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.

Comments

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...

cheilectomy-diary

Search This Blog