Week 12

As you can probably tell from my long absence of posting anything that I've been progressing pretty well. I've been walking without any serious issues and now starting to run or light job a little bit. The foot is still swollen but has been exponentially better. Ive also been wearing crocs with a open heel so that I can walk without the swelling bothering me too much. The crocs also give me a lot of support so that I don't step into my ball of my foot too much. Before the crocs I was splitting time between flip flops and the post op shoe. The crocs were definitely a better option. I stopped the icing for about a couple weeks. I maybe ice it once a week when I push it too far. Last week, I tried it out hiking and walking through a rocky watering hole and it was not too bad. It was putting a lot of intense pressure on the ball of my foot and it hurt for a couple days but its definitely not too bad. I'm hoping to try to increase my running this week. Hopefully I can be close to 100% in another couple weeks. 

8.5 weeks

Been walking a lot more since the last post. I only use my post op shoe now and don't even have my boot, crutches or cane with me anymore. It looks like the swelling has actually been getting worse, but I think it's because I've been on my feet a lot more. Also, when it swells up you can see extra swelling or bump-"ness" where the hardware (screws and plates are).

Even so, I've been able to walk barefoot without too much discomfort and pain. However, it's still there and I can't fully push down and off with my big toe.

Yes I put my foot up at work :)

6.5 weeks

Nothing too interesting this week. My foot has been on the same pace of swelling and discomfort level. I've still been walking without crutches in the boot up until last Friday. Every time I tried walking barefoot there was some pain. On Friday, (coincidentally after seeing the doc for my final appointment) I've been feeling a lot better. I was able to walk a few steps barefoot with just a little pain. Dr Cade gave me a post op shoe that looks like a sandal with a hard inflexible sole that gives me a lot more movement. I can almost walk without a limp but can't do it for more than a few hours without it swelling. For instance, I was in a wedding where I had to stay on my feet for half a day and it didn't feel too bad, but I was definitely really sore the next day. I ended up going back to the boot for the wedding day. Another interesting thing is that my ankle seems to be very weak. When I step down the stairs, my ankle on the bad foot 

All in all I seem to be heading in the right direction.

Next goal is to be able to go barefoot.

Below is a recent pic of my foot.

5 weeks

So its been 5 weeks Post Op and I've been partially walking at 30% with a single crutch. I can walk up stairs with both feet as well. I weigh about 190 so that makes 30% about 63 lbs. I put my foot on a scale while my other foot and crutch was off the scale. However after going through this week and walking with a single crutch I realized I probably was probably putting about 70-75 lbs on the foot which is probably not a big deal. My foot has been better everyday (knock on wood).

There's still plenty of swelling but I don't feel the need to elevate it constantly. The incision has also been healing although there's still a couple parts where its still trying to scab up. I've been putting vitamin e, polysporin and aloe vera on it. I haven't soaked the foot in the tub yet but I've been pouring hot water over the foot to clean it up.

Starting either tomorrow or Friday I'm allowed to put up to 60%(126 lbs) on my foot. That probably just means I'll be getting a little more liberal and not really trying to measure my foot weightage.

28 days later!

Been waiting to use that title...

Saw Dr. Cade yesterday and everything looks good so far. He said I was good to go with taking the boot off when sleeping and sitting around. I still have to wear the boot if I walk/crutch anywhere. Another big set of news is that he said I can start partially walking (~30%). I tried a little bit yesterday but my toes are really stiff and I get a lot of stinging pain under my foot. So for now, I'm taking it slow and not try to force it. Partially walking with two crutches is a lot easier than single crutching it. Also, I'm very hesitant on putting any weight on it. I waited for Mary to come home so that she can peel off all the dead skin on my foot, cause she's into that kind of stuff. Gross pictures below if you're interested.  I still haven't washed it either because there still parts of the incision where it hasn't scabbed up yet. I might try either tonight or tomorrow. In regards to the morning pains in my foot, it's wearing off but still there. Hoping it gets better over the next few days.

Another odd thing is that there is a bump where the start of the incision is. I'm guessing that's the top of one of the screws. I can definitely feel the screws when I try to angle my foot up with my ankle. I guess I can get used to it, but I'm hoping I can get more mobility there. After looking at my foot a lot more without the boot on, it is definitely more swollen than I thought... but it's better.

I think that is it for now, pics below... (warning: they are gross!)

Ok here they come!

is it looking better?

