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.