More surgery! The saga continues...

I'm still having a lot of pain and my Dr. suggested I have the screws out.  The surgery is scheduled for 7/14/11 which will be 15 weeks since my first surgery.  He didn't think there would be a problem with stability.  Stay tuned for more updates and photos!

3 month check up (before and after surgery photo comparisons) July 6, 2011

I was starting to get really depressed before this appointment.  I had nothing to gauge how my recovery was going.  My foot was still very painful which made me want to give up physical therapy most days and never move from the couch again (hey, I could do it for 8 weeks, why not longer?)  The foot bulged out on the side and it didn't look like there was much swelling anymore, so I assumed this was "it."  The Dr. said it looked good and if I was having pain, then it must be from the screws.  He also said that he did not cut any nerves and that the numbness I was feeling on the outside of my foot would eventually come back, but the sural nerve was traumatized.  Evidently, it lives close to the skin and would be subjected to swelling, of which he said there was still some and that I would get more definition in my ankle bone in time.  Hearing all this was a great relief!

The surgeon also pulled up my x-rays from march and put them side by side with the weight bearing ones I had that day and showed me the difference in my anatomy.  This also made me feel so much better about it.  There is quite a difference as you can see.

Weight bearing before and after surgery.  Click on the photo for a larger view.

Weight bearing from above before and after surgery.  Click on the photo for a larger view.

The back of my feet before surgery.  The left one is the inured one, but the right one doesn't look that great either!

The back of my feet after surgery.

One more person I saw also made things feel much better and that was my chiropractor.  He was very impressed with the surgeon's work and what he had accomplished.  Usually, my hips are about 1cm off, but during that visit, they were only 1/2 cm.  I saw on the web where after having this surgery, many people have less back pain.  I'm all for that!! 

Physical therapy

I couldn't get a physical therapy appointment for 3 weeks, so I just walked and moved as much as my pain would allow.  (The Dr.s office said that would be physical therapy enough!)  I am opting to do this without pain meds as they suggested, and go with ibuprofen.  Very sore.  The first week after I had the cast off I used my walker to start getting a little weight bearing back as well as flexibility.  I was supposed to ditch the walker 1 week after the cast was off, but it was soooooo painful I couldn't do it.  I had to start weaning myself from my dependency on the walker by having my husband take my walker away from me and make me walk across the room for it like a child learning to walk for the first time.  The full weight bearing and balance was so sore.  Made me cry.  But the Dr.s were correct in that the more you use it, the quicker it will heal.  I was a week behind schedule to get rid of the walker, but I eventually did it.  I got rid of the shower seat a week after that. (those really help!)

I found that not only was my "new" foot painful, but it was sore and stiff stiff stiff.  I couldn't flex my toes the way I used to.  My big toe joint wanted to pop and crack so bad, but it wouldn't move!  I couldn't flex my foot enough to go down stairs and the ankle hurt really badly.  I could barely straighten my knee.

The day of physical therapy finally came.  Her first order of business with me was to decrease the swelling and start doing very gentle stretches.  She taped me up with kineseo tape which she said would work with my lymph system to start draining the fluids.

Kineseo tape applied to control the swelling.

The therapist also put me in some compression stockings for the swelling.  The combo of this helped greatly so I was able to move much more freely.

Compression stockings helped with the swelling.

After several weeks of therapy, I am finally able to do strengthening exercises as well as flexibility stuff.

8 week check up and cast off!! June 1, 2011

Oh my loving soul I couldn't wait for this day!  Get that cast OFF!!!!  They cut it off, examined the incisions (which were fine) and took more x-rays.  I couldn't straighten my leg, my knee hurt, my hip was messed up and I had no strength in my ankle/foot at all.  The Dr. set me up with a script for physical therapy (yup...gonna need that for sure!) and told me to wear the air cast until I felt strong enough to go without it.  It was sooo nice to not have ANYTHING on my foot at my discretion.

They did say I should take pain killers for this appointment as I'd be standing on it.  It wasn't too bad on the air cast, so I hobbled out with my walker. No more wheelchairs for me!!  The pain killers made me so sick though.  I wanted more than anything to take a real shower (after 8 weeks of sponge baths...phew!) and to shave the leg, but I was too busy vomiting and had to wait until the next day.  Needless to say, I didn't take any more pain killers and went with ibuprofen instead.

I felt I could ditch the air cast after 5 days, but none of my shoes fit, so I didn't have anything to wear but the cast!  I did an "emergency" trip to our local shoe store and they had some great New Balance sneakers that were fabric, not leather, that were flexible enough (and wide enough) to accommodate my foot and all the swelling.  I have dubbed the foot (and leg) to be called the "tree stump" as it feels so wide compared to my other foot.

The other thing that was quite shocking after I got my cast off was the skin.  When I finally did get a shower, the whole bottom of my foot literally fell off in my hands. ICK!  The rest of my foot and leg followed suit and peeled like crazy for about a week.  I couldn't believe how much skin was trapped in the cast for 8 weeks.  Wow!

