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How long does it take to disolve the pins on the foot?

Posted , 7 users are following.

marisol25560
marisol25560

Hello,

I am 7 weeks post op and have a lot of pain in my foot.  I cannot walk more than 5 min withouth having an terrible pain and I cannot get rid of the inflamation on my foot.  In addition to this, my foot is kind purple.  In the appoinment that I had with my dr. he took some x rays and said that everything was fine and I was ready to go to work (my job requies to walk all day long and he knows that).  He showed me the x rays of my foot he took in his office and pointed the good positions of the pins.

The next day I saw my primary and ordered X rays in a lab out of her office.  The results showed that there are not pins! My doctor and I were surprised no to see any pins on the x rays that were taken the next day.  She sent me to see another podiatrist and request to pass all the medical records from the surgeon who did my surgery to find out what he did. 

In the mean time, I would like to ask you people from this forum if you know how long does it take to dissolve the pins.  I am in week 7 1/2 now.  Thank you

 

0 likes, 24 replies

24 Replies

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  • carole_Marie
    carole_Marie marisol25560

    Posted

    Hi Marisol.  That sounds very strange. I have 3 screws in my foot and they will remain there unless I have a problem with them. So far so good.

    Getting another opinion is definitely the way to go. Hope you can get sorted out.

    Good Luck.xx

  • Vic1950
    Vic1950 marisol25560

    Posted

    Hi Marisol,

    Carole Marie is right, a second opinion is needed. Ask tons of questions and get answers that you understand. My pins/screws are permanent, only my stitches will dissolve. Meantime, keep moving your foot and wiggling your toes and massaging. Sending you healing thoughts!

    • marisol25560
      marisol25560 Vic1950

      Posted

      Thank you Vic  I am praying that this new doctor does not try to cover his colleague.
  • Kaliana
    Kaliana marisol25560

    Posted

    They were definitely pins not screws? Dod your surgeon say they can dissolve? I've only heard of dissolvable stitches. How interesting. Do you have XRays from your surgery that at one point showed the pins and where they were?
    • marisol25560
      marisol25560 Kaliana

      Posted

      The lt tme I was wth the dr w did th surgery took some x ray in his office and told me that I was ready to go to work (that day I had t us the ost op shoe, the black one becaue my foot was so inflamedt hat no shoeor sanda could fit me)and showed my the x ray showing the pins on mytoes.  However that x rays taken the next day there weno ping at all. 
    • Kaliana
      Kaliana marisol25560

      Posted

      I did a search online and dissolvable pins do exist. Some people have permanent ones that sometimes break and don't show up in X-rays as they had before. I hope yours were dissolvable! Wishing you all the best!
    • marisol25560
      marisol25560 Kaliana

      Posted

      The interesting thing is that the surgeon took the x rays in his office on Sept 8 and he showed me the positions of the pins, however in the x rays that were taken the following day, Sept 9 in a  well know laboratory there are no pins at all..  They cannot be dissolved in one day if "they were there" for 7 1/2 weeks. 

      We will find out what he did as soon as we get the medical records from  his  office.

      Thanks again Kalina

       

    • marisol25560
      marisol25560

      Posted

      Kaliana I don't know what is happening with my computer that cuts the words I type some times and sometimes it is fine.  You did a great job understanding my mail.  Thank you
    • marisol25560
      marisol25560 Kaliana

      Posted

      The rays with pins are in the dr's office.  The ones taken in the lab the next day with no pins, I have a copy
  • marisol25560
    marisol25560

    Posted

    Thank you very much to all of you. I went to the second opinion dr and he told me that this is very extrange that there are not hardware on my foot.  If he put something to be dissolved, it cannot be dissolved in 7 weeks.  According to the x rays, he said that there are things that he could have done better but he needs to see the records first.  

    I alredy have the authorization approaved from my insurance to go to the physical therapy because I requested to the first doctor.  At that time I didn't know I had a bad surgery.  Now the new doctor advised me to go to physical therapy in the mean time he receives the documents to see if this helps me.  I will go to follow the protocol but I feel this is not going to help me because the surgery is not correct my deformed toe.  Now I noticed that the  big toe is curving as if I start getting the bunion again.  The second toe is getting deform and curvy too.  In the mean time, each day other parts of my foot are getting sore and there are inflammed.  My knee starts hurting.  At the end of the day my whole leg is in pain.

    Thank you guys for your advised and support.  I am very sad to go to all this pain of the surgery only to get worst.

     

    • marisol25560
      marisol25560

      Posted

      Pictures of my foot from September 19, 2015 My foot is darker than the other.  second toe is deformed.  Two toes are too low I don't have balance. The second toe has something that is graving something under that is too tide since the begiining of the surgery.  It looks I have the bunion again
    • marisol25560
      marisol25560

      Posted

      This picture is from August 14 (almost a month after surgery)  The cut he did is horrible 
    • Vic1950
      Vic1950 marisol25560

      Posted

      Hi Marisol,

      I'm thinking about you and hope you get well deserved answers from your doctor(s). Don't give up, the therapy will help a lot. Everyone heals differently, it takes time, just keep moving (easy to say, hard to do I know) :-). I thought my bunion was coming back too, after 24 days. My doctor said it was healing very well but the swelling made it look crooked. He showed me the x-ray, I saw the screw and my toe looked perfectly straight. He also said the second and third toes (hammer toes) always take longer to heal than the big bunion toe. My Mom and healing took several months.

    • Vic1950
      Vic1950

      Posted

      Sorry I pressed the "reply" button too soon. My Mom's hammer toe surgery took many months to heal while her bunion healed in 2 months. I know that's not comforting to hear but maybe ask your physical therapist about the healing process too. Best to you!
    • marisol25560
      marisol25560 Vic1950

      Posted

      Thank you Vic for sharing these valuable  experiences.  I am sad because I don't have any support (hardware) in my toes, therefore I am not well balance and my knees, ankle, hip are hurting me very bad 24/7. 

      I will keep you up day when the medical papers are in the office of the new dr.  Best wishes for a fast recuperation.  Thank you for your support.

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