I Got My Cast Off!

My final cast for this particuclar fracture, or set of fractures, is now history. I did not opt to save the cast. The leg looks a bit creepy, but most of the creepiness will disappear on its own. I may need a very minor surgical procedure (just skin-deep) to clean up the scars from the surgeries. The infection at one point was so nasty that it caused more raised places and a less flat scar than anyone would want, also known as a keloid scar.

It was really hot today, so I swam in our pool. I took a nice long bath, as opposed to triple-wrapping my leg in plastic and showering on a shower stool while sticking my leg out. I kept my toes as clean as I could before, but it felt so good to soak. My mom kept knocking on the door to make sure I hadn't drowned because I stayed in the tub for so long.

Anytime my leg itches, I can scratch it. The novelty of scratching my leg has almost worn off. For awhile I was scratching my leg even if it didn't itch just because I could, but I'm past that now. When I go to school on Monday, I will still be on crutches and will have to keep the leg wrapped, but those are minor inconveniences. The bruises on my face are almost entirely gone. By Monday they should be history along with my cast. It didn't matter a great deal because of the location, but the scar from the stitches under my chin is absolutely mimimal, and it's only been about four weeks. I want to give a shout-out to the 4th-year medical student, my almost-uncle Scott, who stitched my chin up for me. He didn't even charge me a cent. Thanks!

I feel so wonderful that I can't sleep, but it doesn't matter because I don't go bacl to school until Monday. This is the only part of my summer vacation (technically it's medical leave now, because my classmates are back in school) that actually feels like vacation, except for my trip to southern Utah to see the polygamists. I will write more about that another time soon. Since I'm no longer getting class credit for blogging, I'll try to combine that with a school assignment in order to kill two birds with one stone. I meant that figuratively of course. I don't kill birds with stones or with anything else.