July 20, 2012

Well hello there, long time no post!! A lot has changed in the past few weeks since my last update. It has been almost 6 weeks since I had surgery on my right foot, and almost 3 weeks since I had surgery on my left foot. The toes on my right foot still have  some swelling in them, so I wrap them almost every day, but they LOOK SOOO GOOD!!  I have some concerns with the incision scars of the skin on top of my foot where I had the metatarsals cut. The way its healing, its making the incision kind of shiny and bubbly, like a keloid. During my check up, I brought this to the attention of my doc, who said it could take months for the incision to get better, but in the meantime, I needed to exercise my toes - bending them back and forth so the skin would become more pliable, and to continue using Mederma and vitamin E 2-3 times a day.

Here is my right foot 5 weeks post op. The toes are shorter than before and and are still swollen, but the scarring on the toes are getting better.



Also, the corns are gone, and the color is slowly returning to the areas where the corns were.

Here is the right foot 6 weeks post op. As you can tell, I'm trying to keep at least one foot looking decent until I can get a pedicure, so I'm changing my polish every few days. But AN-NE-WAYS, I just put Mederma and vitamin E on my foot in this pic, so its shinier than in the other pic, and it highlights the issue I am having with the incision scars on my metatarsals. The bottom of the scars seem to be more bulbous because the sutures are still dissolving under the skin. I went ahead and took doctor's orders and started stretching my toes, I also tape the incisions to kind of help flatten them out.

 

These are what I've been using to "wrap" my toes with lately. I was using the tape, but in order for them to stay on, I often wrapped them too tight. I got these little toe compressors from my podiatrist's office and they really help because they keep their shape and there's a little cushion that keeps the incision flat and also protects my toes when I put on shoes. I've also seen these little babies in CVS and Wal Mart as well, but I'd rather get them free from the doc's, especially since they charge my insurance so much anyway, they should be free!!! (IJS)

But here's my left foot!

2 Weeks Post-Op

Unfortunately, when I went in for my post-op, the doc noticed my 2nd and 3rd toes leaning a bit, so he retaped all of the toes so they'll sit correctly. And I'm confined to the boot for another week :(. But like I've said before, IT'S ALL TO THE GOOD because in the next few months, I won't even think about what my feet looked like before. Other than the cock-eyed toes, the doc said the bones are healing nicely in both feet, and he was so excited to see my feet because of how well they've been healing. Even my friends and relatives are shocked how much better my feet, well..right foot, looks so far. I hardly have any pain in my left foot, and I can walk without the boot with no pain (even though I still have to wear the boot)

Anyway, when the tape falls off (since I'm able to get my foot wet in the shower now), I'll take some more pics to show the progress of my left hoof, I mean foot. :)

Diet? I was on a diet???

Ok. Let me be straight up, I broke the freakin scale......

No, not because I got so big sitting on my butt eating doughnuts and cake all day, it's because I dropped the scale while cleaning, so I have no clue what I weigh. I went to Wal-Mart to get another scale the day before my 2nd surgery, but they hid them from me so I gave up searching. Hopefully I can get another scale this weekend to see what I've lost or gained, but honestly, I feel like I've gained a couple of pounds.

WHY??

I fell off the stupid wagon. I'm one of those people who if I feel like I'm doing well, I don't deprive myself if I get a hankering for something, and I try not to go overboard. Problem is, the past couple of weeks, my boyfriend has been home a lot, and he's not used to cooking, so we've had quite a bit of take-out for dinner (chinese, pizza, wings and fries, mexican, etc.) and let's face it. Since I haven't been on the meds in a while, I've also had a couple of margaritas. So, during the day, I've done well, but dinner has been a whole different story! I'm back on track now, especially since I still have to fit in my work clothes in a couple of weeks!

So the lesson for today is..... try your hardest to eat healthy as much as possible. That way, if you stray, it is not so hard to get back on track and it doesn't do too much damage.

I've also started doing a bit of pilates (off my feet, of course) and ab work for the past couple of weeks with the ok from my doctor. I basically do exercises from On-Demand, and fast-forward through the parts where I have to use or be on my feet.

I'll post next week about my progress. Hopefully I'll have good news, especially about my weight.

July 6, 2012

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I had surgery on my right foot (June 11th)!!! Since my last post, my foot has healed tremendously! I no longer wake up with pain in my foot, and even though my toes are still pretty swollen, the scarring is getting better daily and I can bear weight on my right foot without any issues.

