Bring me some coal

 *Don't scroll down below the picture of me unless you want to see my icky looking dressing*

I had an echo cardiogram this afternoon. Fingers crossed that all looks good!
You would have known I was having one of these (and why) if I had actually been updating about things since my latest surgery. But I have been naughty. Very very naughty. I am now behind a whopping four weeks worth of updates... Santa will surely probably bring me coal for Christmas.

While getting from the car to the hospital's main entrance, an elderly genetleman with a cane complemented my crutching abilities. He said "You're getting a long quite well!" Why yes, yes I am. I have had way to much practice with my trusty sticks.

The echocardiography technician was very curious about my fixator and how I ended up with a chronic bone infection, so while she did the echo, I told her all about the last ten years. Like the home nurse I had last week Monday, she was amazed that I didn't get c. diff after being on antibiotics for 15 months in 2011-12. Apparently, I have bowels of steal. Later during the echo, I asked her is she likes here job and meets a lot of interesting people. She said yes, on both counts, but that I definitely won the interesting patient thing what with the fixator and my horror story that started as a simple broken leg. I am not sure if I should be proud of this or not.

After the echo, mum and I drove through the countryside to pick out some last minute gifts for my brother. We went into a  motorcycle shop. I didn't really want to go in at first as I was dressed quite girly and thought that would make it a bit awkward being around a bunch of guys who ride motorcycles, but then I realized that I have and external fixator and that gives me a lot of street cred, so I shouldn't worry about how girly I look or out of place I feel because having a fixator trumps everything and impresses everyone! One of the guys inside walked passed me as mum and I made our way to the back of the store and said "You poor thing." My response? "Yup". I have been reminding myself that although this whole fixator thing may seem normal to me, it is anything but normal, and I shouldn't feel bad if I take it easy or accept other people's comments or sympathy.

Completely unrelated to looking girly but exactly in line with this fixator business, I have been having some trouble with my bottom pin (the one closest to my foot). It tugs around my skin whenever I move my foot, eliciting stinging pain and discomfort. This pin site has also started draining a lot of fluid. Originally, this was just a tiny bit of clear yellowy fluid, which is completely normal. Over the last days, however, the amount of drainage had increased quite a bit, to the point that is soaks through the dressing and drips down my foot (and sometimes onto the carpet when I get up as well, which is pretty gross...). The fluid is also red/blood tinged. On top of that, despite doing my physio exercises, the stiffness in my ankle is increasing and the muscles in my foot are super tight and hurt a lot (even when I wiggle my toes). I am going to bring these things up with my home care nurse when she sees me on Thursday as I do not know if they are normal (plus it is not fun to wake up at three am with fluid trickling down your foot) and, if need be, I can see my surgeon at the fracture clinic next week Wednesday. In the mean time, I have asked for advice on a fixator support group I am part of. Everything is probably okay, but I just want to make absolute sure. The last thing I need is to get a bone infection while being treated for a bone infection!

Today's dressing, which I put on at 1pm and had to take off by 5pm because the drainage had soaked the dressing and was starting to run down my foot. The piece of non-woven sponge at the top of the picture was the piece directly against my skin, followed by the piece in the middle and finally the outer layer of the dressing at the bottom. If anyone who is reading this had an external fixator, is this normal?

And finally, my plumbing (if you get what I mean) is finally working again! The combination of prescription narcotics and immobility does not make for happy bowels. Fortunately, I have a large arsenal of medication I can use to remedy this problem: Relaxa, Magnolax, Lactulose, Senna, Bisacodyl, and stool softeners. And if things get really bad, I can go to the ER and score me a prescription for some Citro-mag. Yes, I am actually blogging about my bowels. Thanks to multiple hospital stays and ER visits over the years and the ongoing (and often recurring) effects of narcotic pain medication and immobility, I have no shame. Instead of believing that I don't have a public filter, I like to think that I am providing a public service - this might be valuable information to anyone reading this who is about to go through their own personal hell that is the external fixator.

Anyways... without really updating about anything, that is kind of all for now. Updates will come, at some point, with lots of pretty pictures (this actually may or may not be a true, depending what you think of a hospital gown clad patient sporting an external fixator while hunched over a bowl trying not to puke. But I will let you be the judge of that!).