Alan was operated on today!!!
 

Well, what a surprise. Here I thought the guy was going to shave down the bone, and that's not exactly what happened.

We get there, Alan goes in, I wait in the waiting place (making friends with everyone else waiting there also).

After a few hours, the doctor calls me over and I immediately say "Oh you shaved down his bone, right?" and he goes 'No I didnt'" I said 'what do you mean, Alan told me that's what you were going to do and also take something out of his calf".

The doctor said "No, that's not what I told Alan, I said I would look at his ulcer and ultimately determine if I would or wouldn't shave down the bone. Did you know that he had a hole that went straight through to his seismoid??"

I said 'well, I saw the little hole, but I didn't know about the seisemoid".

He then asked me if there had been any redness, swelling, pus, ANYTHING??? and I said "absolutely not". Alan has been complaining that it's been hurting him lately.

He said "well, I debrided it and took care of it, it has to heal, he has to be off his foot for one week, then bring him in and bring his cam walker too"

Then he told me what he did with the calf muscle thing.

He said (can't remember all of it), but he extended something, and he said and I got this part right.

He said: 'I've discovered in many cases like your husband that if I extend (whatever thing he extended), that Alan's pressure would be oft loaded (or something to that effect), the short version is he did something to Alan's muscle in the calf and he feels that when Alan's ulcer heals, that when Alan starts to walk again, he will walk completely differently and it won't cause the ulcer to re-ocurr. I got that part right because that's what I said back to him and he said "correct".

He said 'we'll see later on if something has to be done with this bone, but honestly, I don't think it will, because I've seen a great many people have no more problems once I lengthened (whatever thing he lengthened).

He also mentioned wound care. I said 'you know he's not a diabetic, and I do take care of him". He said "yeah, I know, very good". He said "bring him in next week and we'll decide from there. Bring in the boot".

So I said "So if you don't like the cam walker, you'll give him a different one?" and he said 'correct".

So the operation went off without a hitch. I found him in recovery eating chocolate cookies, and croissants.

Everything is run like clockwork at Beth Israel. Very good teamwork.

Alan is in a foot cast almost up to his knee. Just his toes peek out.

Now getting this man on crutches and onto the access-a-ride is a completely different. matter. His balance (when he walks he's fine), but put him on crutches and forget about it.

And getting him up the porch to our apartment, well I thought he would fall on me. Then his pants started to fall down and he's screaming "My pants are falling down", and I started laughing my head off. He started laughing too. Thank god we can still laugh at stuff.

He just sat down on the porch (after pulling up his pants), and he shimmied up the front steps, then hopped up and I got the wheelchair. Where he is right now.

I do not look forward to bed time. This shall be very interesting.

So just wanted to update.

I hope he has a speedy recovery....and I hope the cast doesn't bother him too much.

I'm glad Alan made it through OK--
 

--and would love to know exactly what the surgeon lengthened--suspect it was connective tissue (tendon? ligament?) of some sort . . .

I too hope he has a speedy recovery! You had me laughin on the floor when I read about his pants falling off. :hug:

Thanks to both of you.

Alan remembered the word the doctor used started with the letter G.

So I said 'Ganglian??? " and Alan said "might be".

I have absolutely no memory so I'll find out next week. Then I'll take my Lil reminder thingee and record what the doctor did.

Then I'll update it.

Can you imagine, ANOTHER SHOE BOOT THINGEE. This guy has had more shoe boot thingees.

Too bad they don't do anything.

Oh well, we just got through watching American Idol.

Luckily he's not that uncomfortable. But he's a dead weight and I'm no spring chicken.

It's hard lifting him.

I could NEVER be a home health care attendant. I have no idea how they lift people and put them (and take them out) of wheelchairs and into their beds.

How on earth do they do this??

Tell Alan that I hope he recovers quickly, and to take care. We don't want any falls or new problems!

