Nerve Block and my Freakout

So after I got home, I went straight to bed.  I had planned to pretty much veg the rest of the day in bed.  So I crutched up to my bedroom and elevated by leg with pillows  My leg was completely numb, primarily from the nerve block that they had given me.

What is a nerve block?  Basically it is an injection that is place on specific nerves that prevents signals from getting through.  It pretty much made my leg completely numb.  The sensation is similar to the feeling that you get at the dentist when they inject your gums with Novocaine.  In all the paperwork, and many sights it says that surgical nerve blocks can last up to 24 hours after the surgery.

What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that the muscles in my leg had stopped functioning as well.  My impression was that, similar to Novocaine, that it would be numb, but you still had control of your muscles.  So, when I wasn't able to lift my toes upwards, it freaked me out.  I also wasn't able to move my ankle upward at all (dorisflex).    One of the common risks with any surgery that has to do with nerve damage.  Nerve damage can basically cause numbness and in some cases paralysis.

So as I'm lying down in my bed, and staring at my toes sticking out of my cast/splint...and trying to move my toes but can't...my mind instantly went straight to the worst case scenario.  I wondered if something had gone wrong.  It may be my own phobia, but there's nothing else more frustrating than the helpless feeling trying to get your mind to do something that your body does not want to do.  It's downright scares me.  So, trying to concentrate and will my toes to move, and seeing them paralyzed freaks me out.

Wiggle your big toe...

I asked the nurses about this before I left, and they said it was normal, and just to wait 'til tomorrow.  Again, the paperwork said it should only last 12-24 hours.  Even the medical websites say around 24 hours.  Well, this got me so freaked that I couldn't even get to sleep after the surgery.  I kept doing my internet research.

I asked my brother, who had surgery to fix his achilles tendon.  He said the exact same thing happened to him.  He even said that it lasted about a week.  So, that put my mind at ease a bit.  My mom called a family friend, who happens to be an anesthesiologist, and he said to wait it out. He also said you can check the blood flow to make sure that the wrapping aren't too tight.  Just squeeze the toe for a few seconds, and then check to see if it return to normal color or if it stays white for a few seconds.  My aunt, whose a retired doctor, who also was concerned that the wrapping were too tight, said to make sure that the base of the nail color are purple.  That would cause the  increase numbness as well.

None of these were the case...I just had to wait it out.  I was stressing about it all night.