4 Months - "Flex-tastic"

So I found this at Target the other day, and decided to try it. I still struggle with a lot of pain when I walk for longer than an hour. My Podiatrist told me that it's because I've been "babying" my feet too much. He suggested that the more active I am, the faster my feet will heal and get used to the stress of walking normally again. Anyway, this is just another tool I am trying that is supposed to help relax my feet and take away pain after a "hard day". I've just started to incorporate it into my daily regimen. I wear them on both feet for 5 mins. at the end of the day after I've done my scar treatment.
 

This is how my feet look after the gel toe-separators have been removed. They leave my toes evenly spread out.

Day 72 - No More?

So, I went to see my Dr. yesterday. He told me that he wanted me to stop wrapping my toes with the bandages!  Hmmmmm! Originally, he told me that I should wrap them until I get sick of it! I expected to be wrapping for a lot longer than the 2 months ! Anyhow, I'm gonna go out today and look for some "soft" boots to wear. I'm still not ready to show my toes: I still have corns and the scars on my toes are still very visible. I really hope that my feet are not done transforming yet. *sigh

Day 65 - Feeling a Bit Better!

So it's been a couple days since I've been using the foot spa. I do see a little difference as far as the corns "blending in" or "falling off". They are starting to look a bit better. But my scars are very prominent now. I haven't seen any change with the amount of swelling yet. I expect that that would take a lot more time. Here are some updated pics from earlier today:

I'm starting to see less and less of the appearance of corns on both feet:

 Right foot - You can really see the scaring here:

                                                              

                                                                           Right Foot:
 

                                                                     Left Foot:

 

Day 61 - 2 Months!

So, two days ago I was really starting to freak out!!! I felt like I was not progressing was as quickly as a lot of other people! I finally decided to call the Dr.'s office and schedule an appt. A.S.A.P. so I could voice my concerns to my podiatrist. When I made it to the Dr.'s earlier today, I explained to the nurse and Dr. why I was so worried. I had broken into tears, I was so distraught!! I told her that I have wanted this surgery since high school and have had the hammertoe problem since I was a child. I was concerned that my scars were starting to look like they were beginning to keloid.  Both she and the Dr. assured me that my' feet look great for being 2 months along' and that within another month, my feet will start to look more like how I want them to look. The Dr., again, reassured me that if for any reason I don't like the results, he would go back in and fix it free of charge. So here I am, playing the waiting game, again! 

When I go to my monthly follow up appts., my physical therapy includes: hydrotherapy and heat ultrasound which helps to promote heat and circulation to my feet. The nurse suggested that maybe I should come once a week instead of once a month. And to help speed the healing process, on my own, in between visits, I bought one of those foot spas from "Bed Bath and Beyond". The plan is to soak my feet everyday with Epsom salt. This is supposed to make my skin soft and the corns should be easier to fall off. The jets in the spa are supposed to help promote circulation which should bring down the swelling in my toes which will also help with healing and the appearance of scars.....we'll see what happens.
 

Day 56 ( Week 8) Shoulda Woulda Coulda!

So my Dr. says that by 3 months, I should feel a whole lot better! I must say that I'm a little skeptical. This has been such a slow process for me! When I say my Dr. 2 wks ago, I told him that I was concerned about the fact that I still have corns. When he performed the surgery, he didn't excise the corns. His reasoning behind that was that they would fall off on their own....Now don't get me wrong, the corns are getting smaller.....on SOME toes. But I'm starting to get nervous and impatient! I feel like I should see a much larger improvement by now. Dr. said, before my surgery, that if there is something I'm not satisfied with, he would go back in and fix it free of charge. I thought that sounded good at the time, but now that I feel that there is a real possibility that I may need to take him up on that offer, who the hell wants to go through surgery again?!?!? I thought that I was doing the right thing, that it would minimize the scaring, but trust me, the scaring is only temporary. My scars have diminished drastically! I wish I would have gone to someone who would have excised all the corns at the time of surgery. I wish I would have opted for a Dr. who used pins after surgery! At least that way, I could have avoided floppy toe. My toes would have been stronger, faster, and I would have been wearing regular shoes by now.

Day 50 - Moving Around Better

I'm able to move around better, little by little. I still use my one crutch when I leave the house. I've been trying to walk for as far as I can while holding the crutch, but without actually using it. Then I get tired or start to feel pain because of the strain, I use the crutch. I'm trying to ween myself off of the crutch at this point. I'm still wearing the post op shoe when I leave the house and sometimes around the house. I just can't bare the thought of taking the chance of bumping my feet anywhere! My doctor gave me the ok to wear whatever shoes that feel comfortable, but since my toes are still healing, I don't want to enclose them in shoes. And I'd still wrapping my toes, so I'm not yet ready to show then off yet.

Day 30 - Moving Along

So today, for the first time in a long time, I finally took a shower! Yay!!!! It's very painful for me to be on a hard surface barefoot, so I bought a pair of cheap spongy flip flops to wear in the shower. I'm now able to walk around my apartment barefoot, with no problems, on the carpeted areas. And when I leave the house, I only need one crutch now, instead of two. My MD is surprised that I am still using crutches, but I still need the one for balancing purposes. I've had so much work done to both feet and I am healing so slowly!

