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....