Hi all!
I'm struggling a bit with being 'transparent' because it may be discouraging, but I promised myself I would be transparent to paint the real picture of this surgery for those of you seeking information, so here goes.
Well here is where the reality hits the road. I live alone. During the first week I had my mom to get things for me, but now I'm on my own.
I'm a planner, but you can't anticipate everything. I have discovered that I have no hands! You can't carry a cup of tea from one room to another because both your hands are needed for the crutches.
To deal with this I carry a satchel across my body. In it I have things like a bottle of water, cell phone, pen and paper, kleenex, medication, etc. To carry tea I have to carry it in a thermos in my satchel.
I have also learned that I had 'foot' surgery done, but it might as well have been my whole leg because the discomfort I feel goes all the way up to my hip. This surgery (one stage) does not allow you to rest your foot on the floor, so all traveling on the crutches calls for you to elevate it above the floor.
The rest of your body has to compensate for this. For me, it is causing aches and pains in other areas like my hips. I even hurt something in my right quad muscle. I had been using that muscle to lift myself from being seated. After a few days at home it gave way.
So now I shimmie myself to the edge of the sofa/bed and try my best to use my arms to lift my toosh up.
And most of all, I have found that it is much too uncomfortable to have my left leg perpendicular to the floor (leg is regular standing position). The blood flows down and your foot feels like it's going to pop. (Would this also happen to someone who just has the Brachy done and not the bunions with it like I did? Dunno.) (I can now tell you that after having just the bunionectomies on my right foot, I did not experience this, so I would have to assume it's the Brachy on-stage that does this.)
So when I get up on my crutches, anything I do... I just want to do it in a hurry so I can get my leg back to an elevated position! I really didn't expect this. It's very frustrating. Even seated with my leg elevated becomes uncomfortable after 20min. It seems I have to be in more of a laying down position.
When I fix myself something to eat or clean the dishes I have to prop my whole leg up because I can't take the pain otherwise. (Thank goodness I'm flexible).
Let me also say that I am in decent shape. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had a lot of excess weight. Geez.
When I do elevate my foot like this, my right leg has to carry all the weight. It does get tired and soar.
And here is another surprise, my palms are soar too. This is from the crutches. And I'm not even going outside, it's just the small travels within my apartment tiny apartment. (345sq ft.)
I'm hoping that these issues will iron themselves out as time passes. Things have to get better right?
