This is an update on my foot wound and the general state of my health.
Summary:Ā My foot wounds have now almost completely healed. The two holes have both closed up, although Iām supposed to keep bandaging them as the skin is thin and tender. My doctor says thereās no sign of an internal infection of the bone, like foot discolorization, bad smell, excessive pain, et cetera.Ā
Backstory: As some of you may recall, in December during my winter break from substitute teaching,Ā I got a foot wound, probably because I stepped on something that punctured my foot, and after a few days of intense and increasing pain, it burst into a large hole in the outer sided of my right heel.Ā I went to the hospital for several days, after leaving a large amount of dog and cat food for my critters, and having a friend check inĀ on them every couple of days.Ā
While in the hospital, I got a lot of IV antibiotics. I mean, an almost constant flow for several days of several different blends. This caused myĀ legs to burst out in vasculitis, which is a bunch of bloody patches on my legs which had the side effect of the sensation of being burned alive. It was one of the most intense pains Iāve experienced in my life, and Iāve had a permanent colostomy. On top of all that, my doctors refused to give me any significant pain medication. I figure theyĀ were over-reacting to the opioidĀ crisis by not prescribing to anyone.
So, when I went home, I had instructionsĀ to change the bandage on my foot every day, or even twice a day if I could manage it. Fortunately, this happened at the start of Winter Break, but eventually, it came time to go back to substitute teaching again.Ā
My doctor wanted me to stay home with my feet elevated, but being semi-poor, that was not an option, so I went to schools anyway. I had a visiting nurse for a couple of weeks after I got home, and she expressed surprise that I was working. She said that almost everyone with a wound as severe as mine wereĀ staying at home, or even bed-ridden. In truth, had I been able to stay home, the wound likely would have healed in a month or so, not the six months itās taken.
At first, I tried to wrap my foot in a trash bag, but as it was then a very rainy time, that didnāt work well, and somehow my foot always got some water in, and in addition, the moistureĀ stayed in the bag, which wasnāt good for my foot.
Students at various schools came to know me as having my foot all wrapped up. A generous donation of a special wound leg-shell was very helpful and the wound healing progressed more quickly when I startedĀ wearing it, although it was very difficult to get around. Itās called a āwalking castā but I suspect āwalkingā was about going from bedroom toĀ bathroom, not from one side of a campus to the other and back again several times in a day.Ā Ā
In addition, during this time, I developed a respiratoryĀ problem of a still unknown nature. My doctor said it was not pneumonia or flu, but for several months I had a lot of mucus in my lungs and I found it very difficult to breathe, and as a result, I was constantly tired. The combination of not getting enough air, the pain of walking on an injured foot, and the stresses of dealing with a different group of rowdy students every day kept me exhausted and I often came home from a day at class, sat in my recliner in the living room covered in puppies and kitties and passing out, often waking up between 1-4 am to go to bed for a few hours before starting it all over again.
Then, suddenly, almost overnight, the pain in my foot stopped almost completely a bit over a month ago. The constant pain that had been with me for months went mostly away and while the hole in my foot was still there, it was steadily shrinking andĀ I was better able to function and the lack of pain helped my mental state as well.Ā However the breathing problem remained, and indeed there were a few nights when I went to bed so short of breath, I wondered if I would wake up, and I was so depressed and in such pain, I wasnāt sure I wanted to.
I had been going to visit my wound care doctor every few weeks for the past months, and finally yesterday, he told me the wounds had closed, to keep them covered for another month just to protect the new tender skin, and baring any unexpected flares, this wound crisis is over.
If I had been able to stay home for a month or two, perhaps my wounds would have healed long ago, at least according to my wound care doctor. The stresses of having to put my bandaged wounded foot into a shoe and walk as much as I have to as a substitute teacher definitely made the healing process much longer than it would otherwise have been, but the foot crisis is over.
As for the breathing, the problem as slowly alleviated. I still sometimes have trouble with a thick mucus flow and lack of breath, but itās much better now and I suspect it will be gone in a few more weeks. It almost feels wierd to walk any distance without pain or exhaustion, although Iāve got a long way to go.
Now Iāve got a bit less than two months before summer break, and Iām on track to get hired in one of 26 elementary schools or 1 high school as a full teacher in the Fall, assuming all goes well. One never knows when a food will come out of the sky and stomp oneās plans.
#jtg
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