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After being away from LiveJournal since Tuesday and getting back yesterday evening, I've only just caught up on LiveJournal. I've had almost 400 entries to read and that's not including community entries. There have been about 2500 UNaXcess entries to read though I admit to have skipped a load of them. You guys write too much ;-)


mhw is cooking something lamb-and-cuminy downstairs and it smells great. Food soon.

In other news: there's a party at my place for new year. All are invited. See http://www.livejournal.com/~matthewp/164942.html for details - though please direct party-related comments to that post so that they all end up in the same place.

Not able to make McScruffs tonight - sorry to tax et al, but I'm not up to it yet. I'd welcome a visitor though if anyone feels like it - see http://matthewp.livejournal.com/info#contact for details if you need them.

Back from hospital

Previous chapters linked from: http://www.livejournal.com/users/matthewp/157130.html

I got discharged yesterday afternoon and the lovely mhw came to pick me up. Shortly afterwards my ex-housemate Helen arrived to and then we headed off for a bite to eat in the nearby Gemini cafe. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed back to mine and had mac cheese for dinner.

Anyway, the details you wanted. The op went well and I had slept off most of the anaesthetic by Wednesday evening / Thursday morning. I was still occasionally feeling drowsy, but in a different way, and have since discovered (due to the oracle that is mhw) that it would most likely have been the Tramadol that I've been prescribed as one of my painkillers. I think I'll be forgoing that, but I'll let my doc know when I go in for the clinic on Monday. The other meds I've been given are Ibuprofen (anti-inflammitory - instead of the Diclenofac that I was given after the biopsy which also made me drowsy), regular paracetamol and aspirin. On the subject of pain though, I've had next to none, which surprises me. The only discomfort I have is moving my leg from bent to straight and vice-versa but I think that's more due to the dressing tugging. Because I've had no pain I experimented by stopping taking the painkillers (and it hasn't come back) though I've continued to take the aspirin because this acts as an anti-clotting agent.

The wound itself ( details beneath hidden for the squeamish )

As a result of the nerve damage, I have a small insensate area on the top of my right foot and also what's called 'foot-droop' where I cannot raise my foot at the ankle. Due to the lenght of missing nerve section this is likely to be permanent, but it may regrow. (If it does it will take months rather than weeks.) I'm currently wearing a footsplint and have a few exercises to perform to maintain what limited mobility I have. I'm able to walk and climb/descend stairs, albeit slowly and haven't even thought about driving yet. I'll wait until the dressing is removed and my leg is less stiff before thinking about driving, but at least there is no pain. That's a welcome bonus.

For now, it's just a matter of waiting. I'm hoping to be back at work within a week.