Our Family Adventure

It's amazing to me how much foot surgery hurts afterward and yet how quickly the pain goes away and you can walk on your foot again. This time was similar to when I had surgery on my left foot, but it was also different.  In good ways.

Wednesday, wondering if and when the pain was going to kick in.

Wednesday when I came home, I wasn't feeling any pain.  I wasn't sure how much of that was the remaining local anesthetic and how much was having had the first dose of Percocet already.  Percocet by the way, is Acetominophen and Oxycodone, the drug that people were breaking into pharmacies to steal.  Apparently quite addictive.

Naomi got hold of my phone and took this one up close of my feet.

It was hard to believe I was actually walking without crutches on surgery day!

I was so thankful for the great ice pack they sent me home with.  I had read that icing it a lot the first day helps with keeping down the swelling, which helps with keeping down the pain level too.  My doctor said to lay the ice pack on the top of my ankle, and it seemed to help even though you'd think it wouldn't.

Naomi could not keep herself from hanging around me all day Wednesday.  Here are my two companions for most of the day.  Naomi & Caspian.  And Zoe, our older dog, seemed really concerned and spent a lot of time in the room with me, too.

Turns out it was the remaining local keeping the pain away.  About 2:00 in the afternoon, I had taken more Percocet and noticed shortly thereafter that my foot was beginning to hurt.  In the evening, Matt wondered if I was able to come downstairs to eat dinner and see our new refrigerator.  I hobbled out of our room and made it to the top of the stairs, wondering if perhaps I should tell him it hurt too much.  But I pressed on and actually made it downstairs.  It felt like fire to walk on that foot, so I just plopped on a couch and ate dinner there.

Everybody else went off to church and I lay in bed, listening to Esterlyn radio on Pandora and relaxing to deal with the pain.  This Percocet did not seem to be helping at all. :(

A foot recovery selfie with my just-in-case crutches nearby.  (I actually used one of them to help me hobble to the bathroom a couple of times, my foot hurt so much.)

All that first night, I would sleep about an hour and then be awakened by the pain in my foot.  In the morning, Matt & I discussed the second medication the doctor had prescribed, Ibuprofen 600 mg, and thought maybe I should try taking that to see if it would help the pain.

A Thursday, not in so much pain photo.

After my first dose of Ibuprofen, someone called from the hospital to check in on me.  She suggested that I alternate the two medications, since one was based on ibuprofen and the other on acetaminophen and you can do that with them.  So that's what I did, and it made a world of difference.  By dinnertime, I walked downstairs with very minimal discomfort and spent a few hours with the family downstairs.  It was great.

The next morning (Friday) was my follow-up appointment with the surgeon.  When he'd said a week before that he wanted to see me two days after surgery, I was inwardly skeptical.  How was I going to be walking on my foot well enough to be out & about?  But I was!  It didn't hurt at all. :)

At the doctor's office after the nurse took off my original bandage.

And there's my incision.  My foot looked redder than the doctor liked to see, so he prescribed an antibiotic for me.  Doxycycline Hyclate.  (I think it's kind of a heavy duty one, because if I had an infection, it probably was caught in the hospital and all kinds of stuff is there.)  You can see where he signed his initials before the surgery.

Trying to keep my foot up on the way home.

It's so great having Marissa able to be my chauffeur!  My stitches come out a week from today, on Feb. 10 and with it being my right foot, I'm not able to drive until then.  In this photo, Marissa said she felt like a little old lady driving in the school zone with its 15 mph speed limit. Which is why she was being silly and sitting all close to the steering wheel.

Back at home, smaller bandage, resting after all that walking.

I was on my feet a LOT this weekend.  I've noticed that if I'm on my feet a lot, my foot starts to feel tight and swollen.  I'm still taking the Ibuprofen 600 mg tablets to help with swelling.  The trickiest part now that my foot doesn't hurt is that I feel like I can do everything again.  I have to make a concerted effort to have other people do things for me and to keep my foot up.  

So in light of having been out so much this weekend, my goal today is to be in bed most of the day.  We'll be doing school from bed today. :)

I had foot surgery on my right foot this past Wednesday.  I was so thankful for the blog posts I'd written about my left foot surgery in 2008, because there were so many things I had forgotten.  So I'm partially writing this for myself, to remember details later if I want them. :)

I took this photo of my foot the day before surgery for comparison later.

