Bunion Recovery

Hello All, I am lying on my sofa with my leg propped up on 2 pilliws. Had to stop the oxycontin as it was messing me up! I would rather deal with the pain. Now just taking ibuprofen when needed. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Getting around with the walker pretty well now. I am a fairly active person and like to stay busy... I can see how depression can set in with all this boredom and the lack of ability to care for oneself. But taking it  one day at a time...and trusting in God to help me through.

Hello Susie.

So glad you're home and all went well.

Enjoy being pampered by those around you who are happy to do this.

Take care.

Gillian

Managed to clean up a bit today with some no rinse  cleanser our pharmacy had . Then with the help of the walker hopped to the kitchen and washed my hair in the sink. Not a hot shower, but I feel like a new person...spirits definitely  lifted. 

I feel a lot of twinges and what I can only describe as mini - spasms in my foot. Is this normal? Is it my nerves repairing??

Hi Susie.

The spasms you're experiencing are very normal and you'll very liley keep having them for many months.

& months down the line I still get involuntary twitching in my 2nd toe which was operated on for hammertoe. It doesn't hurt or cause me any problems but, obviously we have a lot of nerves in our feet and toes and any interference with these will take a long time to settle down. I did have discomfort in the 3rd, 4th, and little toes several months after surgery and after all the bandaging was removed and I was becoming a lot more mobile and also the lgaments and tendons along the top of my for from these toes towards my ankle went throughavery tender/painful stage which lasted about 3 weeks but this also has now settled down and cleared up.

I mention these things as I kept feeling real progress was being made and then these litte hiccups occurred and I felt I was gong backwards in my recovery. Bu I can tell you in al honesty that I now realise that I was in fact making therogress but along the way encountered these little set-backs which have all become a distant memory now.

You'll be fine. Just don't overdo things. I had many a good day and did lots more than I perhaps should have only to pay for it in the days following.

Gillian

Glad you washed your hair. I tend to feel cleansed and fresh if I know my hair's been washed.

Hello again Susie.

Now then!

I'll tell you how I got on when the bandages came off.

This was at around the 8 week date.

You'll prpobably notice first of all that all your skinhas 'died' and dried and is coming off in very large flakes. It will probably look awful but, underneath you'll have lovely new skin and mine felt so silky soft. It was lovely. It may take a fw days for the dead layer of skin to all come off. Actually, I'm a bit of 'a picker' and couldn't resist with iving it a helping hand, which I know is quite disgusting really. With my now uncovered foot I was instructed by my consultant to continue to wear the flat soled shoe he'd given me at 6 weeks and to use the toe spacer also and regard these as additional 'pain killers' if I needed them. By that he meant that I may find my footwould ache and soon tire and just need s a bit of support until it got used to functioning again.

At 8 weeks I tried o get a pair of my own shoes on but as the foot was still ve stiff and unable to bend very much it had to be done with extreme care and without force. I did find that I could get on 3 of my pairs of shoes but as the foot was also still quite swollen it had to be done very gently. Having got the shoe on it was then quite comfortable but I was careful not to keep the shoes on for too long in case it strted to throb and/or ache and swell. So, it's very much trial and error and gently does it.

At this stage I was still walking flat footedly and this did see to take several weeks trying carefully to get the foot to bend and allow a more normal walking gait. The tops of my legs ached a lot as I was putting my foot down in this manner and walking with more of a limp than normal. Persevere with this as the bend in the foot does eventually come back but can be a very long, slow process. I used my crutches for a few weeks after removing my bandages as I needed to rebuild my confidence too. Getting used to having an unwrapped foot and placing it on the floor instead of walking about in the heel wedge shoe I'd been wearing for 8 weeks was a strange sensation as I felt as though I was falling forward at first. It's quite a weird sensation but, after a few days this passed.

The one thing that I'm still battling with today is getting the muscles built up and strengthened in my legs after having been sitting about for so long during the recovery. I know this is improving all the time but it is very slow.

 have no regrets about having had the surgery and am pleased with the result and am on the consultant's list to have my other foot done in September.

If you need any further questions answering please contact me.

Gillian

 

Good morning Susie.

I'm glad that my words have heped you. I'm not good at keeping messages brief and so you must forgive me for my lengthy tomes.

As a keen gardener I couldn't possibly have coped emotionaly with having had my surgery done in the summer. Imagine the agony I would have faced having to sit idly by watching the lawn growing and not being able to get out there to mow it and, also, all the dead-heading needed when the flowers die off. My husband does help a bit in the garden but it's primarily 'my baby', and I say what goes and what stays. It's taken me quite a lot longer to get things ship-shape this year and by now all the big stuff would have been all done but I'm ploughing on whenever I get an opportunity as I like a tidy garden. It's my sluggish energy levels which have held me back this year. But never mind, I just do what I can when I can. However, hopefully, by this time next year I will be not only the owner of two smart feet but my energy level will be improving as I regain my leg strength. Maybe my fortcoming annual holiday to our beloved Scotland will give me that boost I need and we can enjoy many of our favourite walks i the Perthshire countryside.

Regards.

Gillian