7th Week — Post-Op Summary

Here's how things are looking. Still swollen and quite tender. But a miracle still. This is a process, and perhaps the 'wow-factor'  that I've finally had this done hasn't hit me yet. But I'm sure as pain subsides and agility returns I'll be able to enjoy the amazing thing this surgery means for me. I'd just like to walk already, ya  know. ;o/


FLEXIBILITY

I'm bending both right and left sets of toes with all my might here.


PAIN 
This week my heel and large tendon behind my ankle have been a pain—literally. You've ever heard the saying, "It has to hurt if it is to heal" ? Well I'm hoping that's why it ached so much this week! ;0) (I want to note that I'm starting to think that I'm feeling more discomfort than I should because I'm home all day without my boot on. (against doctors orders... what if I fall?) And because I do for myself, I think my foot is getting too much movement (giggling?). Is this causing me more pain at night?)

SLEEPING
The heel pain has caused small spurts of sleeping. I awaken many times during the night tossing, trying to find a pain-free position. I can't fall back to sleep and am awake 3 hours at a time. (In one of my past posts thought this was remedies after reducing my medication, but I guess it's back)  Thank God I'm on short term disability, this kind of sleep would negatively affect my work. (It's important to note that I am off all Meds right now. I'm sure if I were on Meds I'd be sleeping pain-free.)

DR. VISIT

Dr. Yes took no xrays as there would be no noticeable changes since the xrays taken 2 weeks earlier. (No news is good news.)

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Dr. Yes told me to start maneuvering my 4th toe. (Put my index finger behind the base of the toe and softly press forward. For two minutes, 3 times a day.)

However, Dr. West, my surgeon, told me specifically not to touch my toe until the 10th week when he would provide the exercises I should do. If Dr. Yes is wrong in his recommendation, it is possible that my toe will pop-up like it use to. And if that happens, I would be up against an additional surgery to correct that! What would you do?

Well I decided to start Dr.Yes' recommendation because my Brachy isn't as distorted as some Brachyans. My fourth toe never touched the floor, but it didn't pop-up as severely as some other cases I'm familiar with.

I couldn't remember to do it during the day so I'd just do it once at night in front of the tube. But I noticed my foot would ache a lot more when I was trying to sleep. So I stopped. I will try again next week.

DRIVING

I had asked my surgeon if I could put weight at least on my heel and he said 'no'. But just 2 days ago I made my way downstairs to my car. I wanted to see if I could use the area under my 1st three toes to press down on the clutch. Maybe I could at least drive myself to my doctor's appointments, right?  

NOT. No way. Didn't happen. I can't believe how hard I had to press against the clutch to get it to move only a smidge! My foot doesn't have the strength yet. I'm amazed.


BANDAGE

Attending my scars twice a day got me real tired of wrapping and unwrapping the ace bandage. It also felt a little hot with them on. So I thought I'd go get a roll of gauze, but I found something better. Isn't it snazzy? ;o) It's a mesh tubular bandage.


Very light weight and comfy.;o)

I use this type of gauze pad directly on the incision sites. Non stick (or non-ouchie ;o) With Neosporin.

I found this type of gauze uncomfortable against my incisions, so I don't use it. The non-stick pads are the way to go.
 

NOTE (Hypertrophic Scars)
I wanted to say something about the bandages and scars. I got the large size (tube bandage) on purpose so it would be loose fitting. But I don't think it's wise to do this at the beginning of a scar. Incisions need some snug pressure against them to avoid the scars becoming Hypertrophic.

Hypertrophic Example.
© Prime Health Channel

It's been proven that while doctors can prescribe topical ointments (OTC and otherwise), and/or give injections directly into a hypertrophic scar to reduce its 3D characture, THE BEST THING TO REDUCE THE HEIGHT OF A HYPERTROPHIC SCAR IS PRESSURE. 

I know this because I had surgery some years ago and have a couple of 6" scars that became hypertrophic! Think about it, a person with a scar running vertically down their abdomen demonstrates this. The scar is very 3D-like above and below where their belt line is. But the part of the scar that gets the pressure from their belt is nice and flat.

Also, I'm not sure, but it is possible that not all skin on the body is created equal. Is the skin on your neck more susceptible to hypertrophic scaring than your knees, etc.? If so, what about feet? I don't know. (I do know that the world of medicine thinks some skin pigments lend themselves more to scaring like this than others.) But I'm not taking any chances.

That being said, I will be watching my scars and if more pressure-time is needed I'll be switching back to my snug ace bandages. ;o)

Ciao!