3weeks post bunion and taylors bunion - new to forum!

Hi there just wanted to post my story and also ask a few questions regarding recovery.

I am a 39yr old mother of two children who also is very healthy active, I have a horse I ride & compete, I do Zumba and I run around after my children on their ponies so my feet work hard! I have had bunions and taylors bunions on both feet since I was a teenager, I blame genetics, being flat footed but also having large size 9's I admit to cramming my feet into tight shoes all those years ago, these days thanks to Next I have no problem getting shoes to fit.  The bunion on the right foot is half the size and doesn’t hurt, the bunion on the left foot was very painful, swollen, red and sore, shoes rubbed on it.  Both feet have taylors bunions which don’t hurt but just make shoe fitting hard as they really stick out, they feel like hard bone when I walk bare foot and I have also caught them when walking past something which really hurts!  I have ugly feet but they work hard for me poor things.

So decided a year ago when I started getting shooting pain in the left bunion that I needed to get it sorted. I am lucky to have private healthcare so went to see the consultant who said yes the left foot needs doing.  That was May 2015 and I booked to have the op done Feb 29th 2016 so to miss out on as little horse riding as possible plus to be ready for my children’s pony club camp in Aug!  My life evolves around the horses you know!! 

The op.....well spent all morning having my last horse ride!  Hospital for 4.30pm, operation at 6.30pm. I had a local, got told I was brave.....yes I was, but it wasn’t by choice, I didn’t know there was a choice!  My lovely surgeon gave me a number of injections in my foot, yes they stung and one did hurt but it was ok.  Slightly scary seeing the actual theatre but was distracted trying to remember the make of the theatre pendant as instructed by mu husband who sells them.....I think that was the last thing he said to me and the last thing I said to him was if it all goes wrong and I die please make sure you take the kids to pony club!!   So the op itself was fine, I could feel tugging and pulling but no pain and I would go ahead and have a local again over a general as at least I didn’t have to worry about never waking up again!  Op took an hour and then I was wheeled out, I felt great and I was on a high it was all over.  Had a MacDonald’s on way home and straight to bed thinking how brave I was and how I now didn’t feel guilty buying the new bare minerals foundation a few days early as I did truly deserve a reward for being so brave!  My dad has since pointed out that he is far braver as he had cataract op awake three times!! He doesn’t have three eyes by the way!!!

Early hours of the morning.........ouch!  Painful, I couldn’t stay still in bed, woke my husband up around a thousand times telling him I was about to die, I even cried.  Ended up watching The Voice on my mobile phone with earphones to take my mind of it.  I think my biggest mistake wasn’t doing up on medication straight after op!!! This is something you should definitely do!!!  I was on Cocodamol and paracetamol and it didn’t do it for me and the co-codamol made me sick.  I text surgeon that morning and he suggested Tramadol.  They helped but made me very drowsy which made it very difficult to watch the daytime trash to which is as I said TRASH!  Another tip, start recording on sky programs you want to watch, I highly recommend Dr Dee Alaskan Vet!  She airlifted a horse!!  I couldn’t be bothered to read or do anything other than stare at a to.  First 2/3 of days I stayed in bed, then I ventured downstairs all the way to the sofa.  Fortunately I didn’t need to go to the toilet very often as yes your foot does throb when not elevated. It is very hard to get comfy, I had loads of pillows and you need them for your back as well as your poor leg or legs!! 

I was naughty and on the Saturday so 5 days post op went to the farm to watch my kids ride and my crutch slipped on mud, put foot down and that hurt.  It went down flat so hoping it didn’t do any damage.  I also went for lunch in town the following day as mothering Sunday, was a long way on crutches and in hindsight I probably should of just stayed at home but I was so desperate for some fresh air.  I did end up with sore points in lower back from staying in same position on bed and sofa, and I ended up with a bad neck and shoulders.  By the beginning of week two I did feel sorry for myself and just to add to my sorrowfulness the time of the month appeared too!  No prob as I had Tramadol to take!  I ended up getting my husband to take me for a massage which did help and I came out feeling not quite so broken just drowsy from the Tramadol!

So week two I saw my lovely surgeon who took the stitches out and said at end of that week so 2 weeks and 4 days I could start to ween myself of crutches putting weight through heel ( I didn’t dare tell him I had already hobbling around crutch free walking sideways and that I had managed three baths in those two weeks.......in my defense I am super strong and able to heave myself out of the bath.....I strongly say do not do this, I was ok but it was still a major risk and if I had off fell I could of undone everything the surgeon did) and more encouraging to start to wear a trainer!!  Well that hasn’t happened yet! Its three weeks and 2 days now and I can't wear a trainer, too tight and I can't bare it, I want my poor newly shaped fat foot to be comfy.  My velcro post op shoe which I was dreading is now my best friend and the only thing I can wear basically, I find teaming it with legwarmers helps and it also makes my other foot look tiny! I was also told to start massaging gently my foot especially over the scars to minimalise them and move the big and little toe around, I’m a bit scared to do this as its only three weeks and everything I read on google seems to say don’t touch foot!!! Other exercises are to spread my toes (funny this is actually a party trick of mine!), go gently up onto balls of feet and down (this I do very gingerly holding onto a chair and I feel slight stingy pins and needles at beginning) and some other exercises which I can’t remember!!!!!  I need to text him again to ask what the other ones were!!! So foot is healing really well and my scars aren’t so bad really, I bought bio oil and keep pouring that on.  I feel frustrated that I can only walk the pace of a snail but then I remind myself its only three weeks yesterday and to be proud to be walking at all!

WOuld I do it again.............well I would rather answer that when I am fully recovered back to riding and Zumbering but at the mo yes I would BUT only if the bunion actually hurt which mine did, that is why at this point I won’t be bothering with the right even though I now have miss matching feet!

Tips -

1. Take pain medication as soon op over.  

2. Make sure you have lots of pillows for leg and also for back.

3. I had to keep my foot sticking out of bed at night as duvet to heavy but it got cold and ached so I had to put a light blanket over it which really helped and it stopped hurting so much.  I had read about a bed cradle that lifts the covers up, I wish I had gone and bought one as even now three weeks on I would use it at night. 

4. Record something interested to watch.

5. Write down instructions from Surgeon re post op exercises

6. Dont rush going out.

My questions are to all of you who are weeks ahead of me and ideally sporty!  How long was it before you could walk normally?  I’m no runner but when was it that you felt you could do an aerobics class such as Zumba?  How far did you walk at three weeks?  I still get a little aching in bunion joint is this normal?  I can’t flex it that far but its only 3 weeks is that normal?  I know it’s my surgeon I should be asking but I like to speak to people who have been through op themselves!

Many thanks for reading this and please ask me as many questions as you like!

Rachael! XXX

I went back to my office job two weeks after, it was ok but i have just been feeling really tired.  I think maybe my 1000mph life meant i had to be energetic at all times where as now i just laze around as much as possible to rest my foot, its hard work doing nothing!!

So

So here i am 3weeks post op. 

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