PT+ Pain

PHYSICAL THERAPY

Bob the physical therapist has visited Brigham twice. We were all amazed (including Brigham) when he lifted his leg up with no help and then able to bend the knee and bring towards his chest. Brigham realized part of that was mental more than physical. During another exercise Bob could feel the 3 quad muscles all working.  This is fabulous news.  Brig cannot feel part of his thigh but his muscles are reacting + working which really no one knew if he would ever be able to do that. 

This week he was given standing + sitting exercises to do.  He is suppose to keep his pain level at a 5 or lower.  These are exercises to reactivate the muscles and getting them more or less warmed up. He can only do so many exercise before he has to elevate his foot to release the pressure from the swelling.  

PAIN

He was moved to a smaller dose of meds and longer apart dosage time on Monday. This happened the same day as a not-so-awesome wound care appointment (not the nurses fault, it's just how it goes). We had a hard time managing his pain for him to sleep. We keep hearing that wound care gets better each time but it seems hit and miss for Brig and this week all 3 have been difficult.  Sometimes the sponge like material seems to stick to the wound which is actually new tissue growth. 

By Wednesday we could still not get a handle on his pain and neither of us had slept well in 2 nights so we increased his dose after talking to our WCF advocate nurse + the doctor.  During the day he stays on the lower does but adds a bump of meds before wound vac changing, bedtime and PT. 

Most of the pain is still in the calf (fasciotomy sites) and the ankle.  Sharp throbbing is how he describes it. His calf has also started itching...maybe because it is slowly healing.

He has started getting random pain inside his leg around his knee and by his wound.  Like I said this is on the inside and we are wondering if it is nerve pain or just healing pain. 

FASCIOTOMY

We have seen incredible change this week in his fasciotomy site.  It is amazing how much new tissue has grown in 4 days. This is good.  It means he is closer to getting off the wound vac and getting skin grafts. Unfortunately it makes taking off the sponge like material very painful as I mentioned it sticks to the new tissue. On Friday they decided to put a barrier strip between the wound + the sponge hoping to make Monday's vac change less painful. 


BOREDOM

Boredom is setting in.  He likes visitors because it takes his mind off the pain and gives him something to do.  However, he also gets tired quickly.  He is going to start moving from his room more to get a different view.  Maybe spend an hour on the reclining couch or eat dinner in the kitchen in his wheelchair. 

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