had plenty of blankets, a pillow, and space to sit my leg horizontal. I went all the way to the top so I could lean my back against something. Bleachers are uncomfortable enough as it is but a few weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to stay out there that long without it hurting my foot.

I put the dogs in the pen one morning and went off-road with the crutches. Also, I had to let them in one time at the end of the day. The night of the soccer game, I got a ride home with the in-laws from Grissom to my truck at the pool so I was the first one to get home. Even with a front light on, the yard is still pretty dark, so I didn't venture down to the pen to let out the dogs. I waited for the rest of the family to do that when they got home. The dogs have learned to be less jumpy around me. I think T is scared of the crutches. S would be oblivious enough to not care but she's been pretty well behaved around me. They give me my room when I go walking through the house.

Another milestone this week is going upstairs on crutches, so no more bottom scooting. I come down with one hand on the hand rail, and one hand holding both my crutches at the handle, kind of like a cane. I hop down a step very carefully and with a lot of weight on the rail and lean slightly backwards. This seems easier and less scary than using the crutches. For some reason, going down steps with crutches blows my confidence. At the bleachers, I did fine because each step was really wide and deep. The shallower the step, the scarier it seems because if I get out of control leaning forward, I could lose it and take a tumble.

This week I also went to my Pilates class I had been going to before Christmas. It felt so great to get some movement in all areas of the body. My carpool buddy was going at lunch so I was able to tag along. The university fitness center is half a mile from our building.

Bone Stimulator

Today I got a new cast and the Exogen Bone Stimulator. "The EXOGEN^◊ Ultrasound Bone Healing System is an ultrasound device that you apply over the fracture site and is safe to use 20 minutes a day. The system emits a low-intensity, pulsed ultrasound signal. The ultrasound waves have been shown in laboratory tests to stimulate genes and growth factors that are critical to your body’s natural bone healing process."

It's to be used over my 2nd and 3rd metatarsals. I guess from the x-ray yesterday, those two fractures have not shown much healing compared to the other fractures. Let's just hope it works.

The doctor told me it was covered by insurance but today the Exogen rep wasn't sure if it was covered fully. He said I may have to pay 20%. The device retails for about $3K so I would like it to be 100% covered.

It came in it's own carrying case. Inside is the device, ultrasound gel to put on the transducer thing that goes against my skin, and a strap with applicator to use once I'm in a boot and out of the cast.

I forgot to take pictures today but once I was at home, this is what it all looks like. I open this plug in my cast, pull out felt plug. The felt plug prevents "window edema" (swelling). Then I apply gel to the transducer and enclose it inside the hole so it's next to my skin. The transducer is round, flat, and black, and fills up the hole completely. Then I turn on the device. It's automatically detects if there is gel otherwise it won't start. Then it counts down from 20 minutes. It keeps track of how many times you've completed the routine. There are only 150 times before the battery has to be replaced.

This unit is mine to keep. The rep said it was illegal to sell it but I saw them for sale on Ebay. hmmm?? Maybe I can help defray some of my medical expenses when this is all done. I'm just kidding. I don't know why they can't be reused though. The company that makes it is Smith and Nephew, based out of Memphis. This is used for bones all over your body.

Now I'm in a cast for four weeks so other than the newness of this bone stimulator voodoo (how the doctor described it) there is nothing else all that exciting. Well, maybe the new blue color. My foot is back to feeling tight inside the cast. So far, it's been pretty uncomfortable tonight.

Tonight I drove the truck down the mountain to pick up my son. He had a soccer game in Decatur and another parent brought him back to Huntsville, so I met them at the pool. The pool is about 4 miles away. That's makes 3 times I've driven in the past 6 weeks. I'm going to start driving to my carpool buddy's house on a regular basis. It will help to keep a pillow in the truck and SUV to prop under my leg for added comfort.

Fifth Visit to TOC

Today I got my cast taken off, another x-ray taken, and stitches removed from the gash. Now I'll get a cast for 4 weeks and then a walking boot, then maybe a shoe.He wants to do this Exogen Bone Stimulator to enhance the bone growth. For some reason they didn't have everything they needed to do this today so they sent me home with an ace bandage. Apparently I get a cast, and then they cut a hole in the top right above my 2nd & 3rd metatarsal. From what I read online it's some sort of ultrasound device. I'll find out more tomorrow.

The doctor expects to see bone growth improvement after 4 weeks but was still too early to show up on this x-ray. He expects to see callused bone around the breaks. There was a little spot closer to my 2nd toe that he at first thought was a surprise break but it figured out it was scar tissue from the open fracture.

The foot still looks pretty banged up, taut, & swollen. I was afraid to have these stitches removed but I really wanted them out of there. The medical assistant was very gentle in removing the stitches, and then she pulled up the scab, too. Looks pretty good on the right, huh? The discoloration is related to the digital flash although the foot is a weird color.

Stitches, Before and After

There is still one stitch in the open fracture area. The doc used a silver nitrate stick to remove the hypergranulation tissue. I think the dark spot below the tissue is just dried blood. The open fracture was not that big. After I saw how easy it was to use this silver nitrate stick, I asked him to remove the skin tags that I have on my neck but he wouldn't do it. He said, "Yeah, sometimes I'm in surgery and I just want to do that to someone on their neck, but ... we can't do that".

