Free . . . Free at Last!!

I went to the foot doctor today for my last visit, at least the last one for four months. They retook the x-rays and all seems to be on target. The bone in the little toe has begun growing over the implanted wire which is what he was waiting on. So, since all is well, he told me I am free of the boot!! Whoo hoo!

My first stop after the doctor visit was to the shoe store. I had to find a shoe my foot would fit in as I still have several months left to deal with the swelling. Of the shoes I have, it only fits in my tennis shoes and my Timberland boots, neither of which are suitable for the workplace and neither of which would compliment my skirts and dresses. So, to the shoe store I went. I did find a nice pair of black leather mules which will get me through this convalescing period. I imagine I will probably get some wear out of them even after that is over. So, I'm set for work tomorrow AND wearing a normal shoe - being a normal person. I cannot wait!

Oh, before I left the doctor's office, his nurse came in to "fit" me with a compression sock. Actually, it's more like Spanx for the foot. It tucks the excess swelling and keeps the foot compressed, more slim and trim, if you will. Yes, just like Spanx. Who knew they made it for the foot as well? What's next, Spanx for the arm, I ask? Anyway, it does make it feel better, that's for sure, so I suppose I'll endure it and wear it as I've been instructed to do.

I've got a few more months before all is back to normal but for now I am just so happy to be able to wear normal shoes! Baby steps, you know?

What a Monday!!

Busy, busy Monday as I'm sure most folks experience. This afternoon I had another appointment with Dr. McGlamry today for a check of the ole foot. Last visit he said at this next one, "we would see about getting you into a shoe".

Of course, they did another X-ray and compared it to the first one taken post-op. Unfortunately, the wire in the little toe has moved, which means the bone has moved. Remember, the wire is holding that darn little toe together.

So, this means another two weeks with the surgical boot. I just stared at him at disbelief. I was so excited about getting out of that damn boot. My first comment was, "You really know how to disappoint a lady, don't you?". His response, "I do it everyday!". I then asked him, "are you sure about this"? And, of course, he said "yes, I am sure" and then he proceeded to explain to me that the bone needs to regrow and it needs to calicify around the wire, yatta, yatta, yatta.

I almost balled in front of him, I was so disappointed. But as he said, "you surely don't want to go through this again anytime soon, now do you?" My response, "No, I'd rather have a root canal".

Then I explained to him that I had planned a Super Bowl/Burn the Boot party for Sunday and the invitations were already mailed. Of course, he laughed and said perhaps I could do that in a few weeks. So, if you received an invite - the party is OFF!!

I will still be "booted" at least until the 9th of February. I hope and pray at that point that he will tell me I can then progress to a shoe. Hope and pray is what I said (let's all do it together now, shall we?).

And to top off the Monday, I come home to gather a recipe rather quickly, let the girls out to potty, and then run to the grocery store. I left the girls uncrated thinking they would be okay for this very short period of time. But alas, I was wrong. I came home to find the cap to one of my camera lenses in the middle of one of the dog beds. I know who the culprit is as it usually is Ms. Sugar who has a fetish for hard plastic (remember her eating my Clinique compact?). This is a known fact. The thing I ponder is how in the hell did she get the thing off the lens? Unfortunately I hadn't locked the cover to the camera case, but merely closed it, thinking "outta sight outta mind". NOT . . . well at least not with these Greyhounds. The lens had dog slobber on it but appeared to be otherwise unscathed. Again, I beg to ask, how in the hell did she get the cap off the lens?

On another note and to top off the day, I formally resigned from SEGA today (Events, Fundraising, cat testing, photos, etc.) to pursue other Greyhound opportunities, of which I'm sure you will hear about soon enough. That's all I'm going to say at this point but suffice it to say, it was the hardest thing I've done since I quit smoking. Mr. Parker is not pleased with me - not in the least bit but I feel certain they will survive and be stronger for it. I am certainly not the only volunteer in the world or the best volunteer and I'm sure they will find someone who will do an outstanding job.

I can hope and pray.

The Progression of Frankenfoot

Well, as you can see I finally am bandage free!! Yeppie! I immediately went home after my doctor appointment yesterday and took my first full shower since December 26th. It was marvelous darling, simply marvelous! I could have stood there all night!!

I am still in the walking boot for at least two more weeks though. My next appointment is January 26th at which time the good looking doctor tells me, "we will see about getting you back into a shoe at that point". He mentioned taking x-rays again to see how the little toe is doing. You see, there is a wire embedded in the darn thing that is really holding it together. He wants to see how it is mending after two more weeks. I fear the wrath of Dr. McGlamry if I even attempt to wear a normal shoe because I know he will be able to see that wear and tear from the x-ray.

But it does look good, doesn't it? There is some peeling going on and there are still some stitches there, most notably on the ends of both incisions. The darkness you see along the incision line is the ink from the pen he used to draw where he would make the incision. It will wear off in time - all in good time. And there is some swelling still. The nurse told me to expect that as it will continue for several more weeks. I am to ice it down at night if I feel the need to do so. Interesting, when I awoke this morning, it damn near looked normal again!! But I'm sure it will be swollen when I get home again this evening.

So, on tap tonight is a pedicure. A home pedicure. I'm a bit apprehensive about going to a nail salon at this point, not until I am completely healed. If I were to try that, I imagine with my luck I would develop a God awful infection that would then require a foot amputation. After all this, it just ain't worth it!

Frankenfoot Unveiled

I truly am beginning to feel like Frankstein's bride, especially after seeing my foot today for the first time since the surgery. Actually, I can't complain though as I've only had issues with one finger and my feet. And after all these years of living, that ain't too bad, if you ask me!