Being June, the Dr. said to be careful not to sunburn my new incisions.  Never thought of that!  Glad they mentioned it.  I spent as many days out on the deck as I could when the sun came out as a break from the bed when I had the cast on.  I'd probably do the same thing without the cast.  I'm careful to cover all scars as much as possible.

Hair city!  YUCK!  But it was mine again and I could deal with that later.

My muscles had a hard time communicating with my brain.  They didn't know what to do with themselves without the support of the cast.  Freaky feeling!

Me and my x-ray.  I didn't bother to do my hair that day as I figured I could take a nice long, hot shower.  NOT!!

Thanks to my step mom for taking me to this appointment and taking photos.

6 week check up May 13, 2011

At my 6 week checkup, they were only changing the cast.  I HATED that cast.  I wanted it gone and never wanted it back.  I couldn't straighten my leg from all the pain and confinement and it was getting to me.  My hip hurt and was numb, too from the elevating.  Hard on the body!  I found that meditation, flexeril and doubling up on ibuprofen helped tremendously.

Cutting the cast off on the right side.

Cutting the cast on the left.  It comes off in two halves.

The incisions on the right side of my foot are healing nicely.  I couldn't believe all the leg hair!  YUCK!  I also noticed my toenails weren't growing.

The leg incision.

Incisions on the left side of my foot.

That horrible incision on the inside of my foot.  Close up and personal!

The technician stretching my foot to go back to a 90 degree angle for the cast.

She had mercy on me and put extra cotton on.  It didn't help.  It was still soooo uncomfortable!

The next layer of the cast material is applied.

The foot all snug in the wrapping once again.

Finishing the hard outer layer.  It would be on my leg for 2 weeks and 5 days.

Thanks to my step mom for taking me to this appointment and taking photos.

2 week check up April 12, 2011

All was well until this appointment.  My brain really couldn't entirely grasp what I was about to see under the secure layers of cotton in the splint.  Of course, you read about the procedure and the surgeon explains it all to you, but you just can't comprehend it until you see the incisions for the first time on YOUR foot.  You see the swelling, the dried blood and stitches.  Then you start counting how many incisions you have.  I had five.  THEN it dawns on you that there are staples in all those incisions that need to come out.  I had never had staples before and hope to never have them again.  She pulled out 40 of them (I made her and my husband count every one of them).  I couldn't take any more photos after she started.  I ended up with a cold compress on my head, and a puke bucket.  It hurt horribly despite the fact that I was on pain killers.  OUCH!!!!!

Then, once you get all that done to you, you get to be wheeled off to x-ray for some more torture.  I felt like my foot was hanging out into the universe unprotected.  I didn't know what to do with it.  And everything I did do brought on pain.  Even though I didn't want to get a cast on, I did feel it was much better protected and supported with one on.

But everything looked "good" as far as they were concerned.  The incisions were healing nicely and no sign of infection or seepage.  The x-rays told the story that all the hardware was still in place.

My splint being cut off.

My toes are in there somewhere!

A first look at my incision (s).

It was hard to photograph the incisions on the outside of my foot.  I never did see the one on the bottom of my heel.  There were two on the right side of the foot, one on the bottom of my heel, one long grizzly one on the left side and one up on my leg.

X-ray of my ankle screw with the heel screws also making an appearance.

An x-ray view from the bottom of my foot looking up.  I remember how painful it was to get into this position.  The technician had you lay down and put your heel directly onto the plate.  I had a hard time straightening my leg for one and then to have to rest it directly on top of the heel incision and those screws OUCH!

I was fascinated with this view, but couldn't understand what the function of the third, smaller screw was.  I figured out later that it was to secure the cadaver bone for the column lengthening procedure.

View of the foot from above.

The recovery

Ok...here's the kicker...the recovery. 2 weeks in a splint, 6 weeks in a cast, you must keep it elevated and you are only allowed to get up out of that position to go to the bathroom. That's it. The recovery was/is long and rough. Not only are you healing bone, but tendon, muscle and incisions. I also have fibromyalgia which made laying around in bed quite tough! I stayed in bed for 2 whole weeks, and then I felt confident enough to move to the futon during the day. The first two weeks, I had no pain thanks to the pain killers.  It was very nice.

I found it very helpful to have a laptop beside my bed as well as a phone, TV remotes, all my meds, a calender and other things to keep me occupied.  My mother in law (bless her soul!) came to our house every day to help me with sponge baths, fix my food and keep me company.  The more people that can come over to visit, the better.  It will keep your mind off your foot.

Every time I got up to change locations or use the bathroom, I could feel the fluids just rushing right into the foot.  The toes turned red and purple and it started to throb.  Believe me, elevating it was the best position for it and usually I couldn't wait to get it back up there and let it drain.  The pressure is incredible.

Here I am a few days after the surgery with the splint on elevating my foot. I stayed in this bed for 2 solid weeks.

Here I am with my faithful "helper" dog on the futon. It was so good to have a place to lay during the day.  My pets were a wonderful source of compassion, amusement and comfort during my time in bed.