Healing progress

Today, "healing" does not refer to general healing in the macrocosm of the national psyche, but rather the specific healing related to the microcosm of my left foot.  As my family, some friends and other readers of this blog may remember, I underwent surgery (exostectomy) to remove an excess bone growth on the instep of my left foot a couple weeks back.

Two days ago, the sutures were removed, thus releasing me to the always appreciated luxury of being able to soak in a hot bath.  While it is true that once I could stand fairly securely without the aid of crutches, I was able to take a full shower, soaking in the bath was not recommended.  I was able to shower due to a rather ingenious plastic shield to cover the affected area.  Previously, when I've been bandaged, splinted or casted (I've had a couple breaks, etc. along the long and winding road of life), washing/showering/bathing always required assistance from someone else - generally my long-suffering spouse, HWMBO.  We generally used plastic bags of various sizes to protect the bandage/splint/cast.  But those were happenstance measures that didn't always meet minimal, let alone optimal, performance standards.  In other words, the bandage or cast at best got damp.  Ar worst, it was sodden. 

In the seven-plus years since I have needed such protection, there have been plastic shields especially created to resolve such problems.  It is true that they may have existed before and I just didn't know about them.  But now I do.  There are several different brand names, but the one recommended by my podiatric surgeon's staff and quite satisfactorily used by me is Aquashield.  It covered the foot and ankle area completely.   After pulling it on over my foot (it stretches easily), releasing the trapped air inside, and pulling it up as far as it would comfortably go, as had been demonstrated by the nursing staff, this product worked exceptionally well.  Best of all, there was a foot guard on the sole that prevented my foot from slipping on wet surfaces.

But I am most happy to report that, since the sutures have been removed, I no longer have to use the plastic shield at all!

Best of all, I'm off antibiotics and painkillers for the first time in three weeks.   Most importantly, this means that I can once again enjoy one of my great pleasures on this side of The Pond: drinking frozen margaritas!