Going Home Today

I don't know exactly what time I'm getting out of here, but I am being discharged today.

Dr. Higgins and one of his guys came by at about 8am this morning and removed all of my drains, the wound vac (which was over the skin graft) and the cellophane type of wrap that was over everything. Nothing like having tape (or a tape like material) pulled off of leg hairs.

My leg looks FUNKY! He had told my parents that it would look swollen and bulged out when I first saw it, but I still wasn't prepared. My knee looked like a cantaloupe and my leg looks so atrophied. No muscle tone at all any more. The area where he did the graft looked like a basket weave mesh. He said that as weird as it all looked to me, it was exactly what he wanted to see and that everything was perfect, living and healing. He wrapped me up in a ton of gauze and said that I don't have to do any dressing changes until I see him a week from now.

I am still waiting on a heat lamp to arrive that is supposed to "cook" and dry the donor site on my hip. There is a piece of something - cheese clothe or gauze that is over the site and apparently as the spot drys and heals it will peel off and I can trim it away. The main problem with the donor site is that it is right where the metal splint part of my brace hits my hip. So having my brace on properly and getting up to move is pretty painful. Hopefully that won't last long.

The nursing company called me already to schedule to be at my house tomorrow at 8am with the antibiotics and to teach me and the family how to administer them. Other than the heat lamp and I'm sure a good deal of paperwork on the hospital staff's end I think I'm ready to get out of here.

Mom and Dad are on there way here with clothes and it will take a little while to take all my pictures down and pack all my goodies up. I can't believe that today is day 15 in the hospital and I am so glad that I won't be seeing number 16.