ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! - Post-Op

First, I want to thank God for being with me, cuz I sure did need to know he was around those first few months when I was shut in.

As I look back, I'm reminded of so many things! My melancholy, the pain, and the small hurdles I overcame along the way. =o) 

A FEW HAPPY THINGS

• I use to have a corn on my third toe and now it's gone. ;o) 

• I also use to have thick calluses in the bottom front of my feet. They are gone too. I hope it stays that way.

• Another little thing is that before the surgery I was a size 9 to 9 1/2 shoe size; and now I'm a size 8 1/2 to 9. This is due to my Bunionectomies. Yay. 

• In case you're wondering, I do not feel the hardware in my foot.

OUTSTANDING PAIN ISSUES

(the red areas are further past muscle, closer to the bone if you will.) This Sciatic Pain pain keeps me from taking long walks or doing anything on my feet for hours. It's an annoying and sometimes miserable kind of pain. It's daily, and if I keep going I end up limping. I'm hoping it will diminish completely with time.

UPDATE The issue in this box WAS part of my outline when I started putting this entry together 4 few weeks ago. BUT something amazing happened. I won't go into the details, but I received complete healing in this area. This pain lasted 11 months and 2 weeks. I've been completely pain free for the past 2 weeks! So there are no outstanding pain issues!

TENDONS

Remember I spoke about this back in the "Didn't know" page? Back in the 11th post-op week? Anyway, when I wake up in the morning it feels as though my tendons have been in a ballerina position (pointed foot) for an ice age. 

So every morning I have to recline myself forward to make the tendons feel "released". It's weird.

NUMBNESS

RED are numb areas. YELLOW are areas of a tingling sensation when touched.

PINKIE TOE
As I mentioned in a previous post, I suspected my 5th toe might develop a bump or callus because it's now rubbing up against the inside of my shoes.

It never did that before because it lived under my 4th toe. (I placed it out from underneath my 4th toe for the B/W photo.)

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Well, the past year has been a sedentary one. If you remember, I tried walking at the track back at the 6.5 post-op-month mark. It didn't go well. This post explains the complication with the fourth toe.

At the 8th month mark I tried the treadmill for 2 weeks, but my whole leg was in pain. I had to stop.  

So now the question remains, "Will I forever have to wear a band-aid on my toe when doing intense physical activity to avoid a blister?"  I think I've avoided the gym because I don't want to test this. I don't want a painful blister under my toe! But at this annual point, I really have to. I'll be sure to post the results.



SCARS

The two in the center are from the Brachy surgery.

VIDEO

As promised, I made a video to summarize this past year's journey in case you've just joined the Blog. ;o)

INSOLES

In the past few months I've had to invest in this stuff.

It helped with the pain, but moving forward I will make this part of my shoe-drobe because I want better foot health.

I wore this lovely little number a few days ago for a 40th BD party.

Again, the higher the heel, the shorter my new fourth toe looks. ;o)








The "High Heel" insole is just a must for me now. They feel so good. I think this will help keep those calluses under the front part of my foot at bay. 

And these things even have arch support! Awesome.

FLEXING

This is how things look when I flex my toes upward.

RESULTS

My right foot looks gigantic! LOL

Obviously my left 4th toe isn't as long as my normal right one. 

This is more likely with the one-stage method vs the external fixator. I knew that going in. 

With all I've been through— I'm ok with it.

I'm more bothered by the results of my bunionectomies. Specifically, the first-metatarsal on my left foot. Seriously, I thought it would be better than that. But it's been a year of recovery and it's time to just move on.

HELP

As I had shared in this post, I'm looking for flip-flops that say "Puerto Rico" on the straps. Preferably in leather. If anyone knows where I can find them, please leave me a comment. ;o) Thanks.

QUESTIONS

Is there anything you'd like to know that I haven't covered?



Thanks for following!

7.5 Months Post-Op Update

Feeling even better!                                                     (32 weeks) 

I took the risk and went on a very short photography hike. It was great! It was a very slow pace and it lasted two hours. When I got to my car to drive home my leg was starting to hurt (sciatic nerve), and my bone graph in my 4th metatarsal was actually aching. 

But again, once I rested things were fine. So I think it's all good.

