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.... :)