See Day 4 :-)
16 May, 2012
36 comments :
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Better pain control today , Took the dilaudid every 4 hours plus tylenol, and anti nausea drugs, with good results. The only problem- now I am 'loopy'. No appetite either. But at least the pain is under control. Thought it was going to be easier than this.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone
ReplyDeleteI had two big moments today - one of them the resolution of a vexing post surgical problem known to many whose bowels don't respond well to general anesthesia and physical immobility. I trend toward irritation in two areas - the entry of the main bowel (called the Ileocecal Valve) and the exit (called the Valve of Houston). If either one is distressed there will be all kinds of problems with my general constitution.
Having surgery then living with my feet in the air for three days is enough to bother both of them substantially. I resolved this by dramatically under eating for the last three days, and adopting a modified yoga pose (designed almost by chance) early this AM. Wonder of wonders, I could feel the Valve of Houston relaxing as I lay there then within an hour - A Blessing on My Day!
I can't tell you how good a small bowl of soup, a salad, and a slice of whole grain bread tasted after I'd given everything time to settle down (which took a few hours given that this hadn't happened for me since Monday before the operation).
My second big adventure was a trip to the surgeon to have my dressing changed, let him look at the incision, and decide when the stitches will come out. The feet looked like they'd been through some trauma but not bad all things considered. We took pics which we can share if Parsifal has the means to put them up.
DPM is very pleased with my progress and wants to see me two weeks from today for stitches out. That's 7 days more than I'd hoped but there are 3 incision sites in this case, and we want to see all of them stable before we send them out into the world "unadorned".
Instructions for the interim are to leave the 4th Rt Toe arthropasty completely alone to settle down, put the Rt Grt Toe Cheliectomy in a looser pressure bandage but with a full, sterile, medicated dressing, and dress and mildly pressure bind the incision on the left cyst excision site in a similar manner (I'll have more to say about that in a separate post).
DPM says I have now graduated to being able to refrain from constant leg elevation (thank heavens - I can't imagine going through a broken leg like this) so I can crutch around the house a little more often, but I am to continue to refrain from applying major pressure to the cheliectomy foot except to stabilize my balance on the other one.
Instructions for the Chelio toe itself are to gently wiggle the joint two to 3 times a day, and (ouch) maintain/resume the use of ice, but now I am allowed to limit exposure to 5 min at a time for 3 times a day. 5 min I can do - I don't think I could bear another 30 min session tho on Day 1 30 min of ice then 30 min off felt WONDERFUL.
I mean - thru the haze of the morphine of course. :)
RN on site said that she has seen many people walk out of this office with controlled Rx prescriptions that they never use - like me - I didn't even need Advil 200. We both think this may be a testament to the manual skill of the DPM (who I have come to call the Wizard of Foots).
In a moment of calm I asked him how many of these he had done in his life. His response: "In forty years? ..... pause ...."
I got the right guy for me.
Lady Toes
Fortunately, I rarly get any stomach sensations, although I remember feeling a bit sick when taking lots of oxy on the first day after the surgery.
DeletePlease email any pics to inwi00-parsifal@yahoo.co.uk, and I will happilly post them (as long as there is nothing inappropriate on them - just joking of course!)
Please feel free to add a caption, etc.
Thanks for permission to post my pics.
DeleteI just want for you to know that I harvested your email addy so you can pull it off this page if you wish before the search bots find it and start sending you a ton of unwelcome spam.
Maybe you can find a way for people to contact you in a safer manner? Does Blogger have that ability (ie set up a contact page that funnels individual requests directly to your personal inbox) so you don't have to publish an email addy openly on this site?
I'm just trying to think about your best interest.
PS - when I send on the pre surgical and dressing change pics I'll send a pic of my toes in their fleece cozies too. :)
Lady Toes
Do not worry - the email address is disposable. Just sent the pics + a paragraph to accompany them!
DeleteOK! You sound like you know what you're up to.... I will pull mine off the digital camera sometime this weekend.
DeleteThis will be fun!
We can compare stitches! lol
I like to look at stitches...
I am a little strange, yes :)
LT
My dressing accidentally slid off of my foot on the night of the surgery.
