Granted, these were taken in the bathroom and the lighting was horrible, but you get the gist of it all. You have an incision, it's fairly long, and the side of your foot will be swollen and bruised. It is still is bruised, but not so much swollen. And lucky me, my incision split open (not pictured) and so my scar is going to look really lovely, but since I don't care about the looks of my feet like most ladies do, I'm not worried about it.
It's been almost a month since my surgery, and in fact, I have an x-ray and a foot exam scheduled for next week where I find out if I'm stuck in the surgical shoe for two more weeks or if I can walk around in normal shoes. I'm actually hoping I don't have to wear a normal shoe although being treated like I'm missing a leg by random strangers (yes, this has happened, not often, but enough) or being told I forgot to wear my other sock (I wear a sock on the Frankenstein foot so my toes don't get all black and gross from walking around - brilliant, don't you think?) is starting to lose its thrill. I've been told my surgical shoe matches my bag, and my other shoe matches my pants, and so on and so forth. Lots of good jokes floating about because of my gimpiness.
So here's the scoop now that a month has gone by: It's not that bad. The recovery, that is. I would say the first two weeks one should defintely stay at home, eating bon-bons and watching those crazy Housewives of ____ (fill in your favorite). I was lucky enough to work at home the second week, so I didn't do much walking, but the little I did didn't feel too great. I was back at work by the third week, and yes, you will walk very slow and limp, and if you happen to wear a shoe on your normal foot that has a higher heel than the surgical shoe, then you're going to be really limping, which is something I did the first day back to work, and I've never worn that shoe again. Going down stairs is no fun. People don't care about you and your foot on public transportation. And if you get around toddlers with water, you will get your foot wet, so suck it up and hope you don't get an infection.
After the third week, if your incision hasn't split open and is in the process of healing and closing back up, your foot will start to feel almost...normal. Like you could walk on it barefoot. But I don't suggest it at all. In fact, I only take my surgical shoe off when I'm asleep or I know I'll be seated for some time. It's weirdly comforting. The tighter, the better!
Everyone asks me if it's painful, and honestly, it's not that bad. It's sorta like having a bunion! So, if you have a bunion, which I'm assuming you do since you're one of them google searchers (or my mom, or sis), then you can handle this. And I might be worth it. I can't tell you that yet. So go ahead and get it done and watch your TV shows and eat those bon-bons and relish in the fact that you won't have a big bone protruding out of the side of your foot anymore!
2 comments:
You are hilarious! I had bunion surgery and my incision split open just like yours. So, I was frantically Googling the topic and came across your blog. It is so wonderful to finally read a light and upbeat bunion surgery post... Everywhere else I look, I get nothing but horrible stories. It's kind of depressing; it makes me feel like I am going to loose you foot somehow! Anyhow, I know you are tired of answering questions about your bunion surgery (I read the rest of your blog), but I am compelled to ask you how long it took for your incision to finally come together and heal. Also, just generally how your recovery process went. I am 5 weeks post surgery and was just started on antibiotics. My doc doesn't think it's an infection, but he doesn't want to take a chance. Thank you so much (in advance) for any and all feedback, advise, comments you may have for me!
Dear Anon (you don't mind me calling you that, do you?):
Thank you for your kind comments. I don't like down and in the dumps posts, so usually I am very light on any subject.
Answers: How long did it take to heal? I honestly don't remember. I think, maybe, soon after I posted that? All I know is my foot will never look the same, so if you are particularly fond of a smooth, pretty foot side, then I'm sorry to say, you'll have an ugly purple blotch of a scar on your foot side. Again, I still don't really care about how my feet look, so I will show that bad boy to anyone, anytime, any day. If I could figure out how to post a picture in my comment, I would, but I'm too lazy to figure it out, so I'd have to write a "it's been over a two years now..." bunion post, and maybe I will do that, who knows. I do have some interesting things going on with my big toe and the toe next to it (index toe?).
Okay, so I'm sorry, not much help there.
Now, I will tell you this: It is going to take a heck of a long time for your foot to heal. I'm sure your doctor told you that many times, and it's really true so don't brush him/her off as an old coot who doesn't know what he/she is saying. I started using the treadmill again about 5 or 6 months after my surgery and I still don't know if that was a good idea. I use is regularly now, and I do have pain, but it's not the same as the bunion pain. My foot just feels....old. And I've had several occasions where the bottom fat pad under my toes hurts like someone broke all the bones there...not sure if that's tied to the surgery or not, but there are days I cannot stand walking on my treadmill for more than 5 minutes and then there are way more days where my foot doesn't hurt at all.
So, all in all, I would say, just know that while the bunion pain is gone (ya!), you may still have other sorts of foot pain. And then that whole weird index toe and big toe thing...yeah, there is that too. (suspense! because who knows if I will write about it!)
With that all said, you will not regret your bunion surgery (unless you hate blotchy purple scars and possible odd foot pain) at all. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Just take it easy for the first 6 months of healing. you probably won't feel 100% until way after that, but you will feel 100% better if you had really bad bunion pain.
Oh - I thought my foot was infected too but it never was and never did get infected. It's just one ugly wound that needs to close up. I hope that is the same for you.
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