Mel
 

I think Glen is right,but next time Alan a man,well they ,how do I say
this. The Dr. saids to Alan we may have to take you foot and attach
it to your ear..By the time he get's to your it's a whole different
story..Nurses will tell you men are fun to work with there easy.
My home health care nurse said your a doll,but be carefull not to hurt
your back..Do you have to go upstairs to get him to bed,if so get
a script for a hospital bed,and put it in the living room..Prayers and hugs to
both..Mel really be careful of you back...He got pudding oh wow,that
sounds so good...Sue

Wishing Alan a speedie recovery & do take care yourself when moving him, i think we have some ex nurses here that might be able to give you some good tips.
Brian :)

Sue:

Rest assured, that if I had to go UP ANY KIND OF STAIRS to put this man to bed, this man wouldn't go to bed!!! He'd sleep on the sofa. My whole apartment is on one floor.

As a matter of fact, I just asked him "Can you sleep on the sofa tonight? and he said "why would I want to do that?" and I said "because I want to go to bed and you are heavy". Then he said "I can get myself to bed".

He couldn't get up one step on my porch and yet, he can get himself to bed??

I think not!!!!

At least I made him some brownies tonight.

You all should have been there when the nurse came and got him and he had the operation. When all was over I had to wait all those hours until they allowed visits in the recovery room.

So there I was with about 40 other people and I call the doctor's office to arrange the follow up visit. Because I didn't have an pencil or paper with me, I just took out My Lil Reminder thingee and recorded the date and time of the next appointment.

Well, you should have seen all the people in the waiting room going "Oh my god, where did you get that thing?? I said "are you kidding, it's one of those "as seen on tv gadgets, haven't you seen this and the PEDEGG"?? whereupon a woman jumps up out of her chair and goes "Oh, I have the PEDEGG, isn't it adorable?? and I said "yeah, but I really love the ONE TOUCH CAN OPENER, because it walks around my cans".

With that, a whole bunch of us got together and started comparing AS SEEN ON TV PRODUCTS. One had the chopper, another had the Long Grab it thingee.

One person asked me 'do you have the Lightbulbs that you stick on the wall? and I said "if it has been on an infomercial I have it". I never laughed so hard in all my life. It was the best 2 hours of time spent in a waiting room. We were all in the same boat waiting for someone somewhere in the hospital and we had to wait until the recovery visiting hours were coming up, so that meant, either sitting for 2 hours and not saying a word, or just have a great gab fest.

Guess who started the gab fest?? They all wanted to see and hear the My Little Reminder thingee. But when I explained about the Tater Mitts, the guys got hysterical. If I thought I was the only person who liked those informercial gadgets, boy was I mistaken.

They wanted my youtube links so they could view all the gadgets. I'm telling you , I had a good time for over 2 hours. Then someone comes down and escorted many of us up to the recovery area where we saw Alan eating chocolate chip cookies and saying "did I have the operation already?"

He did great, thank god for that.

bye for now.

So glad he did well Melody... Such a lucky guy to have such a wonderful nurse... We all know he is in good hands... :) :) :)

Cathie

(((((((((Melody and Alan)))))))))

Lifting patients
 

Hi Melody:

In hospitals and nursing homes, lifts of various kinds are used to lift patients from wheelchair to bed, bed to wheelchair, etc. Nurses and aides do not lift patients without a machine. We used a Hoyer lift at home ourselves, and it made things very easy. There must be two people using the lift in hospitals and nursing homes, for safety (and insurance) reasons, but it can easily used by just one person, because I did it with ease and no problems. Loved that Hoyer lift! A "sling" is placed around the person, and then the sling fastened to the lift.

I do hope that Alan can have that muscle operation to solve his perpetual problem with that foot ulcer. That has gone on much too long!

Shirley H.

Shirley:

Alan DID have the muscle operation. That's exactly what Dr. Hubbard thought might help. He made a decision not to shave down the bone. He must know what he's doing. He's a good orthpedic surgeon who works at Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC.

So Alan is doing okay. BELIEVE ME ALAN IS DOING OKAY.

He got all frisky on me at 5:30 a.m. (with a cast on no less). I bopped him on his head and we got hysterical laughing. I hope the 82 year olds who live downstairs didn't hear us. I told him "listen, I'm 60 years old, and I need my sleep, and so do you".

thank goodness we get along, OTHERWISE WE'D PROBABLY KILL EACH OTHER.

