Bunion op in December

Incidentally, on Saturday night, I was reckless with my scooter and my operated leg slipped off the knee rest and luckily I managed the fall well landing on my right bum first, but also knocked the heel of my cast on the floor ( better than my toes I guess). I felt the knock, but the pain went away after 5 minutes and the surgeon was not worried about it. He said the cast is there to protect my foot.

I think we do worry a lot, but if the pain does not persist after a mishap, it should be ok. So, take care

Oh Tina and Veronica, poor you! A bit scary, but it sounds like it's fine. It's quite reassuring to read your post, and yes, I think we do worry a bit. But then there' s all day sitting around with plenty of time to think about ourselves!

I've been turning my mind to the scar. Does anyone know anything about silicone treatment to reduce scars? None of us could use it yet, but it does seem to have good reviews, and they sell the silicone sheets on a well known auction site for around £10.....

I'm still having times when I feel it's all fine, and times when it's painful and tingly, but reading other posts this sounds normal. I can't wait to see my X-Ray on Friday. I can't believe it's been nearly 6 weeks. I haven't been told to bring shoes, though, as Robina was. I think I'll put some in a bag in case.....

Hi Again Sue, Yes, I would bring some shoes just in case. Good Luck tomorrow with your 6 week visit. Hope the Xray shows no problems and the pain you had the last couple weeks was just a glitch. Are you planning to drive yourself to the appointment? I have decided to put on flip flops next Tues , exactly 6 weeks post-op and take the car for a spin - to the supermarket, probably. Amazing how we can even come to miss the mundane things! I am putting a lot of faith in the 'six week' point being a watershed. because of scheduling problems the surgeion can't see me til 7 weeks so I am just using guidelnes found here and on the web in general to ease myself into shoes, driving and YES, back to work.

Since I am not seeing mine right away, I will be interested to hear what your surgeon says about shoes. The other forums seem to stress the word 'soft' when they mention trainers for the first foray back into Shoe-wearing. I am going shopping for some today, but not sure how soft they will be, I will look at runners first, but since I need two pair - one in a larger size and one normal size, I will have to look at the cheaper shoes. I am thinking that as long as they provide some support to the foot and don't press on the toes, any kind will be ok.

I had happy thought regarding the purchase of two pair of shoes - I will have to get the other bunion removed at some point, so I should be able to make use of the shoes later this year, but after the next op I can wear the two shoes that I Won't be able to wear this time round. Does that make sense?

RE work and my wanting to go back; my GP agreed to send me back to work next weds, 6 weeks and one day after the operation. I have no pain, the wound is only a red tender scar now So, the GP is allowing me one week Desk/Admin duties, then a phased return to more physical work for the following 3 weeks. Of course my surgeon may disagree with this, or may extend the further 3 weeks a bit. But I am happy to at least be able to go to work and 'show willing.' The wording of the Fit-note implies that I can work SHORTER days as I get used to wearing shoes, and if the swelling becomes painful in the afternoons, I can simply go home. . From what I have read the foot can take MONTHS to reduce to normal size, so there's no point staying home just because of mild swelling if all else is well

Also, my line manager is ordering me new Magnum work boots, a size larger. They should be waiting for me on my return to work. (Not exactly a soft trainer what shall I tell the Surgeon?)

Veronica and Tina what a shame to hear that your toes are exposed to hazards every time you're up and about. In plaster there must still be a shoe that could nestle under your toes at the front to stop them hitting the floor. me and Robina at least have the Darco boot which has prevented me from hitting my toes; the sole prevents it! Although I have to say I like the sound of an Airboot. sounds comfy, supportive, and will no doubt be far more stylish than the 'herman munster' Darco.

Tina - I DID hit my big toe on the floor the day after the operation , it hurt a lot for the first hour, and then went away. I don't think I damaged it, Hopefully you'll be lucky like and find it was not as hard or severe a whack as it felt at the time

Sue - (SUE - I am using E45 on the foot,and may start with the BIO-Oil this week, but it's looking like the scar won't be too bad, it's settling so quickly already)

Take care, ladies!

Thanks for the advice Alice, unfortunately, my cast won't fit any type of shoe and also, I'm non weight bearing hence my leg has emaciated and now looks even slimmer than before. When the fibreglass cast was taken off, I lifted my leg and I could honestly say that it looked like bingo wings, it just hung from my shin!

Anyway, I've decided that I will wear socks over the toes when out and about as the other day when we went for a meal at our local pub, a dog tried to lick my toes..urrggh! Now that I have a couple f plastic loops exposed at the end of the stitches, I can't bear to think of a dog licking or tugging on those!

When the surgeon talks about an air boot, I get this dreamy look on my face, but I'm sure it's just a fancy name for a Darco boot and once I'm presented with it, it will be an anti climax and a disappointment!

i'm very pleased for you and Sue recovering well and looking to oil or moisturise your scars. One advice that is useful is to soften the scar tissue by massaging t gently that way the scar becomes smooth and not lumpy. I've done that with previous knee ops and my scars have been soft. Also, I had chicken pox in my mid 30's and when the pock marks have peeled off, I opened capsules of Vitamin E and rubbed it on the scars which were mostly on my face and now you can't tell I had scars there. So, maybe try that.

Until next time, take care all.

Hi Ladies

Sue,

Good Luck with your X Ray tomorrow, hope it all goes well.

I agree with Veronica about about massaging the scar to soften it and Vitamin E is really good for fading scars, E45 and Bio Oil are also good for softening and fading

Alice,

Good Luck with your return to work, phased return/shorter days will help to ease you back into work, off course if your Surgeon agrees.

