I’m trying to stay out of my being-stuck-in-the-house funk, but it’s tough. What doesn’t help matters is the fact that we’ve had the biggest heat wave here for centuries, with the temperatures being 40+ celsius for an insane amount of time. Apparently we’re breaking records from the 1960s. It’s hard to not be able to just go out or go swimming or to the lake or jump in a cold shower. I also think I’m gaining weight due to not really being able to exercise. And I was actually losing weight before my surgery!

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Wow, despite my foot it’s been a pretty crazy week for me. This past weekend I went home to Vancouver for my dad’s 60th birthday. Steve rented a wheelchair for me on the ferry because of the long walk to the passenger pick-up. It was quite interesting with everyone staring at me! At least we got a ride to the ferry terminal from a friend so I didn’t have to try to catch two buses with my foot being the way it is.

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Finally after almost 3 weeks my stitches are OUT! I am very happy with that, even though my foot hurts a lot after getting them out. Dr. L is a good guy but he wasn’t very good at taking stitches out in my opinion; being a nursing student I have learned how to take stitches out and he did not do them the proper way. Also he didn’t really sterilize his equipment properly. When he took the stitches out, he was ripping at my skin so much, it hurt like hell. I was squeezing Steve’s hand so hard I put dents in it. I haven’t had anything that painful for a while. Don’t think stitches are supposed to hurt that much, but anyways.

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I’m so stoked!! I woke up this morning to see an Amazon box on the kitchen table, and when I opened it I saw a book I’ve wanted for years. Pearls Before Swine is my favorite comic strip, but I don’t have many of the books yet. Since I’ve been feeling pretty cooped up after the surgery and haven’t been able to go out and get anything, my boyfriend ordered this from my amazon wishlist for me!! For those of you who have never read Pearls, you should definitely check it out. They have several books out now, so far my favourite ones are BLTs Taste So Darn Good, This Little Piggy Stayed Home, and The Sopratos.

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I recently got an email asking if I’d used any over-the-counter bunion products to help with the pain before considering surgery. I thought that other people might be interested in my response.

Hi there,

I found your website and started reading it because I have bunions too. I don’t think mine are as bad as yours, but I may consider surgery down the road. Did you try any non-surgical methods for pain relief before considering surgery, and if so where did you get them?

Thanks,
Samantha

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Well my arms are slowly feeling better from my big crutches escapade, and my foot is getting better each day. What is really driving me nuts lately is the fact that I’m waking up at night due to itchiness. The skin is itchy and the incision is the worst. The stitches itch so bad sometimes I can’t even fall asleep. I will be so happy to get them out in a week. Icing my foot helps a bit, and keeping it elevated. The itchiness and the throbbing both seem to get worse when I put my foot down, I guess because all the blood rushes to it. I also still get random bone pain, and stabbing pain where the pin is inserted.

I’ve been trying to keep myself preoccupied but I’ve fallen into a bit of a funk lately being stuck inside. It hurts too much still to go out on crutches, but hopefully within a week or two that will change a bit. I’ve been trying to eat healthy but it’s not always easy. And it’s so hot here lately I feel like I’m melting.

I shall keep hanging on though. Trying to remember that this pain is temporary, and the bunion will be gone for good.

Yesterday I had an appointment with my naturopath who I’ve been seeing for a while. It is only about a ten minute walk from my place, so I figured I could get there no problem. I left nearly half an hour before the appointment, and still struggled to be on time. I hate crutches SO much! Not to mention, it was 24 degrees celsius outside, so I was really hot. I managed to hobble home as well, but when I got home, my arms were so sore, and my wrists were scraped up from the pins on my crutches. It was awful.

Today is even worse. I can barely move or type. Every single muscle in my body is just aching, including every arm muscle, the muscles in my good leg, and muscles running down my back. I’ve been taking lots of Robaxacet and using Icy Hot Gel which has been a Godsend, honestly! I seriously had no idea crutches hurt so much though. Ugh.

I won’t be moving again for a while.

I got my dressing changed today! It was a little bit painful, but not too bad. I didn’t realize quite how much gauze had been on there; there was about 18 layers or so and it had bled through every single layer. When he changed the dressing, he left the bottom layer of gauze on because it was some special “silk gauze” and he said that ripping it off may rip the stitches. It feels good to have a new, fresh, non-bloody dressing on. I couldn’t see too much, but I did take some pictures.

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Tomorrow will have been one week since the surgery, and I’m going to get my dressing changed by Dr. L. As of right now I’m still in quite a bit of pain, but am tapering off of the Percocet. I am still getting random stabbing pains in my foot, although there is still a large portion of my big toe that I don’t have feeling back in yet. My friend is going to drive me to my appointment tomorrow, so I don’t need to taxi which is great.

I’ve had a pretty steady stream of visitors so far, and some of my best friends were over on Saturday night which was great. My friend Katelyn brought me some pretty flowers, and others have lent me movies and video games. They’ve also brought me yummy food, berries and chocolate and stuff. I still have very little appetite, but it’s slowly coming back as I take less Percocet.

Well I will update again after my dressing change tomorrow.

Wow, so I had my surgery on Monday around 2:00pm. It went well, but I’m in a lot of pain! The whole thing was a very strange experience. So here is the story, and some pictures.

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