Monday 6th May

Three days after the operation I had an appointment to visit the nurse in our local surgery. My wonderful next door neighbours had borrowed a pair of crutches for me, making it easier to cross the road to get to the car.

If I thought it was painful before, I wasn’t prepared for this!

Upon unwrapping the bandages, the wound, actually more like a crater, was filled with gauze. The wound had to be kept open, in preparation for a skin graft, two weeks hence.

Using saline solution and plastic tweezers, the nurse, as gently as possible, began to prise the dressing away from my skin. Forty five minutes of crying, hyperventilating, hanging on to my husband’s shoulders, and finally the wound was clear.

It did look quite scary and very deep. Having cleaned and re-bandaged my foot I felt a lot more comfortable, plus I was armed with a box of much stronger painkillers!

And they worked! If I timed it right, taking two, 40 minutes ahead of time, I could hop-hobble to the bathroom in a little less pain!

A much better sleep was had that night.