Pam - I have to confess that I didn't know you were going under the knife. I get tunnel-brain lately - login and just look at lyrics quizzer and do a catchup on it; and then too often I don't stop and smell the roses so to speak - looking at other posts. Today I reminded myself of that which I missed very much.
I'm glad the op went well save for the anesthesia being insufficient. I 'spect you're glad you do not remember that !
Isn't it amazing how much one doesn't realize how much they use (or bear weight) on a certain part of the body until its severely injured, or operated on ? I sympathize
very much on not only the main surgical issue at hand (no pun intended), but the post op pain, and the ...er....uhm...personal issues you referred to.
I, out of the 9 ops I have had thus far since the mountaineeering accident and car accident (don't ask which order they occurred in lol) have had to deal with some seemingly small issues to doctors/others, but really can be a pain in the ...well never mind lol. Had some large issues too - the docs did not explain how to accomplish. One was 'soak my calf from foot to knee in betadine solution ($10/8 oz fill a basin? - ayeeeeee) - fortunately my nurses at home called and got the real skinny from the RN's - who seem much more knowledgable and sympathetic on practical home care matters - and they explained it was to be a diliuted solution - i.e. 1/3 bottle/24 qts of hot water.
Whew ! $$$$ So we bought a brand new (who would buy a used one ?) plastic regular height kitchen garbage can, the in home nurses scrubbed it furiously clean, rinsed, filled with hot water, and per orders poured 1/3 bottle of generic 'providone iodine'- generic. Then unravel my mummy-like bandaging on the leg, that process I will stop at , this thread
is about you.
But...safe to say 'wet-to-dry' - tear-out dressings when dry to debride a large area prior to soaking, followed by what I had to do myself because no one could bear to do it
to me- all 3 nurse....nope... the surgeon sent home 8" giant q-tips to (vigorously clean the inside of my leg out) I'll stop there as I did then. The first few times I passed out. And I screamed so much even my Dad had to go out on the deck to 'get some air'.... I better stop there for reals. OK
I sure hope all goes well and recovery is fast !
Could a large-size latex glove (like a thin 'exam glove' )fit over that ? I could not really tell in the pictures. Best of luck, with much sympathy..
I did have a practical thought for you from similar difficulties, but when I saw how much in your thumbnails the degree of bandaging you are enduring.
In order to avoid embarrassment, I'll remain clinical and frank about it, we're all adults - so we know the 'tee-hee's' are for the kids, or ones who've never been indisposed by post-op difficulties. The main challenge I had when similar issues arose as you write about was the 'order' from the Doc's to keep the bandaging dry in my case , & the tissue under it.
In my case I was able to put on grocery-store or Walgreen's-grade latex gloves from the 1st-aid dep't. But putting those on over your bandaging looks a little unlikely. I can't tell what a help those were - to keep the bandaging dry and effectively attend to personal matters. I am at a loss beyond that. The 'non-sterile drug-store variety of
latex (the non-latex are worthless) exam gloves, size large, are truly stretchy - and I could in my case get 'em on over
light bandaging, and save a a wet-to-dry dressing change - I'd of sold my mother to avoid that...wel...maybe not that...lol
Hope your recovery goes well. Hang in there 'podunk'
thumbs up
. 
. Oh well I get to take the bulky bandages of Sunday afternoon so it won't be too long like this. Stitches come out in 10 days.