DeleteThe doctor asked me to loosen the ace bandage around it at 7 pm that night. I did that, and then we got in the car to leave the city. When we got home, and parked the car in the driveway, I took two steps out of the car and the ace bandage, and surgical shoe (which was hard to put on over the ace bandage) were coming off. I sat down on the first step of the walk and tried to fix them, but the dressing (a circular maze of guaze around my foot with lots of blood on it) and ace bandage came off and were hanging over the front of my foot. I put everything back on(bloody as they were) before going into the house. Problem was that I had loosened the ace bandage too much at 7 pm.
Since the doctor's instruction was that the dressing was supposed to come off the next morning, and the bare foot was not very swollen, I did not worry.
The doctor had wanted me to see a podiatrist in the city that he works with to remove the dressing the next day (doctor has a second office elsewhere where he worked that day), but I was going to be out of town and had told him I was fully able to remove the dressing myself. As it turned out, it was very easy to remove the dressing. I had to wash off the blood from my foot with a paper towel. The blood was not next to the stiches. If I should have used hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin ointment, I didn't (there is plenty of this in my house), with no ill effects.
If that dressing had had to stay on any longer, it would have become rancid with the blood and done who knows what to my foot - like maybe producing eczema at the site of the wound since I have severe eczema. Thankfully I could take the dressing off the next day.
The blood on the dressing had nothing to do with my mistake in loosening the ace bandage. Just getting out of the hospital and finally home and all the activity there right after surgery made the foot bleed enough to wreck the dressing within a few hours after the surgery.
NOw - about the Left Foot "Cyst"
ReplyDeleteBefore surgery it appeared to be a small "fat pocket", barely 10mm in diameter, though I'd noticed it growing on the inside of my ankle ever since I'd had the avulsion fracture on that ankle in Oct of 2006. I always thought it was the byproduct of the trauma to the ankle.
After it was excised (it took about 4 stitches to close up the site) the DPM sent it out for a biopsy.
The results say I had what's called an angioleiomyoma. Breaking down the Latin I guess that means that there was a benign growth on the smooth muscle of one of my blood vessels, near to the surface of the skin (tho this one didn't appear to have any veinous coloration at all). DPM emphasized the benign nature of the tumor but when I looked it up on the internet, I discovered that the word connects it to a series of other tumors, some of which appear in the internal organs (like the uterus, the esophagus and the colon).
As I looked into the various forms of leiomyoma I remembered that there is one version that runs in my family - a very dangerous version called leiomyosarcoma. While I don't want to project myself into a fate with the last condition, I know it is very much in my best interest to schedule a colonoscopy as soon as I am reasonably stable on my feet.
I have a good referral from a GREAT internist so - no more excuses. I'm the right age, this is probably the right time, and that little cyst may be a warning shot over the bow of the good ship I call my living, aging, ever so precious human body.
Lady Toes
Oh and on a happier note - on my way out of the DPM office I told the secretary that I wished someone would invent something to keep the toes of a transitioning foot surgery patient warm.
ReplyDeleteVoila! Out she comes with two things for my two sets of very exposed post surgical toes - called Cast Cozies!
And they are cozy indeed!
While there are probably many people who manufacture these delightful devices, I choose to share this particular website in the event that someone else may have the same problem that I have with what my husband calls my Tiny Toes of Terror.
Hence - a fuzzy, warm and cozy link to "piggy warmers"!
http://www.piggywarmer.com/castsockhome.html
And - the place that actually made mine (which I am currently wearing to my great delight):
http://www.castcozy.com/Castcozy/Home.html
http://www.castcozy.com/Castcozy/Product_Info.html
Here's to an army of cozy toes!
Lady Toes
Hi Parsifal.
ReplyDeleteToday is day 5 and Easter Sunday. Walked the dog on a few occasions, probably 8 to 10 minutes in all. Wore my UGG boots as they are more comfortable than the surgical boot, which irritates my wound. The surgical boot is in the trash holding area in our house.
Also drove into town (my left toe had the operation) although wished my husband was not out of town today and could have driven me so I could keep my foot up the whole way.
Went quickly to the gym (in my UGG boots) and used weight machines I normally use, keeping my foot raised where possible. Did a tiny bit on the elliptical and rowing machine. My back was starting to hurt before I went (the low bone density issue does this if I do not exercise, but now relief on the back front. Only missed 4 days of the weights at the gym, but missed a lot of the aerobics at the gym and of the normal 40 minute walk with the dog.
