First Toe-1 day Post op

 I woke up this morning around 6 am, took another Ibuprofen, and got my son ready for school and myself ready for work. My toe looked ok, but I did have some minor bruising below the toe, I believe that's where I was injected with the Novocain. But other than that, it looked pretty normal. Lol

The morning after surgery. Notice the bruise. Very little swelling.

I drove my son to school and walked about three blocks to the train station. Now, I was able to walk without pain, but I had to walk slowly, which is hard for me to do because I’m a fast walker and the last thing I want to do is walk slow in the cold. But I was able to walk the three blocks to the train station, take two flights of stairs to the train platform without any trouble. At work, I wore my Crocs and kept my foot propped up on a box under my desk. Thank goodness I have a desk job! I took an Ibuprofen half-way through my day and was able to walk around the office a bit. 

On my walk home I was in pain. I had to walk extremely slow. It took me about twice as long to walk three blocks and it was freezing cold! I think I forgot to take an Ibuprofen before i left work, so I was limping. Plus I could feel my shoe getting a snug, which meant my foot was probably swollen. As soon as I got home I took a Vicodin to help with the pain. I kept my foot elevated and iced it for the rest of the evening. Let's hope tomorrow will be a better day.

First Toe, Left Foot!

So I had my first toe (2^nd left) done on 02/10/2015. I got off work, and got to the Dr’s office at about 4:30pm. The procedure was done in his office. I walked in and they took x-rays of both feet. Then the Dr. came in and took some “before” pictures and looked at my x-rays to see where he would be making his cut. 

My before GLAM shots, lol

I've never liked how my toes look! 

Notice the nice corn! LOL

Right foot x-rays. Notice the bunion.

Left foot. Bunion not as bad as the right one.

 He made some markings on my toe. Keep in mind that they will be cutting a piece of my bone out in order to shorten the toe. He then proceeded to explain in detail what he will be doing, what outcomes we can expect, and asked if I had any questions. I did not, so they proceeded to prep me for the procedure. The medical assistant began by washing by foot with soap and water. They then installed a curtain (at my request) so that I wouldn't see anything from past my knee. Spare me the visuals please!

Then the Dr. came and gave me two injections of Novocain just below the 2^nd toe, to numb it out. I must say they were a little painful, but I was able to get through it. I think this was actually the most painful part, lol. The Dr. walked out and said “We’ll give that a few minutes to take effect”. Then, the medical assistant came back and she proceeded to lay out all the “surgical instruments” that the Dr. would be using. I kind of started to freak me out! I hear metal instruments clanking on the surgical tray….not a good sound when I’m about to be cut open, lol. The Dr. then came back to the room and did a pinch test to make sure my toe was numb. I could feel the pinch towards the tip of my toe, so he injected more Novocain (which this time I did not feel because the upper part of my toe was already numb. We waited a few more minutes, did a pinch test again, and were ready to begin.

They placed a tourniquet on my ankle (to prevent bleeding). It wasn’t painful, just uncomfortable.  During the whole procedure the Dr. kept me engaged in a conversation, so I was able to relax a little. Then he said “you’re going to hear a sound” and POP. It was the sound of him breaking off bone. Then I heard another POP and the Dr. said the tiny piece of bone was out and he was ready to stitch me up and bandage my toe. And then we were done! The whole thing, from the time I got the Novocain shots to him stitching me up was less than 20 minutes! The medical assistant cleaned me up, took the tourniquet off, and put down the dividing curtain. I must admit, I was afraid to look. I expected my foot to look like Frankenstein. To my surprise, it looked normal, with just a skin colored surgical tape on it.

They then told me “we need to take x-rays of your foot”. I got off the chair and hesitant to step down and put pressure on my foot, but when I finally stepped down, it did not hurt at all. They then gave me two options of shoes to pick from. One was a black, closed toe, Croc and the other one was a close toe with Velcro opening, similar to this one.

Not ugly, but not very stylish.

 I opted for the Crocs, but since I live in Chicago where temps get down to -20 degrees and there is currently snow on the ground….Crocs would not work. So the Dr. told me I could actually wear my own boots since they were sturdy enough to protect my foot and just wear the Crocs at home and work. So off I go with a prescription for 600mg of Ibuprofen and for Vicodin in case the Ibuprofen was not strong enough for my pain. The Dr. mentioned that the Novocain would start to wear off in about 6 hours, so he suggested I take an Ibuprofen in 6 hours whether I needed it or not, just so I would not be in pain. By the time I left his office, it was close to 6:30 pm. I was able to drive myself to Walgreens on my way home to pick up my prescription, get home and give my kids a bath, put them to bed, and out a load of laundry in the wash. This just shows that I was in no pain whatsoever and able to walk and go up and down stairs just fine.

My foot right before I went to bed.

I went to bed wearing a sock just because I was afraid of stubbing my toe with the blankets. I set my alarm for midnight and took an Ibuprofen. I must say, I expected to be in a lot of pain, but I was fine and was able to sleep through the night.

I will provide another update tomorrow!

Introduction

My name is Lily. I am a 34 years old female, married, with two boys, ages 6 and 18 months. After putting this off for so long, I have finally decided to have toe surgery this week to correct four of my toes. I have been in pain for the almost two years. I kept putting off the surgery first because I had just had a baby and I was not looking forward to wearing a huge cast or surgical boot on my foot for 2 months plus trying to manage a full time job and kids at home. Also, I could not take off work for the surgery since I was out on maternity leave last year for almost six months. So I did my research and found a podiatrist, Dr. Larry Keyes from Keyes for Toes in Oak Park, IL, that will do the corrections without having to wear a cast or unsightly surgical boot, no down time, and very minimal pain, so he says! His philosophy is that he does one toe at a time, in order to give your body time to recover. We Shall See….

Anyway, I am having toe number two on both feet shortened and straightened because they are too long and are causing me pain when I walk, no matter what shoes I wear. I am also have the fourth toe in both feet corrected due to having a painful corn on them. To add to my  foot problems, I also have bunions! I have a slight bunion on my left toe, which, for now, I am leaving alone since it doesn't bother me or cause me pain. The bunion on my right foot bothers me and I plan to have surgery for that later this year, maybe in the fall, with a different podiatrist, since Dr. Keyes only does toe corrections.I am scared…mainly because of the pain. I don’t take pain too well. But I have reasoned with myself that if I can have two children, via C-section, then this shouldn't be too bad, right? LOL

I decided to create this blog in hopes that it helps others that are looking into having this type of surgery. When I was doing my research, I found there wasn't much information out there as far as recovery and experience of people that had gone through this type of surgery. I hope that by sharing my experience, it will help others make a decision if this is the right surgery for them. Keep in mind that everyone’s experience is different, so my outcome may not be the same as others and this blog should, in no way be used as medical advice! I will try to provide updates frequently, but please understand that I have a full time job and am a full time mom as well. J