I've got updates!

I talked to 2 departments from MD Anderson the other day: the Sarcoma Center and the Plastic Surgery Dept. I've got updates!

I'm going to Houston the next 2 Wednesdays. Next week is to see the primary surgeon for my 6 week follow-up. I was told that she is planning on bending my knee to a certain degree so that i can begin physical therapy. My cast has a hinge that can be set to certain angles, so it will keep me from bending it beyond what the doc feels i'm ready for.

I'm to have 10-12 weeks of P.T and can start driving around week 8...that's still 10 weeks away, geez! i'll be going 2-3 times a week, too, so hopefully, if i work really hard at it, it will go by quickly and i'll be more on the 10 weeks program.

The Plastics people talked to me about my skin graft donor site. Its not healing as quickly as it should because my cast keeps rubbing it. Everytime i change my bandages, it peels away the newly formed skin. No matter how much ointment, or soft padding i put on it, the cast puts too much pressure on it.

So, i took the extra cast they sent me home with, and cut a section away from the healing area. This cast doesn't have a hinge on it, so it won't work once we start practicing bending my knee, but for now it works just fine. I'm walking around with the donor site exposed so it can get some fresh air to speed up the healing. Hopefully it will heal up by the time i start P.T. I have an appointment with them Oct. 3, so i think it will be much better by then.

Oddly enough, the knee area is a piece of cake, as far as the healing goes. It doesn't hurt, in fact is mostly numb, so there is no feeling at all. The swelling goes down more every day, and i'm able to walk as long as i don't bend my knee. Things are going swimmingly.