On the mend

Maybe TMI... I had what grew to be a very painful Plantar Wart on the bottom of my right foot, mid-foot but under the area near the outside that receives a lot of pressure when walking or running. Last Friday I had it removed as an outpatient procedure in a Hospital. The operation was more extensive than a quick office procedure. I was to be given anesthesia that was not 'general anesthesia' but I would be asleep. The Anesthesiologist said, Well, your heart rate is 48. That's certainly going to set off the alarms that usually go off at under 60. She said if my HR goes too low they can give me something to boost it up 5 to 10 beats. They knew I was a runner so there was nothing unusual about my HR.

The doctor cut out the Plantar Wart and then cut a skin flap nearby the site and rotated it to cover the wound. He then sewed the skin flap in place. It's important that I don't put pressure on that area to ensure the skin heals in place properly and doesn't form excess scar tissue that could cause me more problems down the road. I woke up in recovery and the Dr. came to tell me that it all went well, etc, etc. My wife was there too. A few minutes after the Dr. left, I asked my wife if the Dr. talked with me. I thought he was there but couldn't quite remember anymore. Then I told her I hoped she could remember what he said because I was forgetting in just a few minutes. That was a strange feeling.

Another strange thing was the following morning when the pain-block injection was wearing off in my foot and I stepped up to two Vicodin's at at time. I had been logging onto my laptop every few hours to check/send e-mails and surf the internet. Well, the drug effect made me forget how to spell my password. It's not difficult to remember as it's just a long word with a few special character modifcations. I remembered the modifications but I could not remember how to spell the word. I figured out that I would type it phonetically and that was my problem. My brain would only allow me to type it how it sounded, not how it was spelled. At one point I had to get one of my kids to look it up in the dictionary for me so I could write it down. My mind was still pretty clear, not like if I was drinking. I now understand why some people may have trouble spelling words.... not that they're on Vicodin, but just the way their brain works. I've been off Vicodin for 35 hours and now my pain is totally gone.

I had a post-op check with my Dr. yesterday. It all looks great and there is no bruising. I think with all the stitches it looks like a small birds-nest on the bottom of my foot. In three weeks I go back to get the stitches taken out but until then I can't put weight on that foot. Then he says I'll have little adhesive bandages across the area for awhile to hold things secure but I will be wearing shoes at that time. I've been doing a lot of standing on my left leg so that will get strong but I'm not sure when I'll be running again. Hopefully the end of February or early March.

I've also wanted to get 'off' caffiene for a while now. I did that too. Last Friday morning was my last cup of coffee. I still plan to go for coffee with friends from time to time but I'll make it a treat, not a daily habit.

update 1/28: I tried to count the number of stitches this morning and it looks like there are 17, plus or minus a few.

--Mark