Walking again…Seventy days after I had my left foot surgery on April 6th, I stood up for the first time on June 15th and walked with the help of two elbow crutches. I only walked about five minutes that first day and I was really tired, but I have now managed to increase it to about 45 minutes a day since I’m doing 3-15 minute walks in which I’ve been walking from my bed to the kitchen sink and back to my bed. For about a week now, I’ve also been walking outside – starting at 15 minutes and now I’m up to 30 minutes; walking just a little bit more each day helps my stamina.
Slow, but sure…I’m the first one to admit that I’m really slow, because in that same 45 minutes a six-minute-miler could literally run laps around me by going seven and a half miles, but it’s a small victory for me and I’m very gratefully for the progress.
Doin’ the boot scootin’ boogie…Prior to walking outside, I sat in my wheelchair and scooted down the sidewalks by keeping the right foot elevated on a leg rest and pushing with my left foot. I was outside three different times for about an hour and a half each day, but I decided to stop doing it when I felt like I was bitten by chiggers the third time.
Removing layers of dead skin…The nurses from Comprehensive Health Network were able to remove all of the dead skin and dried up blood from the bottom of my foot, which was a good sign that new skin was forming under the surface. See the before picture below from June 9th and the after from July 16th.
Back to Westerville for another appointment...On Monday, July 12th when I went back to see Dr. DeCarbo, he removed the black necrosis skin, which was on the inside of my right foot. The area was about ¾ by ½ inch and fortunately it was numb and didn’t hurt at all when it was cut away, because the Achilles tendon had already been cut allowing the halo to return the ankle to a 90° angle.
Before and after…Below are some pictures showing how my foot looked on Wednesday, June 9th and how it looked on Friday, July 16th – five weeks and two days later. Once again, Dr. DeCarbo removed a lot of the black "necrosis" dead skin, so it’s quite a big improvement and proof that the body does heel when given time and the best possible care, which I definitely received from Dr. DeCarbo and the nurses from Comprehensive Health Network.
My next goal…Right now my goal is to walk with a new shoe and to not use any crutches inside and only use one crutch outside. Ideally, that would be by late October, however, before these things can happen, the skin located inside and outside of my heel needs to completely heal, the heal bone has to be able to withstand weight without hurting and my toes need to be straightened, which will probably be another six weeks of not being able to walk. Definitely by Christmas, I will receive my best gift ever with my foot being completely healed and walking a lot better!!!
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