The bottom picture is the most recent picture of my foot, taken yesterday. As you can see, most of the dark scabs have gone away and the incisions are completely healed. The skin looks really weird on my toes and at the base of my toes, but its slowly peeling away to reveal prettier feet underneath!

Yesterday, I also noticed that my corns were lifting on the 4th and 5th toes. I'm a picker by nature so I started messing with the corns, and they came right off, I couldn't believe it! So now, I'm hoping the skin where the corns were will go back to their natural color. Also my toes are still pretty dark from bruising so I'm hoping my foot will return to its regular color to match the rest of my body, lol.

SO WHAT ELSE HAS HAPPENED???

I got my left foot done!!! WOOOO HOOOO!! I initially wasn't supposed to get my left foot done for another 2-3 weeks, but because of my doctor's schedule and the awesome healing of my right foot, he gave me the ok to get my left foot done this past Monday, July 2nd.

My left foot was not as bad as my right foot; I still needed the hammertoes corrected, but the 2nd toe was the only one that needed to be shortened, and from what the doc told me, he didn't believe he needed to cut the metatarsal (that caused all the pain in the top of my right foot). He also cut a little bone out of the pinkie and removed the tailor's bunion.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU.... I would be sooo wrong if I didn't give the good and the bad of my experience. The day of the surgery, I expected the same process as my right foot;  to go in, get knocked out, and come to in the recovery area. THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED.

You know how they tell you not to eat or drink anything after midnight the day before surgery? Well, because my surgery was not scheduled until 1:00 p.m., I kind of OD'd on the water the night before. Aaaand, when you drink a lot of water, what happens? You pee a lot. So needless to say, I was still so hydrated that even though I was under twilight sleep, I had to pee so bad I woke up before they were finished with my surgery!!! And I felt them cut my pinkie! I will say, the pain was not as bad, it felt more of a burning sting than anything but I knew something was wrong. So I lifted my hand and the anesthesiologist immediately went to work putting me back to sleep. All I remember after that was them saying, "we're almost finished", and I felt a couple of stings in my toes ( I think they were numbing the area). After that, I felt nothing, and woke up right as they were about to take me out of the room. The nurses were very attentive and comforting to ensure I was not in any pain since I woke up during the surgery, and even though I was extremely sore shortly after, by the time I got home, I felt NOTHING for a good 24 hours.

The lesson here is to schedule your surgery as early as possible so you don't OD on water causing you to have to use the bathroom during your surgery!!!

Here's the pics...



The only downside is that I'm back in the boot!!! It's all good though, hopefully I'll be out of the boot 2 weeks earlier than I initially planned since I was able to get my left foot over with.

As far as pain in the left foot, it's been 4 days since surgery and I am still on the meds. The pain and soreness is lessening so I hope to not need the meds in the next couple of days.





June 26, 2012

I can't believe  I just got my right foot done less than 3 weeks ago! So far the process has been bearable, sometimes painful, and sometimes questionable. But it's WORTH IT. I had my check up the other day, and my dr was so pleased with the healing of my foot, he went ahead and let me schedule my surgery for next week for my left foot. The steri-strips on my toes started lifting so the nurse cut them down. 

CLOSE UP PIC!!!

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As you can see, the incisions where the metatarsals were cut are healing nicely. The incisions are completely closed so I started putting Mederma and Neospoin on the incisions to help with scarring. The pink at the bottom of the incisions is where some of the scabbing went away. (FYI: MEDERMA IS WAAAY CHEAPER AT WAL-MART THAN ANYWHERE ELSE!!!)
  
My doctor also allowed me to stop wearing the boot unless needed and wear wide sneakers or thick-soled flip-flops or slides.







DRIVING TIME!!!

I got to drive for the first time yesterday to my pre-op appointment . It felt weird at first, but I had no pain because I didnt realize how much I actually used the ball of my foot to drive rather than my toes. I wore some old, worn-in flats because they were the ONLY shoes that would fit, and my doc reminded me the type of shoes I should be wearing, so I immediately went to DSW for some good flip flops and some wide sneakers. I didn't find any sneakers that I would be caught in (I'm ordering some online), but I found some Nike slides, and my feet felt like OMG, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!!! Talk about comfy, and for only $21!!

Anyway, here are some more pics of my foot. My bandages really started coming off more today after my shower. I am so excited about how the incisions look! on the 3rd toe, it almost looks like nothing was done. There is a little dried blood and the toes still look a bit gnarly, so..

BEWARE IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!
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 Yeah, naasty!! lol. Please excuse the greasiness....


