Double Bunion Surgery in 9 days. Give me your top tips please!
Posted , 4 users are following.
basically the subject says it all but i would be grateful for any tips/suggestions based on similar experiences. my bunions are moderate/severe.
I have a friend lending me a wheelchair. My main worry is pain... i just don't know exactly
how bad its going to be and how long. Was paracetamol enough or did you need much stronger pain relief? I have Naproxin on repeat prescription and wondered if that alongside would do it?
also im hoping to work from home (via laptop) after a couple of weeks - is this realistic?
for reference im 46, very active, fit and otherwise healthy marathon runner (until next wednesday!) and I asked for both feet to be done together so i only have one recovery.
thank you in advance!
0 likes, 7 replies
koo97 MrsDuck
Posted
hi, I had bunion surgery (bilateral chevron bunionectomy) on both of my feet at the same time as well as second and third toes had the tendon lengthened for hammertoes on both feet on April 19, so almost one month ago. For reference, I am a 19 year old female, 105 lbs, 5'2. I was very unprepared for the amount of pain I was going to be in, everywhere online says minimal pain and even the doctors and nurses say the same. They said I'd be able to walk on my heels the same day as surgery basically, but that was not the case. for me I do not think you should try walking at all the first few days, I had barely woken up from my surgery and the requirement to go home is just to go to the bathroom. It seemed like the nurse was in a rush to get me out, I was wheeled into the bathroom, but was expected to get on the toilet on my own, which led to my foot to start bleeding.
The pain the following week was excruciating to be honest, they prescribed hydrocodone but it did absolutely nothing to help, so I paired it with ibuprofen as well, which eased some pain for a bit. The second day was the absolute worst, so please be cautious and prepared for that. I am not trying to scare you, everyone is different, but I just want you to know how it was for me since most places make it seem like it's a painless procedure. The toes that were fixed for hammertoes have no pain, it has all been the bunion surgery. Something you for sure need to do after your surgery and for the following days is to flex your ankles. If you don't move your ankles you will be in so much pain, it was almost as bad as where my bunions were. I read many other people have similar experiences, so move those ankles asap for sure! Keep your feet elevated as well, after two weeks I didn't need elevation much, but now I just keep a pillow under my feet just in case.
Before I was able to walk on my own, I was either carried (thankfully I have two older brothers) or wheeled around to wherever I needed to go (yes this includes the toilet). I was able to walk on my own with a walker after two weeks and have been able to walk on my own without any assistance after about two and a half weeks. I have almost no pain now, I stopped taking any medication for pain about 1.5-2 weeks after the surgery.
Sorry I wrote so much!
MrsDuck koo97
Posted
thank you for the reply. i have been made aware that ill basically be in bed for the first couple and also regarding elevating the feet. your comments about the ankle mobility are interesting thank you for that information. ive borrowed a wheelchair, bought bed bath wipes and am going to try and make it so i only move to go to the toilet etc.
I fully expect this to be painful, and it is making me nervous but many people had told me that it was very painful - i guess we cant expect them to break bones and pin together without pain. im just trying to remain positive and look at the bigger picture.
i hope you continue to recover well x
mila926 MrsDuck
Posted
Make sure to get yourself a shower chair, you will thank me later. Also, I had one of those cast covers from Amazon for the shower, but the splint was way too wide to get the cover over. I ended up cutting garbage bags in half and wrapping around my leg, securing with packaging tape so water wouldn't wet the splint.
Get yourself re-freezable cooler packs. I put a couple together in a ziploc bags, and that helped a lot.
I recommend setting up camp in your living room on your couch if you can, at least for the first 4-6 days, or so. Also, ask your doc to prescribe anti-nausea meds to go along with the painkiller, just so you have them in case you get bad nausea. That happened to me, and I suffered needlessly on top of the pain for four days before reaching out to the doc.
The pain is bearable, you will be in essence likely taking Oxycodone and sleeping a lot the first few days. It will then get better& better. Good luck!
MrsDuck mila926
Posted
thank you so much for replying, i will make note of your suggestions!
chrissy85228 MrsDuck
Posted
How was your surgery? I had similar around 3 weeks ago. Good days, but more bad days so far. Hope you're doing okay.
MrsDuck chrissy85228
Posted
hi, its been 6 months now, and honestly can say its changed my life. I had very severe bunions so the correction was not perfect ie not 100% straight but i have no pain and can wear normal shoes not wide fit!
Surgery was not as bad as i had anticipated i came off all pain meds by day 4 and found that so long as i elevated the feet there was no discomfort. I was allowed to walk after 6 weeks and just made sure i put my feet up when i could.
The six weeks were again not as bad as I imagined, i spent 2 weeks mostly in bed as my husband was at work and i bum shuffled to the loo, just went downstairs in the evening. mentally i dealt with it better than i thought. i borrowed a wheelchair and found this really made my life so much better, after 2 weeks I was cleaning cooking and working from home.
i hope you are ok and that you see better days soon! x
chrissy85228 MrsDuck
Posted
thank you! It means a lot to hear from someone who's been through it not too long ago. I'm doing my best each day and I know there's been good progress, just not used to waiting things out like this and being so inactive. The fact that normal shoes may be in my future is encouraging. Have not been able to wear anything less than wide width for many years. Take care of yourself. Really appreciate your inspiring message. x