Cheilectomy Day 8

It's a week now since I had a cheilectomy and osteotomy to help restore some flex to my big toe. Which means today I get to take off the tubigrip and TED stocking. (TED stands for thrombo-embolud detergent.) Yay!

This is important in two ways. Firstly it's SO nice to have my legs bare again - the UK is experiencing unusual temperatures of over 100 degrees F. But more importantly it feels like a milestone in the recovery period. One small step for the overall recovery times for Cheilectomy surgery, but one big step for little old me.

The pain level is zero, but popped an ibuprofen this morning with breakfast just to keep on top of any swelling (though clearly the main route to avoiding the dreaded swelling I've read about is to keep the foot ELEVATED 23 hours a day).

The area around the incision is beginning to wake up and I guess the dressing may be stuck to it, so it pulls a bit from time to time and is beginning to itch a little. I've been advised NOT to remove the dressing until I go for my post-op assessment next week. I've read in some places that folk have a follow-up much sooner and have their dressing changed then. But apart from being super intrigued to unpack it and examine the incision, I've been persuaded by friends to LEAVE IT ALONE.

The Dog came by to check out the foot finally, gave the toes and the bandage a good sniffing over and retired again to flop on the cool wood floors. I'm taking the dog's nose as good enough indication that there's no rot or infection there. So that's good enough for me.

I'm able to do a bit more now, like prepare my own meals, tidy the kitchen, check the (state of the) fridge, fetch and carry and stuff like that. So my partner has moved back to their place and I'm pretty much on my own. It's really important to wear the hard soled surgical shoe at ALL times when I'm on my feet to protect the surgery from prematurely bending before the bone has healed and the toe from getting stubbed anywhere.

Now I've just got the little issues of how to top up that old sun-tan without getting burned, and who's gonna walk the pooch ...?

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Cheilectomy 5 months

As each month milestone approaches, it feels like the toe is worst than the month before, but when I read back, I can see that's a fallacy. I guess, as it gets better, I just measure its progress day by day, so some days it feels worse and some days it feels better. And that's kinda the lesson learned in this post. For example, the last couple of weeks we've had a cold snap in the UK (temperatures down to -2 in the daytime), so I've had to swap the trainers to more suitable walking boots (something I couldn't wear last month). I've been in the walking boots every day now for a couple of weeks. It feels roomier than when I tried the boots last month, so that indicates the swelling (from Covid probably) has gone down. It's more comfortable to wear the boots now, so clearly that's progress. I've been doing around five miles in them, but do find that it's a matter of one day on, one day off. So if I do a five mile walk one day, I'm not up for a...

Cheilectomy Day 6

I woke up in the middle of the night in some discomfort. I think what must have happened was I inadvertently stretched the big toe where I had surgery in my sleep. It was pretty unpleasant, but it soon subsided and I went off to sleep again. This morning my spirits are pretty low, as I had planned a big day celebrating in friends from near and far and having a picnic then heading to a party this evening. As it is, I'm stuck home and all my friends are out celebrating without me. This is pretty difficult for me as the last couple of years have been incredibly isolating. My relationship broke down, we had endless lock-downs, I moved house a couple of times, and my dog has had cancer and surgery and is quite elderly now, my mum has been diagnosed with Alzheimers and I'm feeling like she's becoming less and less present. Some friends were coming from London and I was looking forward to being 'normal' again. Alas, it wasn't to be. But when I was offered the surgery, ...

July 2022 Cheilectomy Day 1 - the surgery

Day 1 - surgery Arrived for a midday appointment. It's important to make sure you have someone who can take you to (and more importantly) collect you from your appointment. You CANNOT (nor will you want to) drive after the surgery. And trust me, you ain't gonna be taking public transport either. I was advised that because I was having a local anaesthetic, I could eat and drink normally, to bring something to eat and drink and a pair of shorts to wear under the hospital gown and a dressing-gown to wear over the top. I changed and ate my lunch and drank my flask of tea and discussed the pain meds that I'll be taking for the first three days after surgery (my worse fear - way worse than the surgical procedure - and the point of all my questions). I do not get on with painkillers - namely, my stomach doesn't. I took ONE co-codamol tab for the knee when I did it in. OMG! The cramp in my stomach was abysmal. I took FOUR ibuprofens the following day, and by day three my inside...

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