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Horrible Weekend and a Cautionary Note or Two


woodland_miniatures

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Mary, I'm glad this thread came to my attention again because for the last week, I've been having an allergic reaction (rash and scratching) to something I'm taking. As I've taken all these drugs before, I didn't know which one to stop and I really can't stop any of them. But I will continue to monitor myself. I'm going over to talk to a doctor tomorrow.

And I hope you are doing better - it sound like what you went though was awful.

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The air dries out from running heat and that seems to dry out the skin and exacerbate the cracks. I use a generic equivalent of Eucerin Aquaphor that does the job well; after showering I slather it on my feet and put on clean socks to sleep in. I haven't had the cracks that go deep enough to bleed since I've been using it.

Has anyone heard from Mary?

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I have something called keratosis. It is because of the diabetes. If I remember correctly, the skin on feet multiplies too fast and that is why we get the *shelves* and bad callus action on the heels (even though I never ever walk barefoot). You have to keep eye on them cause they can easily get infected. So I see the foot dr regularly for my pedicure and I am religious about taking care of my feet.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey, I'm back among the living again, more or less.  It's been an interesting few months, with hospitalizations, infections, and...an amputation.  Went to my ortho doc on December 18 and he didn't even let me go home, just popped me in a wheelchair and wheeled me across the street to the hospital and checked me in.  The left foot came off the next day, leaving a few inches below the knee, and...WHEE!!!  NO MORE INFECTIONS!!  Never thought I'd be happy (well, not happy exactly) to lose a body part, but with the source of all the trouble gone, I started to feel better immediately and pretty soon felt GOOD for the first time in at least three-plus years.  Spent a few weeks in a rehab facility in Yakima (my heavens, I have NEVER had food that bad in my life!) learning how to handle myself one-legged (you'd be surprised at the little thing that - so to speak LOL - trip you up, then had in-home nursing for a few weeks, and now tomorrow I pay my first visit to a prosthetics clinic to see about getting an artificial foot.  Seems I'm a very good candidate for same - strong, otherwise healthy, determined, etc.  So while I am in a power chair now, there's a good chance I'll get to walk again - jeez, I've almost forgotten what that's like (but I think I'll remember VERY quickly LOL!).

 

Got a lot of catching up to do - but, oh my, is it good to be back!

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Oh Yeah !!!!! Congrats on a successful surgery and recovery.

We were just asking each other about you a week or two ago - wondering if anyone had heard from you or how you were doing.

SO glad that everything went well and you are finally feeling well and - wowzers - ready to walk again !!!

I had a relative with a dbl amputation that was out gardening, riding bikes and mild hiking afterwards and he was in his 70's at the time!!!

Keep going and keep us posted. Glad to hear you are crocheting again too! You are so talented.

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These tears are tears of joy and delight to see you home and posting again, Mary, dear heart! :hug:  Oh, I'm SO glad your  nightmare is over and the rest of your life is off to such a wonderful, strong start.  I have hiked, biked and paddled with folks with prostheses, so I know once you get yours you'll be back in ambulatory action once more.

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Kathie, I do a pretty mean "chair dance" as it is - have rediscovered the Rolling Stones and tons of concert footage on YouTube, and I defy anyone to stay still during "Satisfaction" or "Gimme Shelter".  Hey, as long as there's still the Stones and rock 'n' roll, I'll be dancing!  (BTW, for those of us who are aging - and who isn't? - that those old boys are still going strong, playing, singing and dancing their hearts out fifty years on should be a great source of hope).

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Mary, it's wonderful to see you back again and on the mend!  It's bittersweet to know that you had to go thru the loss of your foot, but if that's what it takes to get you well and back on the road to a normal life, then it's a positive change despite the trauma.  You've been thru a lot and you're an inspiration to so many of us.  We're always there beside you no matter what happens and it's wonderful to share in your joy of feeling better and getting your life back.  Huge hugs to you sweetie!!  

 

Let's go to a Stones' concert via time machine to 1969 and we'll dance with utter abandon!

 

 
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I know, Holly, and a decade older than me, and still going strong.   The face shows every single drug/drink/smoke/emotional excess and is truly frightening, but he ain't over yet!  (Now, the one that slays me is Keith Richards - if ever there's a walking miracle of survival, man....)

 

About my own situation - well, I've had a little backtrack.  One end of the surgical incision from the amputation re-opened about 10 days ago, apparently hadn't actually healed below the surface, and as you can imagine I freaked and spent some days so far down I basically didn't crawl out of bed.  Finally took it to the doctor last Thursday and he checked VERY carefully for any signs of infection (said if he'd found any I'd be on IV antibiotics and in the hospital again five minutes ago) and mercifully didn't find any.  Sent me home with strong oral antibiotics to keep it that way and careful instructions about how to dress and/or not dress the thing (it's about an inch and a half open at one end of a four-inch incision).  Mostly,dry gauze when I'm in bed and open air when I'm not.  He wants a scab to re-develop over the thing and let it heal with as little interference as possible.  And if I see any, repeat ANY change in the thing (redness, swelling, hot to the touch, etc.) I am to scream bloody murder and run, run, run to the emergency room.  And see him again in two weeks.

 

And I was so hoping all this &^*% was over with - SIGH!

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With all you've been thru Mary, that's a normal response.  It would make me freak out too.  I'm so glad that there's no infection.  It's just not easy to deal with any kind of setback when you're so weary of them and when you aren't expecting one, they feel a bit like a sucker punch.   :hug: Sending positive energy and lots of love.  

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Mary, there is no infection.  Considering your medical history, that's GREAT news! Chin up, dear heart. This is a setback, but not nearly as big as some others you've weathered with flying colors. :hug:

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More good thoughts coming from my corner to you, too. Healing surely takes it merry sweet time doesn't it.

 

My recent knee replacement has taken it's own lo-o-o-ong time to heal at the incision site because I turned out to be allergic to the "thread" they used to stitch up the incision with in the underneath layers. It keeps working it's way out and reopening the top layers rather than absorbing like it's supposed to. The actual replacement parts have healed fine but the incision area has been a real pain in the butt.

 

I say this not to call attention to me but to see if you might be having the same problem. It is supposed to be the latest and greatest in thread stitching stuff and all the MD's are loving it but it is not perfect for all the patients apparently. Might be worth posing the question to your MD.

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Selkie, Heidi, both really good points for  me to ask about.  I myself took the outer stitches out when I had transport problems and couldn't get into the ortho's office  - snip and pull, and I did it because they'd been there much longer than they should have been and the whole area was looking "angry", and it did calm down after that.  The doc had taken some of the stitches out earlier, and that's the part of the incision that's re-opened.  I will most definitely ask about inner stitches when I see the guy again next Monday.
 

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