Wednesday morning, Matt & I arrived at the hospital and checked in at 6:00 a.m.  I admit I was pretty nervous and had major butterflies in my stomach.  We went up to the second floor where the surgical waiting area is and got signed in.  I was promptly taken to the pre-op area, where they started an IV, and put a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, heart monitor sticky things, etc. on me.  I signed lots of consent forms, and it seems I answered the same questions to every person who entered my little "room".  The surgeon came and said hello, asked what foot we were operating on and signed his initials with a Sharpie on my right foot.  

Finally, they brought Matt in and the nurse anesthetist came in.  We had to clarify if she was a preferred provider with our insurance, a question we had tried in vain to have answered beforehand.  We were told their practice is covered, and I hope they're right.  Last time, we got a bill for a lot more than expected because we had assumed the surgery center had used an anesthesiologist who was in our plan.

As the nurse anesthetist began to talk to us, she began describing the anesthesia she was going to use on me.  When we realized she was talking about general anesthesia, we both said that wasn't what we wanted.  It was a fairly simple, quick foot surgery, and the risks with general anesthesia are greater, so we wanted to avoid that.  Last time, I had been awake for my surgery and liked the shorter recovery time, too.  I had thought we were going to be given a few choices, but somehow "general anesthesia" was on my chart.  

The butterflies in my stomach got crazier.  It took a while to explain to her what was used on my last surgery, and since general was on my chart, she said she needed to find the surgeon to talk to him.  Matt said he wanted to meet him, too.  So after a few minutes, she came back with my doctor.  Thankfully, he said it was up to the patient what kind of anesthesia was used.  So I ended up with something in my IV that made me sleep, breathing on my own, and the doctor put a local anesthetic into my foot.  I wasn't awake like last time, but that was okay.

The OR nurse who came to get me was really nice and didn't fuss about me keeping my wedding rings on, like the other ones had.  She just taped them up for me. :)  And when she asked about if I wanted Matt to have my glasses, she could tell I wanted them close at hand.  So she kept them nearby in the OR so I could have them right away after the surgery.

I was taken down the hall to the OR and they strapped my arms to the table, so I was kind of in a T shape.  The last thing I remember before I woke up was the doctor taking the little sock slipper off my right foot and putting it on top of the one on my left foot.  Then I woke up, looking up at the OR lights and thought I was hearing them cutting off the bone spur.  But then I heard the doctor thank everyone for their help and realized I must have been hearing them putting the stitches in.  They bandaged my foot and then when the nurses realized I was awake, they asked if I was able to get myself onto the stretcher to go to recovery.  (I did.)  On the way down the hall, I asked about my glasses and next thing I knew, there they were.  That was really nice. :)

I was the first one in the recovery room at 8:45 and everyone remarked that I was awake.  "Oh, that's because she had mag," is what I heard.  It must be a nickname they use at that hospital for the type of IV anesthetic I had, because when I googled it later I didn't find a thing.  Hmm.

I had a really great recovery room nurse who told me I had to be there for a half hour.  So she did her thing, making sure my vitals were good.  I had my first dose of Percocet there, to hopefully get ahead of the pain instead of playing catch up like I felt like I did last time.  Meanwhile, Matt knew I was awake and just wanted to be with me, but they wouldn't let him into recovery.  Finally, I was able to get dressed and then they brought Matt to me.  A nurse pushed me in a wheelchair to the exit where Matt pulled up the Suburban. And then we went home.

This doctor really encourages his patients to walk on their foot, rather than use crutches, so it was strange walking into the house.  My foot was still numb from the local, so I didn't feel any pain... it just felt like walking on a big numb blob.  Pretty weird.  

And here's my foot right after I got settled in at home for the start of my recovery.

More on the recovery in the next post. 

We had quite a week this past week!  But that's for another post, and this one is just for my 100 Happy Days challenge.  Here goes...

day 15, not a great photo... but I did our taxes (can't e-file 'til Friday) and filed Marissa's FAFSA tonight. Feels SO good to have that out of the way.

day 16, yummy stuff for my lunch.

day 17, my companions, Naomi & Caspian the cat, as I rest & elevate my foot after surgery. (and Zoe, our 4-yr-old dog, has been lying on the floor most of the day. I think she's concerned about me.)

day 18, a toe sock on my non-bandaged foot, just because.

day 19, my lovely chauffeur until my stitches come out and I can drive again.

day 20, being able to catch up on laundry, thanks to this great Craig's List find today. (our washer died the day I had foot surgery & the dryer wasn't working right for a while.)