Also went quickly to the supermarket and am now lying with my foot up for the rest of the day.
The toe is bending and feels better when I walk a little more distance. I cannot walk far though because it may impair the blood flow to the toe. It is not much worse than before the surgery now.
Feeling much better - thankfully.
ReplyDeleteWent to the Doc in the AM to get the bandages off. The sutures look good - much bigger than I expected. The Doc lightly bandaged them back up. I was told to do gentle flexing exercises a number of times throughout the day. Still wearing the Frankenstein boots, but he doesn't want me wearing them to bed. Glad to hear that!!
Getting around pretty good.
Finished my last dose of percoset and now taking Hydrocod (Norco) for pain, though it does not seem to be helping much. Made it upstairs to shower and then back to the couch. Still pretty tired.
ReplyDeleteDay Five - Worked another short day today. It seems that my psyche is not up to a lot of mental stress...and, my job is very stressful. Brought a file home to work on from bed. Foot is feeling good, except for the random extreme painful twinge. I drove yesterday and today with the post-op shoe with no problems whatsoever. I am not sleeping very well on the couch. I think I will try snuggling with my honey tonight in the bed.
ReplyDeleteCR Day 5
ReplyDeleteAnother good night, took one pill and slept reasonably well, had a few twinges/spasms of pain now and then. During daytime took only 2 pills. Any pain was fairly tolerable. Spent 30+ mins. on bed exercises. Continue to spend lots of time with feet up and ice packs, so my feet have not had a problem with swelling. Getting better with post op walking sandal and with the walker. Getting more confident in walking on my heel and side of my foot, did my first steps without support.
Went to my daughter’s soccer game and found people very considerate of me. (with the walker) Also attended my niece’s piano recital and had a chance to visit with lots of family, who were pleased to see me up and around. Have started helping with preparing the meals at home, so I guess the pleasure of being waited on is going to wind down. Nice to be able to relax and have my foot up again in the evening.
Doing pretty good. Hanging out at home. Resting a lot. Looking forward to doctor appointment in two days to remove dressing. Not much will change until then.
ReplyDeleteMy bandages came off today. Just a steristrip over the stitches now. My foot is really only barely swollen, in spite of the dire predictions from medical professionals. I've used the cryo-cuff pretty religiously, so perhaps this is why. I walked barefoot a fair amount over the course of the day. The blood rushes to the foot when I stand still, so I've either been in motion or sitting elevated/icing. By the end of the day, a lot more bruising had set in, and that is probably because the bandages were restricting the blood flow just enough to prevent that. But all in all, I'm getting around OK. Haven't been out of the house yet and not sure when I'll be driving, but I'm not unhappy with my recovery so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm able to put my full weight on my foot now and hobbling around pretty well. It is amazing how quickly it seems to have improved considering what was done, and how much pain I was in the first night!
ReplyDeleteI took the bandage off (as instructed by the surgeon) and the dressing underneath was pretty yucky (lots of dried blood).
Other than that all much the same, no pain or only mild discomfort most of the time apart from if I try to stand for too long, so I am still spending most of the day with the foot elevated. Feeling pretty positive about it all so far.
Thanks for posting your entries here. Our days 1, 2 and 3 were very very similar. I am on day 3 right now and there is no way I can put weight on the foot without tremendous pain, like I have a broken bone or something terrible. It is encouraging to me that you were putting weight on by Day 5. Fingers crossed for me!
DeleteHi Heath, glad you find the posts useful - it feels a bit weird writing them wondering if they will ever be read! Over the first week or so things improved very quickly for me so hopefully by now you will be feeling a huge amount better :)
DeleteIn boot, walking around without crutches a bit. Feels good to be up and moving. Taking it slow, in between boot, still keeping foot elevated and iced. Bandage is supposed to be on for another 10 days!
ReplyDeleteDay 5 went well. Went about business as usual, but in the boot. Slept without elevating it last night, which was a welcome change. Went to the gym and did a little core work, nothing crazy. Ran errands, worked in the garden (have boot will travel). Foot was tired after a long day. Showered again with the protective plastic sleeve, then iced and elevated to give it a break. Now heading out to dinner, and off to the beach for a week tomorrow. Should be interesting trying to keep the bandage on, and sand out....
