Posts Tagged ‘bunionectomy’
I’m sorry I don’t update this blog very often anymore. Third year nursing is a lot of work, and I’m still working at that damn grocery store every week, so I don’t have much time to do other things anymore. But I’m here to update you on my bunion chronicles, as tomorrow will be eight months since the surgery!
I’ve been so busy with school and work I haven’t written in a while, but things are going quite a bit better now than they were in the last few months. Physiotherapy has helped a lot, I have pretty much full range of motion in my post-op foot back, and the achilles tendonitis pain is also lessening. I actually got some shockwave therapy on my right achilles tendon, which cost a lot, but only made a little bit of difference.
Well it’s been one month since my last post! I haven’t forgotten about The Bunion Chronicles, I’ve just been so busy with nursing school and work and physiotherapy, and also figured people were tired of reading about my pain!
So I’ve been in school for a little over one week now, and I also went back to work for the first time on Sunday. I work in a deli at a grocery store, and my job involves being on my feet all day. I thought it would be fine after two months, so I had told my boss I would go back on the 13th. I am now feeling that that was a mistake.
So I’m back in school and I’ll be back at work on Sunday. I’ve only been in school for two days and it’s already so hard, I don’t know how I’m going to go back to work.
I just got home from my second time at physiotherapy, and I’m in a lot of pain, but I have good news! My physiotherapist was able to give me a diagnosis of achilles tendonitis. It’s not good that I have it, at all, because it can be difficult to treat, but I am happy that I finally have a diagnosis and am not left wondering what is causing this horrible pain.
My foot has been so sore since physio on Tuesday, but I’m just trying to remember that it’s a good hurt. The last couple of days I’ve had a lot of appointments and errands to run and my foot has been painful in the bone that was cut, but truthfully what’s more painful is my heels. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with them, whether it’s plantar fasciitis or heel spurs or what, but I’m in so much pain every day even after walking for just five minutes and I’m incredibly frustrated.
Following the recommendation of another girl I know who has had this surgery as well as my podiatrist, I decided to go into Physiotherapy in order to increase the range of motion in my toe and also help with my feet in general. The appointment went really well, and she thinks she may be able to help with my heel pain as well as my surgery.
Tonight was the annual summer barbecue for the grocery store I work at. Because it’s summer and it’s been hot out, combined with the fact that I was getting a ride to and from there, and didn’t have to walk much at the barbecue, I tried wearing a normal shoe!
Well it’s been six days since the pin was removed and my foot is slowly getting better each day. It certainly hurts a lot less! I am no longer on crutches which is awesome.
Well the pin has been out for three days and my foot is feeling great! Okay, well, maybe not great, but much better than when I had the pin in. As soon as I got home from the pin removal I exfoliated my foot, because the skin was dry and rough and disgusting. That felt so good! It seems to be healing well although I am still covering up the incision and the pinhole when I have to walk somewhere. I have an Air Cast… but more about that later. Here are some photos of my foot just before and just after having the pin removed.
I got my pin out yesterday! It was epically exciting! My foot feels sooo much better! And I took a video of it!
I think I did too much walking yesterday. I’ve been so tired of being in the house and yesterday I really wanted pancakes. So Steve and I took two buses and went for breakfast, and the place we went was right across from the mall. After breakfast we went to the mall because I just wanted to look at a couple of things, but that ended up turning into me wanting to look at everything. The entire breakfast/mall journey was only about 3 hours in total, which may seem like a lot for the condition my foot is in; however, it is my good foot that is sore and not the one I had surgery on!
So on Friday I had another dressing change by Dr. L. He said that my foot is healing nicely and that I may be able to get the pin out next Friday! So that would be August 14 instead of the original date of August 17. So, only three days difference but that’s an exciting three days for me because the pin is driving me nuts. It’s mostly the fact that the skin around the pin hurts like hell, and well, who enjoys having a metal foreign object sticking out of their skin (besides piercings, of course!)
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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One girl's quest to share her bunion surgery, recovery, and foot pain with the world…