Robina

Brilliant advice re scars, thank you. Its so good reading all your comments, I don't like to go on about it to friends and family, so its really helpful.

Roll on tomorrow afternoon, will let you know how everything goes........

Hello everyone, it sounds as if several of you are having exciting times getting final casts and bandages off at the six week stage. I'm now at 3wks and getting to the frustrated stage. I have taken everyone's advice and rested most of the time but since the stitches were taken out progress seems to have stopped. The new lighter / thinner bandage meant it was difficult to get the velcro shoe to stay on, the bandage moved and I was almost getting a blister on my heel and then the whole thing loosened and came off my toe. Hubby has redressed it with more padding so shoe is now more comfortable and heel not rubbing but walking more than 10 yards is still difficult and now I am worried that my big toe is drifting back in already. Think I will phone the hospital in the morning.

Sue - hope all goes well for you, looking forward to hearing how you get on.

Veronica - the dog thing is definitely not on my list of things to have done (!) but I'm amazed you are able to be out and about so much with wires still in place. I work from home and was able to sit at my desk for a few hours today, my leg was on a stool some of the time but I still felt the swelling building up and could not have done a full day.

Alice I think I'm sharing some of your worries re.the results of the op but at least I don't have to worry about a physically demanding job and work boots. Sue's comment about other people expecting you to be back to normal before you are ready is so true. I remember only too well what it was like after I broke both bones at the ankle, that was many years ago now but I doubt attitudes have improved much!

Hi ladies hope your all well im fine just can't wait till I have my bunion op really killing me now the pain and it looks like its going to pop out through the skin and its very bruised admissions from hospital rang me this week said they had a cancelation for my bunion op forward to next monday but it was futher away for me so I said I couldn't take it still not long now till its done counting down the days till 3rd feb

Thanks talk again sometime after its happened

Sarah

Hi Polly120 - RE the toe wanting to go back to it's old position - mine is doing the same - it is leaning into my second toe in much the same way as before, and I am tempted to start wearing the bunion/toe separator I always wore before the operation. The nurse at the time said that wouldn't be advised because they don't want a a big gap to develop between the toes. I am very curious what BOTH of our surgeons have to say about it. At my two week bandage removal after a brief visual check, mine only said that he had to be careful not to 'Over-correct.' I have to say that my toe moves in a better, forward direction when i take a normal step, where it used to turn left and roll towards the other toes. So some structural change has taken place, but the big toe's resting position is definitely not any straighter than before.

EVERYONE - shoe shopping yesterday - I tried on about ten pair of cheap trainers in sizes up to 1.5 bigger than my own, none were comfortable. Most pinched the bad foot and hung off my good foot. Then I found them - skechers GoWalk lightweight slip on shoe. It is an amazingly comfortable fabric shoe, comes in lots of colours, you can see them on amazon, I got a pair at brantano. pretty expensive at £46 but the design and fit is wonderful. I it's only about 1/2 size bigger than my normal 6, and fits equally well on BOTH feet. I think even the ortho surgeon will be impressed with the roomy, natural foot friendly design. YAY!

Hello everyone, yippee! Went for my x-Ray, was told to throw the wedgie away. It is very weird trying to walk normally, I'm still walking like I'm at sea in a storm! It feels very vulnerable.

The surgeon gave me lots of exercises to do, they are very painful at the moment, but he stressed they must be done. Gulp!

Alice, those Skechers look great. there is a Skechers shop right near me, so I'm going to look. It would make all the difference having something comfortable, I can't get in any of my normal shoes yet, and my big furry boot rub the scar, which is still very tender.

Will watch your posts about the toe drifting back with interest, that would be very annoying.

Am going to try a dog walk now, wish me luck!

Hi Sue - great news and good luck with the dog walking!

Alice - Skechers sound like a great idea!

Everyone - I phoned the hospital and was advised to go back to the foot clinic where the plaster room rebandaged my foot - a thick bandage which feels more secure and separates my toe (the nurse did not seem concerned about it when I asked). Aim to keep this on and keep heel walking until the 6wk appointment! Certainly easier to walk today than it has been over the last week so I'm glad I asked.

Hi Polly, well done, what a relief it must be to have it securely bandaged, I really would be careful about just heal walking from now on. I hope it improves.

I was a bit miserable about shoes today, none of my shoes felt ok, but thanks to Alice I am sorted! I bought a pair of Skechers slip~ons with a memory foam inner - they are fab! I also bought a pair of their trainers, which are very lightweight and have a memory foam innersole as well. What a difference they have made.

Feeling positive.....but the exercises are still painful...

Sue - so glad you found some comfortable shoes - seems Skechers are definitely the answer, other people on other forums have favoured them too. Keep going with the exercises, I'm sure it will be worth it in the end :-)

Hi Ladies I hope your all doing well.

Sue

Brilliant news about the X ray Good Luck with the the exercises and dog walking I'm sure walking will feel weird for a while.

Polly

I hope all goes well in the Plaster Room, voice all your concerns. I found that the medical staff expect all Patients to be fit and up and running according to Medical Text Books. We all heal differently. The swelling on my Feet should have reduced by now and I should be in soft Trainers, unfortunately I still cant get my feet into Trainers. I will also look into these Sketchers they sound amazing.

Alice

Thanks for posting about the Sketchers a good find. Good Luck with your return to work.

Polly and Alice

Do let us know about your concerns about the big toe drifting back. I was given Toe Separators to use for 6/8 weeks. Neither of you have mentioned them in your posts.

Robina