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Lapidus Procedure Questions and Concerns

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clairegen
clairegen

Hi everyone,

I'm scheduled to have a lapidus procedure for a bunion done on my right foot, this Monday 6/1/15. I'm in my early 20s, a nonsmoker, and more-or-less healthy. Like many other people, I am experiencing last minute reservations and fear about this process and was hoping to find some answers to questions that have come up for me.

I've been poking around the internet for the past few days, reading and watching people's lapidus experiences, and it's put some fear in me. I'm terrified! There's a lot of bad experiences out there. I honestly am not worried at all for the actual surgery, it's the pain that's freaking me out. So some questions for people who have survived this long ordeal:

How bad was your pain at its worst and what day post-op was it the worst? It seems to really vary among people, but if you could give me like a 1-10 rating or something that would really be great, as this is my number 1 concern.

What pain medications were you given, and how well did they work? I'm in the U.S., so names might be a little different.

How many days did it take for the pain to go away?

I also am slightly concerned about mobility so.. some questions for that too:

How long did it take you before you could crutch or hop or scooter around in the outside world and accomplish things like going out to dinner, seeing a movie, hanging out at a friend's house? Things that keep you sane!

My surgeon wants me completely non weight bearing for an entire 8 weeks. From what I've read, this seems a little excessive, as most people end up getting a walking boot or something similar. Has anyone else had that long of a NWB stage?

I'm extremely grateful for all the answers that I receive, and I wish you all pain-free, speedy recoveries! If you're lucky and have already recovered, congratulations! smile

0 likes, 64 replies

64 Replies

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  • caroline38772
    caroline38772 clairegen

    Posted

    Clairegen

    Hi, hope things are  going well for you and the pain isn't too, well, painful.

    I had a bilateral lapidus with Atkins on 27/11/14. and i think i was totally shell shocked for the first 36 hours.

    Came off all medication after 5 days, and was getting around the house & stairs within 48 hours of the op.

    on the 13th day, had the banages off and stiches out, and velco splint on. 3 days later i managed to hobble (heel walking shoes & crutches) half a mile to a local resturant for a long lunch, and hobbled twice as slowly back.

    6 week post op, did the same walk in very old sandals, very tiring.

    at 12 weeks joined a local pole dancing group (low impact on feet - allegedly)

    now at 6 months still have aching & swelling feet, still swollen in some area's but i hope that that will go in the the next 6 months. although chatting to someone else who had a bilateral lapidus, she was on cruches for a year and it took another year to fully recover..

    Just come back from a walking holiday, very thankful that the weather wasn't up to much, but, manged at least 6 miles daily - WITHOUT BLISTERS!!!! yippee.

    Yes there is pain, and you'll wonder why you had the op, but the lapidus is very complicated and very nasty to go through. Been told by the physio that it's a minimum of 12 months recovery, you'll have good days and bad all the way through.

    keep in there,

    Caroline

    • clairegen
      clairegen caroline38772

      Posted

      A pole dancing group? Sounds like a great way to celebrate your new feet.

      Congratulations on walking 6 miles! That's a huge accomplishment. I can't remember the last time I was able to walk that far without blisters or some kind of aching in my foot. Gives me something to look forward to.

      Thanks for sharing your experience with me smile

    • caroline38772
      caroline38772 clairegen

      Posted

      Hi,

      you're one week in, how are you feeling now?

      please, when you have your feet raised, make sure that your knees are bent and not straight, I've had problems with my left knee 'locking' and the pain is worse than the op itself, also it becomes a problem in itself.

      wiggle toes, ankles knees, every 5 minutes, look for exercises on the net that you can do.

      One week down, and the rest of the time will fly by, although you'll be taking 10 times longer to do anything at present.

      take care

      Caroline

       

    • clairegen
      clairegen caroline38772

      Posted

      I'm feeling alright. I've actually had more pain last night and this morning than I had in the first few days of surgery, which I wasn't expecting. I think it's because I took a shower and went down the stairs yesterday, which is the most movement I've attempted in the past week. Overall, things are good. I'm only taking one pain pill a day for when I sleep because it tends to hurt the most then.

      I actually have been experiencing some of that knee pain. I've been kind of alternating between bent knee and straight knee becaue after a while both ways just starts to ache.

