Hi Everyone! Thanks for all the well wishes!
So, last night I remained somewhat miserable. By 5:00am, I was needing relief. I took off my gauze and ace bandages and I placed some clean washcloth compresses around the sides of the incision area and all of a sudden, began to feel some relief - as many of the bubbles began to release their fluid, etc. I decided to leave the knee uncovered after that until my afternoon OS appt, which seemed to also help with relief.
I was worried that my OS and PA would freak out when they saw the knee - especially after I showed them the before and after pictures, but they were pretty calm and said I was having serious delayed contact dermatitis reaction to the tape on the knee. The OS, however, was confused as to why the ER prescribed Cephalexin instead of topical steroid. Anyways, he said since I started the antibiotic, I should probably finish, but he strongly felt I didn't need it and by the end of the appointment he seemed to waiver on whether I should continue taking the antibiotic. (I haven't taken any more doses, yet - it seems to wreak havoc on the GI tract)
The OS prescribed two different topical steroids - saying that sometimes insurance doesn't pay or the pharmacy doesn't have one of them (Impoyzo .25%). He was right, the pharmacy only had the one topical steroid on hand and said my insurance wouldn't pay for the other, so I ended up with Triamcinolone .5% Cream. So far it seems to have calmed the rash a bit. The OS also said that I should keep it uncovered, I can shower, etc.
Other than the rash, The OS and his PA were perfectly happy with my progress and I will begin PT on Thursday. So, overall it was a good visit. Now - to just get rid of this rash!!!