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Cheilectomy Day 11

Woke up in the middle of the night with cramp in the calf muscle of the leg where I've had the surgery. Not bad, but certainly an indication of the lack of walking/stretching over the last week and a half.

It didn't last, and I went back to sleep. But when I woke up this morning, the toe felt like I'd run a marathon. I think I recall as I was disturbed in my sleep, that the foot was pretty restless and I reckon I'd been doing quite a few involuntary stretches through the course of the night.

This 'restlessness' seems to be a burgeoning feature: from the incision site 'waking up', getting a little itchy (a good sign of wound healing), and the toe becoming quite wriggly - feeling the need to stretch it and move it (a good sign of bone healing?)

I didn't have any ibuprofen during the day yesterday, but I did end up taking some before bed, as the foot felt like it needed something - like there was a kind of bone ache.

Today, so far, I've not taken any more ibuprofen, but I am continuing icing.

Did some bed stretched today with the latex stretchy band to try to ward off cramp. My calf muscles are pretty tight generally and I've had a lot of issue with plantar fasciitis over the years (but in my left leg, not where I've had the cheilectomy/osteotomy). I wondered if I could use the band on the ball of the foot where the surgery was - assumed I wouldn't be able to (they say don't try to weight bear on the ball for a while), but I was happily surprised that it was fine and I could perform a good stretch into that calf for 30 seconds for a couple of times. 

Meanwhile cabin fever is taking hold and I'm planning a trip tomorrow to stay over a friends for the weekend. Hope to get out and have a hobble somewhere, even if it's down to the communal gardens where they live. 

Top Tip

Develop an exercise plan to stretch and move the legs to try to ward off cramps and help protect agains DVT (deep vein thrombosis). A simple stretch with a belt hooked around the ball of the foot and pulling the upper foot and toes towards the body gives a good stretch into the calf muscles.

Source: MichaelGeorge.com


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