But honestly, he's trying to maneuver around on the crutches. Very hard for him. But MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, he maneurvered himself out of the wheelchair and onto the couch. I just looked at him. For him, this was SOMETHING, believe me.

So,and I have no idea how we find out if this muscle calf thing is going to work out... I mean, what are we supposed to look for? How he walks, (I mean when he gets back to walking).

This is a wait and see thing.

And don't worry about HIM, Worry about ME!!!! I'm the one taking care of HIM!!! lol

Melody

P.S. I have seen those Hoyer Lift things. A godsend.
I'm the only Hoyer thing in this house.....lol

Sending many get well wishes to your husband and good luck to you. You guys sem like a wonderful couple. Laughter is the best medicine and love too. The brownies don't hurt either.

MelodyL
 

MelodyL:
I'm new to this board so bear with me....
What type of foot problems has your husband had?

His sounds similar to my husband's--ulcers, bone infection, toe amputation, shoe boots. I'm curious about whatever the doc did to his calf muscle. My husband has high arches & his doc talked about doing something to his tendons but don't know much about this & how this would help. It's good you can still laugh! Some days that's not so easy! Rozzie M

Hi Rozzie:

My husband was diagnosed for years with Idiopathic Peripheral Neuropathy. He is not now, nor has he ever been diabetic. His sugar reading is usually 84. Thats his number. Always has, probably has been. They ruled out anthing to do with Diabetes long long time ago and he had another test last year and again it was ruled out.

They did however order a spinal tap, discovered protein in his spinal fluid, and prescribed IVIG infusions once a month. Helps with his balance but does nothing for the pain between the toes. That's where his neuropathy is.

Two or so years ago he had a carotid blockage, did the stent thing, went into cardio rehab, joined a gym, went on a treadmill, AND BECAUSE HIS FEET ARE COMPLETELY NUMB, well he did not know he was developing a sore. He came home, all his socks were bloodied, I immediately took him to his podiatrist who diagnosed him with a foot ulcer.

He has had the same recurring foot ulcer for a good two years. He has been debrided more times than a fish has been gutted.

He has been prescribed orthotics, oft-loading shoes, shoe boot cam walker thingees, his ulcer would heal, then it would return.

His podiatrist would not shave down the bone. I found an orthopedic surgeon. Alan went to him (I could not go that day AND I CAN BOP MYSELF BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE LISTENED TO WHAT THE GUY SAID).

Alan came home and said "Oh, he's going to shave down the bone and take out something out of my calf". I said 'really??" and he said "Yeah, he says that if he does this calf thing, then when I walk, I won't put any pressure on the ulcer.

Well, yesterday, he has the operation, (and now you an re-read what I said about the doctor not shaving down the bone).

So next week, WHEN I WILL GO WITH HIM , I shall take notes, and you can read it right here on this thread.

That way you can compare your husband's feet with my husband's feet.
What's your husband's diagnosis by the way? My husband has never had a bone infection, never had an amputation, (thank god).
Is your hubby diabetic?

Good luck
 

Good luck Melody and I hope Alan's foot heals fast! Tell him I'm off my crutches now And just be very very careful and don't get too confidant. Take it slow. Hope all goes well.

Billye

Hi Billye:

I know exactly what you mean by not getting too confident. I'm afraid he'll fall if he tries to do anything on the crutches without me next to him. He doesn't do this. This is how we communicate. I have a very long apartment. My living room dining room alone is 30 feet. So if I'm in the back of my apartment doing something on the computer or just cleaning up in the bathroom, how can he call me??

I gave him my cell phone. He calls the landline phone, I see it's him, I say "what's up tootsie" and he goes, "can you come and put in this cassette tape for me". I go inside and bop him on the head. We laugh.

I really don't mind because as soon as he's well, he's taking me around the corner for a nice Japanese dinner.

Next week I'm taking down the wheelchair and putting it down the stairs. Then he'll shimmy down and get into it. Then we'll access-a-ride down to the Doc's office. Don't know if they will take the cast off. Anybody have a clue??