Day 29 - Follow Up Appt.

Today I had another MD f/u appt. They told me that at this point, I should be promoting heat circulation and that I should stop icing my lower extremities.

So the nurse had me soak my feet in this weird foot tub that had these strong jets. The stuff they put in there smelled like Ajax! I soaked for about 10 mins. Then the nurse did and ultrasound on both my feet to help increase blood circulation to my feet. Very weird! 

                                                Left foot                                         Right foot

                                                                          Ultrasound

Day 22 - It's Baaaack!

This morning I woke up at 6am, in excruciating pain!! Remember that bone pain I had the other day? Well it's back, in my right foot. It's that same feeling of the bones "fusing" back together. I've never had any broken bones before so this is a first time experience for me.

Since my incisions are just about closed, I've switched back to aspirin as of this morning. I popped one right away, ate a little something, iced my ankles and elevated my feet. This is the only way to tolerate the pain. Well, here's for another full day confined to the bed. I feel like I'm going nut-so!

Day 21 - No Pain!

This morning I woke up to find that I had slept through the entire night!!! I can't remember the last time that has happened! I usually need to get up 1-3 times a night to use the bathroom. I also wake up here and there in order to adjust myself in regards to my minimally elevated feet. Anyhow, I obviously had gotten the best sleep in a long time.

I decided not to take any Tylenol this morning to see how long I could go without any pain. For most of the day, I stayed in bed, as usual, and had virtually no pain! The only pain I started to have, in the middle of the day, was as a result of a large bruise on my left foot. But that was so minimal, compared to what I went through yesterday, that I just ignored it. All day, I went with no pain pills for the first time in almost 6 weeks (since my first surgery)!

We'll see how long this lasts!

Day 20 - Rude Awakening!

So I woke up this morning with great discomfort! This is a new type of pain that I've never felt before. I feel it right at the base of my toes where I know the bones are no longer connected. Specifically the pain is located in my bones, I would say, 8/10 on the pain scale. I literally feel like my bones are "fusing back together". What else could it be?!?! I cried as I walked all the way to the kitchen to get my rice packs (uncooked rice in zip-lock bags are cheap, easy to make, and make great ice-packs!), and a hand full of dried cereal. I made it back to my bedroom, iced and elevated my feet/ankles and took 2 extra strength Tylenol. The icing makes the pain a little bearable.

Day 17 - Feeling Uncomfortable!

I've never been pregnant, but now I know what pregnant woman say when they complain about constantly feeling uncomfortable!

Every now-and-again, my feet fall asleep. Now, normally I would stomp them on the floor to wake them up, but obviously I can't do that now! Today is the second day of changing my dressings. I had so much anxiety just anticipating the whole thing!! Yesterday, it was such a horrible experience! Anyway, I must say that it turned out not being as scary today. I can already tell that the incisions have closed a little more within the past 24 hrs! That's great, right? I apply a generic (neosporin) antibiotic cream to the incisions with a Q-tip before I wrap them. Even though I only applied it once, so far, I know it makes a difference. Once the incisions close completely, I'll start to apply Mederma (to fade incision scars) before I wrap my toes.

I also noticed, today, that my feet don't hold on to heat anymore! I have these thick socks on, but my feet just can't get warm. It's difficult to cover my feet in blankets because my toes can't hold up any weight. I finally took my socks of and held my feet in my hands, one at a time. That finally got them warmed up.

Day 16 - Straighter Tootsies!

Today has been a little difficult for me. This morning, for the first time in 1 month, I was able to wash my feet. I decided to still use the plastic boot to bathe with, since I'm afraid to submerge my feet in water for an extended period of time. So after I showered, I used a basin to wash my feet in separately. I scrubbed my feet a bit, with a rag, but I only dribbled water over my toes. I was so afraid to touch or move them too much since the incisions are not all the way closed! My toes also seem to just flop around. I'm not able to move them much at all. Both my baby toes feel very numb, and have a tingly feeling in both of them. Walking around feels very weird. It just seems like as soon as I make progress as far as healing, and feel less pain, it hits me again! All day today I've had pain in my toes and the numb/tingly feeling. I'm right back to staying off my feet as much as I can and asking people in my household to bring me things. This is very frustrating! I feel as if I'll never feel better!

With all that having been said, I must say that aside from being afraid my toes will fall off when I change the bandages, the right foot is starting to look pretty good! I can already see the "bend" in my toes disappearing. My toes DO look straighter!  

Day 15 - Who's in Stitches?!?!

Had my stitches taken out today. I do feel a lot better when it comes to walking. When I'm out, I walk with 2 crutches, but when I'm at home, I walk with one or no crutches. I still have to wear the big ugly post-op shoes for a few more days, then the Dr. says I can wear what ever shoes feel comfortable. I plan on transitioning to crocs on Thursday or Friday. I'm also going to be able to get my feet wet, for the first time in 4.5 weeks! I am soooo looking forward to it! I must say that my feet smell really bad. I do clean them, when I can, with hand sanitizing wipes. That's pretty much all I can do, since I don't wanna risk getting the bandages wet with soap and water.

