Met with wound nurse ...

We made some progress on Saturday with the incision wound that is not healing. I had to work all day at JA (Girl Scout Day) on Saturday, but a visiting home nurse came to see me at work. She was fantastic! She fully agreed with the recommendation from the Chicago surgeon and said that the ointment that I had started using & then was told to stop, was the correct and fastest route to try to get the incision to heal. She gave me bandages, Saline solution, and told me the steps to take to remove all the old/dead cells within the next week. At the end of next week, we will start with collagen strips and this should promote new skin growth over the incision. Another visiting nurse is supposed to see me three times this coming week, to monitor the situation. It will likely take 3-4 weeks to get this to heal.

My Chicago surgeon called my physical therapist on Friday morning and they talked about what movement should be possible. They are on the "same page," so that is positive news. I will meet with the physical therapist three times a week for about two hours each session. Thankfully, his office is right next door to my office.

I am in a phenomenal amount of pain, since I am only able to walk on the back half my foot. I feel like I am taking narcotic pain medicine like water. The physical therapy causes more pain and walking for about thirty minutes is all I am able to tolerate - this time is up before you even get to work!

The Chicago surgeon e-mailed me back stating that she spoke with my physical therapist, but she did not say whether or not she could do the toe surgery the first week in May. I e-mailed her again and am waiting for a response. I really would like her to do this surgery, so keep praying that this works out in a timely manner. If I do not do this surgery by the beginning of May, I have to wait until July due to work items .... there is no way I can tolerate the pain until July.

Pray for wisdom & direction as I meet with an anesthetic doctor on Tuesday afternoon about the therapeutic epidural injection. I need to make a decision on this and have very mixed feelings about it. I am very hesitant, as I do not want something to get messed up with the spine! It is expensive, doesn't always work and the positioning on this is critical - pray that it will be obvious if this would be beneficial. Not everyone is a candidate for this, so maybe it will work itself out on its own.

Remaining hopeful ....
Jenny