Thursday, September 13, 2012

Post surgery

Not everyone knows what I have gone through this week. So let me tell you all about it. Last Thursday, I had my ingrown toenails cut away. But, I am a little ahead of myself. On tuesday, a bad storm blew in and brought with it hurricane force winds and lots of rain. The winds got up to about 100mph in some places, but averaged about 50-60mph. Because of all the wind, there was lots of down (large)trees, power lines, etc. Graham and I were lucky that we had power and water when I woke up on wednesday. We did lose our phone, Internet, and cable for a dayand half. I was not really upset since we were both alright and we had power. We were divinely protected because lots of apartment complexes and businesses lost power and had trees blown over, some even had structural damage. Even though there are still large trees still down scattered throughout the town, I believe most people have returned to life as normal. My procedure was on Thursday afternoon.  I had a friend pick me up at my apartment and take me over to the office. He sat out in the waiting room while I went into room. The whole thing took about 30mins. I went in and signed papers and then the doctor started to numb up my toes. He mixed up lidocaine and mercancaine(?). He put in a whole 3ml syringe in each toe. I dont know how much of each was in the syringe, i didnt ask. I was taken aback about how much he used. He also used a 1 1/2in i believe it was 22ga(because it was blue). My toes were numb until about 4am the next morning. He did a little ring block right over the joint. I have bruises and the joint is really sore now, a week later! He used a small tourniquet and then cut my nails where they should have been. I talked with the assisant the whole time, mostly about her dog. After he cut away where my nail should not have been, he jabbed a chemical gel down in the cuticle on all four sides to prevent the nail from ever growing that way again. He wrapped them up in bandages and told me that I had to change the bandages once a day for 2 weeks. He also gave me some antibiotic gel to put in the wounds which he left open. So, when I left the office I had four large open wounds in my toes bandaged up. My friend brought me back home and hung around for a couple hours. I was taking antibiotics, but I finished them monday night.  I spend the rest of the week trying to spend as much time not walking and sitting with my feet up. I have to go back to work tomorrow. I go back next month to check up with the doctor. I am not allowed to take baths(showers ok), go swimming, or do any extreme hiking,walking until they competely heal for about 4-6 weeks.
As a side note, I got furniture last night. I got it from a friend who is moving. Now, my apartment will feel more homey now.