      I've been wondering about wiggling my toes and my feet. I'm worried that if I move them around it might mess up the healing. I completely forgot to ask about that.

    • gilly64037
      gilly64037 clairegen

      Posted

      How are you?  Have you wiggled your toes?

      I know we are all different but I need to get my act together now in prep for this op - going through the stage of thinking about backing out, then onto preparation i.e. must check out what pain relief I can take, looking at graphic pictures of thes e operations and thinking - what am I having done, etc, etc.

      Anyway how are you? That's the main thing Claire.....

       

    • clairegen
      clairegen gilly64037

      Posted

      Oh that's just like me the last week of May. All of a sudden I just had so many emotions. If you can get through it without going through all those stages, you'll probably have a lot less stress.

      I can't wiggle my big toe. I can slightly wiggle the rest of them. I had my first post-op appointment today. They took my stitches out... I was a huge baby and almost passed out and whined the whole time. It hurt pretty bad. My foot is killing me, moreso than it did right after surgery. It's more of an ache and the occasional intense shooting pain and prickling feeling, which I'm guessing is the nerves.

      I got upgraded to a CAM walker boot now though (which I'm not allowed to walk on) so I'm doing alright. Dealing with it day by day!

       

  • vanesa47772
    vanesa47772 clairegen

    Posted

    I am also in the U.S., California. Your Dr. sounds like my Dr. I had a lapidus bunionectomy on May 26th. I have had a good experience. No Pain! Here's what I did. I am formerly an RN also, so my knowledge helped me. I resolved first off that I was going to take the max amount of pain med allowed for the first 72 hours (this is when most healing takes place) My plan was to only eat and sleep the first 72 hours. My Dr. had my leg numbed before general anesthesia surgery. I didn't even feel the leg for at least 10 hours post op. I started taking 2 Percocet every 4 hours at 10 hours post op (the goal is to never feel pain, once the pain gets going it is hard to stop it) I always took the Percocet with food and 16oz of water. Complications of pain pills are: Nausea and constipation. Knowing this I ate only soups and salads for the time I was on Percocet, I was also ready with some  anti-emetic (sea-sickness pills, all my DH could get fromt the local pharmacy) just in case. I kept my leg elevated at all times with an ice pack under the knee for the first 72 hours--I did not get frost-bite! I continued with the ice-packs and elevation nearly constantly for the first week. I tapered off on the Percocet until I had only 5 of the original 50 left. It is now June 12--never had pain to write home about smile
    • clairegen
      clairegen vanesa47772

      Posted

      I followed that exact plan. The only issue that I'm having now is an increase in pain, but I stopped taking the Percocet a few days ago so I could always start up taking a small amount of them again. I'm hoping the pain means healing and not something negative.

      I'm happy to hear you had no pain! I hope the rest of your recovery goes just as smoothly

    • vanesa47772
      vanesa47772 clairegen

      Posted

      Ooo, I am sorry you are having pain again. I am on day 17 post-op--still no pain. I keep my foot up on pillows on the couch most of the time. I rarely let my foot hang down. I have read that it's the swelling that causes pain. My Dr. said I could still ice it now and again if I wanted to. If my pain goes up, I think, for me, I would start by taking Tylenol rather than Percocet. But I do have 5 Percocet--just in case! I have also read that some people with Lapidus surgery do have pain because they are healing slower. Keep it up, keep it iced! I hope it goes better for you soon.
    • clairegen
      clairegen vanesa47772

      Posted

      Yesterday was my first day where I didn't keep it elevated most of the time, which I've now realized was a mistake. I've kept it elevated today and my pain is much better. At least now I found the source
  • gilly64037
    gilly64037 clairegen

    Posted

    Just to say this discussion is so useful to me as it seems I will be having similar so your 'tips' are good to keep in mind.  Keep up the good work trying to read just the good bits.wink 

    Wishing you all a restful day.

