No distance walking (not until I'm healed), but I did do a bit of staircase training today. Despite spending all day with this bandage (sorry about the hair... with me, hair gets everywhere) and wearing my regular walking shoes, there was only a slight discoloration on the outside. No blood on my sock at all. I take that as a good sign.
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| My skin isn't covered in soot: that's just a shadow effect. |
The bandage itself absorbed fairly minimal leakage. Is it blood? Could be.
And what you've all been waiting for—the toe wound itself:
I gave the area surrounding the wound a good wipe-down with an alcohol-infused wipe (I no longer try to stymie the wound's healing by using peroxide or alcohol). It really does seem to be closing up, and I'm trying hard not to provoke it (eating sugary foods can cause me to lose all my progress). The ulcer appeared because of a lack of good circulation in my toe, which was itself the result of too many carbs. I'm trying to learn from this lesson. It's hard; temptations abound. But I'm trying.
Slow but steady progress, looks so much better than it did when amputation entered the conversation. Keep doing what you are doing, it's working.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the wound is healing nicely. Apologies for recommending D&F. Definitely wouldn't encourage you to go back after reading about what they did to your toe last time around. Still recommend having it looked it somewhere with high-level expertise though. My worry is that just because the bleeding has stopped does not mean that tissue/nerve damage isn't continuing unabated. Asan Medical Center has a decent wound treatment center in their surgical outpatient department on the first floor (yet another venue my mother received treatment at), but you would need a referral from their international clinic first to jump the rather long queue for care at what is reportedly the nation's best hospital. I'm guessing they'll also schedule a visit with the endocrinology docs for good measure. Something to think about in any case. Major university hospitals (Asan, although physically located near Jamsil in Seoul, is associated with the University of Ulsan down south) are a pain in the you know what to deal with, but I'm guessing they can cover all the bases to set you on the path to a fuller recovery.
ReplyDeleteNo apology necessary. How could you know? Besides, my first visit there went very well, and it pointed the way toward real healing after six months of untutored self-care with no healing at all (although I did prevent infection!). It was the second visit during which everything fell apart. For now, I'm just going to stick with my regular 내과 doctor. He won't want to do any callus-cutting (the guy doesn't strike me as very hands-on), but he'll offer recommendations if needed. Right now, I just need him to prescribe me antibiotics.
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