I’ve been thinking about my first follow-up exam, and I am curious about other’s experiences.
What should the doctor be doing during the first exam? Of course, the doctor should check the incision wound to make sure that it’s not infected. Make sure that there isn’t excessive swelling, discoloration of the foot, and answer any questions/concerns.
Did your doctor try to move your foot? Feel around the tendon? Did the doctor perform any tests? Did he take the sutures out? Did the nurse take the sutures out? Did you even see a doctor? (I was only able to see the Physician’s Assistant and the checkup was very brief.)
I’d like to hear from you, and I’d like to compile a comprehensive list of things that a good doctor should be doing on your first follow-up exam.
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Stan // Mar 10, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Hi Dennis,
I have my first follow-up tomorrow. It will be exactly 13 days post op. I got a chance to speak to my surgeon immediately after the surgery (when I woke up) and he mentioned that he will be doing the exam himself. We don’t have PA’s in Canada.
I’ll leave some details tomorrow after the exam.
Stan
2 dennis // Mar 10, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Stan,
Good luck with the follow-up tomorrow and thanks. My appointment is tomorrow as well; I get into a CAM boot. Hopefully I’ll be able to see the doctor this time.
I’ll post more info tomorrow.
3 BB // Jul 5, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Hi Dennis,
I am glad to hear your AT issues are well behind you, I just wanted to thank you for the informative blog. Tomorrow is my post-op follow up visit, and I started googling about it and finally landed at your blog. I am reading all posts, thanks again for sharing it.
BB
4 BB // Jul 7, 2011 at 9:05 am
Dennis,
Yesterday I had the visit, and it went quite different than I expected (after reading this and other blogs).
The visit was 2 weeks after surgery, and the nurse removed the cast/splint. My Dr. then removed the stitches (i took your advice on the pain killers, but still hurt a bit during the process).
He told me the incision was doing great, without any issues. He didnt try to move my foot around, only asked me to play around with my toes.
Now the part I didnt expect: he put me on some “AirCast XP Walker” boots and requested therapy starting next week (3-week mark). After reading all blogs and comments, I would expect a new cast and waiting another 2-week for the boot.
Not sure if I am totally comfortable with the boot, because I can’t sleep with it but at the same time it feels very risky to have my “numb” foot hanging in there unprotected. Yesterday was the first night without any boot/cast and i woke up fine today, so maybe I am just being a bit paranoid.
Anyways, going for the gold!
Cheers,
BB
5 dennis // Jul 7, 2011 at 8:10 pm
BB - every doctor has his/her own favorite recovery protocol, and it looks like your doctor has a “faster to boot” protocol than mine. But that isn’t out of the ordinary, as a lot of people here seem to prefer a more aggressive protocol anyway.
I had just a plain CAM boot, and I think I did go to sleep with it on. If you are worried about your foot being exposed while you are asleep, you may want to try to leave it on at night.. and also see what your doctor says about it.
happy healing!
6 totosite // Jan 19, 2023 at 4:32 am
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