Managing On My Own

My diet is mostly raw but I like soups too. My x-landlord and I still keep in touch. When she heard about what I would be undergoing she insisted on making me some soups to put in my freezer so I'd have an easier time during post-op. ;o) God is good.

I'm thinking by now I'm Vitamin D deficient because I'm kooked up inside. So I get it when I can through a window.

This is how I carry stuff from one place to another. I put my food in containers with lids inside this satchel. Same for liquids like my tea. (I should have my boot on, shame on me.)


I can't carry everything in it, like when I feed Missy. Once I get her food ready and in her bowl I sort of have to shimmie on my crutches to her spot while holding the bowl in one hand. It works, haven't dropped it yet. LOL.










I still can not sit upright with my leg up without pain after about 30min. (this is really troubling to me) I have to be reclined (broken record). I have not tackled doing my taxes because of this. (I would have to sit at my computer for hours.) But now the deadline draws near and I have to do them! I need a chair that will allow me to be reclined so I can do my taxes. Oy.


I actually had to have someone I only met once take me to IKEA and wheelchair-me around yesterday! (Thanks Cora!) It could be frustrating for someone like me (do-it-yourselfer), but I choose to take all this stuff in stride. I really don't have a choice. I suppose I could let the IRS come after me, but I rather not. ;oP... cuz I can't run right now.

Time to get crackin'!

I put the chair together this morning. I only have a few days left to do my taxes! I've never been so eager to finish them. ;o)

First, the foot stool

Missy is totally uninterested in pitching in ;o)
This place is a mess!

It's coming along...

Tadah. I'm seated very low. My shoulders are level with the table top, so I'm far from the monitor, but I increased the fonts on the screen so I can see OK. I won't finish all at once, but hopefully before the deadline.

Where there is a will, there is a way! Tootles! ;o)
 

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!!!

5th Week — Post-Op Summary

Clockwise from top left: Bunionette, Brachy,
Heel, and Bunion

This week has been an improvement! YAY! ;o)
 

BATHING

I'm now able to bathe every day— if I wanted to. I seem to have developed a system for doing it without causing pain. But still slow and I use the chair in the tub. Being confined as I am, I've decided to still bathe every other day because it takes huge amounts of energy.

PAIN

The discomfort and pain levels have lessened. The pain I get now comes in flashes of shooting pain. They are intense but short. My medication intake has diminished also. Less swelling, and I'm lasting longer standing on my crutches before pain sets in. Wooooohoooo!

SLEEPING

I was told to sleep with the boot, after all it's suppose to take the place of the cast. But it is so huge that I opted not to sleep with it because I am an extremely light sleeper— I could never hurt myself in my sleep. (shhhh, don't tell my Doc.) ;o) This provides me with a few different positions when sleeping, but I get up during the night an average of 3-4 times because the comfort does not last long.

This has been a process for sure. Small improvements from week to week mean a lot! Thanks for all the support!!


See you next week! Tootles!

Tip - What Not To Do

Learn from my stupidity. Do not go tanning before your surgery!

Pealing will cause problems with your skin near incision areas.Trust me.

You want the scabs around your incisions to come off on their own, not forced off with pealing dead skin!

4th Week — First Cast Removed

This saw-like tool is specifically for casts.
The blade does not turn, it gyrates.
As it cuts the fiberglass you feel the
blades pressure against the cotton bandages
inside BUT it doesn't cut the bandages
or your skin! ;o)

It's been 4 weeks since my surgery. First 2 weeks was with a splint and ace bandages. Then a cast was put on for 2 more weeks.

I went to see Dr. Yes today. The cast was temporarily removed and xrays taken. They look good. The bones are healing just fine. BUT I expressed my desire for an alternative to the cast. I told him I was MISERABLE. Dr. Yes and I struck a deal. It's top secret but I'll share it with you. ;o)

He said he wouldn't mind giving me one of those huge protective boots BUT that I had to promise him I would not put any weight on my foot. And to wear it while sleeping. He said he's basically covering for my surgeon out West so he doesn't want trouble from another doctor for not following procedures for the post-op care.