Also, it's a hard cast. So here's my question. And underneath by the heel area, it's hard there too. So the cast is a hard cast everywhere (and the toes peek out). So what would be the bad thing if, let's say Alan wants to wheel himself ove to the bathroom, and then take one crutch, and put down his right foot (the one with the cast), and just gingerly puts the heel on the floor.??? Isn't that what a hard cast is for. To allow you to step on it for a moment so you can transfer from one object to another??

Like getting out of bed and just taking two steps to the wheelchair, or getting out of the wheelchair and taking two steps to the bathroom.

He really isn't supposed to put his cast on the floor at all??

Believe me, all the instructions say is to elevate the right foot at heart level.

They tried to show him how to walk with the crutches, but when I saw the hard cast was under the heel, the first thing I thought of was "can't he just put his heel down for a moment???"

I'm thinking, "maybe it has something to do with the muscle calf thingee??" I mean, maybe he is not supposed to do any walking on this hard cast because of the calf part of the operation?? I didn't know that it was a hard cast by the heel or I would have asked the doctor, and now it's too late to call anybody.

If he puts any weight on the heel, it's not going to disturb the ulcer because the heel is in the hard cast.

anyone know???

mel

How is the pain?
 

Does he have pain?

Sounds like there isn't much because you don't mention it.

Praying
 

Melody, just to let you know, you and your husband will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Michele:hug:

Hi Mrs. D.

No, he doesn't have pain (he does have discomfort), but no pain. He does have the neuropathy if he sits or lies down. NOt when he stands up. But he rarely stands up because he can't.

I hope someone can answer my question about walking on the heel of the cast.

Thanks much

no expert here...but if the cast doesn't have the rubber bumper on the bottom..it's normally not meant to walk on. which means the dr didn't want it walked or he would have ordered a walking cast.

:hug:

totally agree with curious
 

Melody,
if they mean for him to walk or put weight on it, he'd have a heel built into the bottom of the cast. No heel means no weight in my experience and believe me I've had a lot of it. I tore tendons loose from my ankle, they took a tendon from the back of my calf and spliced the tendon in my ankle. No heel, no weight was what I was told. And tell him NOOO coathangers inside it to scratch. (yes it will get itchy) He needs to support his weight on his good leg and the crutches. Yes, it will be difficult. He's a strong man. If I can do it he can, let him do it, don't hurt yourself.

You can call your doctor on Monday to see how much if any weight he can put on it.

Billye

Excellent information.

I did not know about the heel on the cast. You all gave good advice.

Alan is doing just fine. No scratching, no coat hangers. We don't have any wire coat hangers anyway.

But I shall tell him what you said. See, I knew he couldn't walk on the heel, I just wanted to find out if he could put ANY weight on it.

Thanks SOO much. Now I know.

I just walked over to Alan and told him what you guys said about the rubber tip thing on the heel.

Alan says to me "Oh, there's a rubber thing here". I said 'there is?? really?? and he says "yeah feel it". I went over to the bottom of his cast and it was hard as a rock.

I said "what are you talking about, there's no rubber thing on your heel". So don't put any weight on it".

He said "I remember the doctor and the nurse saying that if I had to, I could put a bit of pressure, but not too much". Now I remember that too because I was there when the nurse said that.

But be that as it may, unless it's absolutely necessary, he's staying in the wheelchair and on the couch.

Thanks much for all the good information.

Mel

Hi MelodyL

My husband, David, started about 12 years ago when he was approx. age 40 of having some numbness in his toes. At some point he got a cut on the bottom of his foot that bacause he couldn't feel all that much it got infected. Several doctors later, they diagnosed it as peripheral neuropathy. Eventually his foot got infected to the bone (has had multiple bone scans-forget the medical name) and he had one or two toes on his left foot taken off (it all blurs on whether they did his second & third toe together, bottom line both were gone). he got some orthotics for his shoes that he says really helps keep pressure points off certain areas of his feet. Now after multiple surgeries (debredments too many to remember) he has his big toes remaining on his left foot. He has had some problems with his right foot but so far has lost no toes. He has really high arches & his toes draw up so that seems to put pressure on his toes & of course makes the way he walks put pressure on the bottom where he gets callouses. He also about 5 years or so ago has noticed tingling, pain, loss of feeling in his hands.
This seems to be genetic as his older brother (17 years older) just last week had all of his toes taken off plus part of his foot due to unhealed infected bone. (he doesn't listen to the doctors). A younger nephew (age 40-son of the one who doesn't listen) has begun having some numbness in his feet and I think another nephew has begun also with numbness. So far none of the women in David's family (he has 6 brothers & 4 sisters) has had any problems. The doctors don't have much of an answer as to why for any of this. He is having more bone "shaving" next Wednesday. Hope it's just that & not the remaining toe. (I think we have helped his doctor-podiatrist-put his kids thru college!)