ReplyDeleteRunner from VA
Day 5 and I'm pretty sure I overdid it. I haven't been using the crutches despite having bilateral surgery, and have been heel-hobbling instead, only using the sandal last night. This morning, I put on the sandals, took a real shower (immersed in tub with feet hanging over outside), did full morning routine, made coffee and breakfast in sandals. It was pretty nice to feel so much of a sense of progress. I also worked most of the day on the computer, and ate breakfast at the dining table (sitting upright!). All told, I spent probably 30 minutes on my feet in two 15 minute blocks, and another 20 seated upright.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I probably put more pressure on my feet than I should have, especially since I don't have any stable footing. I think I pulled something in my left heel because it's very sore now and I can't tolerate even much hobbling. Also, I keep having to change positions because it feels like my feet and legs are falling asleep (even though they're not). No real pain otherwise.
To try remediating, I'm back in the elevated leg position, bicycling my legs to keep up circulation as needed. I'm religiously using the sandal (keeps the foot rigid), and the crutches to try bearing most of my weight, but largely trying to stay off my feet. It was not smart to overdo it, but overall I can see progress, and my head is mostly clear.
More yoga today. Made sure that I got up and walked every hour. Mostly the same as day 3. Boot hurting a little when I was sleeping, but more at the ankle and not the incision site.
ReplyDeleteDay 5 - Much more active!
ReplyDelete(I didn't write about Days 3 and 4 before, but to summarize: I worked from bed with leg elevated. Transitioned from Hydrocodone 10 -> Half Dose Hydrocodone -> Tylenol over Days 3 & 4. Showered with leg bag on Day 3. Finally a BM and stopped using crutch on Day 4.
The great: Today (Day 5) I took a REAL (wash my hair) shower (still in leg bag). Then, wearing the boot, I went to a dental cleaning AND saw a movie out (recliner chair) AND had dinner out (leg up on a chair). Was worried I'd see significant swelling when I got home, but didn't.
The not so great: Incision does hurt a bit and I still ice about 3x per day 10' at a time and take a single Tylenol 500 now and then. Tried to take off bandage but it stuck to my wound! Doc had changed it on Day 2, so it's not a bloody mess, therefore I just cut around the stuck scab part and put a fresh wrap on top. I'll call doc and see how they suggest taking it off (I'm not due back there until Day 15 to remove stitches).
Goal over next few days: Be better about bending the toe to regain flexibility/prevent scar tissue from limiting movement in future. The (mild) incision pain spooks me when I do it, but I better toughen up...
Day 5 pretty much the same as 4.....no real issues. Continue to wean Rx pain med, now at 1/2 tab every 6+ hours....not sure I even need that. Slept pretty well, only up 1x!! Just hanging out and taking it easy while waiting for MD apt on Friday (1 week post op).
ReplyDeleteThis is Day 5 for me, Day 4 didn't post yesterday for some reason. Didn't do much but hang around the house today and play on the computer. Again no pain pills were needed since the night of day 3 I believe. I feel good my foot still got a slight tingling mostly on the bottom I think its because of my dressing and wearing this hard shoe all day.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I went to the doc and he replaced the bandages and he said it looks pretty good, still a little bruising around the cut area mostly on the big toe. Took my first real shower yesterday, felt nice not taking a sponge bath, got some cast/bandage protector from the Doctor to use for taking showers but when I got it home and looked at it, it had like a 1 1/2in hole in the top stretchy plastic part you had to stick your foot through and I was scared to try to stick my big foot through there as I it was tight and could have easily hurt rubbing on my wound so I used a couple tall kitchen garbage bags instead and wrapped some duct tape around the to keep them tight and the water out. Still got a few drips in there but didn't get the bandage wet or nothing.
If anyone has any better ideas on protecting your foot while tasking a shower it sure would be good to know. All the foot cast/wound protectors I found while searching the net were pretty much built the same way with like a plastic bag you stick your leg in with a hard ring at the top lined with some stretchy rubber you had to slide your foot through first.
I also drove my truck last night for the first time and I did ok, just went to the corner store and back. I was a little nervous doing it but I knew I was going to have to some time. My pickup is an automatic and it was pretty easy to drive but I don't know if I'm ready to drive my manual Dodge Challenger yet. My right foot (gas pedal foot) is the one I my surgery on but I was nervous switching back and forth from the gas to the brake, sometimes I just used my left foot on the brake because my right is still sore, and I'm not ready to throw a clutch into the ordeal yet! All in all things seem to be going well though!
