So once I got past the first nasty day of recovery, I have been trying to find a way to be 'comfortable'. This has been difficult for me for a few reasons. For the first 72 hours, I had to keep my foot elevated above my heart at all times. In order to do that, I have needed to prop up pillows etc. The challenge has been to get my foot high enough without aggravating my bad shoulder. I have some issues with my right shoulder/arm/hand, and I have found that laying with my foot up makes it worse. I think it's more about the angle I lay with my neck/etc. By Sunday, my shoulder was so spasm-ed that I was experiencing numbness to my fingertips. So I have started taking a muscle relaxer in addition to my other pain pills, to try and stay on top of it.
I started off taking a new medication called "Nucynta"... which is a class 2 medication and not carried by all pharmacies. It hasn't really done much for me, so the dr switched me to 1500 mg's of hydrocodone every 4-6 hours. That is the strongest dose of vicodin I have ever experienced. That coupled with the muscle relaxers.. and I have been pretty out of it, to say the least. I am slowly starting to reduce the dosage, so I am slowly coming back to 'life'.
For those of you visiting my blog that are considering a similar surgery, I'll describe how the pain is. For the rest of you.. no need to read further. :)
The simplest way for me to describe the pain is a 'shooting/burning' sensation. The pain is in my heel and in the arch.. as well as up the achilles tendon. Occasionally I get a sharp pain, but it is more of a dull burning pain. I also can feel the 'pin/screw' in my heel a bit. It is a bizarre feeling.. and not necessarily pain, more of an annoyance. I have been told that I won't feel this once I'm fully healed. I also feel a general 'swelling' feeling. My heel/arch has a cast around it that is formed to my foot, so if I swell at all, I can feel the cast, and that can be painful as well. As long as I keep my foot up.. I seem to be ok.
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