I promised him that I would wear the boot like a cast and not put any weight on my foot. YAY! I'm sooo happy!!! The boot is heavier, bulkier and much snugger (A cast seems to expand after time, usually it does settle a bit but gets loose because your limb is shrinking.) I will now be able to keep my skin clean and moisturized. And I can flex my ankle a little here and there when I take off the boot to watch TV. This will mean my ankle will be less stiff and weak at 12 weeks. ;o) And this flexing will help stop the atrophy of my calf muscle.

When I got home I CAREFULLY washed. I dry-scrubbed my leg to remove the dry skin.

I washed with a wet terry cloth— very gently. I did not go over the actual incisions. (I don't feel that is wise to do. I think moistening two pieces of skin that haven't bonded together well yet is asking for trouble.) I also shaved. ;o)

I then used alcohol to remove dry blood in non-incision areas. (I had a ton of dry blood underneath my foot.)

I then applied Vitamin E oil from knee down. Additionally, I used Eucerin lotion on my leg.

You can see the atrophy on my left leg.

(Guess what? I just put the boot on my right leg and discovered that it doesn't feel snug at all. This means it only feels snug on my left leg because of the surgery. Weird.)

I applied Neosporin liberally on my incisions.
Then I put gauze on, then wrapped  with
two ace bandages.

One of THEE best things about having the boot in place of the cast is that, if you recall, my toes were exposed past the edge of the cast. This did not allow me to even place my toes on the floor to REST my leg! Instead I had to pick the cast up making the tendons behind my knee work overtime!

But now I can! The front of the boot sticks out way past my toes. This allows me to give my quad muscle and tendons a bit of a break by resting my leg (not put weight on foot). This helps greatly with balance when I'm standing with my crutches as well! ;o) (But it's still painful to have my leg down. The blood rushes, etc.)

BUT STILL, AWESOME! Feels good to be able to rest it on the floor!! With the cast I thought I was loosing my mind. Praise God! 

To celebrate I had pancakes today!!!! Haven't had those in a while. YUM!!!!

4th Week — Post-Op Summary

PAIN

The pain I feel is in many different places in my foot. It's shooting pain from and to my toes. My palms are still soar from the crutches. And the tendons beneath my knee are soar from keeping my foot from touching the floor when on my crutches. (I fell on the bathroom floor last night. My leg was unaffected, but I tried stopping the fall with my hands and messed up my left palm even further.) This too will pass.

MEDICATION

I thought I'd be off medication by now, but I still need medication to be able to sleep without pain. Midweek I decided that I was in so much discomfort during the day that I would take my medication even during the day if I'm in pain. ;o(

SITTING

I still can not sit upright with my foot propped. I have to sit reclined back with my foot up to be in comfort. (Standing makes my foot swell!)

CAST

Midweek I reached my limit. The pressure the cast was putting on both my bunionectomies was too much to bear (either side of my foot). I got a pair of wire cutters and cut the cast away so those incisions had the room needed to be comfortable. It took a bit of the pressure off.  ;o)

DISABILITY

Even though my surgeon gave a 'return to work' date that is 12 weeks from surgery, Disability seems to not want to just approve that. Their actions so far is to give me approvals in small increments. I originally had 4 weeks approved, and this week when I called they approved another 2 weeks. That's 6 weeks total. Why not just approve the full 12 weeks? I dunno. Whatever.

3rd Week — Post-Op Summary

This week was a small improvement from last week. (Last week I was miserable.)

• Pain killers to be able to sleep is still on going
• At a very slow rate there is improvement on the pain I feel when my leg is lowered to the floor
• Doing anything on my crutches, or even the task of bathing, still causes foot to swell
• The type of pain I feel is changing. It's different. This week I experienced more shooting pain around the incision areas

EMOTIONS

I do try to stay positive by imagining all the things I will be able to do, what this summer will be like, etc. ;o)

SHORT-TERM DISABILITY CLAIM

The person handling my short-term disability claim approved me for 4 weeks when I spoke to her 3 weeks ago. But to give a final decision, paperwork from my surgeon's office needed to be faxed to her. This was done a week ago. I called her yesterday to get an update. Turns out she was out. Hopefully this coming week she'll get back to me, and will approve me for more time. I need it.

