Oh Chuffing-hell!

[battybird]

Good luck for wednesday then, hope it is a simple job! Feel sorry for both of you...these things happen out of the blue and life gets "interesting" .....never boring tho! Sounds like you have got a good group of supportive friends!

[Mrs H]

Sending you lots of mend quick wishes and hoping you get good news. Xxx

[spider8]

We went back yesterday and his ankle is still too swollen for them to put a permanent plaster cast on. Now he's had to stop sitting up at the desk and working and has to lie in bed with his foot raised above the level of his heart - if you get what I mean - for as long as possible. So he's had to get a sick note off his GP, just to do things correctly for work, and has been signed off for two weeks. Hopefully he will have got his cast on before then but boy, his heel has a blister on it and it's hurting him a lot. Will he take painkillers - he will now! He's been stupidly stubborn and not taken them but after last night, a night of hell, he's decided to get them down his neck.
Thanks battybird and Mrs H for your wishes. Today we've had a neighbour bring us our milk and paper from the shop (she knows I'm running around like a loony trying to get things done) and a guy from a few doors down, who we've only ever said 'hello' to, has brought us a plastic chair for Dave to use in the shower! Jungle drums around here have been very busy but in a nice way for us - how lovely . We go back on Monday, another friend is taking us, so we'll hope it's okay and can get him plastered..........oh and I'll have to make sure he doesn't get any bed sores so a bit of slapping might be called for - oh goodie

[MKG]

Tell him not to be such a wimp. If you can't take painkillers when you're injured, what's the point? Mind you, I fully sympathise with the leg above heart position - it can REALLY get on your nerves, principally because reading makes your arms ache.

Don't forget to brush the hair out of his eyes and kiss him on the forehead - that'll wind him up no end.

Seriously, the poor bloke is going through the "I feel useless" stage. And he's right - at the moment he is useless. That pricks at the self-image of we mere males. Whether it's actually true or not, we do tend to regard ourselves as providers. He hates this enforced situation in a BIG way. Be nice to him.

(Please DON'T brush the hair out of his eyes - I was only joking).

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

Please send my regards to Mr Spider8 because I've done the lie on back for days with leg up in air due to broken ankle too - had to wait 4 days to have an op cos it was too swollen! It's very, very boring, but on the other hand I was in hospital so my OH only had to come and visit me and do a bit of laundry! (oh and fend for himself back home ) Hope you are not getting too exhausted running around doing everything. Hugs xx

[battybird]

Hi Spider8
I am sure someone has suggested by now that he puts his feet on a cushion/ pillow with the heels hanging over the edge so that the pressure is relieved? In the "old days" we used to make the patient change position every 2 hrs minimum to prevent pressure sores, heel sores etc, Expect he knows to do that anyway! And WHY do so many people not take painkillers which were developed to prevent and control PAIN..?? The number of times I explain to patients that pain is bad for you physiologically and that there are no brownie points for suffering?? Hope he is appreciating your care and finding things to do to relieve the boredom. Look after yourself too.
And I think brushing the hair out of his eyes sounds great along with stroking his hand occasionally! Poor man!!

[spider8]

Oops! Sorry Mike, brushed the hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead........he likes it apparently. MMM and battybird, he was still in pain but we had a better night because this time he actually took some painkillers and we both slept better. He went back to the hospital this morning, yet another friend ran him there, and he's had the temporary cast re-done. The doc thought the cast was too tight and the foot and lower leg were being crushed and the heel was sore because of the blister being squashed. Anyway, new cast put on and so far he's been much better but tonight will be the time to tell if it's made a difference. We luckily bought ourselves an adjustable bed each (they clip together to make one HUGE bed) and we are so glad we did now. Dave can lower and raise the foot end of the bed and he has a pile of pillows upon which his leg rests with the heel clear. Now he is discovering bruises he didn't realise he had like one on his leg at the back of the knee joint, lovely colours emerging! The door is always being knocked and the phone always ringing and I can't get anything done! Hell I sound so ungrateful but it is chaos at times and I am tired. Here's hoping for a good sleep tonight .

[Millymollymandy]

Hope you both get a good night's sleep - sounds like you need it. Mind you if it's people trying to help you knocking at the door then that's better than no help isn't it, even if it is tiring!

[spider8]

Yes, had a much better nights sleep and he let me have a lie-in until 9am. Only had three phone calls and two people at the door so far today. Everyone is so kind and if this had happened at our last place we'd have been lucky to see anybody.

[spider8]

On Saturday evening Dave went to the hospital as the pain in his foot was beyond belief. Once there and they removed the cast his foot was lobster red and burning up. He has an infection and it was starting to travel up his leg, we think it came from a blister on his heel. He's still in hospital, has been pumped full of antibiotics and on three different pain killers.......seemed quitre mellow when I visited him yesterday . But seriously folks......good job we went in when we did or the outcome could have been very nasty. He's being seen by the head honcho this morning so I'm waiting for info on what's to happen with him - home or stay there. Never seen him in so much pain and never want to see him like that again

[crazymaisey]

Oh nooo! Hope he gets better soon.

[Graye]

Poor guy, I really do emphasize too. But I can imagine they will have him sorted pretty quickly now he's on antibiotics. Well done for acting on it though.

I was really worried about infection when I first had the temporary plaster on, my leg was swollen and "hot" and I then read online it was something to keep an eye out for and act on immediately. I was nearly back off to hospital several times but dicovered things improved if I raised the whole leg so there wasn't really infection in mine, luckily. However the other problem was excrutiating pain in the whole leg (not the break itself - that never did give me pain at all) every time I tried to lower my foot from horizontal. It was breathtaking and sometimes took me a couple of minutes to face putting it to the ground. Something else for him to "look forward" to I suppose!

[spider8]

Thanks crazymaisey. Yes Graye, he's had to keep his leg high when he was at home and when he needed to drop the leg so he could get about on the crutches, his leg would hurt badly. He thought it was the blood rushing back into his foot. He even tried lowering it a bit at a time with a few minutes in between moves, trying to not have the rush of pain but things got to the point of nothing helping and he was in agony. Off to the hospital and bingo! A red foot all swollen and as hot as hell when they took the cast off. So he's already had that experience but in hospital he's been on loads of pain killers so not sure how it would feel now. I saw him again tonight and it's slowly receding but looks like it will take a while. He's getting bored and feeling sorry for himself whilst I'm running around like a mad thing.......I felt like telling him to move over and let me lie on the bed with him ha! Wish he was home, missing him so much.

[Millymollymandy]

Oh dear, poor guy that sounds awful - hugs to both of you.

Yes when you leg/foot has been elevated for a long period of time the blood rush is pretty uncomfortable when you put it back down!