First check-up...

[denny]

Went back to the hospital this morning for my first official check-up (previous return trips were just ad-hoc changing of bandages etc). After a fairly perfunctory examination the doctor who is in charge of my skin graft pronounced it well enought to be left out in the open, as the last couple of icky spots are small enough that they'll heal better for getting some air rather than needing to be kept 101% sterile under loads of dressings.

It looks pretty weird - you can quite clearly see veins running just under the surface of the new skin, as there's no subcutaneous fat layer between the top layer of skin and the muscle tissue that would usually be half a centimeter or so further in. It feels really smooth to touch... still no sensation in that part of my leg though so it's a bit odd touching it and not feeling where your finger is.

Anyway, TMI probably. The basics are that my skin graft seems to be healing as well as could be expected, and my bones aren't yet doing anything noticeable in the way of healing which is also much as expected. Next appointment is in 6 weeks, roughly 3 months after the day of the surgery on the bones, at which time they'll be doing x-rays and hoping to see early signs of healing from the bones...

Update: From time to time my leg itches, as skin generally does when healing up. However, on occasion my leg itches in one of the areas that has no feeling in it. How the hell am I supposed to relieve that sensation - I can't scratch it because I can't feel my fingernails running over the skin! Bah.

Comments

[barakta]

From experience of spending most of my childhood with one or other arm in plaster the itching is indicative of nerve regeneration as well as the 'shock' of being exposed to air again.

My advice would be to find someone willing to scratch it very lightly for you for a few seconds and see if that helps, if that doesn't help try rubbing it (if the skin is ok in that area) with something like nivea/E45 or VitE containing cream stuff, that'll increase blood flow to area and increase circulation.

Regular massage will improve circulation and nerve regeneration (by increasing blood flow) seeing if you can get ppl to give you lots of massage can only but help.

Apart from that (I reread and realise you can't feel scratching) find something to distract you from the itching? Its annoying but should improve slowly over time.

Hope healing continues to happen well, not sure if you are still in casts or not, as my brain isn't parsing English correctly anymore.

Natalya

[ninneviane.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're on the mend babe **hugs beaming**

I've got ask...what are the scars like?
And how do you feel about them?

I have many scars, from accidents and surgery a like, and I guess I'm just interested to know how you feel about yours...

In other words I'm being nosy...as always ;)

[lizw.livejournal.com]

If you can use trial and error to find where the same nerves run further up the leg, where you still have some feeling, and scratch there, you may find that works.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

I've got ask...what are the scars like?

There's a variety of them :) I'll get around to posting some pics at some point. Essentially there's a fair size one down the front (from above the knee down to about two thirds of the way down the shin), a heavy and long one down the inside of the calf (from knee to ankle), and the skin graft (which is more or less a huuuuuge oval scar, a few inches wide at the mid-point) down the outside of the calf (knee to just above ankle).

And how do you feel about them?

A lot better since duranorak reminded me she has a scar fetish  :)

The two scars don't bother me much aesthetically, they're just annoying while they're itchy and healing. The skin graft I'm a little bit upset about, but not distraught. Shit happens...

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Ooh, neat idea. *scritches experimentally*

[ninneviane.livejournal.com]

Wow...call me weird if you like, but I can't wait to see them...please post some piccys soon [Unknown site tag] isn't the only one with a scar fetish ;)