Successful surgery?

All appears to be well from my surgery this morning. I guess I won't truly know if it's successful in alleviating or eliminating the Menorrhagia for another couple months; however, from the standpoint that the only issues I have at the moment is that I'm tired and I have a headache (from from lying down all day), I'd say it was successful! Oh, I did get sick in recovery, but I think that was more from the ginger ale and graham cracker than from the anesthesia, as I've had that same anesthesia twice before with no issues.

So I was at the surgical center at 6:05am, and I was home by 9:30am. I changed into my awesome new PJs (a pajamagram sent by my co-workers) and took some naps. I had some cramping this morning, but none now. Hopefully that will continue. Right now J-Mav and I are snuggled up watching the Caps game on TV. :-)

Oh and tonight I got a beautiful, ORANGE flower arrangement from my BFF. :-)

So all is good here. I'll lay low tomorrow. Not supposed to drive for 24 hours or so to make sure all anesthesia is out of my system. Imagine I'll be back to normal activity on Sunday... might even get back on the treadmill. And back to work on Monday.

Frankenuterus is definitely lower maintenance than Frankenfoot... but sorry, no photos this time.

Frankenfoot

I'm not sure what the rest of my body ever did to piss off my left foot (aka Frankenfoot), but it has always been the unruly child in this conglomeration of body parts.

When my feet are sore, it's the left foot that is always more sore. When I have a plantar faciitis flare-up, it's always been the left foot. The cyst and bone spur surgery was the left foot. And now, a new development. With the left foot.

I went to the podiatrist yesterday [I thought] to have new orthodics molded. The ones I have are at least ten years old and, while they are in good shape, my feet have been almost constantly achy lately, so I thought maybe a new set would be a good idea. Dr. G agreed, but he was more interested in the foot aches and pains I was having.

He started poking and prodding and then pinching and manipulating the joints at the bases of the toes on my left foot. And OMG! When he got to the joint at the base of my "ring toe," it HURT! The middle toe wasn't overly comfortable, either, and it felt like something was moving around in there... but that ring toe... OUCH!

So what is it now? He thought it could be a neuroma...

From www.mayoclinic.com:

"Morton's neuroma is a painful condition that affects the ball of your foot, most commonly the area between your third and fourth toes. Morton's neuroma may feel as if you are standing on a pebble in your shoe or on a fold in your sock. [It] involves a thickening of the tissue around one of the nerves leading to your toes. In some cases, Morton's neuroma causes a sharp, burning pain in the ball of your foot. Your toes also may sting, burn or feel numb. [It] may occur in response to irritation, injury or pressure. Common treatments for Morton's neuroma include changing footwear or using arch supports. Sometimes corticosteroid injections or surgery may be necessary."

Seriously?!

So, off I went to get an x-ray. Nothing showed up on the x-ray, but Dr. G said that doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing there. Great. He said it could also be just an inflammation of the joint. I'm voting for that one. Although, doesn't that generally mean arthritis? I'm not even 40 for goodness sake.

The good news is that I don't have any pain... I didn't even know there was a problem until he squeezed the area. I don't feel like I have a pebble in my shoe. The balls of my feet don't really hurt unless I wear uncomfortable strappy shoes (and that happens extremely rarely and is really just a result of wearing uncomfortable strappy shoes).

So. Long story short, I'm going to have new orthodics made, and he's going to add some kind of cushioning in the insert right where the ball of the foot meets the arch. This will apparently relieve pressure on the nerve in question. And we'll see if that makes a difference.

I have no restrictions in the meantime, which is good because I'm doing really well with the exercising! But that's for another post...

Frankenfoot!

Today is the one-year anniversary of Frankenfoot's birth. One year post-surgery and I guess I can say I'm fine. I have no restrictions and it doesn't hurt to walk/run/exercise. I have most of the feeling back in my toes and nerves. The scar flattened and faded nicely. I still have discomfort and aches. I presume I will always have that. I can't pinpoint any specific causes and it's never really true pain. Just annoying. Maybe when I'm in the pool/lake and I'm kicking while swimming. Or when I sit on my foot for too long. Or when I wear certain shoes for an extended period of time. I guess it's just something I'll have to live with.

BEFORE (11/10/09, four days post surgery)...


AFTER (11/05/10)...



Frankenfoot has sure come a long way!!

Frankenfoot

Frankenfoot was officially released from Dr. G's care last week. No restrictions on activity or shoes. I still don't have all the feeling back on the top of my foot, and I still can't bend my littlest three toes correctly, but for the most part it's all good. I am now using Mederma to try to fade the scar a little. If it doesn't fade, I'm not too concerned about it. It's on my foot, afterall, not my forehead.


