Recovery Days 5-7 - Post-op fasciotomy - Surgery Fights Back with Swelling and Numbness

While days 1-4 went relatively peachy, 5-7 encountered myriad issues that warranted a couple calls to my surgeon's office in order to find out what constituted "normal". Moral of the story was, unless something is really fucked up, it's probably within normal variations of recovery.

The first problem arose the night of day 5. On day 4, I had accidentally knocked the inside of my right lower shin/ankle pretty hard, sending a strange sensation up my leg. I thought nothing of it, however, until numbness came on in the exact spot about 24 hours later. The numbness basically encompassed the upper half of my ankle bone, extending for a swath of about three square inches upward until one of my incisions. I knew numbness was one of the side effects of surgery, but I was under the impression that if numbness had happened, I would know right away post-surgery. This numbness, however, had taken me by surprise 5 days down the road. Worried, I called the office and spoke to a fellow. She explained that while it is somewhat unusual for the numbness to come on five days after, it's not unheard of and not too worrisome. If the numbness was actually caused by the hit to my ankle I sustained, feeling in that area could come back rather quickly, but if it had nothing to do with it and was a natural outcome of the surgery, sensation in the area could take anywhere from 4 months to a year to fully be restored. What was reassuring, however, was the doctor's assurance that the numbness in that area does not hinder recovery at all, and the numbness that doctor's worry about pertains to the foot, which thankfully so far, I do not have.

Days 6 and 7, however, brought a new challenge - moderate swelling in my right foot. Along with the numbness that I also experienced in the right lower leg, it was also apparent that my two legs were simply not recovering at the same rate, which I also found worrisome. The pain in the calf (which is what hinders one from doing strong heel to toe strikes) was strongly persisting in the right leg while quickly waning in the left. Cue another call to the fellow at the surgeon's office. She explained that the swelling in the foot is the most common and very expected, as it is the primary weight bearer, and that a combination of icing, elevation, and compression stockings would help alleviate the symptoms. And in terms of one leg recovering faster than the other, she added that it is the most common complaint from patients, and is simply natural - eventually they will catch up to each other.

I also had one more overall complaint for the doctor - It almost felt as I had regressed from Days 1-5, and I was not as comfortable on my feet nor proficient at ankle pumps as I had been earlier. Once again, the fellow dexterously assuaged all my doubts by saying that as patients feel more comfortable on their feet, they probably push their limits too far, causing the legs to stiffen up temporarily and recover.

So, what's the conclusion? First of all, that this fellow I spoke to should definitely be employed in some sort of suicide prevention program. I could have called in saying both my legs had fallen off, and she probably would have found a way to calm me down and make me feel that it was a normal process of recovery post-surgery. In all seriousness though, it made me realize that post-op recovery is not going to be a linear progression, and I need to be emotionally and physically prepared for the ups and downs that are coming. I just hope that at the end, I'll be back to where I want to be....