Recently I did wear a wedge heel sandal. It had no cushion whatsoever. I could walk to where I was going and sit with them. But walking back to my car I noticed I was limping and favoring my right side. (So even though I had surgery only 3 months ago on my right foot, it still feels better than my Brachy foot surgery from 8mo ago.) But it's still progress. ;o)

There is less swelling in my left foot so it looks more defined now.

Nice to have the bunion reduced on my right too.

These socks actually press in areas that really accentuate my bunions. They sort of still look big don't they?  lol.  But I feel it's partly the socks. I think once I start taking photos of my new feet IN shoes, I'll appreciate my surgeries even more.

Sure, I wish I had a straight line for my 1st toe, but you can't have everything.

These are the very first flip-flops I purchased after my surgery. I LOVE them, they are so soft and comfy. I hope they last forever. 

Seven month scar update.
They are coming along.














Numbness 
My skin is still slightly numb in these areas. The areas use to bit a bit larger. Compare it to the 6th week here.

(FYI: the images used to show the numbness areas in this post are old images of my foot. Just the red sections are current status.)

Week 15 — Post-Op Highlights

Howdy.
A picture is worth a thousand words right? I'm definitely visually adept, but there is more going on than this photo can tell. So I'll tell you. ;o)

IN A SNEAKER!

Saw Dr. Yes last week. I've graduated into sneakers. Went out and got a good pair. I choose a men's (I need the extra width) Nike Air Max Run Lite +2. They were the most comfortable to me out of the selection. I also choose them because I would be able to add some comfort insoles in them without a problem. I needed a sneaker that would have enough space top-to-bottom (vertically) in the front.

I got 2 kinds of insoles. One for Heel pain relief and the other for the Sole.

I wanted them both in a men's size for the extra width, but was only able to find one. ;o(

Nothing seems to take the pain I feel away, but this is better then just the insole that came in the sneaker from the manufacturer. ;o)

Because the ace bandage would be too bulky, in a sneaker my Doc gave me this snazzy TIGHT sock. It does my scars good. (Remember the post I made about pressure being the best thing for scars?) 

My ankle and foot need the support (especially while driving my stick shift) so the sock is a good thing. But I do find that my foot starts to ache after about 5 hours. It's too snug after that time.


But I still wear my ace on top of that for ankle support.

PAIN
Let me be clear, while I am now out of my boot and off crutches, I'm walking with a great deal of pain and discomfort.

There are three things going on in the pain department:

    1. Both front and back of the sole of my foot
        are quite painful when I walk. It feels as though have metal         plates there, right under the skin of my soles.

     2. The Achilles tendon (Heel cord) is very tight

     3. My sciatic nerve

I had complained of this pain maaaany weeks ago and after describing it again to Dr. Yes this past week, he simply told me what it was. GO FIGURE! He gave me stretches to do.

The exercise was to stand arms-length away from a wall. Place palm of hands flat on wall, lean into wall by bending elbows... bringing the body toward the wall while heels remain on the floor. I found that this addressed the Achilles tendon, but not my sciatic nerve pain. 

I knew nothing about the sciatic nerve so I looked it up. I found this stretch was the best one so far:


For me however, I need more than this stretch. (The pain is persistent.) I have sent an email (because it's the weekend) to both of my doctors explaining the pain even though I am doing all the stretches, and requesting actual physical therapy. I'll let you know what they say. (In the meantime I've started taking Advil for the Ibuprofen. I'm hoping it relives the inflammation.)


WALKING

Stretching the Achilles tendon (heel cord) is Soooo necessary. With effort, I am able to go up stairs one foot in front of the other like normal (need bandage on).

But going down stairs is a totally different story. There is no limberness in that tendon. Until this happens to you, you never realize how it actually helps you go down the stairs.

I'm working daily to stretch this out. While I do not have permanent improvement in my sciatic nerve, I do experience permanent improvement in this tendon with my stretches. ;o)

There are stretches on YouTube for this tendon, but I find they aren't the best for those of us who have had Brachy surgery because we can not fully put weight on the foot yet. This is what I came up with that works best for me:

SLEEPING

I'm now enjoying full sleep through the night! YAY! ;oD

CONGESTION
This is improving also. (See: STRANGE)

NUMBNESS

(the images used to show the numbness areas in this post are old images of my foot. Just the highlighted sections are current status.)

