Posted on November 3rd, 2014 by taeggysbahbah
Tomorrow will be the 10-month anniversary of my surgery. It has definitely been an ordeal throughout the year. Two months ago it looked like my OS was going to have to go back in to see what was going on with my foot.
I had been going to physical therapy and had done additional damage while going through the PT routines at his office. Go figure. Anyway, foot began to swell and was extremely hot to the touch, not good. After several weeks of having the foot wrapped in a special wrap and walking in my tall walking boot there was still no improvement. As a last resort the doctor ordered me to bed. He said that I needed to keep off the foot entirely for two weeks, save for going to the bathroom, absolutely no weight bearing on the foot. His parting comment to me was, "If that doesn’t work, I am going to have to go back in and see what is going on." I’m thinking, "Yeah, so you think. Not in this lifetime." Thankfully I have the greatest husband who jumped right in and helped with everything so that I was able to comply with the doctor’s orders.
Slowly, and I do mean slowly, the foot began to respond. Today, I have more better days than bad days. Using common sense, I am able to pretty much do what I want to do. I listen to my foot and stop when it says, "Enough." My OS has finally agreed that I have taken the proverbial turn for the good. He did say with the particular type of surgery that I had it would probably take a year to completely recover. It has definitely been a roller coaster ride for me. Thankfully days are now easier and I look toward to when this is a dim memory in my mind.
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Posted on March 28th, 2014 by taeggysbahbah
First the yay! It has now been seven weeks past my surgery and I am now finally knee walker free. My doctor allowed me to start putting full weight on my foot last week, sleep without my boot and take a shower without putting anything on my leg.
Initially, the doctor told me to use either crutches, a walker or cane. Then once I felt comfortable I could drop using them altogether. The doctor said this would probably be in a week. I used crutches for about a day and a half until I got too sore to continue to use them. Thank goodness I already had a walker at the house, so I switched to it. Ah…much better. But I’m one of those people who always try to push themselves, so on the fourth day I started to walk without anything. I experience a unique feeling of not having to be on the knee walker or having to use any other type of assistance after six weeks. I think wee came to mind.
Bedtime, oh the wonderful feelings. Just being able to run my foot over the sheets felt so wonderful. Okay, there are now spots on my heel that are hypersensitive since the surgery and that isn’t fun, but my goodness, sleep never felt so good.
The next decadent feeling I enjoyed was my shower without having anything covering my foot. As I sat on the shower chair and the water began running over me I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was so wonderful.
Now the OUCH, and I do mean ouch part. I started my pt this week. I knew my foot would be stiff, but silly me it was really stiff. First my PT measured my range of motion. Then he started me off with a warm whirlpool bath and having me write the ABCs in the water by using my foot. He said that I would be working different parts of the ankle while doing this. Then he had me do some additional exercises that sure made me want to say words that I never say, but understand why people use them. Finally he came in and started to massage the areas that are hypersensitive and a spot on the bottom of my heel that is extremely painful. He gave instructions on how to massage my foot to desensitize the hypersensitive spots when I’m just sitting down at home. I’m glad that I am going to the PT that I am going to. He is very caring. Of course I may be cursing him after I start more aggressive pt in a few weeks. For now, I’m trying to figure out why the bottom of my foot hurts through. I had Haglund’s deformity surgery and Achilles tendonitis/tendinosis with debridgement surgery, so why the bottom of the foot pain? It is very painful while walking in the boot due to the pain at the bottom. I’m hoping this will resolve itself soon.
I’ll see my OS in a month and was told to bring my shoes, no sandals, so that I can walk out with them on. Yay…I think. I’m looking forward to getting some semblance of my life back. I do hope that it is sooner than later.
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Posted on February 24th, 2014 by taeggysbahbah
It has been three weeks since my surgery for achilles tendinitis/tendonosis, debridement and Haglund’s deformity. I can tell you that it has been a rollercoaster of a ride too.
To begin with, I didn’t want to have the surgery. While I was in pain with my foot, I knew that I was not prepared to handle the trauma or pain should the surgery not go as expected. My husband talked me into going through with the surgery saying in the long run it would get better. The first week was pretty much the normal lie in bed with my foot up, though I did sit up on the couch frequently. Not much of a bed person. The one thing I did find strange is that the OS’s office never called to see how things were going.
The second week was the start of everything going downhill. I went to the doctor to have the splint removed and a cast put on. Everything was ok for the first few hours and then the top of my foot began to cramp, and cramp it did! For the next 15 hours I cramped. I called the OS’s office to see what could be done and was told that I had cast anxiety and to more or less live with it. I would like to believe that I know a cramp from anxiety. Someone must have decided to take pity on me, as the nurse called to say that there was nothing wrong with me, but to put my mind at ease I should come in and they would check the cast. After showing the NP-C where the cramp was she decided to take me out of the cast and put me in a ortho boot to alleviate the pressure spot that was causing the cramps. From that point on the pain has been excruciating at the incision site. I read other bloggers and I am envious that they are relatively pain free.
From Thursday through Friday I had a pretty much a sleepless night due to pain. On Saturday I started to notice that things didn’t seem right. I was having trouble with my right hand and was having issues with holding things early that morning. By mid day it wasn’t getting any better and decided to go to the emergency room. While checking in the nurse noticed my foot and made accommodations for me to keep my foot elevated. Because my foot was elevated I attracted the attention of a dr who noticed that some things didn’t seem right about me. After a quick assessment he said that he believed I had suffered a minor stroke. With that, I was rushed away for tests. The next thing I knew I was being admitted into ICCU. Spent three lovely day in the hospital. I learned that I have blood clotting problems. It appears that my blood clots too quickly. The neurologist said he was surprised that the OS hadn’t caught that before the surgery. He did confirm that the minor stroke was brought on by the surgery.
On Wednesday I went back for a checkup at the OS’ office. The stitches were removed and the Dr came in to look at the foot and to find out what happened. He said he was putting off my pt until things were resolved with my stroke and that I would see his NP-C in a month. When asking him about the constant pain on my heel he said that was where the work was done and to expect it. With that he left. I was hoping to find out when the pain might subside rather than be left hanging with questions. Occasionally the pain is a 4-5, but the majority of the time it is an 8-10. With the pain keeping me from getting any quality sleep (I’m averaging 2-3 hours a night) God only knows what I’ll be like over the next three weeks. I have tried to research the information on the pain and can’t nail anything down. Most everyone has a pretty much pain free experience. Does this seem normal to everyone?
Please don’t think I am sissy. I have had five c-sections, gallbladder surgery, wrist surgery, and bunion removal on both feet and so I know what kind of pain to expect, and it definitely isn’t what I am currently experiencing. I only hope it will eventually get better and not continue as is. As for the surgery, would I do it again? Not only no but bell no!
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