    • vanesa47772
      vanesa47772 gilly64037

      Posted

      Gilly, It is 11:30 in the morning here. I am on day 20 post-op. I am sitting on my couch with my left leg (lapidus bunionectomy) up on pillows. My dear husband brings me breakfast and coffee in the morning. I have been up just a few times this am. Husband just brought me lunch too. I am getting around fine with a knee scooter that I have been using since day 1. It has always been easy for me with the scooter because I don't have to have my leg hanging down. I am still very wary of swelling. I still have almost no pain. On a scale of 1-10 I have never been higher than a 6 and that was in the first 3 days when I think I missed a pain pill (I had to wait 1 hr until the pain pill took effect). Other than that the most pain I ever have is about a 2. I have been going out since 7 days post-op. I went to the Dr (an hour drive) then out to lunch with my husband. I used the knee scooter for getting around and propping my leg up on. I had no pain and no problems the whole time. The next week I went to my monthly book club. My friend picked me up along with my scooter and I was out for the evening having a great time. I kept my leg up with either my scooter for a prop or a recliner chair. No pain. I have had 2 Dr. appts now. My first appt--barely any swelling. My second appt. the same amount of swelling and my stitches came out with no pain. Dr. put on a hard cast then (2 weeks-post op). This cast will be on for 2 weeks, then I'm going to beg for a boot because I am so ready to start going places.! My Dr. is very conservative in treatment. I read about others who were weight bearing very early on--but they seem to have alot of pain and swelling to bear. I'm a big baby, but I feel so good, I am so ready to get up and get going again. Oh, I also try to wiggle my toes when I think about it so they will be ready to do their job when this cast comes off! I am up and about doing things in my house most of the day. I get down our balcony stairs with crutches to go in the backyard. I just havent been driving yet, but I think I could. It's just when I get to where I am going I have to think about navigating my scooter out of the car and how long I will be up etc...I want to be weight bearing at least on the heal now, but my Dr says no. I have an appt. next Monday I have a feeling I am going to be begging for at least a little weight bearing then (4 weeks post-op, then) This surgery requires a lot of patience! smile
    • caroline38772
      caroline38772 vanesa47772

      Posted

      WHAT!

      sorry, I'm taken aback about your recovery schedule.

      i had both feet done at the same time, lapidus & Atkins, hammer toe release.

      within 24 hours I had to walk 30 feet, down, up a flight of stairs then back to my room to get ready to go back home. So weight bearing from the start. Heavily wrapped up in bandages, and given heal walking boots. 13 days later, bandages off, stitches out, then removable splints on both feet.

      how long are you expected to be off work? And how long does your surgeon expect you to be in the 'recovery stage' before being allowed to weight bear? So different from being in the UK.

      keep in there

      Caroline

    • gilly64037
      gilly64037 vanesa47772

      Posted

      I am so pleased you are feeling good - well both you and Claire sound like you are well on the way to improving more and more each day.  Thank you for keeping me up to speed!

      My surgeon here in the Uk said when I have my surgery, depending on x-rays, it will be 2 weeks non-weightbearing and then 4-6 weeks weight bearing boot.for my lapidus and two hammer toes.  (He would not do my other foot at the same time.)

    • clairegen
      clairegen caroline38772

      Posted

      I'm in the U.S. like Vanessa and I can attest to this long NWB period being common. I spoke with several surgeons before getting my surgery and all of them wanted about 6 weeks with zero weight being put on the foot. My surgeon intially wanted 8 weeks but then changed his mind to 6 weeks, which I was thrilled about.

      Interesting that there's a difference based on country.

    • vanesa47772
      vanesa47772 caroline38772

      Posted

      Yes, Caroline, I am equally shocked by what you say. My Dr. said, "no way" when I asked for both feet to be done. Because of the requirement of no weight bearing for at least 6 weeks. She doesn't expect me to be in shoes until 12 weeks! I am looking at 6 months to get both feet done! Fortunately for me, I don't have a job outside my home. Yes, this seems crazy--and I just might be really crazy after 6 months of this--and my husband too!
    • vanesa47772
      vanesa47772 gilly64037

      Posted

      I think your schedule sounds doable. Baby that thing for those 2 weeks, keep it up and iced. (Iced for the first week). Don't let yourself have pain so your body won't be stressed. Your swelling will stay down, your foot will be healing all that time, and you will be ready to start weight bearing on your heel. I feel that I could have easily met this schedule if my Dr. would let me.
    • vanesa47772
      vanesa47772 clairegen

      Posted

      Claire, I'm glad you said you spoke to several surgeons, I was about to kick myself for not having looked around more. I chose my Dr. on the recommendation of another person. My Dr. is wonderful, but very conservative in treatment. ---I'm going to be begging to get that boot next appt.! wink
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