Hypergranulated Tissue, Red puffy spots,
Before and After Silver Nitrate

The medical assistant washed between my toes with gauze and water or alcohol. When I got home tonight I shaved my calf and washed the bottom of my foot. The foot still looks pretty yuck but at least it feels a little cleaner between the piggies.

Medical Tab So Far

Thank goodness for insurance.

I received a BC/BS Claim Statement yesterday. So far I've paid a $300 deductible for the hospital stay. But the charges made to BC/BS seemed outrageous. The grand tally so far is $15.5K. The surgery in Birmingham was charged by the bone. Each broken bone was $613 making the total 3K. The charge by the Huntsville doctor was listed as surgery, too, and also charged by the bone. Even though it had been discussed, I never had surgery . I think I'll talk to him about this on Monday, among many other things.

I also got my ER copay bill for $50. Not sure why I wasn't billed for that when we processed in.

A couple summers ago my son broke two bones in his arm. He had one visit to ER, a cast, and then a few follow-up visits. His tab came to $4300. Again, like I said, "I'm glad we're insured well".

Big Sis

My sister sent me flowers today. They are beautiful and are filling the room with a wonderful smell.

Signed,

Today seems like a good day to tell ya we love you.

Meals on Wheels

We've had some wonderful meals delivered to make our life a little easier. I've made a few meals in the kitchen but it's pretty cumbersome to get around. So the meals have been very much appreciated. My carpool buddy organized some meals one week.

Early on we had some meals from my father-in-law's wife's good girlfriend. She was basically helping out my father-in-law with the meal but she was real sweetheart to think of us also. My father-in-law's wife was out of town with her sister because she had had an aneurysm right around the same time as my accident. She flew to Texas New Year's Eve and just got back this week. So her good girlfriend was watching out for our family. We've missed her and hope her sister is on her way to recovery.

Next week my father-in-law and his wife are going to a shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral.

5th & 6th Weeks

After about a week in the cast, my foot started to loosen up around my ankle and back part of the foot. This seems good but it also creates additional pressure points as my ankle relaxes and the foot slips upwards. I have to push my heal back down into my cast frequently. It still feels tight around my toes. My foot has many sensations. Cool, tingly, prickly, pain, itchy, etc. Sometimes I can pinpoint exactly where the pain is and I imagine it's one particular bone doing it's healing thing. My 4th toe, the one that was dislocated, still feels really weird from time to time. It feels really fat and big but it doesn't look that swollen. I don't feel I could put any weight whatsoever on the foot. I could maybe put pressure on my heel but no where else.

I go back to the doctor on Monday, Feb 9th. My husband will be at work, and my father-in-law is going to be gone on a trip. I got a friend at work to take me to the doctor and hopefully my husband can pick me up.

Hair Cut

Today I got my hair cut. It was getting pretty long. I had missed my appointment back in December. I had just arrived for my appointment when I got the text message about a power outage at work. I decided I should go on to work to help tend to our systems instead of sticking with my hair appointment. Turns out we did have some damage from this outage. Took out an older server rack UPS (uninterruptible power supply).

After my accident I called my hair dresser to let her know it would be difficult for me to make any appointments for a while since I'd need to get someone to take me.

So when my carpool buddy mentioned she'd be getting her hair cut one morning and I could tag along or get a different ride, I asked if she thought her hair dresser could fit me in (or she may have offered -- looking at my hair). My carpool buddy arranged it all and I was able to get my hair cut. It worked out great and I'm glad to have my bangs back up to where they should be.

I Drove to my Carpool Buddy's House

Today I drove the SUV over to my carpool buddy's house so she wouldn't have to come get me for a change. It's about 3 miles and there is essentially no traffic. Not even sure if I passed a car. It's kind of rural where we live. I may do this more often to ease the burden on her. It's about 5-10 minutes to go that 3 miles so twice a day that would be 10-20 minutes. So I get up earlier than her and at the end of the day, I get home later than her. She met me outside but now if I were to go inside her house, we'd need to train her dogs to not knock me down with their enthusiastic greeting.

Today I Drove Again

Today we made another long outing. My son had a chance to go dirt bike riding yesterday down in Trussville. They got back late Saturday night so he spent the night with his friend. My husband and I went to pick him up, went to get a bite to eat, and then to the grocery store. When we got home I stayed in the SUV to go for a test drive. I moved over the console to the driver's side. I got situated where I could reach the gas pedal with my left foot by adjusting electric seats. I coudn't quite keep my cast down on the floorboard so I propped it over into the passenger side. It wasn't the most comfortable with my body turned sideways slightly. I drove out our driveway and up the residential street, turned around, and came back. No traffic but I was able to manage the gas and brake with left foot. I don't think I could make it 17 miles to work though just yet; and in traffic. But I feel this is progress. I had already checked with my insurance to see if it would be covered. I am. I also perused the DMV website looking for any rules pertaining to what foot you use to drive with. Couldn't find anything. I'll also ask my doctor on Monday.