Sunday Stroke Survival: Two Weeks in Pain and No Walking

For a week, every step I took was painful. Yes, another pressure sore was forming on my AFO clad foot. It's been two years since the last one and I thought I was done. But no, it starts with the swelling of the foot as the blister forms under my protective callus. The basic treatment is stay off it, elevation, and icing the spot down. I know the routine by now after having eight decubitius ulcers form in the same place over the last seven years.

Usually at most, the time from red soreness to rupture or goes away is two days, but not time. This time it went from thumb tack pain to twisting knife pain levels. Every step had me audibly crying out in pain. This pressure sore was different. So after a week of this, I called my foot doctor. Her receptionist got me an appointment the next day. She's really good about doing that. Like when I had three stress fractures on the very same foot, it was that afternoon.

My podiatrist is also a medical doctor, not all of them are. She knows if I come in because of a pressure sore something is definitely wrong because usually I treat myself. I'm very experienced and trained at wound care. She asked me what was going on and I told her. "Well, let me take a look."

She told me she was going to scrape the callus off so she could have a better look and I agreed. She began scraping with the scalpel. Every once and a while she'd look up and ask me if I was okay, and then she'd continue. "No fluid, just dried, clotted blood, Here let me show you." She pulled out her phone and took a picture. She held it up for me to see. She applied the Amerigel and bandaged it up. It was amazing. I put my sock, AFO, and my shoe on. I gingerly took a step and waited for the pain to shoot through my foot, but there was none.

It wasn't until later that I realized she must have deadened the area because the pain came back. I went looking for my tube of Amerigel and couldn't find it. I had used up the little bit that was left last time. Of course it being late Friday night, I couldn't get any until Monday. No pharmacy in town (3 of them) had it either. Apparently, nobody in this town self cares their pressure sores. So I spent Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, through half of Monday hobbling around on my sore foot. I'm still staying off it as much as I can, but a body's got to eliminate itself. I mean no one can do that for you, right?

As a result, the scraped area became a bleeding raw spot with a renewed spongy spot in the center. It's about the size of a half a dollar coin, but it's enough to make me miserable. I feel like I can't win because of losing. I can't walk without my AFO, but my AFO is causing my pressure sore to be worse by not being able to shift my foot to a more comfortable position. I'm feeling useless and going stir crazy. I know this will heal in time off my feet. But I'm too active of a person to like it much.

Before I forget, I'm going to be MIA for the next month. I'm finally having my "thyroid" out and radiation treatment.

Nothing is impossible.