So I can wear any shoes I want now. That's not to say that I do. I am wearing flats a lot more (which I'm told is better for the plantar fasciitis issue). Heels still tend to make my foot swell somewhat, although some of them are more comfortable to wear. I'm not sure what the excuse it today, though. I am wearing loafers, but as you can see in the picture, my foot is looking rather sausage-esque today. Can't wait to see what it looks like after I have worn strappy shoes for several hours on Saturday night for a party! It might not be pretty.


Synopsis: I have no pain (unless someone steps on, kicks, or otherwise traumatizes the top of my foot). I am walking/running on the treadmill again. I want to try Zumba again soon. The nerve tingling may or may not go away. The ability to curl my toes all the way may or may not come all the way back. The cyst itself may or may not come back. The half of the scar that's closer to my ankle is fading faster than the half that's closer to my toes. And the swelling may take another six months to completely go away.

Anyway, unless something weird happens, this will likely be my last post about dear old Frankenfoot. Goodbye Frankenfoot!

Frankenfoot

The last bit of scab came off on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to me!! Today I wore my left sneaker tied just a tight as my right! Woo hoo! Next hurdle: real exercise.

Frankenfoot

Frankenfoot is not so much. With the scabbing coming off, the scar flattening out, and bruising and swelling almost completely gone, my foot almost looks normal. As normal as a foot with a four-inch scar on the top of it will ever look, anyway. I no longer have any real pain, just some discomfort every once in awhile. It seems that the more scabbing that comes off, the less pain I have. That works for me.

I am still wearing my Mammoth Crocs or sneakers every day. I tried the heels again earlier this week, and even after just an hour, I could tell my foot was swelling a little. So I'll probably need to stick with the flat shoes for at least a few more weeks.

I think after the holidays, I'll be able to tie my sneaker tight enough to at least walk on the treadmill. I desparately need to do that. I'm still hopeful that I will be able to ice skate on the Rideau Canal (if it's frozen enough to be open for skating yet)... we'll see.

RIP Frankenfoot.

Frankenfoot

Saw Dr. G today for my final post-op check-up. He said everything looks good and I have no restrictions. That doesn't mean I can go out and run a marathon (not that I'd do that anyway). It just means there's no medical reason why I couldn't try. It'd be a little difficult, though, since the surgical site is still too tender to tie my shoe laces on that sneaker.

The scar is already flattened out, and the scabbing is starting to come off. Dr. G thinks it'll be a rather thin scar. Cool. :-)

He also told me I didn't do any damage by wearing heels to work yesterday. :-) My foot felt good, and the shoes didn't hurt, so I did it. Dumb. Frankenfoot still didn't hurt at the end of the day, but wow. My foot was a flippin' sausage! I could feel the fluid build-up in my foot. It was gross. It's still not back to normal today! No more heels for awhile. Sneakers and Crocs. My work pants will just have to drag on the ground...

Frankenfoot

The Tuesday after my surgery, I was feeling good. Not a lot of pain, just some aches. I got a little cocky and told the doctor that I was doing great! He said that was great and scheduled an appointment for this past Thursday to get at least some of my stitches out.

By the next day, my foot was starting to hurt more again. Mostly in the first several steps I would take after getting up. And the bruising. It was an ever-moving collage of purples around my foot.

When I got to the doctor on Thursday, I was hopeful that I would get all the stitches out. He took out half of them. Better than nothing. But then he was pressing on various spots around my foot and around the incision, and when he pressed on one certain spot, it hurt so much, I thought Dr. G was going to have to peel me off the ceiling.

His reaction: "Hmmm. That's not great."

He said the incision looked good and he didn't SEE any sign of infection, but because of my reaction, he was going to put me on 10 days of antibiotics. He had me schedule another appointment for Tuesday (tomorrow... or, technically, later this morning at this point) to get the rest of the stitches out and sent me on my way.

Well, by the next night, my foot felt like it had been replaced by a new and improved frankenfoot! The initial steps pain was gone and I could walk pretty normally without the surgical shoe on. It remained fine through the weekend.

And today. Today I wore a sneaker! Correction. Today I wore a PAIR of sneakers! Granted, I took the lace out of the one on Frankenfoot. But I had a real shoe on my foot and I was able to walk normally and pain-free! That's A LOT of progress from where I was mid-week last week, so I'm thinking there must have been something to the infection theory.

So, tomorrow I get the rest of my stitches out. And I can then take a shower without wrapping my foot in plastic! Woo hoo!! Happy Thanksgiving to me!! I go back to see Dr. G NEXT Tuesday, just to make sure all is healing up well, I guess. I would assume at that point I'll be able to resume all normal activity as is comfortable.

I NEED to get back to walking and doing some stuff on the Wii Fit. If I don't, I'm going to be living in yoga pants and my skirts with elastic waists...

