This is going to be long, please bear with me. (Prob very outing too)
A week ago today I had ankle surgery. In June I fractured my ankle. This was missed. A subsequent MRI in September showed a fractured Calcaneus with a non-union. Surgery last week, was to remove the bone that had failed to reattach itself. It was meant to be keyhole, but in the end they needed to open up the ankle to get to it.
It was day surgery, and I was discharged in the afternoon. I went home and had a little sleep. I woke up to a bloodbath, blood had soaked through the padding and pressure bandages (for context, it was all over the carpet, stairs, floor etc). I called the ward back, and they said they couldn’t touch me as I’d been discharged so go to a&e, which I duly did. Bleeding was caused by a huge haematoma, which was subsequently drained and re-bandaged.
No further problems, and recovery was going really well. I could weight bare partially with crutches etc. Until yesterday morning.
I woke up in the most unimaginable pain. I couldn’t even touch my toe to the floor (still can’t). I called 111, and they were getting out of hours to call me back. Now this pain is like my ankle is on fire. But weirdly it’s not over the wound, it’s to the outside of my heel. After 6 hours and no call back, I called 111 back, and after 30 mins they advised me to go to a&e, which I did.
I saw the same fantastic nurse I had last week, and she stripped the bandaging off. I needed gas & air and morphine as even the lightest touch on my skin was unbearable. I had the ankle x-rayed. The nurse said the wound looks red, and she called Orthopedics. When the registrar arrived he took a quick look and said its fine. Just send me home with painkillers, it’s all part of the normal healing process. He actually made me feel really silly for bein
g there. Nurse was surprised, but bandaged me back up and off I went.
Now is 24 hours since I returned from a&e. The pain is still unbearable. Oramorph is not touching it. When I stand up (with crutches) it’s like all the pressure rushes to my ankle and I cry in pain. I can barely move my toes. Can’t flex my ankle at all anymore (I was able to a few days ago).
I called my GP in tears. She told me to go back to a&e as this isn’t right. I know it’s not right. Why would it suddenly get so bad when recovery was going so well? Do I go back, and risk being chastised, or do I wait it out and see if it improves? WWYD?
Sorry it’s so long......