The Road to Recovery

WARNING - this post contains graphic images of my ankle after surgery.

So, I was recently bitten by a spider... This seems of little consequence, but apparently the spider was a Brown Recluse, which is a spider that you really don't want to bite you. I'm not sure when or where it happened, but it happened. Starting out it just looked like a black pimple on my leg, but over the course of a few days it grew to the point that they had to do surgery on the back of my ankle to clean out the damage the spider left behind.

Now I find myself in recovery mode. I'm not used to being confined to crutches or fatigue, but things could have been much worse. I have found myself thanking God for the health I do have. It has also forced me to rest, which is something I have never been good at.

Surprisingly, I have also become fascinated with the healing process, so much so that I have decided to document it. It is truly amazing how God has designed the human body to heal itself. It is amazing how the parts of the body work together, and how one piece affects the whole. The recovery process has reminded me of these truths, and it has reminded me of the greatness of God and His design.

I know that not all wounds and illnesses heal, but I believe that the fact that we heal at all is evidence that we are more than some sort of cosmic accident. Perhaps that is why I wanted to document the healing process. I believe God wants to restore us to something better, to heal us physically, spiritually, and relationally. Here is one such case.

I still have a ways to go. The road to recovery will certainly be lined with trails and triumphs.I am hoping to document them here. As the healing process continues I'll try to add more photos and updates below. Again, some of the photos are pretty graphic, so I don't recommend going further unless you have a strong stomach.

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11/2/11 - Pre-Surgery: These photos were taken the day before I had surgery. You can see where I was bitten and how much swelling it caused. It actually got a little worse between when these photos were taken and when I had surgery, but I was not in the mood to take more pictures at that point

11/9/11 - Recovery Day 6: To begin the healing process they have been stuffing my leg with gauze to help heal the wound from the inside out. It is then wrapped in more gauze and an ace bandage to protect the wound. They've also given me crutches and a walking boot to help me get around. For the first week or so I've had to go get the wrap and packing changed every day. These are pictures of what the wound looked like each day. If you see something yellow in these photos it's either the gauze or my Achilles tendon. Yikes!

11/10/11 - Recovery Day 7:  

 
11/11/11 - Recovery Day 8:

11/12/11 - Recovery Day 9:

11/13/11 - Recovery Day 10:

11/14/11 - Recovery Day 11:

11/15/11 - Recovery Day 12:

11/16/11 - Recovery Day 13: As you can see from the photos the healing has been slow up until this point. However, today they started me on a new treatment that is supposed to make the wound heal more quickly. It is called a wound vac. Basically, it is a vacuum they have set up on the wound that sucks the infection and other bad stuff out of my leg while stimulating tissue growth. It stays on all the time so for the next little bit I'm going to have to wear this unit on my hip and try not to trip over the tubing. On another note, my church prayed over me tonight at our weekly prayer meeting. It was a huge blessing. I think between the wound vac and the prayers I should see some more significant healing soon...

 

11/17/11 - Recovery Day 14: We had a mini celebration at the doctors office today. One day after installing the wound vac and being prayed over by my church, we saw a significant difference in the wound. It still has a ways to go, but this is the most progress we've seen in a day. Hoping and praying that this is a sign of things to come. We won't get another look at again until Monday.

11/21/11 - Recovery Day 18: Today was the first time I was able to see the wound in a few days. Honestly, I had hoped it would have looked a little better than it did, but it is still making progress. The top and bottom of the wound seem to be closing up, which is great. Also, I noticed today that my instincts are moving back toward trying to walk. There were several times I got up to go somewhere and almost forgot to bring my crutches. I can't walk normally, or very far, but I can shuffle a little bit now. Things seem to be moving in the right direction though.

11/23/11 - Recovery Day 20: The wound seems to be closing up on the top and bottom pretty well now. It also is getting shallower. I never thought I'd be excited for my leg to look like this. My doctor was also pleased with how it is progressing, but said if it doesn't start closing up in the middle soon then they may have to do a skin graft. We'll see how the next week or so goes, but I'm feeling pretty good considering.

11/26/11 - Recovery Day 23: 

11/28/11 - Recovery Day 25: 

11/30/11 - Recovery Day 27: This was probably one of the most challenging days so far. When they took the wound vac off at my doctor's appointment the wound started bleeding, which had never happened before, so that scared me a little (even after they said the color looked good). Then, after looking at the wound my doctor said he was going to refer me to a plastic surgeon and an infectious disease doctor to see about a skin graft. (Fortunately I learned the infectious disease doctor was just to make sure that there wasn't any infection before it was patched up) I also fell three times, one of which being in front of most of my church family (more embarrassing than painful). I've felt hobbled through most of this process, but this was the first day I've felt frail. Despite the feelings of uncertainty and weakness, I have been encouraged by the truth that God is in control (I certainly am not) and the truth that He has the power to heal and strengthen the weak in His timing. That definitely gives me hope on days like this.

  
12/2/11 - Recovery Day 29: So, I went to the plastic surgeon this morning (that is still weird for me to say). Like two days ago, the wound bled when they took the wound vac off, but not as bad before (I was once again assured that this is a good thing). Actually, the plastic surgeon thought the wound looked really good and healthy for how long it has been healing and recommended that I stay on the wound vac for a while longer. He said a graft probably wouldn't take at this point, and some granulation is still forming on the Achilles tendon. He thinks as that continues to heal the skin will eventually start to close up. My synopsis of what he told me: "You look good and healthy. Just keep doing what you are doing." On a lighter note, there were many interesting pamphlets in the examination room... (see the 3rd photo) I definitely felt a little out of place there. :)

I'm definitely feeling more at peace with this process. Many have prayed for me and with me over the past couple of days, and I can really feel the peace and strength of God from that. It is such a blessing to have people like that in my life.