I did express my concern to my surgeon about still not being able to sit upright for more than 20 minutes with my leg raised before experiencing discomfort to the point of having to go lay down in a more reclined position. (This will not due for me to go back to work.)

I was told that the paperwork faxed over stated my surgeon's "return-to-work-date" for me, which was 3 months from date of surgery. So it's not up to the insurance to decide when I go back to work, that's what I was told by Dr. West's assistant, Barbara. 

She said the only way for them to make me go back to work sooner than that is for them to arrange for my employer to make all the accommodations needed for me to work without pain. In her experience, most employers won't go through the trouble and prefer to just follow the doctors recommendations. I'll keep you posted.

TOE

I keep my toes moisturized. I used Jojoba oil this time.

ALSO, I confirmed with Barbara, that yes, the reason for my forth toe being stuck in a lower position is because Dr. West over-corrects the toe to avoid having a 'floating toe' when all is said and done. A floating toe would not touch the ground with the rest of your toes.... we don't want that. ;o) She assured me that in time all toes would be aligned.

HELP

Someone from my church graciously stepped up to take care of my laundry every other week.

I also have a friend who has agreed to take me food shopping every other week. GOD IS GOOD!

Another friend of mine who is unemployed at the moment has been taking me to my doctor's appointments. 

I have also had a few visitors that helps me take my mind off things. ;o)

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.

Some More Transparencies

This is the kind of information that will help you see the truths about your own surgery. Or at least know how it might affect other aspects of your day-to-day workings. (see earlier transparancies here)

BATHING

During this second week I have found every other day to be all I can muster for bathing. It's a slow and cold task. Being naked and wet while not under warm running water makes me feel like I'm camping... but much less fun.

My aunt lent me the chair. It only fits into the tub sideways, but turns out that's best for me. I sit and place my left leg outside the tub. (I use a small trashcan to help me keep my foot raised out there.)

ATROPHY

Just pointing your toes is enough to flex you calf muscle. I have not flexed my calf muscle in 2 weeks, and already Atrophy has set in. (disuse atrophy) 

My left leg is already starting to look thinner.
Geez, can you imagine how it will look after having the cast on for weeks?

EATING
Because I'm not moving like normal I'm not burning the calories I use to. So I'm being very conscious with my eating. When my surgeries are done, I want to go shoe shopping.... not to a gym to lose weight.


PROPPING 

The pain is too great to keep my foot down, even when brushing my teeth. So I prop it up on the sink. (what this is)



 


WEIRD
When I touch the very front of my ankle area, I feel a painful pulling in my 1st metatarsal Bunion! I wonder if this will go away as I heal.


HALF CAST

These first 2 weeks I've been wearing a half cast (Splint). I have unraveled the outer ace bandage and taken my foot out of the splint to stretch out my ankle. I was shocked at how stiff my ankle was!  

This now raises concern about when the complete cast comes off many weeks from now. Will I need physical therapy?? 

Cleaning 4th Toe

The skin around my toes seems pretty dry. I guess it's because my toes are exposed compared to my foot.

Anyway, I decided to try and get some vitamin E around my toe with a Q-tip. I had to be really careful. The Q-tip felt like a was using a boulder around my toe.

I'm glad I did this. It turns out there was dried blood in between my toes.

 

All nice and shiny. ;o)

Best Sleeping Position So Far

It's week No.2 after surgery and I have found that in bed, I don't need to have tons of pillows under my leg. One seems to do. 

But I have noticed it feels best when I put both my legs up, and not just the one that had surgery.

I also discovered that all the toes on my left foot are sensitive. Even the weight of my comforter bothers them. So I took another pillow and placed it on the side to create a sort of tent effect.

That pillow takes the weight of my comforter, while my feet enjoy the warmth of being covered. ;o)

I still can't sleep on my side yet. Tootles!

Difficulties On My Own

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?

I FELL RIGHT ON MY FOOT!!!

I left my doctor's office and wanted to try my hand at eating out. Although I can only sit for about 20 minutes before it starts to get uncomfortable, I figured I would have lunch with my friend who drove me to my appointment. (I can't drive my stick shift.)

