Home with a closed and happy foot ....

Yippee .... I am done with chilly OR room #19!

I’m home and all went well with the closure surgery this morning. I slept well last night and we arrived at 6am at the downtown surgery center. I couldn’t believe how many people were already there and “in process” for 6am. I met w/Dr. B and his assistant, before I met with the anesthetic team. They showed me the MRI pics of the tendon area that was 5x bigger than normal. Five times larger was being conservative …. it could have easily passed for 10-15x larger. His plan remained the same – open it, biopsy in several areas, clean-out and closure. Dr. B’s guess is that the path report will show something in the micro-bacteria category, which he said can be treated with medication although it takes several months of medication. I am assuming oral and not IV, but we’ll figure that out later.

When I met with the anesthetic doctor, that was rather humorous. My heart rate was really high & he asked if I was nervous (no …. just running all around the house with last stuff, before I left the morning). His first question to me was whether I had ever had surgery before. Dr. B was still in the room and we both laughed before either of us answered the question. Obviously he had not read the “previous op history” section in the patient chart notes. I kindly said “yes,” that I have had multiple surgeries. Then I went on to tell him that I bet I could tell him what he was going to do next, because I’d done this so many times. I don’t think he believed me, so he told me to make my best guess. I quickly guessed that he was going to ask me to open up my mouth, so he could look inside (standard procedure in case a patient needs a breathing tube). To his amazement, I was right! He asked if I wanted to start my own IV, but I declined! :)

He didn't even make me put on the crazy surgical hat until the last final second .... and then when I woke up from the surgery the first thing that the nurse told me was that my hair still looked good. Gotta have those hospital priorities!

All went well & as planned with the surgery this morning. The synovial membrane inside the tendon was ”messed up,” as Dr. B put it. Too much of the synovial fluid, mayo substance stuff causes the healing cells to not do their job, which we are guessing is what happened. He cleaned it all out, sent samples to the pathology lab, re-stitched, and then closed w/new sutures. No cast, just a bulky dressing that will probably only fit into a glorious, blue surgical shoe for the next two weeks.

I’m somewhat tired, but overall am doing well. Thankfully no post-op nausea or vomiting. The ankle block has not worn off yet, so as of now there is no pain …. it will happen with time. I can put weight on my foot – just no more than needed. My first post-op appt. is in two weeks and then I’ll be able to see how we are doing with healing. It is SO, SO great to be home and not stuck in a hotel somewhere. Still planning on returning to work tomorrow morning. I warned them that I may be a little late .... mornings are slow going & getting ready takes longer than usual.

Thankful for a successful surgery and praying for a good path report in 6 weeks ...
je