Biopsy is negative .... yahoo!

On Thursday morning around 8:30am, my San Antonio surgeon called to my surprise. I almost didn't answer the cell phone because I didn't recognize the phone number, but was glad I did! He called to say that all the biopsy reports came back negative and there is no bone or soft tissue infection. He was delightful on the phone, asked how I was doing, what was my pain level and wanted to know if I had looked at the incision yet. Sure did! I sent him a digital picture and he e-mailed back saying that he thought it looked like it was healing well. He was originally somewhat concerned about the side by the small toe healing, as this is where we "robbed Peter to pay Paul" with skin ... go far he thinks it looks good. The skin is now really itchy, so it is a a good thing that stitches will be out soon.

I was also glad to hear that the black/blue area on the skin will form a scab and eventually just fall off - underneath should be new, pink, healthy skin. I may need to wear the lovely "boot" shoe for 1-2 weeks after the stitches come out & he said to check w/my STL orthopod on how soon I can resume exercise. Hopefully sooner than later! Initially I was thinking that I could exercise on my own, but now I am guessing that a month of pt might be helpful. Although I've never been so lucky as to contain it to only four weeks of pt!

We went to West Co. mall on Saturday and I rode around in a wheelchair for the afternoon - no electric carts left on a weekend. It was a little get away for this weekend. I have kids at work on Mon/Tuesday and then have a three day break, which will be good. Painted my toe nails hot pink today in honor of stitch removal soon.

Keep praying that the area holds together after the stitches come out .... I must say that this time it does look more healed and different from previous times, so surely it will be fine. Will update after my Wednesday morning appointment ...

Blessings for a joyous week!
je

One more week & stitches out ....

It has been a fairly quiet week, but really busy at work. We have had 5 visit days with students this week and today had 135 students! Today two kids asked me if they could "buy" a ride on my scooter .... they of course thought that it wasn't "fair" that I got to ride and they had to walk all day. I told them that it wasn't as attractive as it looks at first glance. :)

I sent a picture via e-mail to the Chicago orthopod and she thought the incision area looked good & that it was healing well. She said that once it is "officially healed," we'd create a plan for "boot camp" and would get the foot back in shape. Sleep has been an issue over the past week, so she called in an Rx to aid with that. I'm sitting all day until the stitches come out, so I'm not super tired at night ... there will be a day eventually where I don't need the medication, but for now she said to take it - sleep aids in healing. Not sure yet if I'll need to return to physical therapy right away or will try to exercise on my own & see what occurs.

Only four more "work days" until the stitches come out .... I am ready! The coloration is very, very slowly looking a bit better. The area is still black/blue, but it looks better this week.

I've thought more & more this week how fortunate I am that all three doctors (Chicago, STL and Texas) all had worked together previously, know each other, are comfortable w/someone else doing follow-up care, etc. The likelihood of this happening by chance is probably pretty remote ... definitely another blessing from God. No final word on the bone/tissue biopsy, but I am sure that it is fine .... I'd have heard about it by now if there was an issue.

Looking forward to hopefully be "crutch free" in another week ....
je

Happy Easter!

Healing continues to happen a little each day. The foot is very black and blue on the top of the foot due to trauma and some blood that is under the surface. I am thankful that it is not in a cast, just several large bandages. I am guessing that it will look better with time, but at the moment it looks pretty yucky. I worked all five days this week, but thankfully only had students the first two days. I haven't received the final pathology report from surgery yet (regarding any possible infection), but the Texas surgeon says that "no news is good news" on that front.

Not a lot of pain happening, but the top of the foot is really sore. It feels like it has been manipulated and worked on a lot. I went to Good Friday service at church last night and am going to stop by my house later today to "check in" and make sure all is okay. We made Easter cookies this morning and will dye eggs this afternoon.

I am counting the days until the stitches come out ... about 9 left. I don't think I'm going to be able to start exercising as soon as I thought, by the way it looks. I can still wiggle the toes though, so that is a good sign.

Wishing you a blessed Easter!
Jenny

Smaller splint ... much better!

I saw the STL orthopod this morning and got a smaller splint. He had talked to the San Antonio doctor last night. I am glad that it is a splint and not a cast .... I have some tiny holes under the bandages where I can use one finger to "itch" the skin, if needed - no one knows where they are except me! He also was anxious to see the incision area so I got to see that too, while he peeled back the bandage material. It is definitely the longest incision yet with lots of stitches .... very swollen, bad coloring and puffy, but all normal. I understood why it is going to take 2 1/2weeks with no weight on the foot for healing. There is a larger area now that needs to heal, compared to where we started, so I hope it works. My follow up appt. is on Wednesday, April 2nd to have the stitches removed. I am taking very little pain medication as of now, which is good.

