El Andalous - First Day Without Plaster

View of Sahl Hasheesh from El Andalous Rooftop

I woke up the next morning and my instant reaction was to reach out for the crutches. And then I realised I didn’t need them! I tentatively got out of bed. Again, my heel was hurting a lot, protesting, I think, that it had been overused in the last five weeks. I hobbled painfully – because of the heel – towards the bathroom and had my first shower in six weeks (I’d had the other plaster before as well).

I was relieved not to have to go through the palaver of tying the bag round my leg, sticking it out of the shower and worrying that it would get wet. I looked at the bag in the bathroom and realised I could now throw it away, but I didn’t want to tempt fate.

Even with the cast and even in normal life, I always found myself more able-bodied after washing, and this was no different. My body had warmed up and got itself into action while I was in the shower, so when I got out, my walking was really pretty easy.

My flat was dirty and untidy after all that time of minimal care, so rather than explore outside, as everyone expected me to do, I started on sorting out my flat. I unpacked about eight of my shipment cartons and it was a relief to be able to use two hands again. Having a broken foot means more than just the loss of the foot!

Not having exercised for some time, I got tired easily, although my foot felt fine, so I took a rest once an hour. My foot was occasionally a bit uncomfortable in certain positions, but I can’t say it was really painful at all and I was walking around and carrying things quite happily.

I felt blessed and it also felt like a miracle that my bone could heal itself. I marvelled at how brilliant my body was.

I washed my foot, as advised, and more and more dead skin fell off. Where the plaster had been, my leg was a weird combination of no hairs on the left-hand side and excess hair growth on the right-hand side. The bottom of my foot looked like arid mud with hairline cracks everywhere and the part of the leg without hair looked flaky and a bit tender, so I handled it with care, moisturising my foot and my leg afterwards.

The ointment I was prescribed felt wonderful on my foot. I can’t say I really notice it making any difference to the swelling, but it felt very beneficial when I applied it.

Each time after I rested, it was hard to get started again, and I would always feel the pain in my heel at first and I would have to hobble until my body adjusted itself. On the whole, though, I was proud about how much time I’d spent on my feet and how well it had all gone. 

I unpacked my scales and weighed myself – to my delight, I’ve lost one stone (c. 7 kg) since I’ve been here. I must now be near to my medically ideal BMI.

As I was making my supper, my taxi driver texted me to ask how I was doing; it was good to feel that people were interested in my well-being.

All in all, there was a lot to be happy about.