Calf, Knee and Ankle Surgery

For the past five days, the swelling has been out of control and getting worse each day. One day, I had to take the compression garment off because it was digging into the back of my knee and cutting off my circulation. The good news is that finally today, even though the swelling is bad, it's not getting worse, and seems to be a bit better, as I could tolerate the garment today. I have been slow walking about a mile a day, which is hardly anything, but it keeps the circulation going. The bruises are all yellowy and starting to fade, and the incisions are healing nicely. The pain is very tolerable, but when you've been sitting for a while, you have to take it easy when you get up, because you will get a rush of pain and stiffness. I do still go down the stairs sideways, because I can't bend my knees. But all in all, everything's tolerable if not pretty, which is good, because in two days, I have to get on a plane and go back to work.

Still bruising and swelling, but I've noticed a few small changes. Even though my knees are getting more swollen by the minute, my ankles, even at this point, are a LOT smaller. Even with the swelling, my tape measure says I've lost 2 inches from before surgery, so cheers to Dr. Gruber! I'm sure they'll get even better when the swelling settles. The incisions are healing nicely - no infection or inflammation, but the scabs aren't moving, and I'll let them stay as long as they want to minimize scarring. I've been reallly good about staying in bed and only getting up to shower, eat and use the bathroom. Yesterday, I had a little cabin fever and tried 10 minutes walking slowly on the treadmill. I'm egregiously swollen either way, and my legs feel like they're going to burst out of their skin, so what's to lose? I found that a bit of LIGHT walking actually eased the pain in my legs a bit the next morning. (although putting on and taking of the compression garment still feels like absolute hell.) So today I tried some light, very slow outdoor walking and ended up with a mile. It honestly feels better the more you move, but of course, take it easy. I also did it to try to break the dizziness and lightheadedness, which bothers me way more than the pain. I managed to walk without getting lightheaded, but I am still "fainty" every single night in the shower and have to sit down to wash my hair. Not sure what that's about, but glad the pain is finally lessening, and I can see some faint traces of good results!

Not too much change on Day 6. These pics are from the evening when I take the compression garment off to shower.The bruises are getting angrier, as bruises always do as they heal. The pain is there, but very manageable, and I've stopped taking any pain meds, since I have the freedom this week to just lie like a beached whale watching Netflix. The worst times are first thing in the morning; putting your feet on the floor sends a thousand pins and needles up my knees. The other bad pain is taking off and putting on the compression garment - like taking a baseball bat to the knees and calves. The biggest problem I have right now is the constant lightheadedness (even getting up to brush my teeth or walk to the kitchen). I have real trouble taking a shower, because even though I've now mastered the art of the 4-minute shower, I still end up passing out and lying on the bathroom floor at some point. I've read online that taking off the compression garment (as I do before the shower) sends the blood suddenly away from your head, causing that phenomenon. I don't know if that's true, but I'm not on any meds, I'm eating fine, drinking about 8-10 glasses of water a day, so I'm not sure what else could be causing it. It could be as simple as "Hey, you just put your body through trauma, and it needs to rest." At any rate, I am sitting, sleeping and lying down most of the day EXCEPT the shower, so I'm hoping a few more days of rest will solve that. Even though my results have been buried in a sea of black and blue swollenness, I'm hopeful, and still happy I did this. I'm hearing good things about the two-week mark. :)