My toes are still pretty swollen, especially from walking on it yesterday without the boot for the first time in over 2 weeks so I'm still resting, elevating, and icing my foot. The corns are starting to fade and my toes are starting to shrink. I especially noticed this wearing my slides...



LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE!

Remember what my right foot looked like before??

My toes were longer than it shows in the pic but its hard to tell because

 they were all curled up!

DIET DIET DIET!!

Well I've actually lost a total of 6 lbs since I first started this blog. This is because I've been eating primarily proteins and vegetables and few carbs during the week. One thing that has helped is to eat BREAKFAST DAILY!!! I normally eat before 9am and my usual breakfast is either turkey bacon with 2 hard-boiled eggs or the eggs with some fruit, and I'm satisfied until around 1:30-ish. Lunch hasn't changed, and dinner is around the same lines.

I will say that I've cheated a couple of times when my boyfriend took me out to lunch after dr's appointments or when  he broght some IRRESISTABLE vittles home for dinner. But all in all, I've begun to get used to eating better. And I will say this again DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!!! That also helps against hunger. If you feel hungry, drink a glass of water first. Don't starve yourself, but as its been said, sometimes hunger can be confused with thirst, and definitely DON'T underestimate your willpower. Where there's drive, there's always success! 

Week 3

June 26, 2012

PROGRESS, PROGRESS, PROGRESS!!!

I've had some ups and downs since last Wednesday when I had my post-op. Let me start with the downs....
My foot was in SOOO much pain for a few nights, and it was from the spot where the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal was cut and shortened. I haven't had any pain in the toes, but I had sharp and throbbing waves of pain during the night in the top of my foot. One night, the pain was so bad, I had to take both of my pain meds in order to go to sleep.

Sample - Not My Foot!

This isn't my foot, but it is a sample of what it looks like when they shorten the metatarsal. I only have one pin in the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal instead of two like in this picture, but regardless, its been painful. The doctor said this was normal and not to worry because, well, it's bone healing!!!

I've also had a lot of swelling, which is normal, but I've noticed that my toes swell more when I'm on my foot for longer than a very short period of time (with the boot, of course).

As you can see, the toes on the right are little sausages, while the ones on the left are regular. I'm hoping the swelling will go down soon.





Now for the UPS.....
The pain in my foot went away after a few days, and I've been able to stop taking the prescription meds for pain. If I have some discomfort, I'll just take a couple of ibuprofen. I was even able to go to a bbq all day on Saturday without any problems. All I did was ice on the way there, and ice on the way back (I kept the ice pack behind my knee in the car). Plus I keep a compression sock on my foot.

Aaand, I've also noticed that I can walk a little on my foot without the boot. It just feels weird, so I'm going to keep walking with the boot until my doctor gives me the ok to wear sneakers at my next appointment tomorrow.

Here's a couple of updated foot shots...

With Compression

This is the compression sock I use on my foot. I just took this pic and the swelling has gone down a little, but my 2nd toe is still really swollen.



The doctor said last week that it only takes a few days for the tape to fall off, but they haven't yet, even with me getting my foot wet and washing it in the shower. The nurse said the longer they stay on, the better the incisions heal, so I'm not going to force them off, but I WANT TO SEE MY TOES!!!









In all, I've seen A LOT of progress in my feet and movement in my toes, and I know the best is yet to come. I'm hoping my foot has healed enough so I can go ahead and schedule the surgery for my left foot a.s.a.p. and get the rest of my healing over with!!

June 20, 2102

Day 10!!

OMG, I can't believe my post-op day is already here! But before I get into what happened during my post-op, let me go over the past few days first.....

Since Friday, the pain has subsided and at one point, went away, so I stopped taking the pain medication unless needed. I've been keeping my foot elevated and iced to help the swelling and I've stayed off my foot for a good majority of the time. Saturday, I went out of the house for the first time since surgery. It was just a car ride, but I was out of the house, so I didn't care where I went! I've been wearing my big robotic boot faithfully ever since my surgery, and for those who don't know what the robotic boot looks like, check this baby out......

I'm sexy and I know it!!

Yeah, I can kick the crap out of someone with this thing on....only thing is that I have to lift my leg because this thing is HEAVY!! Also I feel like I'm wearing a heel because when I walk, I have to raise the heel of my left foot to compensate for the height on this boot.


