Monday, August 31, 2009

Relapse


A few days ago (and about a week after Nationals) my leg swelled up fairly dramatically over night. There was also some ugly discolouration. The situation was drastic enough that I almost could not put on my prosthesis. I persevered and got it on with considerable pain... (maybe 9 out of 10 on my scale - where 10 is "take me to the hospital.")

For the first few hours of the day it was quite excruciating to walk, then it seemed to get a lot better - I assumed it was the Motrin kicking in.

At the end of the day I took off my prosthesis to go to bed and was greeted by BLOOD. Lots of it - and some even spurting from the bottom of my limb. Sorry for writing that - didn't mean to alarm you.... it was alarming though.

Despite the horrific look of my leg, the pain was far less intense, and the swelling pretty much gone - the bleeding/explosion had obviously relieved the pressure a fair amount.

Anyway, YES, I am going to see the doctor. I hope this time a cause will be identified. Obviously something is not quite right down there.

Any doctors out there???

By the way, in case you need a good laugh I have included the Universal Pain Assessment Tool below... CLICK TO ENLARGE.




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10 comments:

Vincent said...

thats gross. Hope its getting better

Ulyana said...

I hope you get your answer and get recovered fast. Please keep us updated. Good luck.

Unknown said...

I hope it turns out to be nothing serious and you are better quickly.

runninggunner said...

that sounds pretty crazy. Hope you can get it looked at and fixed quickly.

Take care

garobbins said...

Hey Meyrick, sorry to hear that, hope it gets better quickly and without major issue!
GR

Jo Lynn said...

I'm sorry you are in pain. That sucks! You must be a little scared too?
I hope you get better and back to 100% soon.

Ryan D said...

dude!!!! WTF!!

get better man. sorry to hear!

JC said...

Oh I hope it's quickly fixable. Your pain tolerance must be high. I would've gone to the hospital at 7!!

Get that looked after!

PC Ironman said...

blood, cool, show pictures, better yet, a video!! I use that Universal Pain Assessment tool in my office all the time however, even though its in pictures, it still doesnt translate well to the Russian population that is my patient base.
Pick Vegas Xterra, early May, good fun, rent a bike there like I did, we qualify for Maui in May then train for WC all the rest of the summer and spend a week or so in the Hawaiian sun in October, how bout it champ?

rolf sonnerup said...

Howdy Meyrick:

I don't know the specifics of your bleeding, but I can tell you that from cycling I have had a similar problem. In my case, it was due to the fact that my stump tends to ride up out of the socket at the top of the pedal stroke, just a tiny bit, and at the same time my suspension sleeve is trying to pull my leg down as far as possible. Every pedal stroke you leg pulls out a tiny bit, while the iceross sucks on the tip of your stump. The result is basically the world's biggest hickie (but not as fun).

Eventually the end of my leg turned purple and duh I didn't do anything about it until it popped with the symptoms you describe.

My prosthetist made me a donut to put in the end of my socket. This reduces, slightly, the distance that the end of my stump can travel. I kept forgetting and leaving it in there with no problems and so glued it in permanently.

It's pretty unlikely that this is what's going on with you (what are the odds?) but I thought I'd mention it.

Good luck and heal fast.

rolf