Update on Medical Morning

 Back home from the podiatrist. He is pleased with the progress thanks to the cream he has me using. He spent about a half an hour working on both of my feet. Wants me back in three months. 

PSA--YOUR FEET AND OXYGEN TANKS

Dropping a full oxygen tank on your foot is incredibly painful. I strongly advise against doing so. It causes pain and swelling across the top of the foot. Ice brings little relief. So, you are warned, from somebody who did it about six hours ago and is beginning to consider the possibility that his foot just might be broken, that dropping one on your foot is a radically bad idea.

Scott's Feet--Again

The last couple of weeks Scott has had increasing pain in his right foot--especially on the outside of the foot from the little toe to the heel--- so he saw the podiatrist today. He has a stress fracture in the middle bone of his right foot and the foot is pivoting to the outside causing pain. At least that is the belief because there is such massive swelling and inflammation inside the foot they can't get a totally clear x-ray view. He is to wear  the boot, stay off the foot, and come back in three weeks.

He is most unhappy. 

Wounded Feet

This has been a tough couple of days for the feet around here. Late yesterday evening, I stepped on a piece of glass that mysteriously appeared in the carpet. Cut an inch long gash in the bottom of my right foot and proceeded to bleed like crazy. Apparently the aspirin therapy in conjunction with my bp meds must be really working because you would have thought I slit my jugular the way the blood was coming out of me.No need for stitches and no need for a crime scene tech despite my bloody footprints everywhere around here while trying to find a bandaid..or two..or three.

Then today, Sandi got hung up in the umbilical cord from her air machine, stumbled, and then managed to kick the ottoman breaking her left little toe. She has unhappily broken it before--several times--and knew exactly what she had done when she did it. After she iced it down for a couple of hours, we got it immobilized and taped up. The ottoman would not have been there in front of her chair if she didn't need her feet up to try and reduce the daily swelling in her lower legs and ankles.

So, the feet have not been making out too well. Told the boys they better be real careful as this kind of crap runs in threes.

Sandi Update

The only good thing about all this the last few weeks is that all the forced bed rest and huge amounts of anti inflammatory drugs they gave Sandi in the hospital each stay seems to have fixed her feet. At least for now she can walk without the big black boot or the smaller air cast deal. Now that her feet no longer hurt, she can walk normally, and her feet have been only slightly swollen on occasion. So, hopefully, that is over.

We know nothing about when the next surgical attempt to get to the thing on her heart will be. No one has called yet from the surgeon's office, but we are not terribly surprised by that. We already knew he thought the coming week was booked up so it would most likely be the following week. If we don't hear anything by early next week, we will call and see what is happening.

Sandi has ask me to again thank everyone for their support as she goes through this cancer fight again. It means a lot to her as well as the rest of us to know we are in the thoughts and prayers of so many. We truly do appreciate it and are very grateful.


Kevin

MRI --Results

The MRI results were in this morning and after the news of yesterday I didn't think we could take any more negative news. Fortunately, we didn't have to test that theory.

The MRI was only done on Sandi's right foot as that is the one she hurt first and continues to hurt the most. Sandi does have pain in her left foot and leg, but it is believed that is due to the way she is forced to walk right now with the boot. So, that foot was not looked at. But, the assumption is the same issues to a lesser extent are present in that foot and leg.

Sandi does not have any stress fractures in her right foot. None at all. Additionally, no ligaments are torn or have any tears in them.Structurally, everything is intact.

What she does have are some strains/pulls in the tendons on the top of her foot and across the bottom of her foot. In addition to a borderline severe case of plantar fasciitis, (a problem she has dealt with before) she also has mall pockets of fluid caused by swelling between the tendons as well as internally in each tendon. These pockets of fluid causes small swelling in the various muscle areas of the foot and tend to inflame things.

The bottom line is no surgery at all is needed. What is needed is for her to stay completely off her feet, some mild physical therapy, and lots of time. The fact that she is a diabetic is playing a huge roll in the healing process here as it ahs before with foot injuries for her. Currently, she is scheduled to be out on unpaid medical leave until January 12, 2013. Regardless of what happens when they go after whatever it is by her heart (she is having a CT Scan with contrast for that issue right now as I write this) the foot doctor believes she will be out way beyond January 12 for her feet unless something magical happens.

If she has to be out (like right now) she is to be back in the black boot contraption that she hates and that causes pain in her surgically repaired left knee. But, the risk there is minimal for new damage and she needs her foot booted so that it moves as little as possible. Otherwise, he recommends she be at home with her feet elevated and ice packs several times a day to help reduce pain. Heating pads will make things worse. Her favorite point of all this was when the doctor suggested that I rub her feet a couple of times a day to encourage the fluid in there to break up and disperse.

So, all things considered, we got the best news we could have on this issue. Nothing torn, no stress fractures, and no surgery needed.


Kevin

Medical Update---The Latest on Sandi's Feet/Legs

Sandi had another appointment today with the podiatrist. He has diagnosed two additional problems involving her right foot and leg. He did not choose to boot her left foot as he is thinking it is being over strained by her inability to walk correctly or normally thanks to the right side problem. He agrees with the physical therapist and has stopped all physical therapy for now.

 

He also has extended her unpaid medical leave to at least January 12, 2013 because of everything.

 

Sandi now has an MRI without contrast scheduled for Tuesday morning. She is supposed to see the podiatrist to go over the results on Friday, December 7, 2012. If surgery is needed, as is expected by everyone at this point, the plan it to try and do it before the end of the year. Not only will she have a 3500 dollar deductible next year under her Wal-Mart insurance, she will also have a different insurer so things will get weird insurance wise after the first of the year for awhile.

 

Next week is going to be rough. She has the PET SCAN on Monday and bloodwork. MRI Tuesday morning. At this point she is off Wednesday. Late Thursday morning we meet with the cancer doctor and go over results. Friday morning is the podiatrist.

 

Of course, if the worst has happened and the cancer is back, that will be the focus and any foot surgery will just have to wait as they will need to start chemotherapy and anything else they want to do as fast as possible. One hopes that she will get good news on all this stuff with no cancer and no need for any surgery.

Medical Update-- The Lastest on Sandi's Feet/Legs

Sandi had another therapy appointment today with the physical therapist and the news was not good at all. The therapist has now stopped all therapy at this point because he believes it is doing absolutely zero good for her. Nothing at all has changed for the better. She remains in nearly constant pain except for the occasional periods of numbness that seem to be happening from time to time. She is still experiencing swelling at odd intervals that, so far, none of us have been able to relate to anything.

Going forward the therapist believes that both feet need to be fully booted as soon as possible, not just her right, and that she needs an MRI to determine the extent of the injuries and damage in both feet and both. He is going to stress all of this in his report for the foot doctor.

Sandi is supposed to see the foot doctor Friday morning.  She is also supposed to have her PET SCAN and blood work on Monday to determine if she is still in remission.

How long they have to wait after her PET SCAN to do an MRI I have no idea, but I would think there has to be some time because they use some sort of dye deal with the PET SCAN. Seems to me they would need that to flush out of her system before they could do an MRI.

Obviously, things could easily be worse and we know that. But, not knowing exactly what is wrong and if it can be fixed is frustrating her quite a bit. You would think after all we have gone through over me the last two plus years, and everything with her as well from heart attacks and strokes to cancer, she could catch a break on this.