Went back to work this morning and it was good to see everyone. I only have kids on Tuesday of this week at JA, so that will be nice a nice transition.

Looking forward to the upcoming Easter weekend ....
je

Home to St. Louis .... yeah!

We are home .... yeah! Saturday was a very long day with traveling, but overall things went smoothly. Mom did well managing luggage, wheelchairs, crutches, and boarding passes by herself. She had a huge mess to clean up in the rental car on Wednesday .... if it had been my car, I'd have sold it. We were able to get the first seat on the plane (more leg room) for part of the way home and as we got closer to St. Louis, people were not as open to moving seats. We survived and headed to bed really early last night.

After the general anesthetic, I lost feeling in two fingers on my right hand. It felt prickly and like they were not "awake." It feels a little better today, so hopefully they are slowly waking up & this won't be a long term anesthetic complication.

I got over the stomach issues as soon as we stopped the medication, so that was good. Our doctor joked with us that some people will do anything to get to return :). The hospital was just super to work with and probably the best we've seen in all our medical adventures. Everyone couldn't believe that we came all the way from St. Louis. Our surgeon was top notch and we couldn't have asked for anything better. We were very thankful that we liked him and he liked us. This doctor had a great personality. He spent a lot of time with us answering questions, reviewing the plan, and making sure we were on the same page as him. I almost feel bad that he won't get to see the final result in person, but we'll send pictures. There are several levels of biopsy tests that occur w/this surgery, but so far everything has come back with no infection. The larger results will take another week.

I see the STL orthopod Monday morning at 8am & am checking about getting a shorter splint. The one that I came home with hits right behind the knee and it is an uncomfortable spot .... it needs to be an inch or so lower. The stitches come out on April 2nd and hopefully then we can get back to exercising ... not sure if I'll need to do more pt or what will happen on that scene. I'm planning to return to work tomorrow and will stay with mom and dad for the next several weeks. Keep praying that the skin heals properly and the area where we moved skin will "take" successfully and adhere to the wound area.

Many thanks for your prayers .... they made a huge difference!
je

Surgery went well ....

Surgery is over ... yeah! I apologize for the long delay in posting an update. All went well with surgery and the surgeon was able to do the minimal amount necessary. He didn't need to graft from my hip or forearm, which was really good. There is quite a long incision for him to flap over skin, but it will fade. The hospital was wonderful - everyone was very warm, welcoming, and friendly. I have a fiberglass cast that goes to the knee, which is much higher than I thought.

I was discharged on Thursday from the hospital and got horribly sick (as in stomach upset sick) in the car after leaving the hospital. We were not gone ten minutes and this happened, so we went back to the hospital. They re-admitted me, my surgeon came in and it was determined that I am allergic to the pain medication. We stopped that and I spent last night at the hospital and things were much better. Everyone at the hospital felt awful that they let me go and then I go so sick. Thankfully my same room was still available! I was able to have a private room with a great floor to ceiling window, carpeted - it was rather deluxe.

We left the hospital this morning and are at the hotel now. We checked on leaving for STL today, but all flights are booked. We'll spend a quiet day here and then will leave tomorrow as planned.

All for now .... need to get the foot elevated.
Thanks for praying!

Jenny

Surgery Scoop ....

Greetings from Texas! We arrived safely, found our hotel in the dark and everything has gone smoothly so far. As we landed in San Antonio, there was a spectacular sun set - very neat. We met with the doctor this morning and spent a long time with him. Surgery is planned for 10:30am tomorrow (Wed.) at Methodist Ambulatory hospital. We really liked the doctor and he was a great pick for my situation. He is extremely personable, caring and had already spoken with my St. Louis doctor. He knows my Chicago orthopod as well. He said that my choice in past surgeons has been wonderful, as they are two of the best he knows. Our first plan is for him to do a "flap procedure" using skin off the foot with a small skin graft ... if for some reason this doesn't work during surgery, then he will use skin and blood vessels from my left forearm (not my first choice).

The hospital is small and we think our plan of returning to St. Louis on Saturday evening will be okay. I am his only "case" tomorrow so there is no pressure with time, which is good. He was completely comfortable with allowing my St. Louis surgeon to do follow-up care. Two weeks with no weight on the foot.