Oh yeah!

This is only half of the dead skin!!

Day 20 1/2

Ok I just felt bored today and my foot has been feeling exceptionally well (knock on wood) so I thought I open up my cast!

Guess what I found...

For me the photos are self explanatory, but for someone who doesn't think about my foot 24/7, the swelling (or lack thereof) looks great! This is for not icing nor really elevating too much today. I'll do another progress/split screen shot another time, but it's definitely better. Still some bruising, but it's almost gone. Crossing my fingers that my doc gives me good news next week!

Day 20 (~3 weeks Post Op)

Nothing super significant to report since my last post. The itching has pretty much subsided after a few days of intense itch attacks. Still not sure if it was the aloe/cortizone/lotion I put on it or it just simply went away. By the last time I had an attack, which was about two days ago, I only put some aloe and cetaphil on it and it went away after a few minutes. Since then I've been good. 

The morning soreness has also been a little bit better. It still wakes me up every morning, but now I don't need to keep my foot elevated at night. It looks like the morning soreness might be because I keep the boot on and my feet can't move around too much and my toes aren't allowed to point down. So I've been loosening the boot up a little bit before bed and it helps. When I wake up, I move my foot around and ice it and I'm good. 

In terms of elevation and ice, I only do it half as much as I was doing it last week. So that should be a positive sign, hopefully. I'll see the doc at the 4 week mark which is next week. I'll probably post another update then. Til then, farewell!!

Day 15

My best friend in the entire world right now...

So I mentioned how itchy I've been since last weekend, but it looks like I figured out how to alleviate most of the symptoms. The combination of aloe vera and hydrocortisone seems to be working for me. I was able to take my foot out of my boot and clean out the itchy area then apply the aloe vera and hydrocortisone all over. After a few hours the itchiness pretty much went away and it's been like that since yesterday afternoon. Hopefully, it doesn't come back...

On another note, I made a quick clip of my progression so far

I'm sure it looks f-ed up and gross, but I actually think it's looking good. If you look carefully, the swelling seems to be winding down and the foot looks more like a normal foot in terms of alignment.

That's it for now... hope to have more positive updates in my next post :)

Lucky day #13

Ready to take this damn thing off of me and scratch 7 layers of skin off. And still hoping I get a removable boot and not some crazy cast...

I also must reiterate how awesome my scooter is. It is a must have!

Another thing I learned yesterday was that aloe Vera relieves the crazy itching if you can get to the spot on your foot that's itchy. That's why I brought a bottle with me to the office!

I'm also trying to figure out why sometimes my leg goes numb when I goto bed and when I wake up I sometimes get crazy throbbing. Might have something to do with the icing?

Ok back from seeing the doc. Interesting visit, but nonetheless I got the sweet boot I wanted. Gubler also cleaned my dry bloody foot up with alcohol and put some anti itch/cortisone cream on my foot. Hopefully that cures my itchy issues.

Here is a pic of this sweet boot of mine!!

Only Day 11

I haven't been posting on a consistent basis because the pain and discomfort level has remained the same. The most swelling/pain/discomfort/itching comes in the middle of the night and early in the morning. Not sure why this happens, but I've tried icing, elevating, everything. What I do now is just take the hydroxyzine before I goto bed and then sometimes a Percocet in the middle of the night if I can.

I have a 2 week post op appt on Wednesday with Dr Gubler (Cade is on vacation this week). He's going to take my stitches and I think I'm going to get a walking boot, although I won't' be able to walk on it. I'm just hoping I can remove the boot every once in awhile so I can scratch the crap out of my itches. Doing a google search doesn't give me any idea of what the boot looks like because it looks like everyone has a different flavor of boot. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Day 7

I've been feeling pain free pretty much for the last three days...

Had a little spill down the stairs on Day 6, which was pretty serious, but the doc took xrays on it and everything looks good. Said to me, "that's why we have redundancy/two screws and a plate in there." Thank goodness!

Other than that nothing else, I wake up with mild pain or swelling, not sure what causes it, but it goes away as I wake up in the morning.

Day 5

Finally got a look at what my foot looks like after a post op visit with the doc.

Here are some shots:

warning!!! it gets bloody!!!!!

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ok here they come.

Before and After shots!!

Also got an awesome knee scooter today. It is totally awesome!