It was raining. Although I took the handicap ramp while using my crutches, once the rubber sole of my crutch touched the ceramic tile on the landing, my crutches slipped out from under me outside the restaurant door!

My left foot hit the floor pretty badly. It bent forward while the bottom front end of my foot made contact with the floor. Of course, because the 4th metatarsal sits lower that any other of the toes, it hit first!

I ended up on the floor on my hands and knees. I sat inside, took pain killers immediately, and called Dr. Yes. We decided that because I wasn't in excruciating pain at the moment that I would try and come in the next two days to get some xrays done. He wants to make sure nothing was damaged.

I was fine with that, but you are probably thinking what I was thinking: "He didn't take xrays when he first saw me that morning, so he has nothing to compare the xrays after my fall." But I decided to say nothing.


The next day he took xrays and reviewed them with me. He says all is well. I think he is right. But I just sent him an email and asked him to please send a copy to my surgeon out West.


I took these pics that night:

You can clearly see the blue marker marks from surgery.

The dot is a beauty mark ;o)

In my opinion, when you compare this picture to the ones in my "9 Days After Surgery" post, you can see that the 4th toe doesn't rest as low as it did. I believe this was due to how I fell. ;o(

Check this out! While watching TV, I can definitely see the improvement in my left Bunions. Yay!

1st Post-Op Visit Back Home

This is actually my 3rd Post-Op visit, but my first one with my podiatrist, Dr. Yes, back home. ;o)

Not much change. It's still too swollen for the cast. We'll wait another week.

Oddly, he decided that because Dr. West took xrays 3 days earlier he would not take xrays now during my first visit with him. (I think he is being conscious of my costs and the amount of radiation I've been getting?) ;o)

9 Days After Surgery

Howdy! Here is how things are looking.

BRUISING (It's hard to get bruising to show in photos because they aren't black and blue per se. They are yellow and red.)

 

4TH TOE (The toe is stuck in this position. You're not suppose to use your fingers to move it. It's as hard as a rail.)

The 4th toe is in this position due to my surgeon
"over-correcting" the toe. More on that in this post.

Traveling Back Home... (Travel Tips)

God is awesome! (even when things don't go our way) But he was faithful and sent me help every time I was in need. I only brought a backpack so I could carry it on my back while on crutches. But I never had to carry my bag.

My aunt gave me some advice when I left. She said, "Don't wait until you fly back to do this... on your way out west get your boarding pass from a human being NOT a kiosk [even though you booked online and have an e-ticket]. Tell them when you return you will need a wheelchair for travel."

I did just that. And furthermore, I made sure that on my way back I got my boarding pass and repeated the request again because it's a different airport than the first one I spoke to.... so always cover yourself. It all worked out. And I mentioned the wheelchair again when I had a layover. Again, a different airport.

I found that they always knew because I had already requested it before heading to my destination.

FYI, usually when you need a wheelchair, you are boarded first, and let off last. (Don't be silent, make sure the person working the desk at the gate knows you need help boarding. They will most likely already know because you'll be in a wheelchair already— so be friendly. Smile. Be polite and give plenty of thank yous. Kindness goes a long way.)

(I had an amazing experience with several workers who went waaaaaay out of their way for me. It even made me cry. Their kindness made me emotional. Way to go DELTA!)

Oh and you should probably have some singles and 5 dollar bills easily in reach. While the workers at the gate itself don't need to be tipped, the person who wheels you up to the gate should get a little something. (and those wheeling you off the plane to where you need to go) ;o) It's just nice to do.

The other thing I did when booking my flight online, is choose an isle seat that would allow my left foot to be in the isle (for stretching). BUT each time I got my boarding pass from a human being I asked if I could be changed to sit by the BULKHEAD. The bulkhead is the first economy row after first class. It has the wall in front of you. I used the wall to prop my leg up during the flight. 

ALSO, I made sure my trip back home was NOT a nonstop flight. I knew I would need the layover rest, to be able to prop up my leg properly off the plane for a while. I also made sure that the layover was a few hours so I could do this at my own pace. It worked out well. I found that I was accommodated each time without a problem. PRAYER and thinking ahead WORKS! 

It was a long day though and I needed some serious rest. My foot was quite swollen.