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Cheilectomy Day 9

Returned to the icing and cold packs today. Completely forgot yesterday. 

Previously, I had been placing the cold press behind the knee as directed by the patient guide I'd received on discharge. But today, I've placed in on the back of the heel, and oh boy, the difference! I could immediately feel the cool blood pouring into the foot. What relief!

I'm fine while the foot is elevated, but as soon as I put it down, the blood rushes there and it throbs. It gets better after a while, and now when I'm up and about on it - I cooked dinner last night - it does still take a while for it to settle when I rest up. But that is getting better all the time - the recovery time is less and less.

I'm beginning to wonder if I could do with unwrapping the bandage - it's feeling tight. Perhaps due to the weather - unseasonably high temperatures continue. Meanwhile, I keep it iced, elevated and make sure I hydrate more.


Doing some gentle wiggling of the toe now and it feels much better, I guess this akin to the 'exercises' I've read about in other blogs. I don't feel anywhere near doing standing exercises I've read some people do after a few days - stand with foot flat and raise heel gently. That sounds like it contravenes the whole point of the surgical shoe, which is entirely stiff so as to prevent the toe bending. I guess it's horses for courses, but having been through a lot of surgeries with The Dog (one big osteotomy for cruciate injury), I know a thing or two about letting the bones heal before stressing them. 

(NB I had an osteotomy with my cheilectomy, so this could be the reason why my recovery schedule is a little longer than folk who have a cheilectomy without an osteotomy.)

A pleasant side effect of all this has been that I can straighten my leg completely now. Hitherto, I haven't been able to do that for 2 and half years due to meniscus issues in the knee. I am assuming this is due to 1) rest - being totally off the knee for 23 hours a day, 2) NSAIDs - using ibuprofen regularly has probably had a good effect on reducing inflammation normally caused by walking (3 - 5 miles a day on good days - toe and knee permitting), or may 3) all that icing I've been doing at the back of the knee!


Once the toe has been rehabilitated, I'm going to concentrate again on the knee. The surgeon suggested that because I injured the toe before my knee went, it could be that my altered gait (because of the toe) may have adversely affected the knee and that if the toe is fixed, it could lead to better mobilisation throughout the right side of the body. 

Fingers crossed he's right. 

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