Day 4

Woke up around 5am feeling some pain and discomfort, but this is probably from not having a Percocet in the middle of the night. Took one after I got up and now two hours later it feels good. I would say my pain level is the same as yesterday as of now. Hoping it feels better than yesterday.

Kinda sucks not being able to sleep on my left side.

Day 3 - 5/18

Pain level has been a lot better. Probably went from a 8 to a 6 or 7. I still can't move it at all without feeling a strong sting.

I'm going to try to ween off the hydroxyzine and maybe just take it at night. That's the stuff that seems to be giving me a stomach ache, head ache, and dizzy. I still plan on taking the percocet on a regular basis. Possibly only 1 instead of 2 every 3 - 4 hours.

I still haven't been upstairs because I imagine that's going to hurt. And this is probably gross, but I haven't showered since the day of the surgery. The doc was very adamant about me not getting my cast wet, so I'm going to avoid the shower altogether. And I don't think I have the energy to do it.  The percocet makes me fall in and out of sleep. My post op appt is Monday at noon, so hopefully he'll give me good news. I'm hoping to take lots of pic of my foot when he opens up the dressing and also get a before and after shot of my xrays. 

Also, hoping he tells me the bones are healing (fusing)...

For now this is the next four weeks...

I blacked out today right before dinner. Scared mary pretty good,  and luckily we had some family here,  otherwise I would've fallen on my head and probably wrecked my foot. We called cade and he told me it happens when you lay down all day and don't slowly get up. 

Another thing to note is that my temperature has been fluctuating from normal to feverish(101) for most of the day. Another thing that cade was normal,  as long as it didn't stay at 101.

One more thing,  I was able to take a grandma style bath with the aid of mary of course. 

And the bowel movements have been better :)  but the process has not gotten any easier 

Day 2 - 5/17

Woke up this morning (~5:30am) from throbbing pain... We are upping my dosage of meds now. I'm still dozing on and off every so often.

Day 1 - 5/16

Day started with me going in at 6:15 and was immediately taken inside by nurses.  Nurses said I looked nervous as hell.  Doctors said the same thing.  Got dressed up but nurses had huge trouble getting the iv in me,  took two nurses and four tries and still no luck.  They waited for Dr costs the anesthesiologist to put in me.  First try and he got it.  

Me in my sexy ass gown and a shot of the 4th attempt by the nurses to get the IV in my "runnny" veins.

So I get pushed into operating room and it was freezing g doctors cold.  Dr cade was awesome,  and the propofol/milk put me right to sleepy land.  Woke up feeling like I was read to party.  doctors are saying that as soon as the drugs Wea off I'll start feeling it  so tomorrow might tough.  I'm stocked up on percoset

Got out of surgery around 9:30 and feeling no pain and wide awake cracking jokes with the staff. This is probably the doc pumped me full of meds, but I'm pretty lucid right now. 

Doctor told mary it went well,  Mary said the post op xrays looked amazing,  my foot looks normal

I'll have a look at the xrays on monday for my post op appointment.

On the drive back...

Just got home around noon and there's huge amount of blood dripping out my cast wrapping.  Blood is all over the house ....

Walked in the house and there was huge pool of blood,  driving back to mountain view now.  Mary is pretty stressed out. 

sitting in the er right now without my foot elevated is probably going to come back to haunt me later. but at least i have ample time to write about it

Ok waited 4 hours to finally see Cade and he said bleeding was normal and that's he's seen worse. Better safe than sorry.

Warning... there is a semi-graphic picture down below...

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... and BAM!

Cade was able to finally see me and rewrap my cast after his 3hr surgery 

This is kinda my setup for now...

Dozed off right after I finally got some food in me (about 24 hours since I've eaten) and letting the percocet and hydroxyzine. I wake up every couples hours to more throbbing pain as the anesthetic  wears off. Could barely get up to goto the bathroom without feeling light headed and wanting to collapse. 

Day 0 - 5/15

The night before...

should start my blog tonight.  Night before my surgery and I have not slept yet.  Surgery is in a few hours.  Will try to keep notes and media of everything that happens

For reference I'm having a combination of two procedures - modified McBride and Lapidus Bunionectomy (arthrodesis).

Here is a quick note about the lapidus:

http://surgerybunion.com/Lapidus_Bunionectomy.html

And in case anyone out there is trying to do comparisons my weight is 196, height is 6'

Before picture... Both feet are pretty bad, but guess which one is going under!

One more picture, but this time it's the sexy side bump shot!