Bunion post-op update. The agony of de feet.

Isn't this cute yet somehow sad?

It has been over four weeks since I had bunion surgery on both feet.  I walk like Frankenstein, which seems appropriate since yesterday was Halloween.  My feet are still bandaged and probably will be for another three weeks.  I tried to get a photo of my unwrapped feet while I was at the doctor's office, but I blacked out--not from the sight of my feet, but from the excruciating pain.  If you want to see gory photos of stitches and swelling, the internet can provide you with plenty.

I'll give you a few highlights of post-surgical progress, but remember, how you fare after your own bunion surgery depends on how severe they are and what type of procedure you have done. (See post just prior to this one.)  My bunions were severe and I needed an osteotomy on each foot, plus some fancy bone drilling on one foot.  I'd lost a lot of cartilage on one toe.  Curse you, Mrs. Lipman!  (My ballet teacher.)

After one week, I went to the doctor, who removed the bandages.  He happened to mention, "This is going to hurt," a split-second before grabbing a foot and re-wrapping it.  On a scale of 1-to-10, the pain was a startling 8.  Not as agonizing as childbirth (a 10), but it made me cry and I started shaking.  Fortunately, I was tanked up on painkiller.  But all the progress I'd made in the first week seemed to disappear, because I hobbled out of there as if I had just had surgery all over again.  Two days later, after applying ice packs for many hours, I felt better.  And when I say ice packs, I really mean bags of frozen peas.  They drape around the foot better than crushed ice.

Two weeks post-op, I went back for a bandage change, tanked up on a larger dose of painkiller.  This part of the proceedings went better than last time, but then my doctor did something I did not expect.  He bent the big toe on each foot forward and backward as far as he could, to gauge range of motion.  On a scale of 1 to 10, this was a freaking ten.  It was brief--just a few seconds--but very intense.  He says that when he does the toe-bending, sometimes his patients yell at him, order him to stop or even kick him.  I was better behaved than that, but it took enormous will power.

Some patients refuse to let him bend their toes during this phase of recovery and even refuse to bend their toes themselves at home between doctor visits.  Unfortunately, these patients then end up with severely stiff toes that do not make contact with the ground.  The toes stick up and won't flex when the patient tries to walk.  It's a major problem and ...I guess it cannot be undone...? I'm not sure if it's permanent or not, but dammit, I am NOT going to find out.  I know the importance of having it done, so I let the doc bend my toes.  I cannot sugarcoat it.  It hurts.  Or at least, it hurt like hell to have my doctor do it at two, three and four weeks post-op for the type of surgery that I had done.  I've heard other people say the whole bunion thing was no big deal.  I don't know why it varies so much from one person to another.

Three weeks post-op, the doctor recommended that I bend my toes myself 2 or 3 times a day.  He says I don't have to bend them as far as he does, but I need to start bending them a little more each time and make progress each day.  When I bend my own toes, the pain is mild--perhaps a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, plus I feel better knowing I have control over the pain.  Even as I increase the range each day, I still only feel a level 2 pain.  And bending my own toes frequently in the course of the day does have the added benefit of helping me walk (or hobble) increasingly better, without crutches.  It is only when my doctor bends them, really forcing the range of motion, that the pain is intense.  At one visit, I started blacking out.  At another visit, I nearly threw up.  But as intense as it was, it only lasts a few seconds.

The bunions, before surgery.

So, if I had it to do over again, would I still have this surgery?  I can't answer that yet, since I am only four weeks through recovery.  But I don't think I had much choice.  I suspect I will never be able to run or dance again.  But walking and cycling are vitally important to me and I was beginning to have trouble with both.  I'm hopeful for a good outcome.  Meanwhile, I sleep a lot and feel achy from lack of exercise.

Hope this info helps, but without giving you nightmares.

dj runnels
Life's an Expedition on Etsy.  Yes, I survived and I continue to make awesome things for you.

Bunions?! WTH!

Bunions.  Meh.  Such a silly word.  Sort of a cross between Bunnies and Onions.  And who has those things anyway?  I was pretty sure it only happened to 80-somethings, along with their lumbago and other antiquated grandmotherly illnesses.

Then reality slapped me the face.  And it slapped hard.  Yes, there is a medical condition called bunions and you can get them in your TEENS and 20's.  And although I tend to keep my medical travails private, because that's just how I am,  I will tell you about this one because I hate the thought of others not knowing what these bumps are and not seeking medical attention early enough to avoid pain.

I had gone to a podiatrist for a sports-related injury, tendonitis on the side of my right foot.  In the course of x-raying my foot and taping it, he mentioned that I had a rather serious bunion.  It was a bump that stuck out the left side, just under my big toe on the right foot. I had had a slight bump there for years and didn't think it was important.  I had gone from wearing a B width shoe to a C width shoe and thought maybe that slight bump had something to do with it.  But I never dreamed I would ever need surgery for it.  In fact, I didn't have pain from it at first and later learned the reason for this is because I had somehow learned to walk in such a way that I spared my feet the discomfort.  But in doing so, I was causing ankle pain and other weirdness.

I have since learned a few things about bunions.  For example, wearing high heels or being inclined to exercise heavily despite a mild deformity can turn said deformity into a major one.  I continued to bike ride vigorously and aggressively after being diagnosed with the bunions--there was one on the left foot, too--and I will confess, they both became more serious within a year.  I could see them getting larger and they were beginning to hurt more. 

The photo above shows how the bunions looked a few days before finally having surgery.  Notice how my toes all sort of slant to the side.  The big toe on each foot is so dislocated that all the other toes are pushed away.  The left foot has a severe bunion, plus a lot of cartilage has worn away in the big toe joint.  But the right foot, which looks relatively harmless to me, also has a fairly severe bunion.

So I had bunion surgery this week.  There are dozens of different types of surgery, and many types of casts/bandages, etc. and every recovery is different.  But once you have a diagnosis, I recommend skimming the Foot and Ankle section of this health board forum.  Scroll half-way down the page and you will find a couple hundred topics specifically about bunions.  Sift through many topics, because sometimes you will find the same issue under a slightly different phrase.  Just please find out from your doctor how severe your bunions are, what procedure s/he recommends (and get a 2nd opinion from another doctor) and be sure to compare apples to apples.  In other words, if you are having a minor procedure, don't pore over the notes of someone having bone replacement, cuz you'll just freak out.  And if your bunions are severe, don't expect to go back to work in two days just because someone else did.  Also, if you post a message in a forum and get some feedback, that's great, but remember, they don't know you and haven't seen your x-rays.  Still, it's okay to ask your physician something like, "Hey, I was wondering why I have a bandage instead of a cast."  Or "is there a less invasive procedure that will work for me?"  They're your feet and you have the right to ask lots of questions.  

Good luck and avoid high heels.  And remember, men can get bunions, too.  But it's less common.

dj runnels

Life's an Expedition on Etsy.  None of our merchandise has been on my feet.  Ever.