The past two weeks I have had no alterations to make so my swelling has reduced massively and pain is minimal. I still believe there are a few alterations to straighten up my tibia but overall things are progressing well.
My main down fall is my circulation, after having my leg down for five minutes my leg from my knee down turns red/purple. I now bathe it twice a day alternating the water from hot to cold so that the circulation is increased. Overall the sooner I get walking on it and build my muscle up, the better the blood flow will be.
Now winter is coming, the cold weather also increases the pain in my leg and makes it over sensitive. I have made a cover for my frame in order to keep the cold air off it. The cover has made such a difference. It also stops people from staring at your leg like a foreign object which can be annoying.
Also swelling, due to the pins being through my leg when my leg swells it is painful. It also causes some of the pin sites to bleed as they skin around the pins are put under pressure as the leg swells. You can vaguely see the colour difference between my feet which gets progressively worse over the time which the leg is down.
I have also been under going regular treatment from an Osteopath who has helped me immensely. I receive treatment to help with continual stiffness due to lack of movement and bad posture and the lady also mobilises my ankle and my knee. I am extremely eager to push myself to ensure I keep as my mobility in my joints as good as possible when the frame is on. As this saves time when (hopefully) I get the frame removed.
I have another appointment this Friday at Addenbrookes hospital so hopefully everything is progressing and I will be back soon with an update.
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Take care,
Florrie
Life With An External Fixator 