The weather here today was sunny and 70 outside - absolutely beautiful! We had great Mexican food for dinner tonight and I'm headed to bed early, as it will be a long day tomorrow. I'm at peace with everything and continue to believe we have made the right decision. Everyone has been very warm and welcoming here.

Looking forward to a closed incision tomorrow ....
Love,
Jenny

Texas tomorrow ....

The majority of the weekend has been spent getting prepared to leave tomorrow for Texas. I had lots to do for work, but I almost have it all completed. I'm working until noon on Monday and then mom will pick me up and we'll head to the airport. We have kids everyday this week at JA & tomorrow will be a challenging group, so at least I'll get them started. There has been more pain over the wound area this weekend, so it is a good thing that we are getting it closed. This week will be 4 months that it has been open. Hoping that we do something fun and relaxing after meeting with the surgeon on Tuesday morning.

I'm not sure if our hotel has Internet access, but I'll check when we arrive. Assuming they do, I'll update the blog or will have mom do it at the hospital.

Several things to finalize yet at home tonight and am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed .... think positive & send up an extra prayer on Wednesday morning.

Love & hugs,
Jenny

Texas here we come ...

All continues to go smoothly as we make preparations to leave for San Antonio. It turned out that I didn't have students at work on Tuesday (snow deal), so I was able to get lots done, make medical phone calls, reservations, etc. The cat scan went fine and I have the images on CD to take to Texas. We're meeting w/the San Antonio doctor at 9am on Tuesday and then will have the remainder of Tuesday to do something fun. The San Antonio surgeon has said that he will spend all the time we need on Tuesday answering questions, going over all the details, etc. . . I was thrilled to know that he realizes this will be take longer than the average appointment time.

My St. Louis orthopod told me yesterday that we will love this doctor and that his medical skills are outstanding. 3-4 days in the hospital after surgery & no weight on the foot for who knows how long. We have a return flight on Saturday afternoon, but we can adjust if needed. The STL orthopod has agreed to do follow-up care. I'm very thankful to have the financial means to be able to do this medical trip, as it does not take long for the expenses to add up.

I have a few things to finalize at work & probably will work Saturday morning, but overall things are looking good. Our flight leaves at 3:00 on Monday afternoon. Things to pray for related to next week:
- Travel safety
- Tuesday meeting goes well w/the surgeon ... quick rapport developed.
- Wednesday (3/12) surgery; goal is accomplished of closing wound & no nausea.
- If it works to have a private hospital room, this would be wonderful.
- Peace and sleep at night would continue.
- No cold, flu or sickness would happen between now & surgery.

I was reminded today that although next week will be a big week, the medical issue is still a "solvable" problem .... God continues to be good, in control and faithful.

Love,
Jenny

Texas closure surgery scheduled ....

Progress made today .... yeah! We scheduled today to meet with the microsurgeon in San Antonio next Tuesday morning (March 11th). He will operate and close the foot wound via surgery the following day (Wednesday, March 12th). We don't have a surgery time yet, but it will definitely be Wednesday. We will not know all the "procedure details" until our initial appointment with the doctor. There may be a hospital stay of 1-3 days. Mom & I will fly to San Antonio on Monday afternoon or early evening on Monday. I will need to be non-weight bearing after the surgery, so we'll take crutches with us - juggling the airport scene should be interesting.

We are doing a cat scan tomorrow in St. Louis and I'll take the results on a CD for the surgeon. This will tell him where the best place is to "hook up" new blood vessels, which would be a new blood supply to the wound. The Chicago orthopod also knows the San Antonio doctor and says he is excellent. Everyone believes we are making the right choice and this is the next best step in the process. The Texas surgeon is a microsurgeon that has orthopedic and plastic surgery background, which is very unusual .... I haven't seen any other doctor with this specialty in the past. The St. Louis orthopod has agreed to do follow-up care, so going to San Antonio may be a "one time" deal.

There is lots to do at work this week to prepare, as I will miss 4 school visits next week. Thankful today that my STL orthopod was able to speak with the TX surgeon early this morning and was able to finalize details. I slept better over the weekend, with the help of sleeping medication (hopefully that is short lived, too). Need to book flights and hotel reservations .... many thanks for your prayers and hopefully all the little details will continue to fall into place.

Love & hugs,
Jenny