A post on pain at day 30 (or four weeks, or one month)

I think I last properly posted about pain levels a week after surgery. At that point I was still on lots of drugs but not experiencing any pain to speak of. After two weeks I had the casts replaced, came off the painkillers on my surgeon's say-so, and still didn't experience pain.

In the last two weeks though, things have changed.

I don't know much about healing, but my theory is that the body concentrates on the deepest level of injury first, and then moves outwards. So I'm guessing that the first bit of healing that happened was my bones.

Now my body seems to have turned its attention to my incisions, and to the tendons and flesh around the joint that was cut and moved.

I say that because over the last couple of weeks the soreness and tenderness around my incisions has become quite painful. Most of the time my incisions feel scratchy in a painful way, and also itchy.

I also find that moving my feet causes pain deep inside them, like a dull throb, as though there's a big bruise inside, which actually, there is.

I haven't gone back on any painkillers, although it has crossed my mind, mainly because it isn't *that* bad, and I think that a bit of pain prevents me from overdoing things.

I see that as a good thing, because I don't want to jeopardise my recovery in any way, and I'd rather be temporarily frustrated now than permanently frustrated with my feet later.

But I am surprised at how little I can do even now. I had thought that after a month I'd be moving around the house quite a bit, able to cook and do a bit of housework, but half an hour of my feet being down and they are swollen and sore.

In fact, the last few days they've been sore all the time, even when lying in bed.

I am seriously thinking about hiring a mobility scooter because the hubby has to go back to work (he is working from home this week) and I can't see how I am going to get the Little Lady to preschool on my crutches.

I don't feel able to keep her safe at all, and although I have lovely friends who have offered to help, I don't want to impose on people too much.

I really am counting down to having the casts off now, although I suspect that then I'll be in a different kind of pain from trying to learn to walk again.

Well, I guess I did know this was a slow process.