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What has the recovery been like so far for the wide local excision and skin graft on your foot? What has been the most difficult part?
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member1845 (Current Patient) - 07 / 03 / 2012
Recovering from the wide local excision, skin graft and sentinel lymph node biopsy continues to be lengthy. I am at four weeks today and just off crutches. The inguinal incision is about twelve inches long due to the fact that the doner tissue for the skin graft was taken from this area along with the nodes. It has healed beautifully but it is tight and I have a mixture of numbness and pain along the scar line and about halfway down my inner thigh. The surgeon says this is normal but to be aware of increased pain or swelling. The skin graft care is quite involved. Post surgery, I had to be in bed or a recliner for two weeks with my leg elevated. Swelling is the main reason for graft failure. I was not allowed to bear weight on the foot and was on crutches for three weeks. I was in a partial cast from the knee down to prevent any movement of my ankle which, in turn, would displace the graft. I saw the plastic surgeon every three to four days for dressing changes, suture removals and observation. I am now doing my own dressing changes and had my first debridement yesterday to remove dead and dying tissue from the graft. It is not a pleasant experience, but the graft has taken and that is what matters. I will have at least one more debridement in two weeks. I can now leave my foot uncovered while at home. The most difficult part of this recovery was the immobility and need of the crutches. I could not be up long enough to do anything of substance around the house like cooking, cleaning and laundry and the crutches were just annoying and in the way. The pain was substantial and I was on pain meds for almost three weeks. It now just aches and I have some impressive zingers as the nerves try to reestablish their network. I will have permanent numbness along the graft and outer edge of my foot.
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