Day 11 - My New Toes Introduced

I took my second trip, post surgery, to the podiatrist today for my dressing change. Throughout the week, I've been having pain when I walk which I believe is attributed to the stitches being pulled buy the gauze. I've read in other people's experiences that this is 'annoying'. NOT TRUE FOR ME!! It was very painful! It keeps me off my feet, for the most part. Starting to go quite crazy, sitting in the house, day after day. 

AHEAD

                      

                           

                                          ARE

                                                                     

                                                                         

                                                                  SOME














                                                                                          PRETTY 

                                                                                                              SCARY

                                                                                                                                  PHOTOS!!!!!!

                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                               

Left foot with betadine (not blood)

 Right foot

Day 4 - My First Bath

I went to my podiatrist today to have my bandages changed. It took about 15mins. for me to get from my bed to the car. It was such a task! I was sure to take my Vicodin a few minutes before I started my journey, and as soon as I got into the car, I iced and elevated. The Dr. cleaned the incision sites with Betadine and changed the dressing. I was able to move around a bit better after that dressing change. My toes felt a lot more free. The Dr. said that because of the tight bandaging the first time around, and because of unavoidable dried blood at the surgical site, there is very little room for the toes to expand when they DO swell. My Dr. didn't want me to see my toes yet, because it's usually a pretty scary sight at this point. But, he did say that my feet couldn't look any better than they do! He said it was obvious that I stayed off of it and iced it like I was supposed to.

 I'm now able to bathe in the tub while wearing this plastic bag contraption thingy they gave me, lol! Goodbye bed baths and hello tub baths!!! Lol!

Day 3 - A Day in the Life...

From the day of surgery up until today, I've been icing both ankles and elevating both feet above heart level. I haven't gotten out of bed. I tried once and ended up crying for the next 30mins. I'm afraid to try again! I'm using a bedpan to use the restroom and am taking 1/2 Vicodin every 2-3 hrs. Oh! And I also take 20mg Omeprazole, every morning before I eat, to help prevent formation of any stomach ulcers since I've been taking pain pills for weeks now. I'm giving myself bed baths and sleeping a lot. It's hell! Thankfully I have family staying with me 24/7 who does everything for me including bringing food and water to my bedside.  

Day 2 - Skeltons in Water!!

I don't know which surgery was most painful, the metatarsal correction, or the hammertoe removal and toe shortening! On this day, I'm in a lot of pain. I had hammertoes on digits #2, #3 & #5 on the left foot, and #2, #4 & #5 on the right foot. My podiatrist removed bone from digit #2, #3 & #4 on both feet and shaved down the bone on digit #5 (baby toe) on both feet. I definitely think that the pain on this day is intensified by the previous surgery. 

Surgery Day

I had my minimal incision hammertoe correction and toe shortening done by Dr. Gregory Jay Teles, of Torrance, CA. Because it was minimal incision, it was done in an outpatient setting ( in the Dr.'s office) under local anesthesia. I was in and out in 2 hours. The nurses were very nice. The Dr. is also very nice over all. I suffer from anxiety disorder which was the worst part of the whole experience. I ended up taking a xanax before the procedure. He numbed me up pretty good. The actual numbing should have been the worst of the pain, that I should have felt, but......I actually had surgery with him 2.5wks prior! Yes! I had metatarsal correction. Two bones in the ball of my foot, in each foot, were broken by the Dr. So I still had a bit of pain and soreness from that surgery. If it weren't for that, I think the surgery wouldn't have been so uncomfortable. I had both feet done per surgery which, again, was performed 2.5wks apart. Yes, I'm a tough one and I wanted to get it all over with. But, if you could avoid having so many things done at once, I would recommend that!

After the surgery, like the first, I was able to walk out of the office. But, I did require crutches since I'd done both feet at once. 

Setting The Stage

I'm a 27yr old female who cares a lot about the way I look. Most people would say that I am attractive, and I pride myself in doing what I can to look my best. Since I can remember, I've always had a huge problem with corns and hammertoes. When I was a young child, I would do things a normal child would do, like go swimming in the summertime. I remember kids teasing me that I had something wrong with my feet. I never knew there was anything wrong up until this point. That's how young I was!! After that point, I would always hide my feet. I never got to wear sandals or toe opened shoes.

As I got older, there were many activities I had to exclude myself from. From the time I got to high school, I started looking into ways I could rid myself of this curse! I tried every Dr. Scholls product, I've tried make-up, and even cutting the corns off of my toes up until I sometimes saw blood! In high school, I never had a boyfriend. In fact, as an adult, I've only had one boyfriend. I could only bring myself to tell one man about my "problem". After he and I broke up, almost two years later, there was no way that I could go through the embarrassment of telling another man about my insecurity. It was high time to get the problem fixed....