6th Week — Post-Op Summary

Spring is on it's way!!! - © Favu Photography™

Another improved week. Hallelujah!

PAIN

Same as the 5th week, but less often— especially towards end of week. ;o) (The pain in my hip, quad muscle, and tendons behind my knee is gone for now.)

MEDICATION

This week I only took a pill at night when awakened with discomfort. But one day at 4:30am I awoke with some throbbing. I fought off the idea to take a pill— I don't want to have a habit. Two hours later it was relieved without medication. ;o)

So now it's been three whole nights without medication! YAY!

MOBILITY

My mobility and balance has improved. I've had 6 weeks of practice on one leg and it shows.

INCISIONS

My skin is peeling because of the tanning I did before surgery (stupid!). So I've peeled what I could. Then I washed my foot with a washcloth twice this week. It's a slow gentle process.  (Never wetting the incisions themselves!)

I am using maximum strength Neosporin twice a day, keeping my Raw eating lifestyle (90%), Using Vitamin E Oil, No refined sugars, and no dairy, etc.

My incisions now look like this:

SLEEPING

Beginning of this week I would wake up 2-3 times a night. I'd spend at least 2 hours awake trying to fall back to sleep.

  BUT...

Hooray!!!! Remember during the first week I said, "I have too much "awake energy". I think I'd rather be more sleepy." ?

Well I was right. It really was the medication because last night was the third night without medication and I only got up twice but was able to fall right back to sleep.

I'm on my way to normalcy! ;o)

 
NUMBNESS
Below are the ares that are numb to the touch. And you know what? While my concern has been for the utility and mobility of my 4th metatarsal... when I try to curl my toes my pinkie toe doesn't bend at all!!!

Cast Is Now On (17 days after surgery)

I had to pay my co-pay for this Dr. visit. Funny thing though, Dr. Yes' office charges $40 instead of the $25 I paid @ Dr. West's office. They said it's because they are a specialist. (?)

That's what my insurance card states, but I asked why would one podiatrist be a specialist and the other not. They said they didn't know. All they know is that they are a specialist. LOL. I think I'd like to call my insurance company to find out.

The tape was removed. And the outer sutchers by my 5th metatarsal too. Ouchie!

Neosporen was applied liberally.

No other cleaning was done.

This is my cast. It's fiberglass, not the plaster used years ago. It's still a little heavier than the ace bandage though.

When the ace bandage was removed all I did was massage my ankle, it felt so stiff. The last thing I wanted was my leg to be put in a confining cast. ;o(

As it's being put on you're thinking, "That's too snug". 

I'm grateful that Dr. Yes created my cast with a deeper angle than the splint I had. I actually felt relief as he decreased the angle!

It is snug and if my foot swells it will be even tighter. This means I really have to try hard and be lazy. To sit on my rump as not to make my foot swell. ;o)

In two weeks it will be removed for xrays. Again I am praying and trusting for a faster healing than 12 weeks.

There is a plus to having the cast instead of the ace bandage though, I don't have to be as careful with my leg because it's protected by a hard cast.

BUT—

Dr. West said to make the cast from below my knee to the tip of my toes. My post-op doctor, Dr. Yes, did not do that. My toes are exposed. This I feel could be dangerous. My toes can bump into anything.... like when I fell!

But my Post-op doctor is an amazingly gracious man. And very knowledgeable. (I'm learning that many doctors have good reasons for doing things even if different from one another.) I want him to feel that I have confidence in him. If I'm constantly referencing to what my "surgeon" would do, it wouldn't work out for either party. People do their best work when they know you have confidence in them. I will just be as careful as I can with my toes.

Tootles!

P.S. my fourth toe is still rather numb. My big toe feels numb on the inside, if that makes any sense.

SURGERY DAY!- LEFT FOOT

Up at 4:30am. I have to be at the hospital by 5:30am. My surgery is scheduled for 7:30am sharp. Remember to choose something comfy and easy to wear.

