Leapfrogging Meds: Day 2 after Cheilectomy

That must have been some powerful pain blocker administered by Dr. Kessinger!  I felt no discomfort at all for the first 24 hours after surgery, but by Saturday evening, pain sliced into my consciousness. Since then, I've been leapfrogging the medicines as directed: hydrocodone every 4 hours or so and 400 mg of Ibuprofen every four hours, but taken two hours into the hydrocodone cycle. Overlapping medications to keep pain at bay. That, and ice packs. Oh, do those feel good! Remember "RICE"---rest, ice, compression, and elevation? I'm doing all of it except that the bandage provides only slight compression.

Tomorrow will be my first physical therapy appointment. I am very curious to see what my foot looks like. Swollen? Probably. Discolored? Probably! So far, I'm doing pretty well, I think. Of course, I'm hoping for a super speedy recovery. My surgeon said that she had one patient, a marine, that returned to full active duty three weeks after the surgery, but that he was not typical. Most of the time it takes six to nine months before her patients are glad they had the surgery. Clearly, recovery experiences vary considerably!