Anyway, the doctor visit today went well. We took more x-rays and he changed the bandage and gave me a new prescription for the ole Percocet (which is working now, I think it just took a bit to get into my system). I wish I had taken a picture of the x-ray on the computer screen. There is a before and after shot. The after, of course, was cool as it shows the wires he put into the bones. Pretty cool, really.

So, here is my foot after I took off the top wrapping the other day. The bruising of the toes I could actually see through the wrapping. By the way, my toe nails aren't really yellow (ugh, how ugly), that is Betadine. Of course he slathered another layer on today before rewrapping it. I don't think I'll ever get that stuff off!

Here is a picture without the bandages. It really does look good. I'm going to have two very long scars but hopefully they will fad with proper care. Oh, the writing you can barely see in the middle of my foot is the doctor's initials. The nurse wrote "yes" on the foot to be operated on and "no" on the other foot. He then came and initialed the "yes" foot so that we were all clear on which foot was to get the knife. I also made it absolutely clear to him that "yes" meant "YES" and "no" meant "NO"!

Dr. McGlamry is quite pleased with how the healing is progressing. I am, too, however, I did ask when could I get the thing wet. His answer was, "that's a sign you're feeling better, that bathing as you are now doing is an inconvenience." Well, heck yea it is, it's a pain in the ass but I do bathe and wash my hair daily as difficult as it is. Anyway, he said it'd be about two weeks from now. UGH!! I hate that and can't remember the last surgery having such a long recovery time. Oh well, I'll just have to deal, I suppose.

All in all, we are well on our way to a full recovery. I, personally, can't wait to give this walking boot "the boot" and schedule a much needed and well deserved pedicure!!

The Surgery

Well, I made it through it and I think I did so without mentioning Dr. McDreamy or Dr. McSteamy. At least the anesthesiologist said I didn't say anything, short of warning him to avoid seeing the new Will Smith flick, Seven Pounds, as I had heard it was horrible. Don't remember that conversation at all nor any others so I am hoping he wasn't pulling my leg and that is all I did say!

Dr. McGlamory was wonderful. I went back to the surgery center around 9:45 a.m. to get prepped. After that, I think I walked over to the surgery area around 10:00 a.m. I remember nothing after that except a bit of what felt like someone flopping my foot around. I was wheeled out and was recovering around 12:15 p.m.

While in there, he removed or fixed (not sure which at this point) quite a bit of damaged cartilage. He asked if I had had an injury on that foot that would have caused that and I said no. Only thing was the previous foot surgery. Anyway, it's fixed now. As well, he took care of the bone spurs, a bunion on the outside below the little toe and then he put internal wires in the little toe bone as well as the big toe bone. I think both required drilling in the bone. Sorry about that, that's probabably TMI, as it certainly is for me!

Despite the Percocet, I'm in quite a bit of pain. Of course, I am hoping it subsides sooner rather than later. As I've mentioned to a few friends today, it feels like I've had my foot in a bucket of ice cold water for about 24 hours and then it was shot about ten times with a nail gun. That about sums it up.

I go to see Dr. McGlamory this week for a bandage change. I'm sure I won't be able to look at my foot but I'll be sure to provide an update here. Thanks for all your warm wishes and phone calls.

It's a Date!

Yesterday I had my pre-op appointment with Dr. McGlamry for my foot surgery scheduled for Friday, December 26th. Yes, the good Doc is working the day after Christmas. He says they are really busy this time of year because alot of folks are trying to get in their surgeries by the end of the year, so yes, he was available when this was scheduled three weeks ago. So, that's the day we're going to do it. I'm off that day and will have the weekend to recoup, somewhat, before the next workweek. That week is a short week also due to the New Year's holiday so that will help, too.

Back to the Dr. visit - we chatted about what he was going to do which includes correcting the bone spurs, putting a screw in a bone to move it inward, cleaning out the gunk that is in the area (I think it's a Ganglion cyst but we won't know until he gets in there), and correcting a small bunion below the little toe. Basically, an overhaul, you could say.

The last foot surgery I had (on both feet) corrected bunions, removed a Ganglion cyst (in the same location where the "gunk" is now), and corrected ingrown toe nails. That was about 15 years ago. I can't complain since that surgery has lasted this long. I'm hopeful this next surgery will last as long or longer because as I told Dr. McGlamry, foot surgery is NOT fun, not at all. He laughed when I said that and I said, "You probably hear that at least once a day", at which time, he admitted he heard it very often so he was not offended at all. In fact, he had been on the receiving end before so he totally understood.

After the chat about what he was going to do, he talked about what could possibly go wrong. Not something you wanna hear, but I guess it's something you gotta hear. I did mention the previous experience during foot surgery - hearing the saw, feeling the pressure, etc. and he said I surely needed to mention that to the anesthesiologist who could keep me on the "deeper" end of twilight. There was no need to go completely under but being on the "deeper" end would suffice. The anesthesiologist will call next week to chat about that, so we should be set on the 26th to do what needs to be done.

I filled out the necessary paperwork for the outpatient surgery center, received my walking boot (a lovely contraption which will certainly NOT start a new fashion trend), received an ice pack I need to keep on the foot during the first two days, received my folder with copies of important instructions and paperwork, and I was on my way. It was all set.

I absolutely dread this as I know how painful it can be but I do realize that it needs to be done sooner rather than later. The sooner it gets done, the sooner I heal and can be on my way.

My only real fear in all this is that while I'm in the "twilight zone", I'm going to ask Dr. McGlamry where Dr. McSteamy and Dr. McDreamy are!