Frankenfoot

Update...

I just sat down on the sofa to prop my foot up. I haven't had my sock or special shoe off all day, and I didn't have my foot propped up much today, either. I might regret that. My toes are now purple, too. The toes themselves are a light purple. The base of my toes are a dark, reddish purple.

Pretty.

Frankenfoot

The forecast for today, Friday the 13th, is some swelling with a smattering of bruising and slight pain in certain situations.

Yes, my ankle is still more of a cankle.

Yes, the entire back, outer part of my foot is still a lovely shade of purple.

Yes, it has hurt more since Tuesday than it did the day after surgery or the four days right after that.

Yes, I'm still taking regular and copiuos amounts of Motrin.

So I guess I shouldn't have been bragging so much Friday through Tuesday that my foot didn't hurt. At all. In hindsight, that was probably because I didn't really leave the sofa nest until Tuesday morning. I doubt it's coincidence that Frankenfoot has been "talking" A LOT more ever since I resumed walking on it. It mostly feels better when I am able to sit or lie down and put it up. It mostly feels okay once I'm up and moving around a bit, unless I move certain ways or accidently kick something, which has happened on more than one occasion. It mostly feels really bad when I put my foot down on the ground after having it up, as the blood returns to the foot. And it mostly feels really bad when I first get up from sitting or lying down. But, Motrin helps and it's not unbearable pain. Just quick suck you're breath in pain, for the most part, and then it's better.

So Frankenfoot is doing okay, but there's definite room for improvement!

Frankenfoot

Update... much Motrin today in response to the ice cube tray incident of last night. But feeling better than I did at this time last night.

Tonight when I sat down on the sofa to watch the Caps game, I kind of propped Frankenfoot up sideways on a pile of pillows such that my arch side of the foot was down and the outside part of the foot -- the side with the stitches -- was up. I guess I hadn't had it propped exactly like that since I got the smaller bandage because HOLY CRAP! My entire outer ankle is PURPLE!

Um, no wonder Frankenfoot feels like a big bruise... it IS!!

Thinking...

Oh my HECK... it does NOT feel good to have an entire tray of already-frozen ice cubes fall out of the freezer right on top of where the incision is on my Frankenfoot.

Frankenfoot

First off, this is what my foot looked like from about Noon on Friday until late this morning. The bandage was ginormous and wrapped all the way up around my ankle. It left a lot to the imagination about what was actually going on under there... but I wasn't allowed to peek until I went back to the doctor this morning. Like Christmas... do not open until...

So this morning I went to see my surgeon, Dr. G. I found that I was more nervous about this appointment than I had been about the surgery. OK. Maybe not MORE... but at least as much. What if the scar was huge? What if the bandage stuck to the incision and it hurt when he took it off? What if, what if, what if? Luckily I didn't have to wait to long to see the doctor once I got there, so I didn't have time to work myself up too much. :-)

He unwrapped what seemed like miles of ace bandage, tape, and gauze and revealed... FRANKENFOOT!

The incision, as you can see, IS quite large. Lots of stitches inside and outside. Turns out he found more than he bargained for when he got in there. First off, the cyst was growing toward my toes instead of toward my ankle, as he had thought. Second, it was under a tendon and pushing up on a muscle, making the muscle bulge. And lastly, as an added extra bonus, he found a bone spur under all of it, which is what likely caused the cyst in the first place. Ding, ding... we have a winner! Lucky me!

So it's a little swollen, a little bruised, a little stained with the stuff they clean the area with before surgery. In short, a little gross.

And what of all the "ink" you might be asking. Well, in pre-op, I was told to write "yes" on the ankle of the foot I was having operated on. When the doctor came in to talk to me before surgery, he initialed the top of my foot to confirm my choice of feet. I guess this is a CYA measure to ensure the doctor doesn't slice into the wrong foot. That would be bad. The smiley face... well, that was Dr. G making fun of me. He laughed at me when I took my Blackberry out to take a picture of my foot before he re-bandaged it. So he added the smiley face and told me to go ahead and take the picture.

Then he re-bandaged. Smaller and pink! Practical AND stylish. He gave me a choice of pink or green... both were the bright colors of the 80s. Perhaps I should've chosen BOTH and made my foot look like a watermelon? Anyway, this bandage stays on until next Thursday, when I got back to have at least some of the stitches removed. Still can't get it wet, which means at least another 10 days of shower aerobics and bagging and taping. And the oh-so-stylish shoe, which you can see in the picture above, is a new fixture in my life... at least for the next month or so.

And now Frankenfoot and I are back on the sofa. The sofa nest will be dismantled after today. Life resumes to mostly normal tomorrow. Back to work on Thursday. It was fun while it lasted...