HDCowboy, I did not publish yesterday's post as it includes references to certain products - and this is unfortunately against the rules (please see below). I will happily publish your post as soon as you remove these references. It is OK to say that you e.g. bought a protector at a local pharmacy/drugstore, without mentioning the details of the products or the stores.
DeleteApologies for the inconvenience.
No problem, that's what I figured! I pretty much wrote everything in the above post without the references I included yesterday to the best of my knowledge, so its all good. BTW I don't understand how would I go about editing yesterdays post anyway if you didn't publish it? There aint no way to view it unless I riposted it as I didn't save it anywhere.
DeleteNothing much to report today – change is incremental with no great breakthroughs but also nothing to worry about. I have not had any pain today and thus not needed any drugs. Hopefully that will last – annoyingly, some minor pain has started up after midnight the last couple of nights, just as I’m trying to get to sleep.
ReplyDeleteApart from the reduction in pain I have no idea how the healing process is doing and it seems a long time until my first check-up which will be 14 days after the op. I am really tempted to test it out a bit more (though not to try jumping!) but for now I’m sticking with the advice to stick with the crutches. One of the issues is that the bandaging around my mid-foot is so thick that it is quite hard to place my foot in a way that puts all the weight on the heal. But I’m sure I’ve seen lots of wise words on this blog about the virtues of taking things slowly – so its probably a good thing that I am doing so little.
Just starting day 5. Sore on waking, better than yesterday once pain meds kicked in.
ReplyDeleteQuite keen on trying gym if someone will take me.
Tried to fit my foot into my bike shoe for indoor trainer....not happening.
Doc told me on review, day3 , to try and do ROM excercises from day 10, earlier if I can.
I’ve trained 1-2 x a day for the last 4 years. The lack of that is worst.
Victory of the day was my toilet habits have returned to normal.����
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteHow long before you think I’d be able to spend a day in a sitting position without my foot propped up. Keen to work, but as a dentist I can see up to 60 patients a day. It’s a conveyer belt.
Difficult to say, probably a few weeks. Sitting all day without the foot propped does not help with swelling and pain.
DeleteCheers Parsifal. So grateful for your blog. It’s really helped us all . Yep. I thought it maybe a few weeks. I may have to look at 3 perhaps?
ReplyDeletePossibly...really hard to say. It is like asking "When will I be able eat normally after tooth extraction?" :-) :-) :-)
DeleteHmmm.....yes, I’m taking advantage of the shoe being on the other foot. 🤷🏻♂️🤣
ReplyDeleteI forgot to post yesterday, so to catch up on Day 4, I felt like my feet were less swollen, and it was easier to walk around. I wasn't having much pain, and felt less tired. I did something on the computer that needed to get done for work (although I don't start back to my part-time job for another couple of weeks), and then later did some situps, keeping my feet elevated. I continued to ice, 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off while awake.
ReplyDeleteToday, day 5, I had my first postop appointment. They took X-rays, and my feet were unwrapped for the first time since the surgery. The surgeon removed the stitches he had put on the bottom of my foot to temporarily anchor the placental membrane over the bony surfaces in the joint. It's something to promote healing but dissolves within a week.
He was very happy with how my incisions are healing--said they looked better than most at this point. He redressed the wounds, but said I could change the dressing daily and would probably need to after doing range of motion exercises with my toes, which he said that I should start doing. He doesn't recommend getting the incisions wet yet, but didn't seem too insistent about it, so tomorrow I might try showering and washing my feet, and then drying thoroughly and redressing them. He said to put antibiotic ointment on the incisions when I change the dressings. (Full disclosure--I haven't showered since Friday morning before the surgery. But I've been freshening up each day, and washing my face, etc. And I certainly haven't been working up a sweat just lying in bed every day.)
Later in the afternoon today I did situps and pushups for about 20 minutes, making sure to keep my feet elevated as much as possible. There was still some swelling when my feet were unwrapped this morning, so I'm still icing and elevating. Also, the surgeon wants me to only walk in the postop sandals, so I've been doing that. And I'm still only mostly walking to the bathroom and back. I ventured to the kitchen once today to get a snack when no one was home. :-)
I'm still more tired than usual, and last night was the first night since the surgery that I got a reasonable night's sleep, but each day is a big improvement over the last.