Day 7 - December 27 - Dressing Change #1

It's been a week since the incident. Anxious to see some progress so I went to the walk-in clinic to have the dressings changed today. As suspected, the doctor did not appear to really know what to do, so I pulled out the materials and instructions from the cute-resident-in-purple-scrubs in Vancouver and tried to walk him through it.

Removing the bandages was a bit of a chore as the gauze had hardened around my toes and the silver dressings had stuck to the wounds. He also seemed to be in a bit of a rush as he was the only doctor in the office, a walk-in clinic on a Saturday over the Christmas holidays, and the queue was growing as he worked on me.


The left big toe appears to have become one massive blister. Underneath the toe, the toenail, everything around the tip looks almost separated from whatever might be underneath. We didn't cut this "blister" off.


The bandages on the right foot were even crustier than the left. It was tough to get them off and we had to pull a bit, taking off some of the skin in the process. It hurt a little.

Having a look with the bandages off the right foot doesn't seem to be as bad as the left. The big toe is not as blistered but toe #2 is still almost black, even after the blister was cut off.


Overall:

The good news:
Three new large blisters had formed on three of the toes-at-risk. Right#2, Left#2&3.
No infection!

The bad news:
The nerves are growing back and it's starting to hurt like a bugger. I can handle the hurt if it means I get to keep my toes. So really, this is good news!

It's hard to imagine from these pictures that this is a good news story. Time will tell. It's only been one of many weeks.