Its been a while

My Leg is finally on the mend and started physio back in mid January. Physio consists of lots of leg squats, lunges etc. Have been meaning to get to the gym to start lifting weights to build up my hamstring and quad muscles, but work has gotten in the way – and i’ve gotten a little lazy to be honest!

I managed to do a short 1k jog a few weeks ago, and have been able to get back cycling – did my first 20k round trip to work – though it was a little to much for my first outing. Will take the bike in a few times this week – but will pop it on the back of the car for the uphill journey home.

The numbness still present around my knee and down the front of my leg down towards the inside of my ankle – in the past 2-3 weeks i’ve been getting sharp pains around the scar on my leg, hopefully this is just the nerves regenerating.

 

 

Nothing is ever routine!

Operation number six, was supposed to be a straightforward closing up of the wound but another piece of dead tissue and a lot of bleeding decided to gatecrash the party. The wound is closed but I’ve a drain in my leg for the next week.

When will this be over sigh!

Another Dressing Change

Had to get the dressing changed again today, this time without anesthetic. I did managed to take some pics however they are quite horrible to only scroll down if you’ve a strong disposition

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Dressing Change

Had my first V.A.C. dressing changed today…..it wasn’t pleasant to say the least. The nurse and consultant pealed back the dressing and syringed in Xylocaine and Adrenaline to try and numb the area as much as possible before pealing out the foam. Most of the dressing came out ok but there were a few areas which were excruciating.

Have to look forward to this three more times before they can close up the wound…woop woop!

The wound looks something like this

Leg after being rebandaged

VAC machine

Heeem manky…..

The root of the problem

Just out of the OR, went in for an excision and biopsy, but ended up having a lump of dead tissue removed. Part of the ligament used for my new ACL died and started causing all of the problems.

The consultant is using a VAC machine to close the wound, the wound is pulled closed by the vacuum and excess fluid gets drained allowing it to heal quicker.

Was supposed to be in and out today, but am now being kept in until Monday, the foam in the wound needs to be replaced every few days, the consultant siad that its going to be quite painful so I’ve that to look forward to on Monday!

Another day and another consultant

Another consultants visit today, have to go in on Friday to have the wound excised and have a biopsy taken. It will take a week to get the sample tested, supposedly the primary infection is a strep infection but they need to find out whats causing the wound to keep opening. The CT scan didn’t show a bone infection but TB isn’t off the cards as it takes 8 weeks for a test to come back either positive or negative.

At the moment the bottom tract is getting bigger, the skin is literally tearing apart…..it isn’t the most pleasant feeling in the world