Yeah that’s pretty much how I feel after having a shower for the first time in 4 days! It wasn’t as hard as I thought – just poked a hole in a garbage bag and taped my leg in it tight with masking tape on the top and bottom. Then the trick of hobbling into the shower and doing the whole thing on one leg without slipping. Fortunately we have a giant no-step, walk-in shower now, with a bench. Something I mustn’t take for granted.

Aww, I hear you missing the usual picture of my leg, so here you go.

The swelling in the foot and ankle of the surgical leg is real. It’s also warm and fuzzy feeling. This edema, I’m learning, is totally normal. It occurs due to the gravity-fed drainage of ‘inflammation fluid’ (yum) and other factors from surgery. Apparently it will last up to 6 weeks. I can mitigate it by spending more time laying down with my leg higher than my heart. Also ankle pumps and other joint maneuvers to keep the muscles slightly engaged.

I asked for and very gratefully received the Operational Report from my surgeon’s office today. Nothing super weird or concerning, just clarifying and confirming what was seen and done. I don’t think it’s comprehensive, to be honest, since there’s no mention of ‘cleaning things up’ alongside the outlined procedure. But it does reference the injury as a ‘patellar tendon rupture’ with lots of juicy details about how he reattached it. I’ll spare you.

Normally, I’m quite squeamish about knees and really any other severe injury. And like I mentioned before, how I picture mine happening is harrowing to think about. But for some reason, I’m fairly nonplussed about learning about the repair job. I want to know what happened in there, and now I do.

My post-surgery follow-up visit is on May 7, one day before I turn 47. Hopefully he will tell me how well things are healing and I’ll get some direction on how to proceed with early stage physical rehab. Still a couple weeks to go before that, though. So more foot photos! Naw, I’ll try to diversify at least a little bit.