For your husband, make sure to keep careful watch on any sore on his feet as infection is impossible to get rid of once it gets a stronghold. Any signs of redness, red streaks, swelling is a sign that there is infection. Xray shows some of this but the bone scan shows up with more definition.

RozzieM

Rozzie:

Yeah, I know all about the infection thing with the foot ulcers. He's been there, done that. The very last time he got an infection was many many months ago, Might have been a year. Oh, I remember what happened. He was bleeding and because he has absolutely no feeling in his feet, he just started taking out the skin around the ulcer. There was an actual bigger hole than there was before.

I looked at him and said "are you out of your mind, you have an infection, you don't go putting your hands in there and taking out the remaining area."

I had to literally drag him to the podiatrist who yelled at him. The podiatrist debrided it and I have never seen a hole so big in my life. He told us to come back in three days. You would not believe how fast this man heals (because he is not a diabetic). His hole was almost closed.

The doctor marveled and said "look at this, you would never know that three days ago, he had a whole bigger than a quarter"!!!! The doc had put him on antibiotics at that time.

But thankfully there has been no infections since. Just his darn ulcer and debridement after debridement, shoe boot after shoe boot.

Oh, my husband just made a video and we are uploading it onto youtube. I'll post it right on this thread.

You'll get to see him and his humor and his cast and his wheelchair. We find it very helpful in his recovery.

Take care,

Melody

Alan just made the video.

It's amazing, how one can be in so much pain (even after a percocet), and then when he gets up in the morning, he can sit in the wheelchair and be laughing.

I don't know if the endorphins, or it's the weather, (he does not take any pain meds during the day, only before bedtime), and only since he had the operation. Normal pain meds don't work on his neuropathy. I think the Alprazolam works better at his going to sleep. I don't think tonight he'll need a percocet. Just the alprazolam.

Anyway, here is my Alan, in fine form, saying HI!!! to all of you!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPrhlrGJ7co

bone infections (osteomyelitis) and tissue infections are very different. Osteomyelitis never goes away, the best you can hope for is that it remains dormant and that you dont get a flareup or they dont come that often. Osteomyelitis is difficult to treat and can reactivate due to many circumstances, breaking a bone, having hardware put into your body, etc.

If I didn'tt know Alan I would say he's high,but knowing him by cyerspace,
he's a joy and cute,I mean funny..Mel when I was doing the nurse thing
casts that have pressure can break down . There are walking casts
his doesn't look like one..Besides they want him on crutches,which I
absolutely cannot use either..Did they give you a paper that said not to
pressure on it.

Can't wait to hear what they have to say next week...Mean while kept
attacking him it's very good for your heath and his, ahhh a woman's work
is never done..My 2 son's are in town when they get in i'll show them
Alan video..,He looks good Mel,watch your back,I worry about you toooo.
Hug's to all Sue

Hi Sue:

Alan is on absolutely no pain meds at all. Hasn't been on any for 6 years. They don't do anything for him. Just the alprazolam to sleep at night. That's his natural personality. He is a hoot!!

And yes, they gave us the release papers that say "elevate the leg to heart level", blah blah. But the nurse in the recovery room actually said "you can put a bit of pressure if you have do but not too much". Her exact words.

He's doing just fine. I don't think I'll give him a percocet tonight. Doesn't do anything for his neuropathy pain. Only the alprazolam quites down the nerves so he can sleep.

Oh, I forgot to mention a med that they gave him about an hour after he came out of the operation and he was in surgery. A nurse came over and said "do you have any tingling" and he said "are you serious, I have neuropathy, I always have tingling". She said 'okay".