Five years ago last September, I had surgery on the big toe joint on my left foot.  You can read about it at this link (just scroll to the bottom of the page to start at the beginning.)  It seems I have arthritis in my big toe joints that causes them to build up bone spurs, and if I move the joint too much, it hurts.  When I had the surgery done in 2008, the doctor said I would eventually have to have it done on the right foot.

Well, it seems that it is time.  I've been pretty careful with my right foot, but last spring I really pushed it with that toe joint on some yoga moves.  Then this fall, after getting the new puppy and running around outside with her, my joint started bothering me.  I figured it might be time to look into having the surgery done.

I kind of laughed the other day when I found the following image online somewhere...


Yeah.  So *that's* why I'm having surgery.  Because there's little bumply things on my toe joint and a crazy lightning bolt above it.

What I learned in my research before is that if you don't get this taken care of early on, that it gets worse and you can actually wreck the toe joint and need a total joint replacement or joint fusion.  So, last week I met with a podiatrist and got the ball rolling.

His office called yesterday morning, and I'm scheduled for Wednesday, January 29th.  I have to check in two hours early, at 6:00 a.m. Yikes!  The surgery is called a cheilectomy, and here's a video I found online of what it entails (it's computer animated with no blood or photos... so it won't gross you out).  And here's a cute little diagram I found on Google.
 

I'm not really looking forward to the pain the first couple of days afterwards and I'm a little nervous about the surgery itself (which does sound a little silly seeing that I've had brain surgery. but still.)  I do know, though, that it should heal pretty quickly and my joint will be much better. :)

The stitches are out...
The bandage is gone...
I don't have to wear my surgical shoe anymore...
I can take showers again...

Needless to say, my appointment was good this morning. My foot is looking more normal again, though my big toe is still somewhat swollen and apparently will be for many months yet. For physical therapy, I have to use my fingers to gently move the toe down & up, 10 times per set, several sets per day (ten would be great, my doctor said).

I've had my first shower post-surgery. I've been walking around the house barefoot, which feels SO great. I even put on my sandal to venture out to the mailbox a little while ago. It feels a little tight, but not bad. A big improvement over the surgical shoe I've been wearing for 13 days. :)

Recovery will take a while, but things are looking good. And my foot feels more like "my" foot again. :)

The Beach House...
It's been fun to see the Michigan house "puzzle pieces" fitting together. I've made many phone calls to Marquette this week, and have almost all the work accounted for.

I've touched base with our insurance company about our hailstorm claim, and God has answered many prayers in this area.

Yea, God!! :)


My foot...
Seven days down, three to go! That is, until I get this bandage off & the stitches come out (see what my current bandage looks like, over there?). I am eagerly looking forward to Monday morning. Can you tell?

Pain-wise, as long as I try to not be on my feet a lot, I do allright. When I push it, though, my foot aches a lot by bedtime. So we've done a lot of school in the master bedroom, so I can rest & elevate my (very thankful) foot. It's worked quite nicely all around. And, how many teachers do you know who get to teach in bed?!?

Only my big toe area is swollen now, versus the whole foot. And the bruising is mostly gone. It's starting to seem more & more like "my" foot again!

I thought since you've all been praying for us, that it was about time for an update. I'm going to do it by category, with photos mixed in, just to change things up a bit. :)


Mobility: I've been lying in bed with my foot elevated, icing it off & on, since the surgery. My big "excitement" has been hobbling on crutches to our bathroom several times per day. Just before bed last night, I discovered that I can walk on my foot without using crutches!! I had been hibernating upstairs after almost falling down the stairs on Tuesday evening. So this is truly wonderful. :)

Here I am on Wednesday, with my feline sidekick, who was eyeing up the beautiful lunch Marissa had just brought me.

Kids/food/household misc.: David & Marissa really have stepped up and helped a lot with things around the house. Marissa became my personal chef, bringing me trays arranged beautifully with delicious food she prepared herself. (Homemade bread, pancakes, beef roast, etc.) Matt & I were both impressed!



David helped a lot with entertaining younger siblings and making sure the bedrooms were picked up and orderly. Our friend Shanna organized meals for us through Sunday, which has been great. :)

Follow-up appointment: Matt took me to my appointment this morning, where they changed my bandages and took new x-rays. Everything looked great, and I will go in on the 13th to have my bandage & stitches removed. After that, I can get my foot wet and take showers again. Until then, it's baths for me, with my foot hanging out of the tub!


