August

And the foot saga continues.  

I had an MRI last Friday because I'm still in pain and my foot is swelling.  I went for my last (I hope!) appointment at the Wound Care Center yesterday and my wound has finally closed up and healed, just a couple of tiny scabbies but I think it's going to be okay now.  It's scarred so badly that the doctor said yesterday when she looked at it, "Look at your poor little foot".  

I was supposed to get the PICC line out yesterday, too, but the doc decided to wait until I see my foot doctor (tomorrow) as the MRI showed fluid still in the joint AND a torn ligament.  The same ligament that was repaired in November.  The repair didn't work.  He put in two corkscrew anchors and sutured the tear but the ligament just didn't attach.  I guess we knew that was a possibility but after everything I've been through, ending up with the same torn ligament was not what I expected.  I'll see the doctor tomorrow and we'll talk about my options.  I think it's time for another set of eyes to look at me and my MRI.  We'll see.

Larry's having a cardiac ablation next week, Monday, I hope.  We were set to go last week but there was a hiccup with the insurance and the VA and the doctor's office so we had to reschedule.  I cannot tell y'all how irritated that made me.  I cannot STAND incompetence.  Don't schedule a procedure until you have all your little ducks lined up.  Just me??

School started back here today.  That's just crazy early to me.  We always went back at the end of August.  Oh well, no back to school at our house!  Except the kids who wait at the bus stop Larry made for them.  Our house is a neighborhood bus stop and Larry made a little bench for the kids to wait on.  And the bus actually stops there!  Soooo cute.

It's still summer here!  I hope we get to the beach this month or at least by the time I start lighting pumpkin candles.  I need some vitamin SEA!!

***UPDATE***  I have TWO completely torn ligaments and a torn tendon.  The same ones that were repaired in November.  The repairs did not take.  Or hold.  Or what-the-hell-ever.  I'm DONE.  Doc says he did everything that could be done and I'm going to start physical therapy and pray that helps.  Six weeks of it did not help seven years ago when I first broke my foot but I'm willing to try again.  Maybe there's different care now.  Different things they can do.  I'm going back to work next month and we reserved a villa at the beach for later this month.  Life is gonna go on around here.

And just like that...July

I'm getting the hang of this PICC line thing.  We had to go to the emergency room that first day because I couldn't get the thing to stop bleeding.  They put a compression bandage on it for an hour and then watched it for thirty minutes and got it to stop.  It still bleeds a bit if I move my arm too much.  I'm not supposed to move my arm too much.  No vacuuming, no mopping, no folding clothes.  Shoot, I do it anyway.  Ain't nobody got time for all'a that.  We did get a girl to come clean for us Saturday and she did a fabulous job.  We're in between housekeepers (again) and she's expensive but she's worth it.  We'll see...

So I do an infusion at 7 AM, 3 PM and 11 PM.  Every eight hours.  I flush the line with saline, hook up the antibiotic and let it do its thing for thirty minutes.  Then I flush the line again with saline and finally, with heparin, so I don't get a blood clot.  I'm doing okay with it.  My arm was really sore for about a week but that has passed and the pain I was feeling in my shoulder while the infusion is going on is a lot better.  We're getting used to each other, I guess.  I'll be on IV antibiotics until August 15. 




I also have to wear a hard cast on my foot that long.  My wound still has not healed and won't as long as there's infection in there.  I hate the cast.  I can't walk and I can't do stuff I want to do.  This one I have now has pressed against my shin since Friday.  I have to get a new cast every week.  I've been picking a different color every time because why not??  A rainbow of casts.  This week's will be red and we'll decorate it with 4th of July stickers.  

Because we can.  'Murica.

But there is one little bright spot!  I found some folks on Etsy that make PICC line covers.  Really cute PICC line covers.  I got this one and I LOVE it but it's too big for my arm, keeps sliding off.  I ordered a smaller one and when I'm done with the treatment, I'm going to donate these (and any others I get) to the Infusion Center for somebody else to use.  You know, pass it on.  

Larry makes sure I get my probiotic every morning with my coffee and so far, I've had very few side effects from the medicine.

This Saturday will be eight months since my first surgery.  Still wish I hadn't had it.  My foot is so much worse off than it was then, horribly scarred and now I have a scar forever on my leg as well from the skin graft.  Oh well, I'm taking one day at a time and I'll get back to some kind of normalcy. Eventually. Maybe.

We don't have big plans for the 4th.  Just gonna binge watch the third season of  "Stranger Things" on Netflix and then later, sit on the front porch with some sangria and watch the neighborhood fireworks show.  Our neighborhood puts on a show that rivals the professionals.  We are amazed every single year.

July, I don't know how you got here so quick but since you're here, please be sweet to us.

PICCin' but not much grinnin'

I got a new pink cast on Wednesday and a PICC line put in today.  After the PICC was put in, Larry and I got educated as to how to do it and when and all that.  I'm infusing 100 ml of Ancef every eight hours.  Or 7:00 AM, 3:00 PM and 11:00 PM.  That was best for my sleep schedule.  

The actual PICC procedure didn't hurt that much.  The numbing shot was a little uncomfortable but once I was numb, I didn't feel much.  I was able to watch on the monitor and it was cool to see my ribs and lungs and to see the wire running through there and ending at my ribcage.  

I bled a good bit after the procedure and when they put my first dressing on and then some more when I got home.  It seems to have stopped.  It's 11:20 PM and I'm almost through with my first infusion by myself.  Yay.

I'll go to the Infusion Center once a week to get my dressing changed and once a week to the Wound Care Center to get my wound checked and get a new cast.  They cut off the old cast and put on a new one every week. 

My birthday is Monday and I'll be smack dab in the middle of wound care and IV antibiotics.  

But, Sunday, we're going to see the new Toy Story movie and eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Sweet Baby Jesus, let this be the end.  Let this infection leave my body and allow my wound to finally heal so that I can get back to my life.  Amen.