In plaster for ten weeks now following talonavicular fusion.Anyone else in plaster so long?

Matthew, I hope that u r much better very soon. As u know every situation is different. But there r a couple things we do have control over & change:

A well balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, protein & carbs.

Use supplements where your diet is missing.

Walk & maintain strength in the rest of your body.

I am 72 years old & now 8 months after my talonavicular fusion my foot doesn't swell. I am fortunate that I have good bones, the fusion took place quickly & is now rock solid. I only have two small staples in my foot.

Karran

Thanks for your reply and yes your right everuone is different , how long did yours take to actually fuse ? Did it alter the way you walk aswell at the moment im only 6 weeks post op very early days just yet although the pain after the op as reduced but it still hurts in that area if you know what i mean, i just hope in the long run ive made the right desicion my main goal is to be able to walk and run pain free as i suppose thats every bodys hope lol , also are you still in any pain.

Thanks

Matthew

Matthew, I was 10 weeks in cast, then 6 weeks in a boot. March 30 was my surgery & I can honestly say that I no longer have my prior pain. I have gone thru occasional sharp pain in the arch & incision area ( a part of the healing process) but Nov.27 even that pain stopped. Matt this is a long process, u must b patient. Listen to your dr. But b proactive & ask questions. U should b able to do all the things u want to do.

My walk is normal. I do limp when I get tired. I can say that after a month long trip out of the country walking up & down hills & irregularly my anchle is bothering me (tendinitis). My dr suggested wearing my boot for a couple days to give those muscles a rest. It works.

Karran

It doesnt sound like your doing too bad to be fair ive had this problem since i was around 11 dragged me down all these years. 10 weeks is long but nothing compares if it works and relieves the pain i have follow up on 29th for xray and hopefully transfer into boot which will be 8weeks but we will see , there is something id like to ask you tho if you lay in bed and slighty try to move your foot inside how does it feel for you , atm if i try to do it im gettin pain but in time will it become so stiff that u cant move it atall or will it lock if you know wht im trying to say , also think ill need my calcenous fused aswell have had subtalar joint pain aswell for the same period of time or could be peroneal tendons not 100% sure yet.

Thanks for replying its very supportive to know im not alone with this

Merry xmas x

Matthew, yes, I sure hope this works for u. U r so young for all these issues. My foot problem started from a car accident when u was 18 when I dislocated all the bones in my right foot. Fortunately I had a fabulous dr who thru closed surgery put my bones back. That lasted until a few years ago when I rolled my foot. Anyway that's how I hit to this point.

Stop playing with your foot. Let it heal: the bones, tendons, muscles etc. Do leg raises & any exercises your therapist suggests for the rest of your body. U must keep yourself strong.

Yes when I got the cast off I never thiughtvmy foot would b normal - would ever move normally.

Matthew please make sure u have all the nutrients your body needs. U have been thru trama and for example I needed more vitamin D3 & Calcium. A simple blood test will determine if u r deficient. If not then continue taking care of yourself.

Merry Christmas, Karran

I'm not that far along in the process yet, but it sounds like your calf muscles got really small and weak from your leg being in a cast for so long. I've read other posts where people said that their leg was so weak after getting the cast off that they couldn't walk at first. You might talk to your doctor about physical therapy or Google some leg exercises that you can do while sitting or leaning on a support. I know that there are exercises with bands that are useful. Stretching gently may also help. Good luck. I'm still at least two weeks away from getting my cast removed.

How many weeks post op are you and di u have a talo navi fusion i saw physio today for assesment they gave me some towel stretches to do laying down because i cant calf strech yet still worried but am just impatient and cant stand this pain its worse because before the op i could walk and now cant even weight bear

My talonavicular fusion was only 4 weeks ago. I got my cast changed today and I was amazed at how small my calf has already gotten. If all goes well I'll move from the fiberglass cast to a walking boot for partial weight-bearing in two weeks. At least, that's the plan. Patience is hard, but in the long run a few more weeks isn't that much in a lifetime. Generally, I've found that surgeries on legs and feet take about a year to recover from completely. If you keep that in mind it will help. Thinking it should have happened yesterday will only make you depressed.

I also had talonavicular fusion. I don't have young children, but I do have young grandsons that stay with us every weekend. They are 2 and 4 years old. Before the surgery I asked the other grandma to keep them the first 2 weekends after the surgery because I wasn't sure what to expect. I was actually up and around the house on a knee scooter pretty well the day after the surgery, but I stayed on a recliner and kept my foot elevated as told. After the fiberglass cast was put on at 2 weeks I was told that I didn't have to keep the foot elevated 24/7. That's when a lot of people with desk jobs go back to work.

I'm now 7 weeks post op. and to the partial weight bearing stage. The boys have been here on the weekends and sometimes during the week. Taking care of the 4 year old is no problem at all because he's very well behaved. He can actually help me fetch and carry a little bit. Taking care of the 2 year old has been a bit of a challenge because he has a bad case of being 2.

My biggest problem when I was non-weight bearing is that I couldn't do crutches more than a few feet at a time so I had to depend on my knee scooter. When I needed to drive somewhere I rode my knee scooter to the car and switched it out with the crutches I kept in the trunk. Then I used the crutches to get in the car. We have a small car so the knee scooter wouldn't fit in it. If you do ok on crutches you won't have to do all that, if you can drive at all. Of course, if it's your right foot that will be operated on you won't be driving.

I've had very little pain and most of it has involved the actual incision site as it healed. I only needed pain killers for a couple of days.

I hope all goes well for you!

Thank you so much for your response! This has given me some insight as to what it will be like after surgery. The surgeon said the surgery is hard on patients who don't have children. Let alone for those who do. Sounds like a knee scooter will be a life saver. The biggest thing is getting her to school and then bathtime in the evenings but it sounds like you were pretty

Mobile afterwards. Makes me feel so much better about having the surgery! Thanks again for your response!

I was able to do baths by putting the brake on the scooter and leaning over the tub. It's not my favorite way to do that, but it worked.