Here's the new x-ray. You can compare with my old one and see that the big bone spur on top of my big toe joint is gone!

I'm trying to be kind to those of you with weak stomachs here. Matt took a much closer, better photo of the incision... but I wasn't sure if it might be too gross for some of you folks! (If you want to see the incision better, just email me and I'll send you the other photo.)
Well, that's all for now! Thanks so much for praying for us. Everything went well, and the kids & Mark had a good time here at home during my surgery.

We really appreciate you praying! :)

Just wanted to quickly let you know that my surgery went really well today. I decided to stay awake for the surgery, and was really glad I did. I didn't have to wait to wake up afterwards or feel groggy. :) The doctor said my bone spur was huge, and that there was some cartilage damage, but not too bad.

They gave me a nerve block to help with pain for several hours afterwards, and I am starting to feel it wearing off. Not too bad, but we'll see how it gets later on. It mostly feels kind of achy inside my foot, which still is mostly numb. I have a special shoe to wear whenever I walk, and crutches to help me out at first. I'm sure you can imagine that the crutches are quite the novelty with the kids!

We will see the doctor Friday morning, and they'll change the dressing and take new x-rays to see how things look after the surgery. Oh, and I have started taking Tylenol with Codeine to help with pain, when it really kicks in.

That's all for now! Thanks for praying!!

...the day for my cheilectomy surgery on my left big toe, that is. Matt is taking the day off and his brother Mark is coming over to hang out with the kids. I can't eat anything after midnight tonight (I'll be eating something filling tonight about 11:45!). We have to be there at 10:00 tomorrow morning for my 11:30 surgery. It's an outpatient surgery, so we'll be home by mid-afternoon, I'm guessing.

From what I've read online, the first 2-3 days are the worst, pain-wise. So I'll make sure to take whatever pain medication they prescribe--even if I think I don't need it--just to be on the safe side!! I'll be "out of commission" for several days, I do believe. But as soon as I'm able, I'll post to tell you how it all went.


Some things to pray for:

• For the surgery to go well & for me not to be nervous (I know it's a basic surgery, but still...)
• That the kids will work hard on their schoolwork while Mark is here
• That the kids will be quiet & not hurt Mark's ears (his hearing aid magnifies *all* sound)
• For my pain level to be low & the recovery to be quick!

When I had my brain surgery, I posted four or five very specific prayer requests on my CaringBridge website. It was so cool afterwards to review them & to see how God answered those exact requests! He is so awesome, and He wants us to bring our requests to Him!

So if you think of it, I would *love* to have you praying for us tomorrow!

THANKS!!!

Just thought I'd let you know I called the podiatry office yesterday & scheduled my cheilectomy surgery. It's set for Tuesday, September 30 at 11:30 a.m. It could have been sooner, but we had a few other things going on next month that made me have to go with the last day of the month. Wow... I just watched September fly by and it hasn't even started yet!!

In December 2006, I found out that I have a problem with my left big toe. It's called Hallux Limitus. "Hallux" means big toe, and "limitus" means its movement is limited. That first toe joint has a big bump on it, where my body has built up a bone spur to keep my joint from moving so well. (You can kind of see the bone spur in the x-ray there...)

I changed my shoes and pampered the joint to postpone the inevitable surgery. Well, lately it's been bothering me, and I've done enough research online to realize that if I *don't* have surgery soon, down the road it will be much, much worse & the joint will be pretty much ruined.

So I went online and found the podiatrists that the Phoenix Suns and other professional sports teams here use. My appointment was yesterday, and I am very pleased that the damage isn't too bad! (only a stage I!) The podiatrists were very personable, and explained *everything* very well, treating me like I am an intelligent person. I SO appreciate it when doctors act that way.

Anyway, I am going to schedule the surgery soon. We don't have a date yet, but it's called a cheilectomy, and they'll use what they called "twilight sleep" (which is what I had when my wisdom teeth were pulled), so I won't be fully under. I'm glad for that.

Here's a link to read more, and if you want to, you can scroll down & see photos of the surgery. It doesn't look very fun, and my foot will be sore afterwards. But I'm avoiding a much worse surgery later on. This one will buy me 10-20 years before it causes trouble again, most likely. :)