Nina’s Been Sliced, Diced, and Recovering

General
Nina Prep'd for Surgery
Nina Prep’d for Surgery

On Thursday, March 6th, Nina had her left foot fixed at the University of Utah Orthopedic Center. Some calcifications on her heel were rubbing on the Achilles tendon and needed to be removed. We drove down Wednesday evening, spent the night at our daughter’s home, and checked in about 1 pm on Thursday. The facility was excellent and the staff very competent and friendly. I stayed with her until they were ready to take her into the operating room at about 2:30 pm.

The Doctor Authorization
The Doctor Authorization .. left Achilles debridement with secondary reconstruction; Haglunds resection; gastrocnemius recession….

About 4 pm the doctor came out and told me that all had gone very well, and a bit better than he had expected. The tendon itself is ok. He had to “debride” it to remove
damaged tissue, but didn’t need to do any grafts or muscle lengthening. While none of that would make any difference to the recovery, the result will be better over time. The complete procedure would have been “left Achilles debridement with secondary reconstruction; Haglund’s resection; gastrocnemius recession….” The resection and recession weren’t necessary. The fact that this was being taken care of early rather than waiting for it to become debilitating certainly made a difference.

She’s in a splint and cannot let the foot touch the ground for the next two weeks. On the 21st she goes back and will be fitted with a boot. Eventually she’ll start putting a little weight on the foot gradually building up over the next six weeks. The full recovery will take at least six months.

Home Again -- Recover Under way
Home Again — Recovery Under Way

We stayed at our daughter’s home on Thursday evening and arrived back in Pocatello late Friday afternoon. The big question was how to get her from the car into the house! Hopping up the steps on crutches was not going to work; we determined that before we left on Wednesday. After a lot of discussion of options, we decided to rent a wheelchair and enlist the help of some friends to pull/push the wheelchair up the front steps and into the house. It worked wonderfully.

So now she has four methods of getting around:

  • a pair of crutches (her least favorite)
  • A wheelchair (doesn’t get through the door into the bedroom)
  • a walker (works OK hopping around and getting into narrow places, but is very slow)
  • A kneeling scooter (will definitely become the preferred method)

Today is day 4 of the recovery and has been a good day. She’s getting back to being her normal, independent self. Life is good!

Ta ta for now!