Anyhooo!! My doctor, and his nurse strongly, I repeat, STRONGLY advised against walking anywhere without this massive hoof on until further advised, and I did, until I had to use the bathroom soooooo bad in the middle of the night, I felt like I had no time to put the boot on. I hobbled my a** to the bathroom sucessfully, but on the way back to the bed, OH MY SWEET GOD. Normally I know exactly where I'm going in the dark, but this time, my foot, dead from little use, dragged behind me and just so HAPPENED TO HIT THE FREAKIN TV STAND....If you've ever seen cartoons where the cat is smashed in the head it and sees stars.... that was me. 3:00 am, and I'm SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER in my head, trying to hold back tears and not wake my boyfriend because I know he's going to fuss at me for not wearing my boot. Honestly, the pain was for a second and a half, but the pure shock of it put my a** in check! Now, no matter what, if I'm on my feet, I'm in the robo-boot!!!

As far as my post op.....(drumroll please).......CHECK OUT MI FOOT.....





Yeah, yeah,  I know it isn't pretty, but it looks better than what I thought it would look. Let me tell you, when they took off the bandages and cleaned my foot off, it felt as though angels had kissed my foot, it felt so WONDERFUL!!!! They took x-ray's and the doctor said my healing looked really good and he was happy with my progress so I didn't have to be re-wrapped, and I can get my foot wet now, YAY!!! He said I have to stay in the boot for another week, but no more bandages, just a compression strap, so I'm cool.






 Oh and just an FYI, I did have a little pain and pressure in the top of my foot the past couple of days, but because the doc used tiny pins in the base of my 2nd and 3rd toes, he said that was ok and normal because my foot was getting used to being used again. So if you're having the same issue, don't fret, but let your doctor know, just in case!!!


Grub a grub grub....

As far as my diet, I did cheat a little during the weekend when I had chinese take out, but other than that, breakfast consists of boiled eggs and turkey bacon, or just turkey bacon, lunch is shrimp, fish, or chicken with salad, dinner is pretty much the same, except I may add some veggies, and snacks are apple sauce, fat free jello or pudding, or fruit shebert. I just ran out of shebert and applesauce, so to quench my sweet tooth, I have some whole fruit now. Oh yeah, and I drink LOTS AND LOTS of water.  I've gained one pound since last week, which sucks, but I really think it's because I've been on my butt almost the whole time. Next week I can start my stretching and light resistance exercises so I'm really excited!!!

Thursday June 14

Day 4!

Today was much better than yesterday. Yesterday, my foot was hurting SO MUCH to the point where I was thinking to myself, "what have I gotten into??". In addition to that my head was hurting like mad from caffine withdrawl since I haven't have any need for a pick me up since my surgery. But needless to say, PAIN IS BEAUTY.  I still ice and keep my foot elevated throughout the day, but it has been much easier to get around today. I took a shower yesterday and today using a cast cover my boyfriend got me from CVS. I just had to get used to balancing on one foot while resting my bad foot on the side of the tub without killing myself. All I kept thinking the whole time was the commercial where the old lady falls and screams "I've fallen and I can't get up!". I know, corny, but I was really stressing that. I inspected the part of my foot that I can see today, and the only issue I have besides the swelling, dried blood, and overall grotesque appearance, is the fact that my toes  dont seem to have gotten shorter yet. I'm seriously hoping they will soon...

As for my diet, I've been eating primarily salad with turkey on it or soup. This afternoon, I messed up and ate some pizza rolls for lunch...because...they were there. So if you don't want to be caught up eating junk while sitting on your butt, don't have it in the house. I still snack, but i have a cup of fat free jello or pudding, apple sauce, or edemame. I'll be glad when I go to my post-op so I can get the ok to start doing some light exercises or something!!!  

Diet Schmiet
Like I said, I'm trying to lose a few pounds, even though I am currently immobile by watching my diet. I am not going to deprive myself, but I want to get my body in the habit of eating better foods consistantly so that way I don't miss all of the junk and carbs. So here is what I ate:

Breakfast:
2 hard boiled eggs, 3 pieces of turkey bacon

Lunch:
Ramen Cup of Noodles soup

Snack: Sugar free Jello snack

Dinner: Grilled salmon and salad w/ranch dressing and turkey

Dessert:  Sugar free Jello dark chocolate pudding

I can't really stand on a scale, so I won't know how much weight I've lost or gained for the next couple of weeks. But I did weigh myself before surgery yesterday, so my starting weight is 174 lbs. My goal is between 155 - 160 lbs. So we'll see how this goes!

June 11, 2012

Day 2!!!

I'm back and consciuos! And now I am going to give a little more background and details into my surgery.

Here's how my foot looked before... And BEWARE, it's not a pretty sight (you may want to take small children and animals out of the room)




RAAWWRRR!!