At the hospital I had to sit and answer questions (DOB, SS, etc.), give ID, insurance card, choose someone for Power of Attorney, pay hospital balance up-front (my insurance covers 90%. I had to write a check for approx. $370). I received my wristband and was reunited with my mom.

Later I was taken by a nurse. I was weighed. I changed. They wanted ALL my clothes off even though this was surgery for my foot. I kept my undies on. I was asked to state what day it was and what was going to be performed on me. They also took a urine sample. After giving the sample I realized it was for a pregnancy test. But I had already had this done (paid) for such a test for Dr. West some weeks earlier. I explained. They made a call to the lab to disregard my urine sample. (yay!) My IV was also done at this time.

I had to sign a form at this time for the crutches I would need later. Apparently, the crutches are billed separately by a company other than the hospital.

I sat on a gurney with the privacy of a curtain and my mom soon was let in to sit with me. I was given a marker and was told to write "yes" on the foot that was to have the procedures. I did, but I also drew a happy face on the bottom of my right foot. I put my sock back on that foot to hide it. I was hoping that in the operating room it would bring a few chuckles. (I was pretty sure that Dr. West would view my right foot while working on the left. My right foot does not have Brachymetatarsia.)

Soon an intern who works with Dr. West came over, introduced himself and asked if he could see my foot. I removed my sock. He took a look touched a few toes and was done. He asked if I had any questions. I said, "Yes. I was told I get a continental breakfast with this thing. Someone lied to me." ;oD This of course broke the ice. (I wanted everyone to experience a little humor before going into this thing.) 

Another nurse soon came who would be involved in the surgery and introduced herself. She too asked me to name what was being performed on me.

Then Dr. West came in. We were all in good spirits. He took the marker and signed his initials right next to where I wrote "yes" on my foot.

He took a digital picture of my foot, them placed his hand on my shoulder and bowed his head to prayed for me. Yup, Dr. West is a believer! ;o) He prayed aloud with me and my mom right there while the two nurses where going through paperwork. 

There are times in life where you feel you are perfectly situated at the right time and place... this was one of those moments. (I can not tell you if my surgeon does this with all his patients. But I feel pretty confident in stating that if his patients let it be known that they are followers of Jesus Christ, that he will most likely feel the liberty to express and show his own faith as well.)

He left before my mom could start blubbering. ;o) She was very touched by his gesture of prayer. Soon we were making jokes again.

For the most part my humor was accepted. The Anesthesiologist was a little taken aback however. Her point being that if I'm cracking jokes she is unable to determine if I'm really disoriented or not. "Surgeries are canceled when patients are asked questions and the wrong answer is delivered." (I understood her point and told her I understood, but her delivery on this point wasn't the best.) I felt that she is the one usually cracking the jokes... (maybe I was stealing her thunder?) a few minutes later she administered the anesthesia in a forceful manner.... it was very painful. (I had anesthesia admitted 10 years ago for a surgery and felt no pain whatsoever.)

Considering the anesthesia isn't delivered by needle directly into my arm, but an injection into the IV tube.... you'd think there would be no pain... but she managed to delivery it too quickly and the pain was practically unbearable. 

No time to complain as I would very soon be out. Approximately 4.5hrs later I awoke to Dr. West saying something to me that I couldn't make out. He left. I felt myself go under again, but not before I felt someone remove my catheter and hand me a zip-lock bag with my undies in it! LOL. Then I awoke to see a woman at the end of the gurney trying to tell me how to use crutches. It was much to early! I couldn't understand her. I was disoriented. They even got me up and placed the crutches under my arms. All I kept saying was, "I really shouldn't be on crutches right now." ;o) Drrrrr.

Moments later I was being wheeled out. I was in and out of consciousness. I then found myself at my parents, in bed, and took the strongest pain killer as directed by my doctor (Roxicet). The day before he instructed me to not wait for pain, but to take it as soon as I got back from the hospital. 

This is what I was looking like.

Gauze. An ace bandage on top of that. Cotton wrapped on top of that.Then a fiberglass splint running from my toes to my calf. Then TONS more cotton wrapping. And finally another ace bandage.

My leg was numb from the knee down. I was able to move my first 3 toes forward and backward— that very night. (one can do a lot when you're numb. ;o)

All this waiting and it's finally done, pheeew....