My husband had ankle surgery on Dec. 4th. He had two procedures done including graphing/sealing a hole in his ankle bone and ligament tightening. Sorry, I cannot remember the medical terminology for the first procedure. He is non-weight bearing on crutches until at least Feb. 1, at his next appt. and doctor says it will probably be a cane after that? Not sure how he can go straight to a cane, where he will have to walk on his foot, when he has not been allowed to put any weight on it yet. Also, the surgery was not laproscopic. He has three large incisions on his ankle. This is my question:
When he does not have his foot elevated, it turns purpley/red almost two months out. He also has pitted edema from the top of his ankle down to nearly the tips of his toes. I made him go see the doctor/surgeon and the doctor says these two things are normal and can continue to be that way at least another 8 months. This doesn't seem right to me. These two things are happening clearly because there are circulation/vascular issues. I just don't think that pitted edema and the level of discoloration he is having is normal under any circumstances, let alone can be for another 8 months out. Should we get a second opinion from another doctor? The doctor is a surgical podiatrist who supposedly specializes in this kind of surgery, however, I have always felt he should have been operated on by an orthopedic surgeon. He is in the military and unfortunately, this is who they send them to for these kinds of surgeries. Would love opinions on whether we should get a second opinion on the edema and discoloration issues. Thanks.
Kir