As you can see, I have a medly of funions, bunions, corns and other various vegetables on my feet. I've been ashamed of how my feet look, so for the longest time, I would wear closed toe shoes in the summer and socks when company came around. I even wore socks around my boyfriend for the first year and a half of our dating. Luckily he's seen my digits and doesn't seem to care too much, especially since his feet look worse than mine :).










Not only is it painful to look at, but my feet have also become painful to walk on as well. And since I couldn't go another day looking and having to deal with these issues, I decided it was beyond time to do something about it.





 For the last year or so, I've learned how to put makeup on my feet to camouflage the multiple imperfections so I could at least wear peep toe or somewhat open toe shoes.

Doesn't even look like the same foot, does it???










 But even with the makeup, the pain was becoming too great, so I asked around, did my research, and picked a surgeon specialized in my "ahem" issues. I wanted to get both feet done at the same time (the left is bad, but not as bad as the right foot), but my doctor STRONGLY urged against that because not only would it prolong recovery, but it could cause other issues without one good foot to walk on. So I opted to have the right foot done first.

Now with that being said, with surgery, and 6-8 weeks of recovery ahead of me, that means that I won't be able to get much workouts in. I am a pretty active person, I normally go to the gym 3 times a week, or walk 2-3 times a week. I don't consider myself big, but I've already been trying to shed a few extra pounds and I knew the surgery would potentially throw a monkey wrench in my plans. I explained my dilema to my brother, who is a personal trainer out of state, and first thing he said was "Sis, you gonna get FAAAAT!". Needless to say, I explained that is the opposite of what I'm trying to do, so he suggested a high protein, high fiber, low carb diet. He suggested if  I do eat carbs, to eat them early in the morning, so the day before my surgery, I stocked up on lots of frozen veggies, meats, fish, etc. Also, my boyfriend is not much of a cook, so I had to make sure I got food easy enoughfor him to cook without killing me....

 Surgery Time!!!

I had my surgery pretty early in the morning. As I said before, I've done lots of research into what I'm getting myself into, so I was prepared for what was coming, except for the fact that I would be put under, which I've never gone through before. So yeah, I was a bit nervous. I thought I had the cool face until a nurse asked why I looked so stressed, and my boyfriend took a picture of me in my medical gear with this horrified look on my face. But once they administered the medicine to me I was OUT!!! The surgery lasted about an hour and half, but I was out over 2 hours.

Basically, my doctor fixed the hammertoes and released tendons in 4 toes, the second and third toes were shortened, and instead of pins, my doctor used implants so I wouldnt have to have that terrible pin sticking out of my toes. Also, my tailor's bunion was removed. Here's the pic after surgery. There's a tiny bit of blood, so if you're squemish, turn away...

As for the pain....

For the first few hours after I got home, I had no pain, no feeling at all. I went ahead and took a dose of pain killers like the nurse advised so I wouldn't feel much when the anestesia wore off. Around 8 last night, the numbness started to wear off. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the pain varying between a 3 and a 5, even with the painkillers. Luckily the pain wasnt ongoing, it was more like waves of pain, so it was annoying than anything. It's all good though!

This morning, the pain has lessened a bit, as I have started a schedule of taking the pain killers, starting at 5:30 this morning. Also listen when they say to ice and elevate your foot, because it helps IMMENSELY!!

I'll check backlater this evening to speak a little more about what I've been eating so far.

June 11, 2012

Day One!!!

I'm going to start off by giving a little background about me. I am a thirty something woman, who for years have had to deal with these things called "feet" at the end of my legs. I'm a little taller than average women, so I understand the need for longer feet. Problem is, my toes are JACKED UP!!! When I was 12, my foot size shot up from a size 7 to a size 10 seemingly overnight, and I remember my mother and grandmother constantly complaining about how they have to buy women's shoes for a child (gee thanks!) Unfortunately, as my feet grew, I became more embarrased about my shoe size, so as I got older, I would say I was a size 9, when I was really a 10. This continued on through most of my adult life. I was always so self conscious of the size of my feet, that I often wore shoes smaller than I should have, and this caused many issues, including hammertoes and later, tailor's bunions. For some who may not know what hammertoes and tailor's bunions are, here is something to help:



Tailor's Bunion


So this is what I'm dealing with. Years of wearing ill fitting shoes has made it painful for me to wear shoes now. And now, I need surgery to correct 8 toes and bunionettes on my left and right feet.


Well, today I started my quest to step my game up. I went in to have my first surgery on my right foot today mainly because it is my "bad" foot. I'll give more details on that tomorrow, as I am on some serious pain meds.... :)