She gave him (in the IV), something called TORADOL. (not sure of spelling) but it's an anti-inflammatory. Well, five minutes after he got that in his IV , he was a happy camper. He was talking and saying "I have no pain at all, what IS this med?? She explained that it is usually given in an IV, it's somewhat like a strong dose of ibuprofen and they don't usually give it in an oral form. (Believe me he would have taken them home if they gave him some pills). That's how good he felt.

It lasted for about an hour or so. But his pain level was not "out of this world" when I got him home. So, so far, he's eating, peeing, pooping, and watching tv.

Maybe they might take off the cast next week?? I have no idea.

OK--I have watched the video--
 

--and I have a diagnosis.

You're both nuts. :D

"My wife attacked me last night." "I didn't attack anybody".

Like watching a post-modern version of the Honeymooners.

Hey, you cannot say I didn't make you laugh!!!

But getting him off the wheelchair and into the bedroom was a major thing just now. Very hard.

I'm going to try something different tomorrow night and bring the wheelchair down one step into he bedroom, and have him turn around and plop into it, then I'll roll him up to the side of the bed.

We're finding ways to maneuver him. He does very well in the wheel chair and actually got himself on the computer chair and went on the computer and watched some movies.

So he's feeling better and now he's asleep.

As Tara from Gone with the Wind said: ''Tomorrow is another Day!!!

lol

cute video...
 

I enjoyed it. I guess if he can laugh about it...he will certainly heal faster!

How long does he have to be in that cast?

I should think he'd get instruction on how to walk with it and crutches.

When I had my foot operation (many eons ago) on the hemangioma I had on the instep of my foot, I remember a nurse or PT person teaching me how to use
the crutches. We even went up and down the stairs. It was hard..and she wasn't very patient and I remember it as a negative experience. But I never used a wheelchair. It was a delicate surgery back when lasers did not exist and I guess I am lucky they didn't damage anything else!

Mrs. D.

When he was in recovery they gave him the crutches and they DID show him how to use them, but he has such bad coordination. I guess if he put his mind to it, he could get the hang of it.

I watched him as he got off of the access-a-ride and got on the curb with the crutches. That's when his pants fell down and we laughed our heads off. He was trying to remember "left foot on ground, keep right foot up in the air, put right crutch this way, blah blah.

He couldn't do it. I watched him. His brain could not connect all the dots.

I watched him in the house. It's too hard for him.

He would need to be on crutches, outside, in a long baseball field, practicing for hours, to get his brain to navigate the whole coordination thing.

I know how his brain operates.

It's like he explained when he got his first apartment (in his early twenties). He went out and bought pots and pans and hamburger meat.

He tried to cook the hamburger, that was a big mistake. Then he had all the stuff in the sink, he took one look and said to himself "I have to cook for myself and then clean up and I have to do this EVERY NIGHT??? No, this is not for me".

HE THREW EVERYTHING OUT and began eating all his meals out. He got married, lasted for 3 months, she wiped out the bank account. He was left alone. He continued to eat out. He did this until the age of 32.

I guess when he realized he married an italian cook that he knew he hit paydirt. I will never forget the first time I made him Romanian Tenderloin Steak, with potatoes and carrots and garlic bread. He looked like he died and went to heaven.

He exclaimed" "This is the best f*uc*ing steak I ever had in my life. And the man doesn't curse. I laughed so hard.

He had never eaten like this before. And when I made him lasagna, well, he was in heaven. Someday I'll tell you about when I made matzoh ball soup for him. I believe I already told this story.

The point is, if Alan can't do something, he just forgets it and does the alternative. He couldn't cook (my son is exactly the same way, only he buys microwave meals for breakfast lunch and dinner. He says cooking and cleaning up is too much work (what is this way of thinking ....genetic??")

So same applies to the crutches. It's too much of a learning how to do this experience. So he just sits in the wheelchair. He's not going out anywhere so the wheelchair and the couch are just fine.

The absolute hardest part is getting him in the bed. But I figured it out.

That's what I do. Figure out stuff.

Tonight is the OSCARS!!!! Are you watching?