12/5/11 - Recovery Day 32:

  
12/7/11 - Recovery Day 34:

12/9/11 - Recovery Day 36:

12/13/11 - Recovery Day 40:

12/15/11 - Recovery Day 42:

12/18/11 - Recovery Day 45:

  
12/21/11 - Recovery Day 48: It has been a while since I have updated this. There have been many ups and downs since I last posted, but only two struck me as worth mentioning at the moment. A couple of weeks ago I made my first (and hopefully last) visit to an infectious disease doctor. Here is an abbreviated paraphrase of our conversation:

ID Dr: So, what are you here for?
Me: I'm not sure. I was hoping you knew that. My doctor just told me to come. 
ID Dr: Well, spiders carry venom, but that isn't an infectious disease. You should be fine.
Me: Good to know. Thanks.

What could be better than not being infectiously diseased? Not being able to see my Achilles tendon anymore. For the first time in 48 days, my tendon covered over! Now all that needs to happen is for the skin to close in over the wound. This is the best news I've heard in a while. Hopefully, this will all be over soon...

1/10/12 - Recovery Day 68: It seems I've fallen behind on updating this again. I had a j-term class last week that has been keeping me busy for several weeks. Also, there hasn't been much to report until today. There was a day when we thought I had approval to get rid of the wound vac, but it turned out to be a miscommunication. The wound vac is still attached as I type this.

As for a current update, the wound is healing quite well as you can see in the photos. It is only about the size of a dime now, and the skin is starting to cover over. I had originally thought that once the wound was fully healed then I would be completely back to normal. However, as the wound has grown closer to being fully healed, I've been recognizing that is not going to be the case. As I have been trying to do more things, I've been noticing ways my body isn't functioning correctly. At the moment I can walk without crutches (more like hobble), but I've noticed I can't move my feet (either foot). I can't wiggle or move my toes or move my foot up and down on either foot. Also, my hands feel weak when I try to work with small objects. I've been having difficulty using keys, buttoning buttons on my clothes, opening things, and writing.

I talked to the doctor some about this previously and tried to work on some of these functions more, but they just aren't getting better. Talking more about it today, he is sending me to see a neurologist, and there is a good possibility I may need some physical therapy. I'm not sure what either will entail.

It looks like I'm a week or two away from the wound fully healing, but full recovery is still a ways off. Still, I am thankful for all the help and support of friends, family, church, and medical staff. Each one has been a blessing to me in this process. They are one of the many ways God continues to show me His faithfulness.

1/23/12 - Recovery Day 81: It has been a busy couple of weeks. Since the last post, the wound has been progressing very slowly despite using the wound vac; however, all of that changed this past Friday when I went to see the neurologist. Based on his examination, the neurologist believed I might have a problem with my spinal cord that was causing the weakness in my hands and feet. In light of the seriousness of that and the amount of time the tests would take, he recommended that I be admitted to the hospital. They were going to admit me that day, but they were out of beds so I had to wait until Saturday.

I was in the hospital for three days, including my birthday on Sunday. While I was there they did several tests: blood work, MRI, and spinal tap. The blood work and MRI were easy, but the spinal tap was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever experienced. Basically they stick a needle in your spinal cord and draw out the fluid. They numb the area for the procedure, but my back really hurts now.

So far all of the test results have been good. The MRI looked normal and so did the first couple of spinal fluid tests. We are still waiting on the results of my blood work and more spinal fluid tests. And probably won't get them for a couple of weeks. The good thing is they haven't found anything wrong yet, but the bad news is we still haven't identified what is causing my feet and hands to fail. The waiting game is still on.

I was encouraged by a few things though. First, the wound vac is gone and the wound is closed! They asked me to remove the vac on Friday when they decided to hospitalize me, and within 24 hours it had scabbed up. Also, about 20 friends from church came by on Sunday to throw a little birthday party. It was really encouraging. God has been good to me.

 

1/26/12 - Recovery Day 84: This all just keeps getting stranger and stranger. After being released from the hospital on Monday, I've spent the whole week in bed with spinal headaches. It's a side effect of the spinal tap. Anytime I sit or stand upright for 10 minutes (or less) my head starts to throb, sometimes leading me to drop to the floor to relieve or avoid the pain (like a fainting goat or Buster Bluth in a fight, it's "surprisingly effective"). This may be the worst I've felt in the entire process, and ironically it's just after leaving the hospital.

I saw both the orthopedic surgeon and neurologist today. The good news is my wound is pretty much healed (Yeah!). It is scabbed over and only requires a band-aid now. My orthopedic surgeon even said he doesn't need to see me anymore, and he took me off all the medications. On the neurological side I got new medications to help with the headaches and low copper levels in my body. There still doesn't seem to be any definitive answers to my hand and feet issues though.

2/6/12 - Recovery Day 95: Still no progress and still no answers on my hands and feet. I met with the neurologist this morning, and he confirmed that all of the tests results from my hospital visit were normal. Next they plan on doing an EMG to see if there is something wrong with the signals getting to my hands and feet. In the mean time, another doctor is testing me for things such as lyme disease and rocky mountain spoted fever. More tests and more waiting on the horizon...

Despite this period of waiting over the past few weeks, I feel like God has been teaching me a lot about His mercy through a seemingly silent time. There is really no one else to turn to. This is always the case, but it becomes more clear in times like these. I hope to process and write more about this at a later time.